't strictly a space job. There was a
tie-up on Earth, and the tie-up had to be on the very inside of the
Supreme Council! Nobody else knew Case Damon was in on this deal. He
ought to head back and warn Cranly.

No, that wasn't right. He had to trust Cranly to handle his end. Only
nine hours now till the next blast, and if he took time out to reach
Cranly he wouldn't ever make it. Besides, his stunt might have worked.
Why tip them off he was still alive?

Brilliant headlights came up the road and Case stepped out onto the
highway. The lights came on at two hundred miles an hour, caught him and
made him blink. Then there was the hiss of automatic brakes.

"Hey!" a man yelled "What if those brakes hadn't worked?"

Case jerked the car door open and saw that the man was alone. A young
fellow, and plenty frightened at sight of Case's torn clothes and
scratched and dirty face.

"Don't take your hands off that wheel," Case said sharply. "Head for
Washington skyport and keep your foot on the floor all the way."

The young fellow's hand fell away from the dash compartment. He gulped,
nodded, and threw the car into gear. He got his foot all the way down
and kept it there. They took a sweeping curve at full speed.

Washington was a dot of light, then a haze, a glare. All departments
working overtime tonight, Case thought. They hurtled toward the city,
smack toward Pennsylvania Avenue.

"Slow down," Case said. "I don't want to be picked up."

* * * * *

The young fellow slowed down. He must be thinking he's got a desperate
character next to him, Case mused. If he only knew how desperate! The
skyport was less than a mile away now.

"Take the side road around to where the hangars are," Case directed.

The young fellow took the side road. They swept past the main gate,
along the ten-mile fence, slid without lights now behind the row of
hangars. The hangars looked like rows of cigars standing on end, the
ships inside them pointing up and ready to go.

"This is where we get out," Case said. He shoved the driver out of the
door and followed him. His fist came up in a short arc and cracked
against a jaw-bone.

"Sorry," Case told the inert figure. "I just can't take any chances."

He dumped the unconscious man beside the road and then went back to the
car. Wheeling it around so it pointed back toward the main gate, he left
the motor whirring and stepped out. One hand depressed the accelerator