toward the inner space. Ric increased the power ... then they were free of the planet's shell and heading toward the center of Phobos!

The mass of the smaller ship anchored to them made the controls unwieldy, but Ric was ready for that. What bothered him was that they were fighting gravity all the way—a gravity that spread outward toward them! The result was the same as a blast-off from a gravity equal to that of Mars! But there were other conditions that were not the same.

Tal Horan looked to the magni-plate controls that held the smaller ship to them. He tightened the power a little and then came to stand by Ric's side.

"About how long would you say?"

"We should be able to sight it in ten or fifteen minutes." Ric never took his eyes from the view-finder. "At least I don't want to accelerate until then. We'll need full power for the final drive."

The space around them now was tinged with the gray-blue light, but it was thick and murky, as though they were driving beneath the waters of a sea.

"Suppose we don't sight the gravity-station. If we miss it altogether...."

"We're not heading blind," Ric nodded toward an indicator above his head. "That magni-finder will indicate the direction of any mass larger than ourselves, and then I can center our course. I'm just wondering if the atomo-bombs will be enough!"

"They will!" Tal assured him. "The principle of this gravity-station is electronic. It's been here at the center of Phobos for three hundred years without a breakdown ... but once our bombs start the disruption, the explosion will be like nothing you've ever seen!"

Ric straightened suddenly. The magni-finder had come to life—was indicating a position a few degrees to starboard. He altered direction until the needle centered, and held the controls there. His eyes sought the proximity indicator.

"Heading at it now. Fifty miles! What do you think?"

"We can go closer," Tal said. Ric didn't question him; he was a spaceteer, but Tal was the electronic expert.

Tal Horan was peering intently ahead, now, and he exclaimed, "There it is! I can just make it out!"

Through the glaucous haze they could barely make out a spherical shape, hanging stationary, with a faint 

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