no trace of the Earthman had been found by the Orion staff, but the
servomotor theft seemed to tie the Earthman to the disaster.

"I'm going to be up to my neck in spaghetti," Rick told Scotty when they
met for supper. "I don't see how there'll be much chance to look for the
Earthman."

"It should be better than ever," Scotty objected. "For the first time,
you'll be right on the target."

That was true, Rick agreed. He hadn't looked at it in quite that way.
"What are your plans?" he asked.

"I'm going to concentrate on the warehouse. Remember what Colonel
Preston said about the clerks? They swore they hadn't seen any
unauthorized person entering while they were watching the shoot."

"But they couldn't have kept an eye on the warehouses," Rick objected.
"Anyone could have sneaked in."

Scotty shook his head. "I don't think so. Of course they watched the
shoots, but you can also bet they were turning pretty often to look at
the warehouses. They must have seen some activity. Otherwise, why would
they say _unauthorized_ persons?"

"I can't imagine," Rick admitted. "What's your idea?"

"The only people who could go in and out without being noticed
particularly, or challenged, would be members of the service staff."

"Like the postman?"

"Yes. Or telephone repairmen, or power men, or janitors, or plumbers.
There must be a dozen different kinds of people who have the run of the
base because of their duties. I'm going to keep an eye open to see who
goes in and out regularly--and Luis Hermosa is going to help."

"Luis? How can he help?"

"The fire station has a good view of the warehouses. You know how
firemen are. When they're not cleaning or making repairs, they like to
sit out front. Luis is out of the infirmary and back on limited duty,
and another pair of eyes will help. Once we establish who has free run
of the warehouses, I'll try to see which of them have any connection
with Mac or Pancho. Okay?"

"Sounds good," Rick agreed. "And I'll keep my red-rimmed eyes wide open
down at the pad, too. We'll get something on this Earthman yet!"

CHAPTER XIV

Check Pilot

Rick had joined in the enthusiasm for moving up the date of the Pegasus
shoot, but as he gazed around the project he began to wonder if they
hadn't all been carried away. There were parts and pieces everywhere. He
couldn't begin to make heads or tails out of all the confusion.

Fortunately, he didn't have to. Now that zero hour was clos