——But Does Not Arrive
"ALL out—we climb the of the way on foot," Stevens told his companion, as the stopped at the floor. They walked across the small and the on came to attention and as they approached him.
"I have orders to pass you and Miss Newton, sir. Do you know all the combinations?"
"I know this good old than the men that her—I helped her," Stevens replied, as he up to an blank of and an almost set with its surface. "This is to keep the where they belong," he explained, as a of the in a and aside. "We will now to see what makes it tick."
Ladder after of they climbed, and after opened at Stevens's touch. At each the to the girl the operation of the there at work—devices for and cooling, for circulating, maintaining, and the air and the water—in short, all the necessary for the and of the of the liner.
Soon they entered the top compartment, a room fifteen in diameter, to a point some twenty above them. The true shape of the room, however, was not apparent, of the and which the in every direction. The air with the light of the twelve great ultra-light projectors, like with three-foot lenses, which the wall. The their was not a level platform, but to be of many of alloy.
"We are upon the upper lenses, aren't we?" asked the girl. "Is that perfectly all right?"
"Sure. They're so hard that nothing can them, and of Roeser's Rays go right through our bodies, or any ordinary substance, like a through a in a Swiss cheese. Even those wouldn't them if they weren't solid of force."
As he spoke, one of the ultra-lights around in a short, quick arc, and the girl saw that of the she had expected, it only a soft light. Nevertheless she and Stevens touched her arm reassuringly.
"All x, Miss Newton—they're as as mice. They have to past the vertical, and if one right through you you can look it right in the as long as you want to—it can't you a bit."
"No ultra-violet at all?"
"None whatever. Just a color—one of the many of our ultra-light vision. A of good men are studying this thing of direct vision, though, and it won't be long we have a that will work."
"I think it's all perfectly wonderful!" she breathed. "Just think of traveling in through empty space, and of actually through walls, without a of a window! How can such be possible?"
"I'll have to go well back," he warned, "and any is to be in spots. How can you it?"
"I can go with you deep—I took a of science, and through mechanics. Of course, I didn't into any such as sub-electronics or Roeser's Rays, but if you start me, I'll yell."
"That's fine—you can the idea all x, with that to go on. Let's here on this girder. Roeser didn't do it all, by any means, though he got for it—he helped the Martians do it. The whole thing started, of course, when Goddard his to the moon, and was when Roeser so perfected his that were with Mars—signals that neither make any out of. Goddard's and and rockets, and got one that land safely upon Mars. Roeser, who was a bird, was one of the voyagers, and he didn't come back—he there, in a space-suit for three or four years, and got a brand-new education. Martian science always was hot, you know, but they were impractical. They were hard up for water and air, and while they had a of ideas and theories, they couldn't overcome the practical in the way of making their ideas work. Now other peoples' ideas to work was Roeser's long suit—don't think that I'm Roeser at all, either, for he was a and far-sighted man, was no scientist, and was one of the best and the world has known—and since Martian and Tellurian science each other, so that one in the of the other, it wasn't long until of space-freighters were in air and water from Venus, which had more of than she needed or wanted.
"Having done all he for the Martians and having learned most of the he wanted to know, Roeser came to Tellus and Interplanetary, with scientists and on all three planets, and set to work to the whole system, for the they used then were dangerous—regular mankillers, in fact. At about this same time Roeser and the Interplanetary Corporation had a big part in the of the world into one nation, so that no longer with progress."
"WITH this I can to fundamentals. Molecules are of the order, and of the order sound, light, heat, electricity, radio, and so on. Second order, atoms—extremely vibrations, such as hard X-rays. Third order, and protons, with their Millikan, or cosmic, rays. Fourth order, sub-electrons and sub-protons. These, in the material aspect, are to be the of the fourth order, and in the energy they are as Roeser's Rays. That is, these fourth-order and to of the nature of energy and matter. Following me?"
"Right you," she him. She had been intently, her wide-spaced upon his face.
