Hawk.

Judd licked his lips again. He had to spar for time: to divert for a
while the vengeance he knew possessed the other's mind, so that he
might find some chance, some loop-hole.

"That's right," he began eagerly, "it was Ku Sui. I had to do this,
Carse: I hadn't any choice. He's got something on me: I had to go
through with it. Had to!"

* * * * *

The Hawk's eyes were glacial; the ghost of a smile hovered once more
around the corners of his lips.

"Go on," he said. "What was that fungus?"

"I don't know. Ku Sui developed it in his laboratory. He just gave me
a sealed cartridge of the spores with instructions to raid your ranch,
as you saw, and plant them in a drilled-out phanti horn. There was a
simple mechanism in the cartridge that allowed us to release the
spores by a radio wave from our ship. When I wanted them to grow I
simply--"

"I see. A clever scheme," Carse said. "Quite up to Ku Sui's standard.
The idea of those three men running for the jungle when I came down on
Iapetus was to insure my taking the horn cargo aboard, of course. The
raid was only incidental to your scheme to get me. And Crane, the
radio operator, was dead when I received that S.O.S. It was faked, to
bring me quickly for your schedule."

Judd stared at him. "How in hell did you know that? Damn you, Carse,
you're--"

"Where," interrupted the adventurer coldly, "is Ku Sui?"

The pirate's eyes shifted nervously. "I don't know," he muttered.

"Where," came the steady question again, "is Ku Sui?"

The other licked his lips. His fingers clenched, unclenched, gripped
tight. "I don't know!" he protested. His eyes widened as he saw the
Hawk's left hand stir slightly, and he started as he heard the
whip-like word:

"Talk!"

"Carse. I swear it! No one knows where he is. When he wants to see me
personally, he comes out of darkness--out of empty space. I don't know
whether it's done by invisibility or the fourth dimension, but one
moment his ship's not there; the next it is; I don't know where his
base is; and if he knew I'd told you what I have, he'd--"

"How do you arrange your meetings, then?"

"They're always in a different place. The next is in seven days. I
don't remember the figures: they're in the log of my ship."

Carse nodded. "All right. I believe you. And now--there are a few
accounts to be settled."

* * * * *

During the few minutes the Hawk had ques