I followed Balch. We ran through the archway to the deck. In the
starlight I saw figures scurrying aft, but none were near us. The deck
forward was dim with heavy shadows. The oval windows and door of the
chart room were blue-yellow from the tube lights inside. No one seemed
on the deck there. And then as we approached, I saw further forward in
the bow, the trap door to the cage standing open. Johnson had been
released.
From one of the chart room windows a heat ray sizzled. It barely
missed us. Balch shouted, "Carter--don't!"