"Well, well—the prodigal returns." Kent's lean face wore an ugly sneer. "Get your hands above your head, Conroy."

"How did you get here?" Conroy demanded. "And where's the Exec?"

Kent shrugged. "How did we get in? Very simple. I told the Exec I had important news of a mutiny—which I did. The Exec has been—ah—disposed of."

"And I suppose you're going to kill me now?"

"No," Kent said surprisingly. "Things have changed." His eyes narrowed. "One of my men got a little over-enthusiastic, I'm afraid. The Chief Navigator has been killed."

"And you think I'll navigate for you?"

"You'll have to," Kent said in blunt tones. "You see, we're going to turn the ship around. If you don't navigate, the ship will never get back to Earth." He smiled coldly. "Surely, an idealist like yourself would never allow a shipload of innocent people to drift through space for all eternity."

Conroy felt a chill at Bayliss Kent's words. He knew that Kent was right. He had to do it—unless he could stop Bayliss Kent first. And it didn't look as though he had much chance. There were five men against him.

"What are you going to do?" Conroy asked. "Lock up the main officers?"

"I'm afraid we'll have to kill them," Kent said flatly.

"But why? Once you turn the ship around and start back, there won't be anything they can do."

"Not to the ship," said Kent. "But they could have us killed anyway. And, after all, the main reason for this mutiny is to make sure that we see Earth before we die."

Kent signalled to two of the men. "Take him back and lock him up in the cell. Watch him while the rest of us finish the job."

He gestured behind himself. The Executive Officer was the law-enforcement officer aboard the ship, and behind his office the detention cells were located.

Conroy felt the two men grab his arms and push him through the open door into a cell.

One of his captors pressed a vibro-key against the locking plate, and the magnetic field came on, clamping the door tight against the frame.

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