standing still, and as it came alongside, a bright green searchlight stabbed out and swept along my hull, stopping near my astrodome.

"Then to my complete shock and dismay I heard a gruff voice snap: 'Pull 'er over to one side, Buster!'

"Wondering what to do, and how he could talk to me, I blubbered, 'Huh?'

"He said, 'Just pull her over and don't give me that huh stuff.'

"I told him, 'But we're in free flight. I can't.'

"At this point he swore in an unintelligible voice and the green searchlight turned to bright red. It must have been a tractor beam because he started hauling and I could see the stars spinning and I could feel a definite deceleration forward that almost pulled me out of the astrodome and into space itself. Then there was a metallic clink and in another half minute a tall man in polished leather came in and waved me back to the pilot's chair.

"'Realize you were doing sixty?'

"'Sixty?'

"'Sixty light years per hour in a forty light zone. Let's see your license!'

"'License?' I asked blankly.

"He pulled out a pad and started to scribble. 'Sixty lights in a forty light zone and driving without a license. Boy, oh boy! Say! What kind of a crate is this anyway?'

"'It's a standard reaction drive with mass nullifiers.'

"His eyes gleamed brighter. 'You know that free flight is just plain coasting?'

"'Of course,' I said angrily.

"'Spacecraft running out of control," he said, scribbling some more.

"'But you can't do this to me,' I cried.

"The gleam in his eyes grew hard and scornful. 'Suppose you're the best pal of the Sector Senator, play knolla with the Commissioner of Spacelanes, and will get me patrolling a beat along the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, huh?' He looked down at his pad and grunted again. 'Better come with me,' he said sourly. 'We couldn't accept your bail, with no known address and not wearing a license. Boy, you've had it!'"

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