ide at their backs, fighting against
wind and storm and heat to build a world to replace the ones the War had
taken from them.

"So much could happen," she whispered. "An accident, an escape...."

The inter-dome telescreen buzzed its signal. Jill, caught in a queer
mood of premonition, went to it.

The face of Dio the Martian appeared on the screen, still wet and dirty
from the storm-soaked fields, disheveled from his battle across the
plain in the chaotic winds.

"I want to see you, Miss Moulton," he said. "There's something funny I
think you ought to know."

"Of course," said Jill, and met her father's eyes. "I think we'll see,
now, which one of us is right."

* * * * *

The barracks were quiet, except for the mutter of distant thunder and
the heavy breathing of exhausted men. Tom Ward crouched in the darkness
by Mel Gray's bunk.

"You ain't gonna go soft at the last minute, are you?" he whispered.
"Because I can't afford to take chances."

"Don't worry," Gray returned grimly. "What's your proposition?"

"I can give you the combination to the lock of the hangar passage. All
you have to do is get into Moulton's office, where the passage door is,
and go to it. The ship's a two-seater. You can get her out of the valley
easy."

Gray's eyes narrowed in the dark. "What's the catch?"

"There ain't none. I swear it."

"Look, Ward. I'm no fool. Who's behind this, and why?"

"That don't make no difference. All you want ... _ow!_"

Gray's fingers had fastened like steel claws on his wrist.

"I get it, now," said Gray slowly. "That's why I was sent here. Somebody
wanted me to make trouble for Moulton." His fingers tightened
agonizingly, and his voice sank to a slow drawl.

"I don't like being a pawn in somebody else's chess game."

"Okay, okay! It ain't my fault. Lemme go." Ward rubbed his bruised
wrist. "Sure, somebody--I ain't sayin' who--sent you here, knowin' you'd
want to escape. I'm here to help you. You get free, I get paid, the Big
Boy gets what he wants. Okay?"

Gray was silent, scowling in the darkness. Then he said.

"All right. I'll take a chance."

"Then listen. You tell Moulton you have a complaint. I'll...."

Light flooded the dark as the door clanged open. Ward leaped like a
startled rabbit, but the light speared him, held him. Ward felt a pulse
of excitement beat up in him.

The long ominous shadows of the guards raised elongated guns. The
barracks stir