lon's guards seem to be ready to jump
ship?"

"Yes, sir. But their resentment is not characteristic of my
technicians."

He realized, with surprise, that that was true. And Graver, in
contrast to Dalon's agitation, had the calm, purposeful air of a man
who had pondered deeply upon an unpleasant future and had taken steps
to prevent it.

"I have no desire to hang, sir, and I have convinced my men that it
would be suicide for part of them to desert. I shall do my best to
convince Dalon's guards of the same thing."

He went back through the plant, much of his confidence restored, and
back to the ship.

Y'Nor was pacing the floor again, his impatience keying him to a mood
more vile than ever.

"This ship will leave at exactly twenty-three fifteen, Vogar time,"
Y'Nor said. "Any man not on it then will be regarded as a deserter and
executed as such when I return with the Occupation force."

He stopped his pacing to stare at Kane with the ominous anticipation
of a spider surveying a captured fly.

"Although I can operate this ship with a minimum of two crewmen, I
shall expect you to make certain that every man is on board."

Kane went back out of the ship, his confidence shaken again, and back
to the plant.

* * * * *

Night came at last and, finally, the first shielded tank of fuel was
delivered to the ship. Others followed, one by one, as the hours went
by.

It was almost morning when Graver came to him and said, "My duties and
those of my men are finished here, sir. Shall we go to prepare the
ship for flight?"

"Yes--get busy at it," Kane answered. "Don't give the commander any
excuse to get any madder than he already is."

An hour later the last of the fuel went into the last tank and was
hauled away. Someone said, "That's all," and a switch clicked. A
machine rumbled off into silence, followed by others. Control panels
went dark. Within a minute there was not a machine running, not a
panel lighted.

Dalon's whistle for Guard Assembly sounded, high and shrill. A girl's
voice called to one of the guards: "Hurry back to your ship,
Billy--the thunder hawks might get you if you stayed--" and broke on a
sob. Another girl said, "Hush, Julia--it's not his fault."

He went out of the plant, and past Larue's office. He saw that the
brown-eyed secretary was gone, her desk clean. Larue was still there,
looking very tired. He did not go in. The fuel had been produced, he
would nev