tic
crater that had been formed. A chain-reacting process was now
spreading through the silicates and other components of Titan's crust.
It was a blunt and terrible inferno.

But to the scientist's view, chemical compounds were being broken
apart; atoms were being shattered, and recast in new forms, as floods
of neutrons, and other basic particles raced like bullets through
their structure. On a small scale, here was something that was like
the birth of the universe.

Bert found his voice at last. "The ship is firm in its orbit around
Titan, Allie. The primer is set for thirty minutes from now. And we're
approaching position above camp again. So here's where we bail out."

The Kraskow's closed their helmet face-windows and jumped from the
airlock together. Flame-propelled by their shoulder-pack jets, they
darted downward toward the sad, rolling hills that curved away under
the weak light of the distance-shrunken sun. It was hard to believe
that eons ago, before most of Titan's air and water had leaked away
into space, those hills had been green with life.

Even with an ugly, red-lit vapor pouring and spreading over the arc of
Titan's edge, they thought of such things.

* * * * *

Their helmet radiophones were full of static from intense
electromagnetic disturbances, so that it was hard to converse.

But presently Alice shouted: "Bert! It's funny that we don't see the
ship from camp anywhere in space. They must have gotten our warning to
blast off with everybody. Radio reception was clear as a bell,
then!... Wait! Somebody's trying to call us now...."

Bert strained his ears to penetrate the scratchy noises thrown up by
the atomic holocaust that he had set off, and hear the words spoken
blurredly by a familiar voice:

"... Bert ... Alice.... This is Lawler.... Rockets of ship won't
function.... So ... can't leave ... camp.... Two Space Patrol boats
cleared Titan with some ... women.... Too small ... few passengers....
Most ... stranded here.... Bert--what?... I think ... Lauren...."

The rest of the words were drowned in a cataract of static.

Bert gulped. His mouth tasted suddenly sour with near-panic. "Lauren,"
he grated, his voice like a file. "Again. It would be a long chance
that the ship broke down just by coincidence. He doctored those
rockets and probably got clear in his own spaceboat. Leave it to him
to make the use of the Big Pill look like disaster. And it can be
t