s again.

But now, as she wheeled away the molkai decanter and left Negu Mah and
Sliss to themselves, joy and exultation was singing in her. Doubly. For
she was going to run away from Negu Mah, run away with the man she
loved, and in their flight they were going to steal the Vulcan. Thus
Negu Mah would be doubly punished. He would be hurt in his pride and in
his pocketbook. And all through the Jupiter and Saturn systems, where
his wealth, his position, and his beautiful wife were openly envied, he
would be laughed at and derided.

Humming lightly under her breath, Nanlo put the molkai decanter away in
a little pantry and hurried on to her own apartment. Molkai was a
powerful, though non-habit-forming drink. Under its influence one
became talkative, but disinclined to movement. Sliss and her husband
would remain as they were for hours, leaving her free to do as she
would. The servants were asleep in another part of the building, and
there was no one to note as she changed her clothes swiftly for a
light, warm travelling suit, caught up two small bags, one holding her
personal things, the other her jewels, and let herself out through her
own private entrance into the darkness of the rear gardens.

Where in the shadows the tall, blonde young engineer, Hugh Neils, was
waiting for her....

* * * * *

Negu Mah, when his beautiful wife had left the garden, sighed and put
to one side his mug of molkai.

"Sliss, my friend," he said to the Venusian, who was regarding him with
large, unblinking pop-eyes, "I am troubled in my mind. Tonight I must
dispense justice. Justice to myself and justice to another. To be just
is often to be terribly cruel."

Sliss blinked, once, a film moving horizontally across his large eyes
and retracting, to show that he understood. Due to the difficulty of
using his artificial speech mechanism, he refrained from speaking until
speech was necessary.

"My wife, Nanlo," Negu Mah said heavily, "is unhappy. I have done all
that is in my power to make her happy, but I have failed. She has made
some requests that I have denied, namely, to be permitted freedom to
visit earth. That I denied because I knew the paths she intended to
tread would not have led her to happiness either, and I hoped that in
the end, here she would find contentment. I have hoped in vain. Tonight
she intends to take matters into her own hands."

Sliss blinked again, politely, to indicate