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bviously wholly serious. He seemed to read my thoughts. "I kill only when necessary. We will land upon the asteroid. A perfect place to maroon the passengers. Is it not so? I will give them the necessities of life. They will be able to signal. And in a month or so, when we are safely finished with our adventure, a police ship no doubt will rescue them." "And then, from the asteroid," I suggested, "we are going--" "To the Moon, Haljan. What a clever guesser you are! Coniston and Hahn are calculating our course. But I have no great confidence in them. And so I want you." "You have me." "Yes. I have you. I would have killed you long ago--I am an impulsive fellow--but my sister restrained me." He gazed at me slyly. "Moa seems strangely to like you, Haljan." "Thanks," I said. "I'm flattered." "She still hopes I may really win you to join us," he went on. "Gold-leaf is a wonderful thing; there would be plenty for you in this affair. And to be rich, and have the love of a woman like Moa...." He paused. I was trying cautiously to gauge him, to get from him all the information I could. I said, with another smile, "That is premature, to talk of Moa. I will help you chart your course. But this venture, as you call it, is dangerous. A police-ship--" "There are not many," he declared. "The chances of us encountering one is very slim." He grinned at me. "You know that as well as I do. And we now have those code pass-words--I forced Dean to tell me where he had hidden them. If we should be challenged, our pass-word answer will relieve suspicion." "The _Planetara_," I objected, "being overdue at Ferrok-Shahn, will cause alarm. You'll have a covey of patrol-ships after you." "That will be two weeks from now," he smiled. "I have a ship of my own in Ferrok-Shahn. It lies there waiting now, manned and armed. I am hoping that, with Dean's help, we may be able to flash it a signal. It will join us on the Moon. Fear not for the danger, Haljan. I have great interests allied with me in this thing. Plenty of money. We have planned carefully." * * * * * He was idly fingering his cylinder; his gaze roved me as I sat docile on my bunk. "Did you think George Prince was a leader of this? A mere boy. I engaged him a year ago--his knowledge of ores is valuable." My heart was pounding, but I strove not to show it. He went on calmly. "I told you I am impulsive. Half a dozen times I have n
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