speed. For suddenly somewhere at a distant point of the dark blue space I saw my desk, and the gill-like cheeks of U- over it and the forgotten pages of my records! It became clear to me; nobody but she … everything was clear to me!
If only I could reach the radio-room soon … winglike helmets, the odor of blue lightnings … I remember telling her something in a low voice and I remember how she looked through me and how her voice seemed to come from a distance:
“I am busy. I am receiving a message from below. You may dictate yours to her.”
The small, boxlike little cabin. … I thought for a second and then dictated in a firm voice:
“Time 14:40. Going down. Motors stopped. The end of all.”
The commander’s bridge. The machine-heart of the Integral stopped; we were falling; my heart could not catch up and would remain behind and rise higher and higher into my throat. … Clouds. … And then a distant green spot—everything green, more and more distinct, running like a storm towards us. “Soon the end.”
The porcelain-like white distorted face of the Second Builder! It was he who struck me with all his strength; I hurt my head on something; and through the approaching darkness while falling I heard:
“Full speed—aft!”
A brusque jolt upward. …