that was now far behind him, with plans for
Elena and the kids that were now a cruel mockery, with friendly memories
of Saul and Landers, now long dead, that he could not look at it
unmoved.

"Let's try again," said Shearing quietly. "If we could locate the
Titanite definitely it might make all the difference. We'll hardly have
time to search all six of the bins."

Glad of the distraction, Hyrst tried. He linked his mind to Shearing's
and they probed with this double probe, one after the other, the six
hoists and the bins beneath them, while the raft fell whistling down the
air.

It was the same as all the tries before. The bins had been empty for
more than a decade, but the residual radiation was still hot enough to
present a luminous haze to the eyes of the mind, fogging everything
around it.

"Wait a minute," Hyrst said. "Let's use our wits. Look at the way those
hoists are placed, in a wide crescent. Now if I was MacDonald, coming in
from the mountains with a load of Titanite, and I wanted not to be seen,
which one would I pick?"

"Either One or Six," said Shearing, without hesitation. "They're the
farthest away from the buildings."

"But Number Six is at the west end of the crescent, and to reach it you
would have to go clear across the landing field." He pointed mentally to
Number One. "I'll bet on that one. Shall we give it another try?"

They did. This time, for a fleeting second, Hyrst thought he had
something.

"So did I," said Shearing. "Sort of down under and _behind_."

"Yes," said Hyrst. "_Look_ out!" His involuntary cry was caused by the
sudden collision of the life-raft with a cloud. The vapor was very
thick, and after the cruel clarity of space it made Hyrst feel that he
was smothering. Shearing jockeyed the raft's meagre controls, and in a
minute or two they were below the cloud and spiralling down toward the
landing field. It was snowing.

"Good," said Shearing. "We'll hope it keeps up."

* * * * *

They landed close to Number One Hoist and floundered rapidly through the
shallow drifts, carrying some things. The hatch had been sealed with a
plastic spray to prevent corrosion, and it took them several minutes to
get it open. Inside the tower it was pitch black, but they did not need
lights. Their other senses showed them the worn metal treads of the
steps quite clearly. In the upper chamber the indicator panels were dark
and dead. Hyrst shivered inside his