all he knew, the Plugger was used to repair faults
in the crusts of planets.

In the next room, Hellman stopped to catch his breath. He remembered
that the building was circular. He would burn his way through the
remaining doors and join Casker. They would burn their way outside
and....

Casker didn't have a burner!

Hellman turned white with shock. Casker had made it into the room on
the right, because they had burned it open earlier. The Plugger was
undoubtedly oozing into that room, through the shattered lock ... and
Casker couldn't get out! The Plugger was on his left, a locked door on
his right!

Rallying his remaining strength, Hellman began to run. Boxes seemed to
get in his way purposefully, tripping him, slowing him down. He
blasted the next door and hurried on to the next. And the next. And
the next.

The Plugger couldn't expand _completely_ into Casker's room!

Or could it?

The wedge-shaped rooms, each a segment of a circle, seemed to stretch
before him forever, a jumbled montage of locked doors, alien goods,
more doors, more goods. Hellman fell over a crate, got to his feet and
fell again. He had reached the limit of his strength, and passed it.
But Casker was his friend.

Besides, without a pilot, he'd never get off the place.

Hellman struggled through two more rooms on trembling legs and then
collapsed in front of a third.

"Is that you, Hellman?" he heard Casker ask, from the other side of
the door.

"You all right?" Hellman managed to gasp.

"Haven't much room in here," Casker said, "but the Plugger's stopped
growing. Hellman, get me out of here!"

* * * * *

Hellman lay on the floor panting. "Moment," he said.

"Moment, hell!" Casker shouted. "Get me out. I've found water!"

"What? How?"

"Get me out of here!"

Hellman tried to stand up, but his legs weren't cooperating. "What
happened?" he asked.

"When I saw that glob filling the room, I figured I'd try to start up
the Super Custom Transport. Thought maybe it could knock down the door
and get me out. So I pumped it full of high-gain Integor fuel."

"Yes?" Hellman said, still trying to get his legs under control.

"That Super Custom Transport is an animal, Hellman! And the Integor
fuel is water! Now get me out!"

Hellman lay back with a contented sigh. If he had had a little more
time, he would have worked out the whole thing himself, by pure logic.
But it was all very apparent now. The m