For a moment, the cold green line of his fire flicked harmlessly over naked stone. Then a thick squirt of fire flared quickly. A still-born scream died in his earphones. The men of the _Kastil_ had dodged away into the darkness. Scott's voice rang out harshly. "I'll give you men two minutes to organize and get out of here. If you're not out by that time, we'll spin our jet around and burn you out." There was a brief stir off in the shadows. "You're in a blind alley there," Scott continued. "There's no way out. And we'll blast any man who tries to climb out over the rocks. Is that clear?" A glowing flash of energy exploded against the rock protecting him. There was no sound, but bits of stone lightly flecked his suit. Scott braced himself on the rough face of the boulder and worked the blaster around for an open shot. "No more shooting," the heavy voice of the tall man growled. "You _Bertha_ people. Can you hear me?" "Yes," Scott said coldly. His eyes probed the shadows for motion. "We're willing to be peaceful about this. I'm Captain Randell of the _Kastil_. There's no need for killing when there's plenty of ore for all of us." "Not in this pit," Scott answered. "You have one minute." "All right." Randell's voice, distorted as it was by the tiny radio, carried a sardonic edge. "We'll go--from here." He sauntered out of the shadows, hands upraised. From the tangle of stone, his men crept out to join him. Without haste, insolent in their retreat, they crossed over the pit. At the far side they paused. "This is the extent of your so-called claim." Randell's voice purred in their ears. "Our claim extends from this line. And if a man from the _Bertha_ wants a quick blasting, he can cross this line." His radio snapped off with crisp finality. Scott stepped from his shelter. "All right," he ordered. "You men know the story. The _Kastil's_ down here ready for work. And it's going to mean work if we're going to beat her back to Earth. Now, let's go. But watch your step." * * * * * They worked. Eighteen hours a day they worked. From the steel-like ground they scooped a dozen tons of the dirty black uranium ore and sent it hurtling back to the _Bertha_. But in spite of all their efforts, the more modern equipment of the _Kastil_ overtook them in a day. The blackness on their left was riddled with the flare of digging torches and the slender fire-trails of the jets soaring between the pit and the _Kastil_. And now and again, Randell's drawling voice broke into Scott's ears. "You're slowing up, _Bertha_. Seventy tons for us today. Are you poor little men getting tired?" He clucked sympathetically, then burst into a yell of laughter. "We'll have the ore cleaned off this rock before you get half loaded." But Scott and the men of the _Bertha_ worked silently, with savage haste, forgetting sleep and food to keep the tonnage flowing to their ship. They had almost forgotten the cats.... But not for long.