me.
I told you how I tricked him on his ranch. He'd be very eager to
pursue us in the asteroid simply for the opportunity of repaying me
for that trick." The adventurer's left hand rose to the bangs of
flaxen hair combing down over his forehead, and he murmured, musingly:
"I rather hope it _is_ Lar Tantril...."

"You hope so?" Leithgow repeated, surprised. "When he hates you so?
And would be on the lookout for tricks? Why?"

"I would guess, Eliot, that Lar Tantril is not notable for intellect.
Blustering, domineering--pretty much of a braggart, you know.
Certainly he is not a model of caution; and he is not acquainted with
Dr. Ku's asteroid, for he did not even know it existed. He will be
able to run it, of course, with the advice of this hidden man, but
surely he will not have the perception to discern the weakness in it.
Yes, I hope it is he."

Leithgow went on to the main thing on his mind.

"I'm a little unsettled, Carse," he admitted. "I've been imagining
this as the end of my outlaw years, and the beginning of my
re-establishment on Earth. But this ship is slow, and I see now that
if the asteroid does pursue us and capture us.... What do you really
think of our chances?"

* * * * *

The Hawk pursed his lips slightly, and for a little while he looked
away and did not answer. When his voice came, it was tinged with
bitterness.

"Eliot," he said, "I've been trying to find an excuse for my lapse.
But there is none. It was the blunder of a novice, my not remembering
to question Ku Sui about that secret panel. That was the cardinal
point, yet it slipped my mind, in my preoccupation with the
emergencies connected with the restoration of the brains.

"Our chances are only fair, Eliot; I'm telling you frankly how it
appears to me. I believe we'll be pursued, and if we are the odds are
greatly against us. The asteroid's far more powerful than we. And
Jupiter only knows what new offensive resources Ku Sui may have given
it: I had no time to study the several strange mechanisms I saw in its
control room. Then, no nearby patrol ship would help us if we were
attacked, for to them our enemy would be invisible, and they'd think
us crazy."

He paused. But seeing the somber expression on the other's face, he
smiled and cuffed him on the back.

"But maybe we won't even be pursued, Eliot! Maybe we'll be too far
ahead for them to catch us! No doubt I've made it look too serious, so
cheer