"Creatures who live deep in the Swamp," she explained. "We couldn't get to where we're going without them." * * * * * The station was stocked with food in plasti-sealed containers. They prepared their meal over a tiny atomic stove, and it was a welcome repast for the men from Mercury Prison! When they had finished, Lorine lost little time in explaining the set-up. "Now that we're here, you men have every right to know what to expect. Our task isn't easy! But we have the protective suits and weapons, the Phibians are friendly and will guide us part of the way." She moved with quick little strides about the room, as if impatient even at this brief delay. "You, Rikert. You're still anxious to see George Landreth?" "Nothing I want more!" "Then stay alive! That's all I ask of any of you--to stay alive." She paused. "You have questions. I'll answer them." Rikert asked the obvious question. "How do you know George Landreth is here?" "Because he built this Station! Jeffers and I found it here just as you see it. And I have other proof." "That's right," Jeffers nodded. "This Station is identical to the one Landreth built at his secret base on Io. I was there with him a long time, in fact I was second in command--" He hesitated. "Go on," Lorine waved a hand. "Tell them the story." "About three years ago," Jeffers said, "observers reported a strange spaceship plunging in from the orbit of Pluto. Well, we watched it from Io. And I can tell you this--it was travelling faster than anything we had at the time--" Curt recalled the event. Astronomers had found it difficult to keep the strange object in sight. Some said it wasn't a spacer at all, but a meteor. Jeffers' voice went on: "When this thing neared Jupiter, the planet's gravity slowed it down. We tried signalling it, but no answer. That's when Landreth determined to go out and meet it! He was that kind of man! None of us wanted to go with him--we'd braved many things in the spaceways, but this seemed foolhardy. Landreth laughed at us. He would have gone alone, but finally three of the men volunteered. "They set out in the fastest cruiser we had--and they never came back. I never saw Landreth again." There was pounding excitement in Curt's brain. "I remember it now! This ship, or whatever it was, escaped Jupiter's gravity. It accelerated and plunged toward the sun. But you believe it crashed here, in the K'Yarthan Swamp?" "Crashed, or else Landreth brought it safely here. We know, now, that he didn't die." "My father escaped alive," Lorine nodded. "_Because I saw him once shortly after this!_" Curt started. "You--saw him? You're sure it was _after_?"