for Garth to sit up and rest his chest and arms
upon his knees. He rubbed his forehead, felt the bruise at his temple
and gazed speculatively at the sky. Then, he studied the bubbling
earth only a few feet away from him and realized how close he had been
to death from the space vessel's back-blasts. He shuddered a moment.

After his head cleared, he struggled to his feet and walked over the
damp grass to the work shack. Entering, he searched through a chemical
cabinet until he found the vials he wanted. From them, he compounded a
liquid mixture which he forced into the ampoule of a hypodermic
needle.

When he stepped outside again, he saw the sky had darkened quickly
with evening. He walked over to the stricken mechanics and
administered an injection into the neck muscles of each man. The
counter-toxin took hold, speedily erasing the depressant effect of the
drug Garth had originally fed the men--a non-fatal dosage of an
irritant similar to the one Dollard had ordered be used to slay them.

He'd supervised a lot of Dollard's underhanded work for him, Garth
told himself as he waited for the hypo stimulant to react. But
murdering helpless men had been something he had rebelled at. And now
that Dollard had deserted him, at least he would have company on Terra
during his last days of life. It was an outcome Garth had anticipated,
although he had been unable to predict just when Dollard would launch
his surprise attack.

The men came to sluggishly, their reactions pathetic and confused. The
first thing they appeared to notice when their conscious minds took
hold of their environment was the empty circle of terrain where the
space yacht had formerly stood.

"Dollard took off," Garth explained. "He drugged us all, after we'd
gotten the vessel in shape for him."

"The dirty swine--he promised he'd take us!" the men protested.

"Like so many other promises he never intended to keep," said Garth.
"He told you men--for instance--the ship was headed for Luna. Me, he
told, he was bound for Venus. I think his destination is Venus, but
he'll never get there."

"Not get there--why?"

"Because of a little secret I never let him know," Garth replied,
rubbing his nose and grinning wryly. "My wife is on Venus, where the
plague can't reach her. And I promised myself days ago that Dollard
should never be given the opportunity to infect that planet. That's
one promise that has been kept. At least, I know now that Ellen will
be sa