"It seemed to me," Channok remarked, watching the _Ra-Twelve_ in the
viewscreen before them, "as if her drives had cut off completely just
then! But they're on again now. What do you think, crew-member Peer?"
"Let's just follow her a bit," Peer suggested. "I've seen ships act
like that that were just running out of juice. But this one won't even
answer signals!"
"It could be," Channok said hopefully, "a case of fair salvage! You
might keep working the communicators, though...."
However, the _Ra-Twelve_ continued to ignore them while she plodded
on towards the distant red glare of the Nameless System like a blind,
thirsty beast following its nose to a water-hole. Presently, she
began a series of quavering zigzag motions, wandered aimlessly off
her course, returned to it again on a few final puffs of invisible
energy and at last went drifting off through space with her drives now
obviously dead.
The _Asteroid_ continued to follow at a discreet distance like a chunky
vulture, watching. If there was anyone on board the _Ra-Twelve_, it
almost had to be a ghost. Her rear lock was wide open, and the hull
showed deep scars and marks of some recent space-action.
"But she wasn't really badly hurt," Channok pointed out. "What do you
suppose could have happened to her crew?"