And that was all he said. Friday was too far away to reach him in time, but the Hawk was closer; he approached behind the brigand, crouched on silent cat's feet. Two powerful arms reached out and tightened in a strangle hold--and two minutes later the second man was bound and gagged. Carse loosened his ray-gun in its holster. "Now we attack," he whispered. "Four to two are fair odds, I think. You go aft and wait by the man-hole; wait till you hear me call. Don't be seen--wait. And when I call, come at once." "Yes, suh. You goin' forward 'tween the hulls?" A curt nod answered him. "Then up through that--" "Don't ask so many questions!" the Hawk rasped crisply. They separated. CHAPTER V _The Hawk and the Kite_ In the deck of the control cabin, between a bank of instruments and the starboard wall, was another man-hole that gave entrance from the 'tween hulls compartment to the cabin. Only two men besides Carse knew of its existence. The adventurer for good reasons of his own had it built in; and so cunningly was its cover fitted on that its outlines were not visible. Beneath it, now, on the three-rung ladder that led up from the lower shell, Hawk Carse waited. He could hear quite clearly the angry, snarling voice of Judd the Kite, haranguing his men. "Rinker, you go down and see what's wrong. Just because Jake and Sako don't come back right away, you guys seem to think the ship's haunted! Haunted! By Betelguese! A sweet bunch of white-livered cowards I've got for a crew--" "Ah, lay off!" growled a deep, sullen voice. "I ain't scared, but this looks fishy to me. Something's wrong down there 'tween the hulls--damn wrong, I tell you. We only found four skeletons, an' four, ain't the full crew for a ship like this. There oughta to be a couple more somewhere. Carse, blast him! he's got nine lives. How do we know he was one of the four?" Another spoke up, as Rinker evidently hesitated. "I say we all go down and investigate together." "Stow it!" thundered Judd. "They didn't get their space-suits out, did they? Why, they hadn't a chance to escape--none of 'em. They were killed, every one, quick! And four's plenty to work this ship. Carse is dead, see, dead! This was one trick he didn't know--one time he couldn't worm out. He was clever, all right, but he couldn't quite stack up against me. I swore I'd get him and I did. He's dead!" "Judd," said a low, clear voice. * * * * * The Kite whirled around. He stared. The hand-flash he was holding dropped to the deck with a clang. His hands went limp, and his voice was suddenly weak and dazed. "My God--Carse! Hawk Carse!" "Yes," a whisper answered. "Hawk Carse. And not dead."