othing we can do now. No use getting
frozen again."

"That's using your head, Corbett." Miles laughed. "Pick up that box and
get going."

Astro picked up the lead box again and staggered after Tom toward the
door. Miles and Brett stepped back, guns ready, and watched the two
cadets walk slowly ahead of them into the tunnel.

* * * * *

Captain Strong and Sergeant Morgan crept to the side of the warehouse
and flattened themselves against the wall. With the gas swirling around
them thicker than ever, they found it more difficult than ever to see
where they were going.

"I think I see a door ahead," said Strong.

"Want me to see if it'll open, sir?" asked Morgan.

"No. I'll look around in the warehouse," replied the Solar Guard
captain. "You investigate the ship. If anyone's aboard, keep him there
until I contact you. If not, come back here and wait for me."

"Very well, sir," said Morgan, and turned toward the black ship. In a
moment he was lost in the deadly mist.

Strong made his way to the door and twisted the latch. The door slid
open easily, and he stepped inside, closing it behind him and waiting
for some signs of life or movement. The gas was like a thick fog in the
room and he inched his way forward, hands outstretched like a blind
person. Gradually he began to see the vague form of a door on the
opposite wall and he made his way toward it, completely unaware that he
came within inches of falling through the open trap door in the floor.

He opened the door in the wall slowly, peering inside cautiously. He was
startled to feel the faint rush of air on his hands and to see the room
clear of the dangerous methane ammonia gas. He moved quickly inside and
made a hurried inspection of the gear, not bothering to look to examine
it closely. He shrugged his shoulders. It was just as Morgan had said.
An abandoned warehouse with old mining gear and nothing else.

Suddenly he stopped. There was something strange about the room and he
looked around again. The gas! There were no ammonia vapors in the room.
He quickly searched along the walls for some outlet of oxygen,
remembering now the rush of air he had felt as he opened the door. Close
to a corner near the door, he found a small opening. Air poured out of
it in a steady rush. He straightened up, his face grim. "So that's it,"
he said to himself. "Somebody has been sucking off oxygen from the main
pumps!"

Strong headed for the d