nothing moved; where only the terrific, explosive impact of bursting
detonite drove out from the stern to throw them forward. "A good little
ship," Chet had said of this cruiser of Diane's; and he nodded approval
now of a ground-speed detector whose quivering needle had left the 500
mark. It touched 600, crept on, and trembled at 700 miles an hour with
the top speed of the ship.

There was a position-finder in the little control-room, and Chet's gaze
returned to it often to see the pinpoint of light that crept slowly
across the surface of a globe. It marked their ever-changing location,
and it moved unerringly toward a predetermined goal.

* * * * *

It was a place of ice and snow and bleak outcropping of half-covered
rocks where he descended. Lost from the world, a place where even the
high levels seldom echoed to the roar of passing ships, it had been a
perfect location for their "shop." Here he and Walt had assembled their
mystery ship.

He had to search intently over the icy waste to find the exact location;
a dim red glow from a hidden sun shone like pale fire across distant
black hills. But the hills gave him a bearing, and he landed at last
beside a vaguely outlined structure, half hidden in drifting snow.

The dual fans dropped him softly upon the snow ground and Chet, as he
walked toward the great locked doors, was trembling from other causes
than the cold. Would the ship be there? He was suddenly a-quiver with
excitement at the thought of what this ship meant--the adventure, the
exploration that lay ahead.

The doors swung back. In the warm and lighted room was a cylinder of
silvery white. Its bow ended in a gaping port where a mighty exhaust
could roar forth to check the ship's forward speed; there were other
ports ranged about the gleaming body. Above the hull a control-room
projected flatly; its lookouts shone in the brilliance of the nitron
illuminator that flooded the room with light....

Chet Bullard was breathless as he moved on and into the room. His wild
experiences that had seemed but a weird dream were real again. The Dark
Moon was real! And they would be going back to it!

* * * * *

The muffled beating of great helicopters was sounding in his ears;
outside, a ship was landing. This would be Harkness coming to join him;
yet, even as the thought flashed through his mind, it was countered by a
quick denial. To the experienced hea