, Eliot;
I'm very sorry. I should have known, for when we captured Ku Sui he
spoke some words in Chinese through his helmet-radio. Now I can see
that they must have gone to some man of his hidden there; and that
man, obeying instructions, simply lay low, heard all that passed in
Dr. Ku's laboratory, and then, at a suitable opportunity, took the
asteroid away in search of allies. He knows his master is a prisoner
here and unquestionably he will be back to release him. We must be out
of here and far away by the time he arrives."

"Yes," Leithgow nodded slowly. "As you say, there is no choice."

"But your work here is finished, Eliot," Carse went on. "If only we
can get to Earth safely, with Ku Sui and the brains in their new
bodies, we will have achieved everything we wanted to achieve. We have
proof of the crime done you, and we have Ku Sui, too. Your position
will be restored and the blame put where it belongs. But we must leave
for Earth at once! God knows how near the asteroid is, or who's on
it."

"All right, Carse." The scientist got up. "What are your
instructions?"

Ban Wilson appeared in the door, reporting that all the men had been
accounted for and awakened. Carse started the wheels moving.

"Everything of value here must be transported aboard the ship. Eliot,
you know better than I what to take, so you'll assume charge of the
loading. Ban, you and all the men save two of Eliot's assistants will
help. I'll need them to move the bodies. Send them to me in the
laboratory. But first, be sure Ku Sui and his four men are safely
confined. All right; let's go."

Within half an hour the general evacuation was finished and the ship
loaded.

* * * * *

The _Sandra_, Leithgow's ship, bearing his daughter's name, was a
sturdy vessel designed more for comfort and utility than speed, and so
her appointments, including offensive and defensive weapons, though
modern were limited. Her commodious cargo-holds were easily capable of
accommodating all of the Master Scientist's laboratory instruments and
devices, the volumes of his extensive library, his great mass of
personal papers and more intimate effects; all the more important
stores of the place, too, and its furnishings. The laboratory and its
surrounding rooms were pretty well stripped.

The largest of the _Sandra's_ cabins was transformed under the
direction of Leithgow into a hospital bay, and the five cots bearing
the prostrate