As she went, her head was whirling like a ball-race. A clean-cut tunnel down which ran power cables, which came to a dead end in the Tube! The enigma was to her temporarily insoluble, and she had no time to sit down and make a calm, collected study of the facts from all their angles. All she knew was that she had stumbled on the trail of something big, and the most imperative thing at that moment was to get clear with her knowledge and pass it on to more brilliant and capable heads. At least, she would have a short laugh over Storm--he would have to admit that even in circumstances of the magnitude of the Alpha Triangle she had her uses. But, after that brief period of exasperation on the one side and self-congratulation on the other, she had no doubt that Storm was the one man to deal with the situation accurately and efficiently. The steel-keen precision of his mind, no less than the steel-strong virility of his physique, brooked no uneasiness on that score. If she got out, of course, and when.... At the top of the stairs she paused, but it was only a momentary hesitation. There remained still that intriguing door, and, anyway, she was fairly and squarely in the swim by now. "When you're in the soup, get all the nourishment out of it you can," was another of Smiler's adages, and on it she acted. Having commenced the reconnaissance in such style, one might as well conclude it thoroughly. The door opened so lightly to her touch that for a second she was suspicious. An instant later she was reproving herself in no uncertain terms for this tentative sign of waning determination, and, taking a grip on the butt of her little automatic, she pushed the door wide and entered. And then she had her work cut out to suppress an exclamation. The room in which she stood was spacious and roughly square. The walls were hung from ceiling to floor with luxurious curtains of royal purple velvet embroidered with golden arabesques. The orange carpet underfoot had a wealth of soft pile that was indescribably pleasant to tread upon. A double rank of cushioned chairs ran the length of the room, and a broad gangway paved with costly furs led between them towards the far end. The restful half-light which showed her all these things was supplied by three magnificent chandeliers ranged overhead. It was a room like nothing she had ever seen or even imagined, something that in its splendour suggested a mingling of the essentials of a temple and of an Oriental palace. It was an outrage at the same time--an outrage against all preconceived standards, against all logic and all norms. It was a concrete paradox that mocked comprehension and yet was fascinating by sheer daring originality. Its gorgeous simplicity--its ascetic voluptuousness--its Philistine reverence--these were contradictions which numbed understanding and defied criticism.