"Since these Roeser's Rays, or or of the fourth order, to be and energy, and since the can be into what is to be the particles, they have been to be the from which and were built. Therefore, Norman Brandon has them the of creation, so that it would be to try to go any further...."
"Why, we were that they are the units!" she protested.
"I know you were—but we don't know anything, what we have learned empirically, about our forces. What is called the fourth-order particle is unknown, since nobody has been able to it, to say nothing of its or other properties. It has been to have the of light only that not with data. I'm going to give you the idea, since we have nothing to offer in its place, but I you that that idea is very wrong. There's a of there hasn't been up yet. In fact, Brandon thinks that the product of isn't what we think it is, at all—that the unit and the of the the fourth order, and possibly the level of the ether—but we haven't been able to a point of attack yet that will let us in anywhere. However, I'm 'way ahead of our subject. To to it, energy can be into something that like through Roeser's Rays, and that is the the drive of our space-ships, as well as that of almost all other vehicles on all three planets. Power is by the great of Tellus and Venus—water's on Mars, of course, so most of our plants there use fuel—and is on light beams, by means of powerful of to the receptors, they may be. The and are matched-frequency units, each the of some particular and of force. This is of Roeser's Rays, in their energy aspect. It took a long time to work out this tight-beam of power, but it was after they got it."
He took out a notebook, at the of which Nadia smiled.
"A computer might to dress, but you'd catch one without a full magazine pencil and a of blank paper," he in reply and on, as he talked.
"For any frequency, f, and phase angle, theta, you integrate, limits zero and pi by two, d...."
"Hold it—I'm sinking!" Nadia exclaimed. "I don't at all unless it is necessary. As long as you to science, I'm right on your heels, but off of and all that—most away from those terrible integrations. I always did think that they were the most known. I want only a idea—that's all that I can understand, anyway."
"Sure, I forgot—guess I was in than is necessary, since this whole thing of is yet and is to a long. There is so much that when we more than a hundred away from a power-plant we entirely. But to going again, the the and from them the power is sent to the accumulators, where it is stored. These are an of the battery. The of the is...."
"Lay off the theory, please!" the interrupted. "I perfectly without it. Energy is in the accumulators—you put it in and take it out. That's all that is necessary."
"I'D like to give you some of the theory—but, after all, it wouldn't add much to your of the of things, and it might mix you up, as some of it is stuff. Then, too, it would take a of time, and the of your friends would if I you here indefinitely. From the accumulators, then, the power is to the converters, each of which is by a projector. The the of the rays, from the energy to the material aspect. As soon as this is done, the highly-charged particles—or they are—thus are by the in the the converter. Each particle with a to be that of light, and the upon the the vessel, or car, or it is to. Still with me?"
"Struggling a little, but my nose is still above the surface. These particles, being so small that they cannot be detected, go right through any without any effect—they are not harmful."
"Exactly. Now we are in position to go ahead with the lights, detectors, and so on. The energy of the you can best as a in the ether—an high one. While not scientific, that is close for you and me. Nobody what the is, and it cannot be or by any model or in three-dimensional space. Its physical-mathematical interpretation, the only way in which it can be at all, sixteen in four dimensions, and I don't you'd to go into that."
"I'll say I wouldn't!" she exclaimed, feelingly.
"Well, anyway, by the use of of it can be used as a wave. Most of this of the of force—how to the up and through all the necessary—was out by the Martians ago. Used as a pure wave, with a and a at each end, it isn't so bad—that's why our and radio work as well as they do. They are good, really, but the ultra-light is something else again. Sending the through is easy, but it up, so as to view an object and return the impulses, was an job and one that isn't done yet. We see things, after a fashion and at a of a kilometers, by sending an almost from a twin-projector to and the wave. That's the way the plates and work, all over the ship—from the master-screens in the room to the plates of the and and the viewing-areas of the promenades. But the whole is a makeshift, and...."
