The vehicles were fast. On level ground they raced, hitting eighty m.p.h. sometimes. By Jupiter-set they had reached Chahnn. Paula, for one, was disappointed. "I expected a city," she told Garth as they stared around at the mile-square block of black stone, raised a few feet above ground level, its surface broken by a few structures oddly reminiscent of the subway kiosks of two centuries ago. "It's all underground," Garth said. He was feeling shaky, needing a shot or two of liquor. But there was none. In lieu of it, he borrowed a cigaret from the girl and idled about, watching the men make camp. * * * * * The roomy truck-cats provided accommodations for sixty men without crowding. It wasn't necessary to set up tents. Indeed, in that icy air, only "warmer" tents, heated by induced current in their metallic fabric, would have been feasible. The trucks, however, could be heated easily and were air-conditioned. Garth walked over to a kiosk and peered into the black depths. Chahnn lay below, the gigantic, complicated city of the Ancients. Through Chahnn was the road to the Black Forest--the only road they could use, under the circumstances. Garth shivered and went in search of Brown. He was feeling shakier than ever. Vividly in his mind was a picture he did not want to remember--a man stretched on an altar, a knife at his breast.... He found Brown beside one of the trucks, looking into the darkness. "Captain--" "Huh? Oh, Garth. Say, Paula--Miss Trent took a flashlamp and went down into Chahnn to do a bit of exploring. I was thinking of going after her. Any danger down there?" Garth shook his head. "It's a dead city. She'll be okay." "Unless she gets lost." "She won't. There are markers pointing to the outlets. How about a drink? I could use one." Scowling, Brown nodded and pushed Garth into the truck. "I bunk in here, with the Commander. You'll have to find a place with the men, somewhere. Oh, by the way--" He pushed folded slips into Garth's hand. "Here's the rest of that forty. And here's a drink." Garth gulped brandy better than any he had tasted in years. He didn't bother with a glass. Brown watched him with an almost imperceptible curl of the lip. "Thanks.... When do I get that ten thousand?" "When we're back here. I don't trust you quite enough to let you have it now." Garth wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, considered, and drank again. "I won't run out on you. You're after that Ancients' power-source, aren't you?" Brown's eyes narrowed a bit. "Any of your business?" "Not in the way you mean. But I know the Black Forest. I might be able to give you some ideas, if I'm not left too much in the dark. Still, I can guess a little. I know you expect to run into the Zarno." "Yeah?"