What?"

"It amounts to that. One pilot blacked out at the start of an offensive
approach. He lost contact before recovering--you realize how quickly
that happens at interplanetary speeds. On several other ships, there
were passive mutinies. One was destroyed; how, we do not know."

"Why don't you get some _men_ in your Department of Security?" sneered
Brecken.

Varret sighed. "It was far from simple cowardice. The crews had fine
records. We have been civilized too long, so long that the idea of
deliberate killing unnerved them. As to the one ship that did make some
motion to attack, it may have been destroyed by the cruiser's defenses,
or even by sabotage. Somebody may quite possibly have found the mission
too repulsive to face with complete sanity."

He was interrupted by a uniformed man, who slid the door open and
gestured significantly. Varret paused. He nodded, and the newcomer
retired.

"I have only a few minutes," said the old man, facing them again. "To be
brief, this patrol vessel is armed with the best we have in guided
atomic missiles and sensitive detection devices. Technical manuals are
supplied for everything we could think of, though I doubt you will need
them. We have brought you to within a few hundred miles of _them_.

"In a few minutes, my men and I will transfer to an escort ship. We will
slip in behind Deimos, not too far away, and pick you up afterward to
land you on Mars. Any questions?"

"Yes," said Phillips.

"What?"

"Why should we do anything at all?"

Varret's lips tightened. A guard shrugged contemptuously. "I was told to
expect that attitude," the old man admitted. "I suppose it is part of
the character we now think is needed for such an expedition."

"You could hardly expect co-operation," Phillips pointed out. "Laws
against any kind of homicide are all well enough, but I for one don't
see why I should draw the same sentence as a murderer. I had to protect
myself or die--probably through having that crazy fool blow up my rocket
room."

"You'll make a cold landing on Sol before you'll get any help from me!"
Brecken added defiantly.

The girl said nothing, but Truesdale muttered darkly.

"Please!" said Varret. "I have no time to argue about our social and
legal codes. The Council foresaw that the threat of being yourselves
subject to this plague might not be enough. If you succeed in destroying
or even immobilizing the cruiser, I can offer you anything you want
short of uns