But instead of moving him to the globe, the alien took him to the carrier in which he'd escaped from Mars; loaded him into it. A moment later the second Kalquoi appeared, Nelva in tow. In seconds, she was installed in the carrier alongside Dane. Then, as if by magic, the hatch swung shut, and they were left alone. Minutes dragged by, a dreary procession. Then, so abruptly the shock rocked Dane, the paralysis that gripped him vanished. Feeling, the power of movement, flooded back into his body. His brain clicked into high gear, no longer dim nor foggy. A moment later the carrier's gravity unit came to coughing life. Dane found that once again he had weight and could move about at will. It brought him a quick surge of relief from inner tension; a sense of control over his situation. He was glad. He had a feeling he was going to need all such he could get. Beside him, Nelva Guthrie whispered incredulously, "Clark--! I can move! The brain-drain--it's off!" "Could be," Dane nodded. He felt weak in the knees, just hearing the girl's voice--partly out of relief to know that she'd survived the ordeal of the brain-drain, partly because she seemed to have forgotten or be overlooking their earlier hostilities. "Then we must be almost to Callisto!" New excitement crept into Nelva's voice. "That's the only way to explain it, Clark. We must be so far beyond the blockade stations that their relays are too weak to maintain catatonia!" "Maybe." "Maybe? What kind of talk is that?" Nelva's tone suddenly was tinged with irritation. "Can you offer any better explanation?" "Yes, I think I can," Dane answered thoughtfully. "Especially if you stop to consider that the Kalquoi took over back while the brain-drain still had us stiff as boards." "Still stiff--?" Nelva broke off sharply. Her lips trembled as she drew a quick, shallow breath. "Clark, you can't mean it!" In spite of their plight, Dane couldn't help but smile wryly. "I can't mean what?" "You know!" The girl's ash-blonde hair rippled as if a chill were passing through her. "You can't mean--that--the Kalquoi--" "--that the Kalquoi have come up with an answer to the brain-drain?" Dane finished to her. "As a matter of fact, that's just exactly what I think. The way it looks to me, they've licked the thing, a hundred per cent." Nelva's face was white, her breathing too fast. "But--Clark--" "What's going to happen, you mean?" Dane shook his head. "I don't know, any more than you do. But one thing's certain: if I'm right, as of this moment all Thorburg Jessup's Security blockade stations on the inner-planet side of the Asteroid Belt are just so much scrap equipment." The girl stared at him. He couldn't read the things in her grey eyes, and when her lips moved the words came out an incoherent whisper. She covered her face with her hands. Her shoulders shook with soundless, racking sobs. * * * * *