"Shell them!" snapped the colonel.
Ray slammed the main star drive switch clear over.
There was no feeling of acceleration. They were suddenly floating weightless and Jupiter whizzed past the forward port.
"Stop!" howled the Jovian.
The engine throbbed and sang, energy pulsing in great waves through its shuddering substance. The stars crawled eerily across the ports. "Aberration," gasped Ray. "We're approaching the speed of light."
Space swam and blazed with a million million suns. They bunched near the forward port, thinning out toward the rear, as the ship added its fantastic velocity vector to their light-rays. A distorted pale-green globe grew rapidly before the vessel.
"Vat planet is that up ahead?" pointed Dyann.
"I think—" muttered Ray. He looked out the rearward port. "I think it was Neptune."
"Triumph!" chortled Urushkidan, rubbing his tentacles together. "My teory is confirmed. Not tat it needs confirmation, but now even an Eartman can see tat I am always right. And oh, how tey'll habe to pay!"
The colors of the stars shifted toward blue in front and red behind. Doppler effect, thought Ray wildly. He was probably seeing by radio waves and gamma rays now. How fast were they going, anyway? He should have thought to install some kind of speed gauge. Several times the velocity of light at least.