Floating among the shadows, Isanusi crossed a vaguely familiar… space? And reached where he had previously been a week? A century? A year ago?

“We have good news for you. Your group has been chosen…”

An age-old thought surfaced: “To do what?”… An important task. Really important, Isanusi. You are to test a new kind of interplanetary ship, the Sviatagor…”

“A test flight, not an exploration.”

For the second time, he felt a stab of disappointment.

“…Your task is a special one. For the first time, you will be exploring at the same time as you are making a test flight.”

The memory of a racing pulse.

“Well then? Where to?”

“Destination, Saturn. To be more precise, one of its satellites: Titan.”

“Titan? Yes, Titan… Titan!”

The Voice waited discreetly for Isanusi to digest this, and then spoke again:

“Naturally, much is expected of the research you will carry out on that satellite… But more, much more, from the simple fact that you travel there, reach the satellite, and return… Let me explain. Until now it has been an unbreakable rule that we should test any new interplanetary spacecraft in conditions as close as possible to their normal tasks, and only subsequently would we send them off on the missions for which they were designed. It’s impossible to deny that this method was useful, as long as we were only hopping between the inner planets in our solar system, but now that we are reaching beyond the asteroid belt it is showing severe limitations. We have to work with our eyes on tomorrow, Isanusi, and tomorrow means the stars… The first projects for manned interstellar spaceships are underway, and to test a ship destined, let’s say, for Alpha Centauri, not even a journey to Pluto would be sufficient. We will only know if the designers were right when the ship returns from Alpha… In this context, any test flight would be nothing more than a huge waste of resources, and we can’t afford that luxury. We have to bear in mind that reaching out to the stars isn’t mankind’s only concern, Isanusi.”

The Voice paused, perhaps to recover its breath. Then it went on, in a more practical tone:

“But let’s get back to Sviatagor. It could of course be tested in another expedition to the satellites of Jupiter. That would mean we spent the equivalent of a half a dozen normal flights to the same destination in the old spaceships. And we need to do those half-dozen flights to supply the bases we have there. That’s one of the reasons why Sviatagor will head directly to Saturn. The other is the stars; we cannot wait for when that opportunity to break the psychological barrier of “test first, then explore.” Isanusi, I am sure you are aware that it has not been easy taking this decision to the Cosmic Council; too much is at stake. Some expeditions have failed to return, whether they were test flights or exploratory ones, even though the established rules were strictly followed. Those failures were seen as an inevitable price to be paid because of all the unforeseen factors… But if you do not come back, it will be seen as the inevitable consequence of breaking a completely essential security norm… for which the Council will have to pay. Interstellar travel will also pay: it will be put back decades, possibly centuries. And although it is not mankind’s only concern, we must, we need to reach the stars… Do you understand your mission now?”

The unexpectedly loud echo of his own voice resonated inside Isanusi’s skull:

“I understand.”

A shadow among shadows, the memory of a weary smile.

“I think we can proceed to more practical details. The fundamental ones; you’ll have plenty of time to get to know all about Sviatagor. However, I must stress its essential difference with earlier models: its speed, which is a real quantitative difference. 144 kilometers per second in gravity-free flight… That’s a vital step for long-distance flights. There are limits to lengthening the duration of flights to increase the distance covered. We are already reaching them with the journeys to Jupiter; the relation between time spent at the destination and the time needed to get there and back has become too disproportionate. We have to devote more and more resources to providing for the crews during the voyage, and relatively less for their stay on the planets. Storage facilities are not limitless. The only possible solution was to increase the speed of the spaceship, and that is what we have done with Sviatagor.

“But there are serious consequences, Isanusi. The old protective systems will not work. At the new speeds, a collision with even a tiny, almost invisible meteorite would destroy any current vessel. We have developed a system of complementary measures to avoid this happening to Sviatagor. Firstly, it has an extraordinarily sensitive radio-detective system, directly linked to the autopilot… which, by the way, is also a novelty; it is the bio-computer Palas, capable of reacting in the nano-seconds needed to avoid a direct collision with meteorites bigger than a decimeter. Even so, that is not sufficient; at that speed, even smaller meteorites could destroy today’s spaceships. That is why the Sviatagor has a double hull, with a layer of densiplasma between them… I’m sure you know what its properties are?”

Back then, he had been able to nod his head in agreement, but not now. A feeling was growing, merging with his memories of the past: a feeling of fear.

Isanusi wondered, “Why can’t I see? Why can’t I move?”

The disembodied Voice flowed on:

“…At high pressure, conserving its semi-liquid state, and if any meteorite were to pierce the outer hull, it is very likely, almost certain, that the densiplasma would halt it. And no pressure would be lost because of the hole. A small amount of densiplasma would escape, but it would solidify at once, and seal the rupture. And even if the meteorite did penetrate the inner skin, there would be no loss of pressure in the ship, because before it had go...