t was thoughtful. "If we could talk to her--she must still have that
suit-phone I gave her. Where's another?"

* * * * *

Crain quickly detached the compact suit-phone from inside the neck of
his own space-suit, and Kent rapidly tuned it to the one he had given
Marta Mallen. His heart leapt as her voice came instantly from it:

"Rance! Rance Kent--"

"Marta--this is Rance!" he cried.

He heard a sob of relief. "I've been calling you for minutes! I was
hoping that you'd remember to listen!

"Jandron and ten of the others have gone to that wreck in which you
found the fuel," she added swiftly. "They unreeled a tube-line behind
them as they went, and I can hear them pumping in the fuel now."

"Are the others guarding you?" Kent asked quickly.

"They're down in the lower deck at the tanks and airlocks. They won't
allow me down on that deck. I'm up here in the middle-deck, absolutely
alone.

"Jandron told me that we'd start out of here as soon as the fuel was
in," she added, "and he and the men were laughing about Krell."

"Marta, could you in any way get space-helmets and get out to bring them
over here to us?" Kent asked eagerly.

"There's a lot of space-suits and helmets here," she answered, "but I
couldn't get out with them, Rance! I couldn't get to the airlocks with
Jandron's seven or eight men down there guarding them!"

Kent felt despair; then as an idea suddenly flamed in him, he almost
shouted into the instrument:

"Marta, unless you can get over here with helmets for us, we're all
lost. I want you to put on a space-suit and helmet at once!"

* * * * *

There was a short silence, and then her voice came, a little muffled.
"I've got the suit and helmet on, Rance. I'm wearing the suit-phone
inside it."

"Good! Now, can you get up to the pilot-house? There's no one guarding
it or the upper-deck? Hurry up there, then, at once."

Crain and the rest were staring at Kent. "Kent, what are you going to
have her do?" Crain exclaimed. "It'll do no good for her to start the
_Pallas_: those guards will be up there in a minute!"

"I'm not going to have her start the _Pallas_," said Kent grimly.
"Marta, you're in the pilot-house? Do you see the heavy little steel
door in the wall beside the instrument-panel?"

"I'm at it, but it's locked with a combination-lock," she said.

"The combination is 6-34-77-81," Kent told her swiftly. "Open it as
quickly as you