if Cranly was the traitor within the Council? That was hard to
believe, but you could never tell what lust for power might do to a man.
Cranly wasn't the type. Yet, there was a planet to be won. They said
every man had his price. And Cranly was in charge of Earth's
intelligence services.

The ticking of the telecast broke into his thoughts. There were breaks
in the steady sounds. His code call.

Case switched on the video and got a blank. What the devil!
Automatically he reached for his transmitter switch. And caught himself
in the nick of time. It might be a trick to get him to reveal his
position. Instead, he turned up the audio.

"Damon," a voice said. "Case Damon." It was not the same voice he had
heard in the Council chambers. This was vaguely familiar, but definitely
disguised.

"Better turn back, Damon," the voice said. "You almost tricked us. Don't
let a small success go to your head. We cannot be defeated. Why
sacrifice your life for a lost cause?"

"You know where you can go, brother," Case said aloud.

It had been bad psychology to use on a man who had never feared death
anyway. Besides, if they were so omniscient, why bother to try to stop
him with words?

The voice had tried to impress him with power. It had only succeeded in
disclosing a weakness. They didn't know where Case Damon was, and they
were worried.

* * * * *

Hours had become minutes, and the minutes were ticking away with the
sweep of the hand on Case's watch. Ten minutes more to go. Using
Cranly's figures and chart, he was only a thousand miles from that point
in space.

He swung the ship around and cut speed, but held his hand ready at the
throttle. There might not be much time to act. And the telecast was
using his signal again. He didn't want to turn it up, but he wanted to
hear that voice again.

"Damon," the voice said. "Case Damon. This is your last chance."

"Change your tune," Case snarled at the instrument.

But the voice was going on. "If your own life means nothing, perhaps you
value another more. Turn on your video and you will see something of
interest to you."

That got him, brought him bolt upright in his seat. The voice could mean
only one thing--Karin! Somehow they had got to her!

Maybe this was a trick. Only five minutes or less now. They might be
trying to distract him. But he couldn't take the chance. With fingers
that were icy cold, Case Damon flicked on the video.

A