ame for
him when I caught him, but he's been running from me ever since."

"Marsopolis, eh?" asked Strong. "Two years ago?"

"Yeah."

"I think you're lying! You're Solar Guard."

"Honest, Steve," whined Pete. "That's the only reason I want him. Ask
anybody. It happened in the Spacelanes Bar on New Denver Avenue. I bet
there are five guys here right now who heard about it!"

Strong got up, pushing the gun back in his belt.

"Come on, Tom. I don't like the way your friend Pete answers questions."

"Wait a minute!" Pete rose from his chair, protesting.

Strong whirled around and faced the scar-faced man. "If I were you,
Pete," he muttered, "I'd sit still and not ask any more questions. It
isn't healthy!"

Without another word Strong walked out of the dingy restaurant. Tom
shrugged his shoulders in a helpless gesture and followed, leaving Pete
alone and worried.

Outside in the street, his face bathed in the garish light of the vapor
street lights, Strong stopped to wipe his forehead.

"Whew!" he gasped. "We certainly bulled our way through that one!"

"I felt the same way," said Tom. "But at least we have something to go
on. You think he was suspicious?"

"No, Tom. He was so scared when I accused him of being tied up with the
Solar Guard it threw him completely off stride."

"Well? Where do we go from here?" asked Tom.

"Back to the ship," replied Strong. "And as soon as Astro and Roger show
up, we blast off for Marsopolis. Our next target is a joint called the
Spacelanes!"

* * * * *

Against a backdrop of shimmering stars that studded the velvet black
emptiness of space, the freighter _Dog Star_ rocketed toward the red
planet of Mars carrying the four spacemen on the next step of their
search. Relaxing from the three arduous days on the Moon and able to be
themselves once more, Strong and the three cadets rested and discussed
every detail of their stay in Luna City. It was finally decided that
their only real chance of tracing Wallace and Simms lay in the
Spacelanes Bar. As they approached Mars, Strong outlined their next
move.

"We'll do the same thing as we did in Luna City," he said. "Split up.
Only this time, we'll all go to the same place, the Spacelanes. Tom and
I will go in first and do most of the nosing around. Astro and Roger
will drift in later and hang around, just in case there's trouble."

The three cadets nodded their understanding, and when Strong tur