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It was easy.” Adam laughed, as thrilled as a boy; yet he knew full well he was experiencing the incredible. Eve smiled so broadly it was nearly a laugh. And the stars around them dimmed slowly as the sun became brighter. The hull gradually became darker, and now the sun looked as it would look through smoked glass. The push against his back by the seat assured Adam that the ship was still accelerating swiftly. This was the superb little craft, the very best of Alpha Cen- taurian production. They made none better, big or small. This would be the first time it would dip into the sun. Dip into the sun indeed! thought Adam. It had no name. He turned to Eve and said, “I have not yet named this ship and it has suddenly come to me. Since it dips into the sun, may I name it the Little Dipper?” “The Little Dipper it shall be,” Eve echoed gaily. “You should know it is made of 30 layers of plastic-crystal material. The first five layers reflect back all light, and most thermal heat. Other layers are positive-charged and negative-charged, and each is insulated from the other by nonconducting sheets. Thus, you see, any radiation is converted into positive or negative energy by the skins after the rays have been rendered unstable by the magnetic field that surrounds our Little Dipper. But you already know of these things, and that the Little Dipper is the finest of ships.” “What is our speed now?” “Twenty million miles per hour,” she replied, somewhat somberly. “Notice how they have opaqued the hull to almost darkness?” “The crew in the monitor ship, Adam. They are vectoring us in true course, and taking every precaution for our safety. That ship, though much larger than ours, has also been in the sun, so why not call it the Big Dipper?” she suggested. “That will be its name if I have anything to say about it,” said Adam. “Look! We can see nothing outside any longer.” 191 INTO THE SUN AND OUT AGAIN “They? Who are they?” he asked.