sguise. His overwhelming personality radiated an aura of
grayness--not the gentle gray of the dove, but the resistless, driving
gray of the super-dreadnaught; the hard, inflexible, brittle gray of the
fracture of high-carbon steel.

"Captain Bradley, First Officer Costigan, Miss Marsden," the man spoke
quietly, but crisply. "I had not intended you two men to live so long.
That is a detail, however, which we will pass by for the moment. You may
remove your suits."

Neither officer moved, but both stared back at the speaker
unflinchingly.

"I am not accustomed to repeating instructions," the man at the desk
continued; voice still low and level, but instinct with deadly menace.
"You may choose between removing those suits and dying in them, here and
now."

Costigan moved over to Clio and slowly took off her armor. Then, after a
flashing exchange of glances and a muttered word, the two officers threw
off their suits simultaneously and fired at the same instant; Bradley
with his Lewiston, Costigan with a heavy automatic pistol whose bullets
were explosive shells of tremendous power. But the man in gray,
surrounded by an impenetrable wall of force, only smiled at the
fusillade, tolerantly and maddeningly. Costigan leaped fiercely, only to
be hurled backward as he struck that unyielding, invisible wall. A
vicious beam snapped him back into place, the weapons were snatched
away, and all three captives were held in their former positions.

"I permitted that, as a demonstration of futility," the gray man said,
his hard voice becoming harder, "but I will permit no more foolishness.
Now I will introduce myself. I am known as Roger. You probably have
heard nothing of me yet but you will--if you live. Whether or not you
two live depends solely upon yourselves. Being something of a student of
men, I fear that you will both die shortly. Able and resourceful as you
have just shown yourselves to be, you could be valuable to me, but you
probably will not--in which case you shall, of course, cease to exist.
That, however, in its proper time--you shall be of some slight service
to me in the process of being eliminated. In your case, Miss Marsden, I
find myself undecided between two courses of action; each highly
desirable, but unfortunately mutually exclusive. Your father will be
glad to ransom you at an exceedingly high figure, but, in spite of that
fact, I may decide to keep you for--well, let us say for certain
purposes."

"Yes?"