Torlyn Khy jumped back as the Earthman's foot suddenly sliced toward him. The toe of the engineer's foot hit him stingingly alongside the jaw, but the Valdorian managed to grasp the foot and twist.
Then he bent and picked Harris up, and knocked him down again with a crashing blow to the chin.
He left the unconscious Earthman on the floor, locking him inside the airlock. He would be no trouble there.
The real trouble was that the fight had delayed his timing; it must have taken all of a minute, and in a split-second operation such as this an interval of a minute could be fatal. Without wasting any more time, he got moving. His jaw hurt where the Earthman had slugged him, and his fingers felt stiff.
He ran down the corridor to the control room. The big automatic computer was ready to go. Torlyn Khy switched it on, waited for a moment, and then hastily began punching co-ordinates into the computer. He had to hurry; the Earthmen might blast their way into the ship at any moment. Still, he dared not make an error; if he did, the ship might end up a thousand light-years from where it was supposed to materialize—perhaps in the heart of a sun.
There was perspiration dripping from his brow by the time he was finished. He turned on the hyperkinetic generator and waited for it to warm up. Still there was no sound from the airlock.
A red indicator light on the control panel came on, telling him that the generator was ready. With a triumphant smile, Torlyn Khy reached out and pressed the activator stud.
Outside the ship, the guards watched the airlock door.
"I wonder why Dr. Harris did that?" said a lieutenant.