ame with Chet, yet few words of speculation
were exchanged. Instead, the storage of supplies, a checking and
rechecking of lists, additional careful testing of generators--such
details absorbed them.

And the heavy, gray powder with its admixture of radium that
transformed it to super-detonite--this must be carefully charged into
the magazines of the generators. A thousand such responsibilities--and
yet the moment finally came when all was done.

The midnight sun shone redly from a distant horizon. It cast strange
lights across the icy waste. And it flashed back in crimson splendor
from the gleaming hull that floated from the hangar and came to rest
upon the snowy world.

The two men closed the great doors, and it was as if they were
shutting themselves off from their last contact with the world. They
stood for long moments, silent, in the utter silence of the frozen
north.

Chet Bullard turned, and Harkness gripped his hand. He was suddenly
aware of his thankfulness for the companionship of this tall, blond
youngster. He tried to speak--but what words could express the tumult
of emotions that arose within him? His throat was tight....

It was Chet who broke the tense silence; his happy grin flashed like
sunshine across his lean face.

"You're right," he answered his companion's unspoken thoughts; "it's a
great little old world we're leaving. I wonder what the new one will
be like."

And Harkness smiled back. "Let's go!" he said, and turned toward the
waiting ship.

* * * * *

The control room was lined with the instruments they had installed. A
nitron illuminator flashed brilliantly upon shining levers--emergency
controls that they hoped they would not have to use. Harkness placed
his hand upon a small metal ball as Chet reported all ports closed.

The ball hung free in space, supported by the magnetic attraction of
the curved bars that made a cage about it. An adaptation of the
electrol device that had appeared on the most modern ships, Harkness
knew how to handle it. Each movement of the ball within its cage,
where magnetic fields crossed and recrossed, would bring instant
response. To lift the ball would be to lift the ship; a forward
pressure would throw their stern exhaust into roaring life that would
hurl them forward; a circular motion would roll them over and over. It
was as if he held the ship itself within his hand.

Chet touched a button, and a white light flashe