of the aliens. And hadn't the skin been fairer? Was there
another race on this continent, one they had not been told about?

When they at last reached the shore of the western continent and
finally the home city of the aliens, the globe headed back to its
berth, not in the roof cradle from which it had arisen, but sinking
into the building itself. Raf brought the flitter down on a roof as
close to the main holding of the painted people as he could get. None
of the aliens came near them. It seemed that they were to be ignored.
Hobart paced along the flat roof, and Soriki sat in the flyer, nursing
his com, intent upon the slender thread of beam which tied them to the
parent ship so many miles away.

"I don't understand it." Lablet's voice arose almost plaintively.
"They were so very persuasive about our accompanying them. They were
eager to have us see their treasures--"

Hobart swung around. "Somehow the balance of power has changed," he
observed, "in their favor. I'd give anything to know more about that
prisoner of theirs. You're sure it wasn't one of the furry people?" he
asked Raf, as if hoping against hope that the pilot would reply in
doubt.

"Yes, sir." Raf hesitated. Should he air his suspicions, that the
captive was not of the same race as his captors either? But what
proof had he beyond a growing conviction that he could not
substantiate?

"A rebel, a thief--" Lablet was ready to dismiss it as immaterial.
"Naturally they would be upset if they were having trouble with one of
their own men. But to leave now, just when we are on the verge of new
discoveries--That anti-gravity unit alone is worth our whole trip!
Imagine being able to return to earth with the principle of that!"

"Imagine being able to return to earth with our skins on our backs,"
was Soriki's whispered contribution. "If we had the sense of a
Venusian water nit, we'd blast out of here so quick our tail fumes'd
take off with us!"

Privately Raf concurred, but the urge to know more about the
mysterious prisoner was still pricking at him, until he, contrary to
his usual detachment, felt driven to discover all that he could. It
was almost, but Raf shied away from that wild idea, it was almost as
if he were hearing a voiceless cry for aid, as if his mind was one of
Soriki's coms tuned in on an unknown wave length. He was angrily
impatient with himself for that fantastic supposition. At the same
time, another part of his mind, as he walked to th