"Just a minute!" the girl. "I and else have been that is perfect; and yet every single thing you have talked about, you have ended up by as 'unknown,' 'rudimentary,' 'temporary,' or a 'makeshift.' You speak as though the entire were a thing that will have to do until something has been found, and that nobody anything about anything! How do you that way?"
"By with Brandon and Westfall. Those have got and they're on the of something that will, in all probability, be as ahead of Roeser's Rays as our present is ahead of the science of the seventeenth century."
"Really?" she looked at him in astonishment. "Tell me about it."
"Can't be done," he refused. "I don't know much about it—even they didn't know any too much about some of it when I had to come in. And what little I do know I can't tell, it isn't mine."
"But you're with them, aren't you?"
"Yes, in the that a small boy helps his father a house. They're the brains—I do some that they don't want to waste time doing."
Nadia, having no in his disclaimer, but in pleased by his attitude, replied:
"Of you couldn't say anything about an project—I shouldn't have asked. Where do we go from here?"
"Down the of the hull, the passengers' to the upper projectors," and he the way a series of stairways, through and of steel. "One thing I to tell you about—the detectors. They're on the same as the lights, and are just about as efficient. Instead, of light, though, they send out of waves, which set up in any our own shell. Since all have been to material, that is to them, for radio the direction, distance, and of the disturbance, and a light on it. That was what when that light toward us, there in the prow."
"Are there any of those life-boats, that I've so much lately, near here?" asked the girl.
"Lots of 'em—here's one right here," and at the next landing he opened a vacuum-insulated door, on a light, and his hand. "You can't see much of it from here, but it's a complete space-ship in itself, of a dozen or fifteen a two-weeks' in space."
"Why isn't it a good idea to them? Accidents are still possible, are they not?"
"Of course, and there is no question of doing away with them entirely. Modern ships, however, have only of them to take of the largest number of to be by the vessel."
"Has the Arcturus more than she needs?"
"I'll say she has, and more of else, room for pay-load."
"I've them talking about her. I think it's a shame."
"So do I, in a way—you see, I helped design her and her sister-ship, the Sirius, which Brandon and Westfall are using as a laboratory. But times change, and the must go. She's a good old tub, but she was when was of space, and we had to put every safety into her that we think of. As a result, she is four times as as she should be, and that takes a of power. Her skin is too thick. She has too many of accumulators, too many life-boats, too many and air-breaks, too many and too much of everything. She is so that if she should up out in space, nobody would die if they through the shock—there are so many bulkheads, air-breaks, and life-boats that no how many pieces she up into, the would themselves in something able to navigate. That is no longer necessary. Modern ships ten times the pay-load on one-quarter of the power that this old battle-wagon uses. Even though she's only four years old, she's a of the days when we used to through on the route, right through all the that is always there—trusting to to off anything too small for the and to locate. Now, with the and check-stations out in space, light is sufficient, as we ourselves well away from the and so miss all the stuff. So, as I to see her go there, the old is for the junk-yard."
AFEW more of stairs them to the upper of projectors, which the the passengers' quarters, some sixty the prow. They were heavy, search-light-like upon bearings, free to turn in any direction, and each having its its of force. Stevens that these were used in the and in when necessary, and they on through another almost door into a and took an to the main corridor.
"Well, you've it, Miss Newton," Stevens said regretfully, as he her toward the captain's office. "The is full of stuff—accumulators, machinery, projectors, and such junk, so that the center of is the center of action of the projectors. That makes possible. It's all more or less like what we've just seen, and I don't you want to miss the dance—anyway, a of people want to with you."
"Wouldn't you just as soon me through the as dance?"
"Rather, lots!"
"So would I. I can any time, and I want to see everything. Let's go!"
Down they went, past after of accumulators; over and around the ever-increasing number of and bracers; through of and conduits; past after of which Stevens to his listener. They one of the great projectors, which, to the of the ship and in place by of steel, neither to the to the ear any of the it was exerting. Still they went, until the girl had been everything, to the ultra-lights and braces.
"Tired?" Stevens asked, as the was completed.
"Not very. It's been a climb, but I've had a time."
