rhaps, working under
the hands of the Eurasian. On--on! With the seconds fleeting by,
building to the small total which would bring friction to the
asteroid, and incandescence, and scalding death for him within it!

Again, suddenly, the mysterious light. It left instantly as usual, but
not before it revealed, well ahead, the end of the passage. Quickly he
traversed the remaining distance and felt around with his hands. He
found what he half expected. There was an opening, a doorway, to his
right. The room beyond surely held the final secret of the asteroid.
And if Dr. Ku Sui were anywhere, he was in there.

* * * * *

Carse restrained an impulse to rush in, deciding to wait for the
recurring light. Everything in him told him that this was the climax,
that through the door to his right lay the object of his chase; and in
spite of his consciousness of the plunging asteroid, and the
up-leaping skin of Earth's atmosphere, now so close, he stood full in
the doorway, gun ready, waiting. Seconds were precious, but this was
the part of common sense. He needed the light to show him what perils
he must face; he could not go into that chamber ignorant of the
situation there.

For what seemed ages the fantastic figure stood there. The great rock
turning over and over, with awful speed dropping down. Earth nearing,
death ever closer--and he standing in silence and darkness, waiting to
finish the feud! He might never escape; he knew that; it might already
be too late to try; but the core of the man, his grim and steely will,
would not let him think of retreating towards safety until he had
faced Dr. Ku Sui and decided the account between them forever.

The wall of darkness melted. A ghostly light filtered through. He
stared, and in its brief maximum saw before him a high, bare
rectangular room, hewn out of the rock--and at its far side a man in a
space-suit. Ku Sui, brought to bay!

But Carse, for one of the few times in his life, doubted his eyes.
What trick were they playing him? For it was not a real, sharp figure
that he saw; it was an indefinite one, shimmering and elusive, like a
mirage. A prank of the strange light, perhaps. But Ku Sui
nevertheless! Ku Sui trapped!

The Hawk leaped forward with outstretched arms to seize and hold the
Eurasian's motionless figure. As he moved, the second of ghostly light
dissolved away, and in the blackness his eager reaching arms closed
on--nothing!

S