oked a question at his
son, and Sarka knew that his father was asking what had become of Sarka
the First. He shrugged his shoulders, and nodded his head toward Dalis.
Sarka the Second gave no more sign of perturbation than had his son, but
deep within his eyes were signal fires of fury which centuries of
penance on the part of Dalis would not erase. But now, with Sarka the
First gone, Dalis must live.

"We are headed," said Sarka's father softly, "in the general direction
of the Moon! If we could travel toward it in a straight line, we would
reach it, if we kept our pace of about eighteen miles per second, in
approximately four hours! But since we are out of control, I fear we
will pass it too far away for our fighters to fly across the intervening
space! Or we may be drawn against it, in planetary collision, which of
course means annihilation. We are traveling noticeably faster than while
in the earth's orbit. I am able to see something of the preparation of
Moon-men to receive us!"

* * * * *

Dalis turned to Sarka, and the perspiration bedewed his forehead. In
order to make this mad mission successful, he must know Sarka's secret
of control. Had he been in Sarka's place, _he_ would have kept his
secret, no matter what happened, and he believed in his heart that Sarka
would do the same. It never occurred to him that Sarka, no matter who
the master, would divulge his secret in order to save humanity from
destruction.

"We have approximately four hours, Dalis!" Sarka prompted the betrayer.
"I need at least an hour for my experiments! Do you, knowing as you do
that I have planned all this out, know exactly what course our voyage
should take, still insist on holding the reins yourself?"

"I agree, for this time, to listen to your advice, as I promised you!"

"Then let me suggest that you do some of the work which I had planned
should be done by my father's father! It is time that the world's
Induction Conduits be placed in operation, in order that our people be
supplied with equable temperature from the Earth's Core, as our
temperature changes due to our position with relation to the sun! Stand
back and give me the controls!"

* * * * *

For a moment Dalis stared at the two Sarkas. Would they seize power the
moment he moved away from the Beryl Control? In their places he knew he
would have done it. In their places he knew he would never have
submerged