ld, blazing brightly
beneath the sun; to see the valley of fires--and he had a score to
settle with the tribe of ape-men, unless Harkness had finished them
off while he, himself, lay unconscious.... Yes, there seemed little
doubt of that; Walt would have paid the score for all of them.... He
seemed actually back in that world to which his thoughts went winging
across the depths of space. The burr of a telephone recalled him.

It was the hospital office, he found, when he answered. There was a
message--would Mr. Bullard kindly receive it on the telautotype--lever
number four, and dial fifteen-point-two--thanks.... And Chet depressed
a key and adjusted the instrument that had been printing the newscast.

The paper moved on beneath the glass, and the type-bars clicked more
slowly now. From some distant station that might be anywhere on or
above the earth, there was coming a message.

The frequency of that sending current was changed at some central
office; it was stepped down to suit the instrument beside him. And the
type was spelling out words that made the watching man breathless and
intent--until he tore off the paper and leaped for the call signal
that would summon the nurse. Through her he would get his own clothes,
his uniform, the triple star that showed his rating and his authority
in every air-level of the world.

That badge would have got him immediate attention on any landing
field. Now, on the flat roof, with steady, gray eyes and a voice whose
very quietness accentuated its imperative commands, Chet had the staff
of the hospital hangars as alert as if their alarm had sounded a
general ambulance call.

* * * * *

Straight into the sky a red beacon made a rigid column of light; a
radio sender was crackling a warning and a demand for "clear air."
From the forty level, a patrol ship that had caught the signal came
corkscrewing down the red shaft to stand by for emergency work....
Chet called her commander from the cabin of Diane's ship. A word of
thanks--Chet's number--and a dismissal of the craft. Then the white
lights signaled "all clear" and the hold-down levers let go with a
soft hiss--

The feel of the controls was good to his hands; the ship roared into
life. A beautiful little cruiser, this ship of Diane's; her twin
helicopters lifted her gracefully into the air. The column of red
light had changed to blue, the mark of an ascending area; Chet touched
a switch. A muff