"So have I," he declared, positively. "I know what—we'll up into one of these and make us a cup of coffee we climb back. With me?"
"'Way ahead of you!" Nadia the enthusiastically, and they their way to the nearest of the space-cruisers. Here, although no had been in all the four years of the vessel's life, they in readiness, and the two soon had prepared and a luncheon.
"Well, I can't think of any more for you, Miss Newton, so I I'll have to take you back. Believe me, I've this more than you can realize—I've...."
He off and listened, every nerve taut. "What was that?" he exclaimed.
"What was what? I didn't anything?"
"Something somewhere! I a vibration, and anything that'd make this of must have us one gosh-awful nudge. There's another!"
The girl, tense, only a tremor, but the computer, than she the and of that of steel, into action. Leaping to the small look-out plate, he on the power and it upward.
"GREAT snakes!" he ejaculated, then mute, for the plate a terrible sight. The entire nose of the had been off in two slices as though off by a sword, and as they stared, fascinated, at the sight, the slices were slowly away. Swinging the view along the plane of cleavage, Stevens out a of metal, only fifty or so in diameter, at a of a mile. From this there a plane of light, and the Arcturus at the midsection, the clean from the upper portion, which the passengers. Leaving the upper intact, the the lower, into thin, disk-shaped sections. As that plane of its cut through the of the Arcturus, by an additional of and short-circuited high-tension leads, Stevens and Nadia themselves in the air of the room. Still the of the look-out plate, Stevens the white-faced girl with one hand, her him, and her while his mind over all the possibilities of the and planned his of action.
"They're us evenly, and by the looks of things, one cut is right about here," he rapidly, as he a and his through the door and along a narrow passage. Soon he opened another door and her into a so low that they not upright—a of steel. Carefully the door, he upon each of the of the cell, then himself up into a position, Nadia to do the same, and off the light.
"Please it on," the girl asked. "It's so ghastly!"
"We'd save it, Nadia," he advised, pressing her arm reassuringly, "it's the only light we've got, and we may need it later on—its life is limited, you know."
"Later on? Do you think we'll need anything—later on?"
"Sure! Of they may us, Nadia, but this little air-break is a small for them to hit. And if they miss us, as I think they will, there's a larger room opening off each of this one—at least one of which will be left intact. From any one of those rooms we can a life-boat. Of course, it's a little too much to that any one of the life-boats will be left whole, but they're bulkheaded, too, you know, so that we can be sure of something able to navigate—providing we can make our get-away. Believe me, ace, I'm sure we're the old Arcturus right now, with all her safety-devices, of on one of the modern liners. We'd be right."
"I for a minute—I'm now, though, since you are taking it so calmly."
"Sure—why not? A man's not until his stops beating, you know—our turn'll come next, when they let up a little."
"But they the of their slices, and this cubby, small as it is?"
"It'd be just too bad," he shrugged. "In that case, we'd know what us, so it's no good about it. But say, we might do something at that, if they didn't us square. I can move fast, and might be able to a door open the of pressure it. We'll light the ... here, you it, so that I can have hands free. Put arms around me, just under the arms, and to me like a plaster, if I have to move at all, I'll have to jump like lightning. Shine the right over there, so it'll and light up all the at once. There ... on tight! Here they come!"
As he spoke, a one of their hiding-place, then, a moment later, the was repeated, but with much less force, upon the other side. Stevens with relief, took the light, and it.
"Missed us clean!" he exulted. "Now, if they don't us, we're all set."
"How can they possibly us? I to be always about the things, but I should think that their us would be the least of our troubles."
"Don't judge their by ours—they've got everything, apparently. However, their may not be to spot us in a space this small when their through it, as they will. Then, too, there's a of other big in our favor—nobody else is in the entire half, since all this here is either or else from up above, so they won't be to see when they this far; and we aren't at all conspicuous. We're in gray—your in particular are almost the color of this armor-plate—so we a good of being missed."
"What shall we do now?"
