In the control room was silence like fabric strained to the verge of tearing. Softly through the weave of it came the murmur of the engines, fretful, unhappy, the whimper of something sick. The whimper echoed Thettumir's feelings. He gestured suddenly at the telescopic space scanner, the six snake-like digits of his hand stiff with dismay. "But that is all? There are no other planets in this region?" "None." Vandumonn shook for added emphasis the erect spiny crest which ran from the top of his h