muddy tide and launched
herself, dripping, into the warm air of afternoon. Her generators
hummed with life given them by the firm hand at the controls, and
swiftly she arrowed forth into the blue. With a few words as to the
visual course, Carse handed the space-stick over to Friday, and
devoted himself to the matter of the watches.

Satellite III dropped swiftly to concavity, as the _Sandra_ was
expertly jockeyed through the rare outer layer of the stratosphere,
became a true globe again. The Negro reported:

"Through the atmosphere, suh. Orders?"

"Full acceleration. Continue visually for the present. I'll work out
the true course in a few minutes."

"Yes, suh!"

The hum of the generators deepened. In a matter of ten minutes,
shipboard routine was arranged, Carse, Friday and Ban splitting the
watches. The Hawk, as was his custom, took the first. Friday was
relieved of the space-stick and immediately went back for sleep, as
did Wilson. Eliot Leithgow did not retire right away, however.

He watched Carse snap on the automatic control and go to an
electelscope which had been equipped with an infra-red device. He
directed it rearward on Satellite III, back along the course the
_Sandra_ had described, and peered through its eyepiece for several
minutes. Then he turned to the old scientist.

"Nothing," he said. "No sign of the asteroid as yet. We'll have to
keep careful watch. The visi-screen's useless against the invisibility
of the asteroid; and the high magnification of this scope, with its
resulting small field of view, will require us continually and
methodically to search through a wide circle behind, in the attempt to
pick up the asteroid, should it appear. A tedious job, with chances of
sighting it about even.... At any rate, we'll have some sort of a
head-start," he finished.

* * * * *

This was the opportunity Leithgow had waited for; he wanted a few
frank words with his friend.

"Carse," he said slowly, "I wonder just where that man concealed
behind the secret panel would take the asteroid?"

"I've thought about that too," replied the Hawk. "We may be sure that
he went for allies: Dr. Ku has several on Satellite III. Of them all,
I think he would go for Lar Tantril."

"Tantril?"

"Yes, I think so. Lar Tantril, the Venusian. A fellow of much
self-confidence and one of Ku Sui's chief agents, and who at
present"--he smiled faintly--"nurses a special bitterness against