rridor Four. Her freckled countenance was distorted
by a scowl. "Hey, Mike, wait a minute," she said, low and hurriedly.
"Have you seen La Ziska?"

"The leftenant? Why, no. I left her with you, remember, hoping you
could calm her down."

"Uh-huh. She was incandescent mad. Called us a pack of bandits
and--But then she started crying. Seemed to break down completely. I
took her to your cabin and went back to help Jimmy. Only, when I
checked there a minute ago, she was gone."

"What? Where?"

"How should I know? But that she-devil's capable of anything to wreck
our chances."

"You're not being fair to her. She's got an oath to keep."

"All right," said Avis sweetly. "Far be it from me to prevent her
fulfilling her obligations. Afterward she may even write you an
occasional letter. I'm sure that'll brighten your Rehab cell no end."

"What can she do?" Blades argued, with an uneasy sense of whistling in
the dark. "She can't get off the asteroid without a scooter, and I've
already got Sam's gang working on all the scooters."

"Is there no other possibility? The radio shack?"

"With a man on duty there. That's out." Blades patted the girl's arm.

"O.K., I'll get back to work. But ... I'll be so glad when this is
over, Mike!"

Looking into the desperate brown eyes, Blades felt a sudden impulse to
kiss their owner. But no, there was too much else to do. Later,
perhaps. He cocked a thumb upward. "Carry on."

_Too bad about Ellen_, he thought as he continued toward his office.
_What an awful waste, to make a permanent enemy of someone with her
kind of looks. And personality--Come off that stick, you clabberhead!
She's probably the marryin' type anyway._

_In her shoes, though, what would I do? Not much; they'd pinch my
feet. But--damnation, Avis is right. She's not safe to have running
around loose. The radio shack? Sparks is not one of the few who've
been told the whole story and co-opted into the plan. She could_--

Blades cursed, whirled, and ran.

His way was clear. Most of the men were still in their dorms,
preparing to leave. He traveled in huge low-gravity leaps.

The radio shack rose out of the surface near the verandah. Blades
tried the door. It didn't budge. A chill went through him. He backed
across the corridor and charged. The door was only plastiboard--

He hit with a thud and a grunt, and rebounded with a numbed shoulder.
But it looked so easy for the cops on 3V!

No time to figure out the del