r, the _Kabit_, landed on Hydrot, and she's in
some sort of mysterious trouble. Orders from the Chief himself are to
proceed there immediately. Are any men away from the ship on leave?"

"If there are, we can do without them!" shouted Correy. "I'll stand a
double watch."

"The crew is on duty, sir," said Kincaide quietly. "Mr. Hendricks is
aboard directing the taking on of supplies. We can leave any time you
order, sir."

"We leave immediately, gentlemen," I said. "Mr. Correy, will you give
the necessary orders?"

"Yes, sir!" grinned Correy, his eyes dancing like a schoolboy's. He was
in the navigating room jabbing attention signals and snapping orders
into the microphone before Kincaide and I, moving more leisurely, had
entered the ship.

* * * * *

Hurtling through space at maximum speed, it took us two days, Earth
time, to come close enough to Hydrot so that we could locate the
unfortunate _Kabit_. She had landed on a level plain near the shore of
the new continent, where she lay, just a tiny bright speck, even under
the maximum power of our television disk.

"It's an odd thing, sir, that we can't raise her by radio," commented
Hendricks, who was on duty. "Have we tried recently?"

"We've been trying constantly, at intervals of but a few minutes," I
replied grimly. "Several times, the operator reports, he has been able
to get a muffled and garbled response, utterly unintelligible. He says
that the signals sound as though the radio emanation-plates in her outer
hull were damaged or grounded. We'll just have to wait until we get
there."

"As soon as we are near enough, please make an analysis of her
atmosphere, so that we can break out masks, if necessary." Hendricks,
while young and rather too impulsive, was a good rough-and-ready
scientist, as well as a courageous and dependable officer. "When Mr.
Correy relieves you, please inform him that I am taking a watch below,
should he need me." Hydrot was looming up in the television disk, and I
wished to be rested and ready for action when we landed.

* * * * *

I was awakened by an uncomfortable warmth, and when I glanced at my
watch the explanation was obvious. We had penetrated the outer gaseous
envelope of the world that had so recently given birth to a continent,
and Correy was driving the _Ertak_ through at reckless speed.

When I entered the navigating room, Correy glanced up guiltily at the