"Nothing whatever—wish we sleep for a of hours, but of there's no of that. Stretch out here, like that—you can't up like an accordion—and I'll across the room. There's just room for me that way. That's one of weightlessness—you can on your head, and go to sleep and like it. But I forgot—you've been before, have you? Does it make you sick?"
"Not so much, now, that I inside. I was and at first, but it's going away."
"THAT'S good—it makes of people sick. In fact, some and can't to used to it at all. It's the in the ear that do most of it, you know. However, if you're as well as that already, you'll be a regular in an hour. I've been for at a stretch, out in the Sirius, and now I've got so I like it. Here, we'd keep in touch." He her hand and it under his arm. "Stabilize our positions more, us from too lonesome, here in the dark," he concluded, in a matter-of-fact voice.
"Thanks for saying 'us'—but you would, wouldn't you?" and a of through her for the and of the man with she had been by to her lot. "How long must we here?"
"As long as the air lasts, and I'd like to here longer than that. We don't want to move around any more than we have to until their are off of us, and we have no way of how long that will be. Also, we'd keep still. I don't know what of an they've got, but there's no use taking chances."
"All x—I'm an oyster's little sister," and for many minutes the two and silent. Now and then Nadia and started at some or sound—now and then her upon his biceps—and he pressed her hand with his great arm in and understanding. Once a of their under the impact of a and Stevens his arm around the girl, himself her and the wall, for any emergency. But nothing more happened; the door closed, the bottle-tight, and time slowly on. All too soon the of an themselves and Stevens, after each of the doors, the girl into a larger room, where they of the fresh, air.
"How did you know that this room was whole?" asked Nadia. "We might have out into space, mightn't we?"
"No; if this room had its tightness, the door wouldn't have opened. They won't open if there's a of one pressure on the two sides. That's how I that the room we were in at was cut in two—the door into that air-break wouldn't move."
"What comes next?"
"I don't know what to do—we'd a little of war. They may have gone..." Stevens off as the to move, and they settled upon what had been one of the side-walls. Greater and the acceleration, until their weight was almost as much as it would have been upon the Earth, at which point it constant. "... but they haven't," he the sentence. "This to be a and seizure, as well as an attack, so we'll have to take the of looking at them. Besides, it's cold in here. One or two of the have been and we're our out into space, so we'll have to into a life-boat or freeze. I'll go out the best one. Wonder if I'd take you with me, or you and come after you?"
"Don't worry about that—I'm with you," Nadia declared, positively.
"Just as well, probably," he assented, and they set out. A of all the tight that not a their intact, but that and of three such were available. Selecting the most of these, they took up their by entering it and the door. Stevens all the lights save one, and so that one it on that it the into a semi-permeable gloom. He then up to the plate, and with his hand upon the control, long the possible of what he to do.
"What would it do to take just a little peek?"
"I don't know—that's the of it. Maybe none, and then again, maybe a lot. You see, we don't know who or what we are up against. The only thing we know is that they've got us a hundred ways, and we've got to act accordingly. We've got to it sometime, though, if we can away, so we might as well do it now. I'll put it on very range first, and see what we can see. By the small number of we've got here I'm they've us up lengthwise, too—so that of having a whole slice of the old to live in, we've got only about a of one—shaped about like a piece of restaurant pie. One thing I can do, though. I'll turn on the and put it on full coverage—maybe we can something useful."
Putting a little power upon the plate, he moved the point of a from their hiding-place, so that the plate a view of the wreckage. The upper of the was still intact, the a of sharply-cut fragments. From each of the larger pieces a of outward. Suddenly their them, as the high-powered in the room to of their plight.
"Arcturus and cut up being taken tow...."
Rapidly as the message was the died with a in the middle of a word, and Nadia looked at Stevens with in her eyes.
"They've got something, that's one thing sure, to be able to our that way," he admitted. "Not so good—we'll have to play this close to our vests, girl!"
"Are you just trying to me up, or do you think we have a chance?" she demanded. "I want to know just where we stand."
