but true; and he threw
the half-stunned body of Schwartzmann from him. Then, instead of
following it with punishing blows, he sprang toward the port.

* * * * *

With one hand on the lever, he turned to dart a glance toward the column
of flame. It was gone! And in its place came green, billowing gas that
was coughed and spewed into the air to be caught up in the steady breeze
that blew directly from the vent.

Beside him, his antagonist, prone on the lava floor, dragged himself
beneath the ship to reach for the gun. Chet paid no heed; his every
thought--his whole being, it seemed--was focused upon the lever that
turned so slowly, that let fall, at last, a lock whose releasing
mechanism clanged loudly through the metal wall.

The outer port, a thin door that served only to streamline the opening,
swung open under Chet's hand. And, while he held his breath till his
pumping heart set his whole body to pulsing, he drew himself into the
ship as the green cloud wrapped thickly about. But first he bent to
grasp the knotted vines and leathery leaves that enclosed a bulky
package.

The port closed silently upon its soft-faced gasket; it was gas-tight
when no pressure was applied. And Chet stumbled and reached blindly till
he fell beside the huge inner compression port, while the breath of gas
that had touched him tore with ripping talons at his throat.

More measureless time--whether hours or minutes Chet could never have
told--and he sat upright and tried to believe the utterly incredible
story that his eyes were telling.

A short passage and a control room beyond! It was just as they had left
it; was it days or years before? The shattered control cage was there,
the familiar instrument board, the very bar of metal with which he had
wrought such havoc in that wild moment of demolition; it was all crystal
clear under the flooding light of the nitron illuminator!

* * * * *

Yes, it was true! He, Chet Bullard, was staring wide-eyed at his own
control-room, in his own ship--his and Walt's--and he was alone! The
remembrance of Walt and Diane, and the realization that now, by some
miracle, he might be of help, brought him to his feet.

He sprang toward a lookout where the last light of day was gone and a
monstrous moon shone down upon a world of ghastly green. Yet, through
the gas, every detail of the world outside showed clear; even the giant
fumerole that ha