still have to wait for a report from the electronics sections, sir,"
said Howard, rubbing his eyes. He started to get up and then suddenly
slumped to the floor.

"By the craters of Luna!" cried Walters, jumping to the young officer's
side. Howard was picked up and placed on a nearby couch. While Strong
and Kit loosened his clothing, Walters grabbed the nearest oxygen mask
and slipped it over the spaceman's face.

"Funny that he should pass out like that," commented Strong, sniffing
the air. "I _still_ don't smell anything."

Kit looked up at Strong and grinned. "He's not gassed. He's asleep."

"Asleep!" exclaimed Walters.

The enlisted spaceman standing on guard at the door stepped forward and
saluted smartly. "Captain Howard hasn't slept for the last five days,"
he said. "He's been working night and day."

Walters smiled. "All right, Sergeant, take him to his quarters." Then he
held up his hand. "No, let him stay where he is." He turned to Steve.
"Come on, Steve. You too, Kit. Let's see if we can't get a report from
the electronics section before we speculate any further."

The three men left the control-tower office under the watchful eyes of a
squad of Space Marines. Trouble had already started at the spaceport
when a crowd of excited miners had charged a detachment of enlisted men
guarding Solar Guard cruisers. The crowds were growing panicky as the
deadly gas filled the city, unchecked.

Strong, Walters, and Kit Barnard climbed into a waiting jet car, amid
the hoots and catcalls from the waiting miners, and hurtled away to the
giant building housing the electronic "brain" that controlled the
force-field screens.

Walters' face was grim. Beside him, Strong and Kit were silent as they
raced through the empty streets. If there was no positive discovery by
the electronics section of the huge screening operations, then it would
have to be assumed that Commander Walters was right in his theory of
overpopulation. To remedy that situation would require complete
reconstruction of the satellite settlement and temporary abandonment of
Titan. Millions of dollars would be lost and thousands of people thrown
out of work. It would be a severe blow to the Solar Alliance.

The jet car slowed to a stop. They were in front of the electronics
building and the three men climbed out wearily. They would know in a few
minutes now.

CHAPTER 13

"You're afraid of your own shadow!" Miles snarled over his shoulder to
C