"I'm clean with you, no kidding. If we can away, we'll be all x, I'll a farm that by this time Brandon's got those have, and maybe more. They us to it, that's all. I'm of afraid, though, that away isn't going to be as as fish a well."
FAR ahead of them a port opened, a out at its full power, and again their to into sound, but it was a attempt. The died one complete word be uttered, and the lifeboat, its power by the of the of the enemy, toward the of its parent and it in its flight. Several more the attempt, as the officers of the Arcturus, some of had succeeded in the of the captors, the little from ports; but as each issued, its power was and it itself along in the of one of those mysterious, of force. At least one officer must have been the efforts, for the next to issue no attempt, either to talk or to flee, but from it there out into space a of destruction—the terrible of annihilation, against which no for a moment; the which had definitely war. But that was useless—it its upon an impalpable, barrier, a hundred yards from its source, and the in one of as the its power in retaliation. Stevens, hard-set, from the screen, then himself up so that he across the floor. Shutting off the plate, he the half-fainting girl across the room to a seat and sat her—raging, but thoughtful. Nadia soon recovered.
"Why are you acting so to your nature—is it of me?" she demanded. "A dozen times I've you start to do something and then your mind. I will not be a on you you in anything you want to do."
"I told your father I'd look after you, and I'm going to do it," he replied, indirectly. "I would do it anyway, of course—even if you are ten or twelve years older than I you were."
"Yes, Dad has that I'm more than eight years old. I see—you were going out there and be slaughtered?" He flushed, but no reply. "In that case I'm I'm here—that would have been silly. I think we'd that of you mentioned a while ago, don't you?"
"I need a smoke—do you indulge?"
"No thanks. I it a times at school, but liked it."
He his pockets, to light an and a which proved to one cigarette. He it thoughtfully. "I'll this wreck," he decided, "while it's still smokable. We'll save the of them—I'm it'll be a long time smokes. Well, let's confer!"
"This will have to be a one-sided conference. I don't that any of my ideas will prove particularly helpful. You talk and I'll listen.
"You can't tell what ideas may be useful—chip in any time you the urge. Here's the dope, as I see it. They're and are in all neither Martians Venerians. If any of them had any such as that, some of us would have about it and, besides, I don't they would have used it in just that way. Mercury is not habitable, at least for beings; and we have any of any other of who work with and rays. They're from Jupiter, although possibly from away. I say Jupiter, I would think, from the small size of the ship, that it may still be in the stage, so that they didn't come from any away than Jupiter. Then, too, if they were very numerous, somebody would have one before. I'd give my left leg and four for one good look at the of that ship."
"Why didn't you take it, then? You looked toward it, after that one glimpse."
"I'll say I didn't—the being that they may have detectors, and as I have before, our of is so that its use be with a or a full of iron. But to resume: Their is to capture, not destroy, since they haven't killed the one that them. Apparently they want to study us or something. However, they don't that any of us shall away, send out a word of what has to us. Therefore it looks as though our best is to now, and try to away on them after a while—direct methods won't work. Right?"
"You lucid. Is there any possibility of back, though, if we got near Jupiter? It's so away!"
"It's a long from Jupiter to any of the where we have power-plants, all right—particularly now, when Mars and Tellus are an of something more than ninety at the sun, and Venus is the two, while Jupiter is clear across the sun from all three of them. Even when Jupiter is in opposition to Mars, it is still some five hundred and fifty away, so you can some idea as to how it is from our nearest now. No, if we to under our own power, we've got to away quick—these have very little capacity, and the are above about three hundred kilometers...."
"But it'll take us a long time to go that far, won't it?"
"Not very. Our own ships, using only the of gravity, and plus and at that, make the than four hundred of the long to Mars in five days. These are using almost that much acceleration, and I don't see how they do it. They must have a ray. Brandon that such a thing was possible, but Westfall and I couldn't see it. We him about it a lot—and he was right. I thought, of course, they'd with us, but they are using power steadily. They've got some system!"
