of new rules and
regulations for the confusion of both men and officers of the Service,
but he came out long enough to give me the _Ertak's_ orders in person.

"Glad to see you here at Base again, Commander," he said, in his
crisp, business-like way. "Hear some good reports of your work; keep
it up!"

"Thank you, sir," I said, wondering what was in the air. Any time the
Chief was complimentary, it was well to look out for squalls--which is
an old Earth term for unexpected trouble.

"Not at all, Commander, not at all. And now, let me present Carlos
Inverness, the scientist, of whom you have undoubtedly heard."

I bowed and said nothing, but we shook hands after the fashion of
Earth, and Inverness smiled quite humanly.

"I imagine the good captain has been too busy to follow the activities
of such as myself," he said, sensibly enough.

"A commander"--and I laid enough emphasis on the title to point out to
him his error in terminology--"in the Special Patrol Service usually
finds plenty to occupy his mind," I commented, wondering more than
ever what was up.

[Illustration: _At the same instant two other trap-doors swung up._]

"True," said the Chief briskly. "You'll pardon me if I'm exceedingly
brief, Commander, but there's a sizeable group in there waiting my
return.

"I have a special mission for you; a welcome relief from routine
patrol. I believe you have made special requests, in the past, for
assignments other than the routine work of the Service, Commander?"

He was boxing me up in a corner, and I knew it, but I couldn't deny
what he said, so I admitted it as gracefully as I could.

"Very well," nodded the Chief, and it seemed to me his eyes twinkled
for an instant. "Inverness, here, is head of a party of scientists
bent upon a certain exploration. They have interested the Council in
the work, and the Council has requested the cooperation of this
Service."

He glanced at me to make sure I understood. I certainly did; when the
Supreme Council _requested_ something, that thing was done.

"Very well, sir," I said. "What are your orders?"

The Chief shrugged.

"Simply that you are to cooperate with Inverness and his party,
assisting them in every possible way, including the use of your ship
for transporting them and a reasonable amount of equipment, to the
field of their activities. The command of the ship remains, of course,
in you and your officers, but in every reasonable way the _Ertak_ and
her