kept his eyes fixed on the dials in front of him, eager to detect the least movement of the needles that might indicate the approach of hostile vessels, but they still hung down quite motionless. An advanced squadron was sent on some hundreds of thousands of miles in front to explore the way, while the rest of the fleet was spread over a vast area in the form of a square. Alec looked out of the windows of the Lightning, and could see the lights of the other vessels shining like specks in the distance. A vast loneliness sometimes almost overpowered him as he gazed upon the dark depths of those silent solitudes of space, where no sounds could be heard and there was nothing to see but the unchangeable face of the star-strewn heavens.
Days, weeks, and months passed by without anything happening. There was no difference between day and night, for there was no sun to rise or set. Time was arranged throughout the fleet by the