"Suppose they be using intra-atomic energy? We were that it was impossible, but you've a of my knowledge today."
"I wouldn't want to say definitely that it is impossible, but the we go into that line, the more intra-atomic energy power-plants become. No, they've got a power-transmission system—one that can a tight together a than anything we have been able to develop, that's all. Well, we've them a of time to over any of us, let's see if we can away from them."
BY and of power to the of the life-boat, Stevens slowly the position of the which their until it was well clear of the other of the of wreckage. He then a very small force, so that their would the procession, as though it had been separated. But the of the was alert, and no sooner did a clear space itself them and the than a them up and them into place. Stevens then other pieces so that they out, only to see them also up. Hour after hour he trying—doing nothing to create any suspicion, but attempting he think of that offered any of from the of their captors. Immovable at the plate, his hands upon the controls, he performed every his brain devise, but he not succeed in their vehicle from its fellows. Finally, after a last attempt, which was as easily as were its predecessors, he off his and to his with a grin.
"I didn't think I away with it—they're keen, that gang—but I had to keep at it as long as it would have done us any good."
"Wouldn't it do us any good now?"
"Not a bit—we're going so fast that we couldn't stop—we're out of radio range of our power-plant. We'll have to put off any more until they slow us down. They're close to at least one of the of Jupiter, we'll have our best chance—so good, in fact, that I think we can make it."
"But what good would that do us, if we couldn't back?" Dire in her eyes.
"Lots of not yet, girl, and we'll try them all. First, we away. Second, we try to in touch with Norman Brandon...."
"How? No radio will that far."
"No, but I think that a radio as yet unknown may be able to—and there is a possibility that I'll be able to communicate."
"Oh wonderful—that a off my mind," she breathed.
"But just a minute—I said I'd come clean with you, and I will. The are all against us, no what we do. If that unknown radio won't work—and it won't—there are other we can try, but they're all chances. Even if we away, it'll be about the same thing as though you were to be on a without any tools, and with your upon your ability to a high-powered radio station with which to call to a for help. However, if we don't try to away, our only is them know we're here, and joining our friends in captivity."
"And then what?"
"You know as much as I do. Imprisonment and restraint, certain; death, possible; return to Earth, almost impossible—life as guests, improbable."
"I'm with you, Steve, all the way."
"Well, it's time to off—we've been than fifty hours. Personally, I'm all in, and you're so near that you're a physical wreck. We'll us a bite of supper and turn in."
An supper was prepared from the stores and each ate a than either would have possible. Stevens his of cigarettes, then put it into his pocket still and to Nadia.
"Well, little fellow, it's time to off, and then some. You might as well sleep here, and I'll go in there. If anything you, yell. Good-night, old trapper!"
"Wait a minute, Steve." Nadia flushed, and her and black eyebrows, in with her golden-blond hair, her a quizzical, that her as she into his eyes. "I've been away from the Earth before, and with all this I'm to death. I've been trying to it, but I couldn't it alone, and we're going to be together too long and too close for to affect us. There's two over there—why don't you sleep in one of them?"
He returned her for a moment in silence.
"All x with me, Nadia," he answered, out of his voice all of the he for her, and of his very for her in a situation. "You trust me, then?"
"Trust you! Don't be silly—I know you! I know you, and I know Brandon and Westfall—I know what you've done, and the of men you are. Trust you!"
"Thanks, old golf-shootist," and promises were and in a from which Nadia's right hand, as it was, damaged.
"By the way, what is your name, fellow-traveller?" she asked in vein. "Nobody, not Dad or Breckie, to call you anything but 'Steve' when they talk about you." She was at the of her question, for Stevens to his and spluttered.
"It's Percy!" He finally, snorted. "Percival Van Schravendyck Stevens. Wouldn't that tear it?"
"Why, I think Percival's a name!"
"Silence!" he in style. "Young woman, I have to you a to but creatures. On your life, keep it inviolate!"
"Oh, very well, if you insist. Good-night—Steve!" and she gave him a and smile: the he had since the moment of the attack.
