lated inside face to that enigmatical Outside that had been a
grisly mystery to the race for some five hundred centuries.

There was a flash of sparks, and the quiet hum of motors. With a
shuddering groan the great plug freed itself from the grip of
millennia; turned a few inches in its hole. The supporting gimbals
took the load now, and slowly the great mass moved inward, carried by
an overhead traveling crane whose track was bolted to the rock roof.
The rate of movement was slow, not much over three or four inches a
minute.

An excited murmur filled the cavern--almost hysterical joy. But
Mich'l, watching that widening margin for the dreaded gush of liquid
air, only trembled with relief. At least the calamity that had visited
rash Atlantica would not be repeated here.

A young technie, one of the heat distributors, climbed up the heavy
bosses on the gateway's face.

"I'm going to be the first to see the Sun!" he shouted joyously. His
challenging gaze roved over the waiting crowd, and suddenly his face
turned ashen. For at the turn of the corridor, some hundred yards
away, he had seen men. No mistaking those uniforms; they were
soldiers. And Mich'l, following his gaze, saw a riot-ray being wheeled
into place. His own riot-ray already commanded the corridor, but he
dared not use it. The soldiers, under the partial protection of the
turn, could incinerate the helpless technies with little danger to
themselves.

"Wait!" Mich'l shouted, running into the open.

* * * * *

An officer came to meet him. He then recognized Captain Ilgen, whose
exceptional shrewdness had almost undone him before. Ilgen could not
see the slow movement of the gate, and Mich'l, himself weaponless,
counted only on parleying for time.

They met midway between the two forces, and the small black lens of
the captain's weapon pointed steadily at Mich'l's chest.

"Mich'l Ares, I arrest you." It seemed that the captain's fine gray
eyes looked out of the lean face with real sympathy. "It may be there
will be executive clemency for these people of yours, but for you--"

Mich'l, tense and deadly, saw the captain's vigilant attention leave
his face for a second; saw his eyes widen in consternation. He could
not know that Ilgen had seen a slender crescent of green light appear
in the Frozen Gate, but he did not lose the opportunity. His fist
crashed on the captain's jaw, so that the soldierly figure reeled and
the nee