y were sorry to see another
Earth man captive, yet happy at sight of one of their own kind. Willing
hands helped Ben down from the bottom rung of the ladder.

"We'd heard they had picked up another ship," one of the men said. "But we
weren't sure the rumor was true."

"True enough, as you can see. I'm Ben Sessions."

His outstretched hand was grasped and shaken cordially. Names were flung at
him. Murchison, Davies, Kennard, Bannon, Murchison.

"Wait a second," Ben said. "I thought I heard Murchison twice."

"You did," said the big, rawboned man at whom he was staring. "The first is
my daughter Sally."

It was only then that Ben noticed how small and slender was the figure of
the one next to Murchison. Even the girl's loose robe, similar to that of
the men, could not quite conceal her femininity. Her hair was cut short,
her hands toil hardened.

"Carson didn't tell me," Ben muttered. He grinned at Murchison. "I expected
to find you and two assistants, but I didn't know one would be your
daughter."

"Expected--?" Hope glinted in five pairs of eyes. Above them there was a
shouted command to get to work, and a cylinder was waved threateningly.

"I'll explain as we go along," Ben said hastily. "Show me what to do."

Bannon, a short, thickset man with a mop of unruly black hair shoved a pair
of tongs into Ben's hands and quickly explained how to hold the rivets with
which the group was working. In effect they were constructing a huge
cylinder. Looking down, Ben saw that it descended into the bowels of Teris.

The others were pressing Ben for his explanation but he insisted that they
tell their stories first. The same thing had happened to them as to him.
Within some thousands of miles of Teris they had felt a force pull them
toward it. Then they had passed out and awakened to find themselves
prisoners.

"I know all that," Ben said. "But in all the time you've been here you must
have found out a good deal. What goes on here? Why are they taking prisoner
every one who approaches the planet? Why do they conceal its existence from
our system?"

Murchison paused between blows of his hammer, as though to wipe sweat from
his brow.

"Since you seem in a hurry," he said, "I will tell it in brief. You are in
the center of a planet whose evil people are engaged in one enterprise: the
conquering and subjugating of our universe."

"I thought that might be it," Ben nodded. "But subjugating billions of
people may prove tou