It took quite a while to get where he was going, since it involved
hiding and ducking two or three more times along the way, but he finally
reached the big compartment where the water repurifiers were. He climbed
up the ladder to the top of the reserve tank, opened the hatch, and
emptied the contents of the jar into the ship's water supply.

"That ought to do it," he said to himself. Smiling, he carefully smashed
the jar and dropped the fragments down the waste chute. He surveyed his
handiwork for a moment, then turned and headed back.

He hadn't been seen going down, and he didn't want to be seen going out.
If anyone even suspected that he had tampered with the water supply, all
they would have to do would be to run the water through the purifiers.
That would undo everything Wayne had been carefully preparing.

* * * * *

He made his way safely back up to the main deck and headed through the
quiet ship toward the airlock. He wasn't so lucky this time; a guard saw
him.

"Where you goin', Captain?" the guard demanded, starting to lift his
gun. "Seems to me you ought to be in the brig, and--"

Wayne made no reply. He brought his gun up in a rapid motion and beamed
the man down. The guard toppled, a hurt expression on his face.

Wayne raced to the airlock. He didn't bother with a spacesuit--not
_now_, when he knew that the air was perfectly harmless outside. He
opened the inner door, closed it, and opened the outer door.

Then, grinning gleefully, he pressed the button that would start the
pumping cycle. The outer door started to close automatically, and Wayne
just barely managed to get outside and onto the ladder before it clanged
shut. As soon as the great hatch had sealed itself, the pumps started
exhausting the air from the airlock. No one could open the doors until
the pumping cycle was over.

He climbed down the ladder and began walking over toward the western
wall. He would have to keep away from the ship for a while, and the
rocks were as good a place as any to hide out.

* * * * *

It was dark. Fomalhaut had set, leaving the moonless planet in utter
blackness, broken only by the cold gleam of the stars. The lights
streaming from the portholes of the _Lord Nelson_ gave a small degree of
illumination to the valley.

The valley. It was spread out before him, calm and peaceful, rippling
dunes of sand curling out toward the mountains. The valle