* * * * * Some time later--about twelve hours, to be exact--I dragged him back into the control turret. He was still a little blue from the cold shower. But the fog was out of his brain, and that was what was most necessary. For all of us were dying of curiosity. Bowman said, "Well, your plan worked, son. We got the ship empty, and like you said we would, we pulled out of the goo we was in. Now we're on our way back to tell Earth about Caltech, and--" he added proudly, "--collect that bonus. 'Cause under that scum is a fortune in ores. But what was the scum? An' how did you know you could bust it up with that there zy--zy--" "--mase," grinned Johnny. "Zymase, Skipper. Why, it wasn't difficult, once Lorraine supplied the key. You might say I was slow in figuring it out mainly because the disaccharose existed on such a gigantic scale that I could net comprehend it." "The di--which?" I said. "Sugar," said Johnny, "to you. Or, more accurately, a form of treacle. Honey-gum. "Here's what I figure. Subsequent investigation may prove me wrong, of course, but my theory must be fundamentally sound or we wouldn't have escaped. "Caltech VI is apparently inhabited by some sort of gigantic insect, which may be of the bee, the spider, or the ant family. Each of these insects, as you know, possesses the power of secreting fluids which it adapts to its private needs. The ant seals nests and wraps larvae in his, the bee builds hives and makes honey, the spider spins threads wherein to trap its prey. "We were captured in a gigantic 'trap' built by one of these insects, that's all. From what we saw, I judge that most of Caltech's surface must be covered by these gigantic webs. Miles in extent, hundreds of feet deep. Webs of doom for the unwary. Being highly tensile, gummy, irradiated with a rather unusual form of inherent energy, these traps cannot be damaged by rocket blasts." He shook his head soberly. "I can't help thinking of those poor devils who died there. Like human flies in a monster's viscous web--" [Illustration: "I can't help thinking of the poor devils who died there. Like human flies in a monstrous viscous web."] I prodded, "Lieutenant, the zymase?" "Oh, yes. Of course. Well, you know what zymase is, don't you?" "No," I told him. "Do you?" "Naturally. A nitrogenous substance. A freshly expressed concentrate of yeast juice. Its action on sugar is to speed up, terrifically, the ordinary process that transpires when sugar and yeast are brought together. In short--_fermentation_! "As soon as we emptied the zymase concentrate into the flood of honey--for it was that, though I might never have guessed it in time had it not been for you, dear!" Here he beamed at Lorraine. "--the natural sugar was broken down into carbon dioxide, glycerin, succinic acid, and--er--" "Urr?" repeated Bowman curiously. "What's that? A new element? Never heard of it."