Her eyes blazed. "You think that's all its means to us? Just money and
power?" She whispered, "I hope they kill you, Duke Gray!"

* * * * *

He rose lazily and opened the air lock, then turned and freed her. And,
sharply, the valley was bathed in a burst of light.

"Damn!" Gray picked up the sound of air motors overhead. "They must have
had infra-red search beams. Well, that does it. We'll have to run for
it, since this bus isn't armed."

With eerie irrelevancy, the teleradio buzzed. At this time of night,
after the evening storms, some communication was possible.

Gray had a hunch. He opened the switch, and the face of John Moulton
appeared on the screen. It was white and oddly still.

"Our guards saw your ship cross the plain," said Moulton quietly. "The
men of the Project, led by Dio, are coming for you. I sent them, because
I have decided that the life of my daughter is less important than the
lives of many thousands of people.

"I appeal to you, Gray, to let her go. Her life won't save you. And it's
very precious to me."

Caron's ship swept over, low above the cables, and the grinding
concussion of a bomb lifted the ship, hurled it down with the stern end
twisted to uselessness. The screen went dead.

Gray caught the half stunned girl. "I wish to heaven I could get rid of
you!" he grated. "And I don't know why I don't!"

But she was with him when he set out down the valley, making for the
cliff caves, up where the copper cables were anchored.

Caron's ship, a fast, small fighter, wheeled between the cliffs and
turned back. Gray dropped flat, holding the girl down. Bombs pelted them
with dirt and uprooted vegetables, started fires in the wheat. The pilot
found a big enough break in the cables and came in for a landing.

Gray was up and running again. He knew the way into the explored
galleries. From there on, it was anybody's guess.

Caron was brazen enough about it. The subtle way had failed. Now he was
going all out. And he was really quite safe. With the broken cables to
act as conductors, the first thunderstorm would obliterate all proof of
his activities in this valley. Mercury, because of its high electrical
potential, was cut off from communication with other worlds. Moulton,
even if he had knowledge of what went on, could not send for help.

Gray wondered briefly what Caron intended to do in case he, Gray, made
good his escape. That outpost in the main valley,