Sammel jumped so hard when the alarm went off he dropped his power wrench. Cursing, he crawled out from under the housing of the second star drive on the Day Wanderer and scowled at the control panel.

"Shut it," he snapped, pounding at the thing with his fist.

The klaxon ignored him for a full three seconds then turned off again.

Sammel was sick to death of the damned thing. It had been flickering on and off ever since the crash, giving him a queasy feeling in ...