bviously wholly serious. He seemed to read my
thoughts.

"I kill only when necessary. We will land upon the asteroid. A perfect
place to maroon the passengers. Is it not so? I will give them the
necessities of life. They will be able to signal. And in a month or so,
when we are safely finished with our adventure, a police ship no doubt
will rescue them."

"And then, from the asteroid," I suggested, "we are going--"

"To the Moon, Haljan. What a clever guesser you are! Coniston and Hahn
are calculating our course. But I have no great confidence in them. And
so I want you."

"You have me."

"Yes. I have you. I would have killed you long ago--I am an impulsive
fellow--but my sister restrained me."

He gazed at me slyly. "Moa seems strangely to like you, Haljan."

"Thanks," I said. "I'm flattered."

"She still hopes I may really win you to join us," he went on.
"Gold-leaf is a wonderful thing; there would be plenty for you in this
affair. And to be rich, and have the love of a woman like Moa...."

He paused. I was trying cautiously to gauge him, to get from him all the
information I could. I said, with another smile, "That is premature, to
talk of Moa. I will help you chart your course. But this venture, as you
call it, is dangerous. A police-ship--"

"There are not many," he declared. "The chances of us encountering one
is very slim." He grinned at me. "You know that as well as I do. And we
now have those code pass-words--I forced Dean to tell me where he had
hidden them. If we should be challenged, our pass-word answer will
relieve suspicion."

"The _Planetara_," I objected, "being overdue at Ferrok-Shahn, will
cause alarm. You'll have a covey of patrol-ships after you."

"That will be two weeks from now," he smiled. "I have a ship of my own
in Ferrok-Shahn. It lies there waiting now, manned and armed. I am
hoping that, with Dean's help, we may be able to flash it a signal. It
will join us on the Moon. Fear not for the danger, Haljan. I have great
interests allied with me in this thing. Plenty of money. We have planned
carefully."

* * * * *

He was idly fingering his cylinder; his gaze roved me as I sat docile on
my bunk. "Did you think George Prince was a leader of this? A mere boy.
I engaged him a year ago--his knowledge of ores is valuable."

My heart was pounding, but I strove not to show it. He went on calmly.

"I told you I am impulsive. Half a dozen times I have n