A phonograph needle caught in one groove, spinning out its brief message over and over again--that was the voice. _I am Charlie Stedman._ And the ringwall might have been the record, Steve thought bitterly, except that it was utterly deserted. He hadn't covered its entire rock-strewn area; an army of searchers would be necessary to do that. But he had seen enough to convince him that-- The thought fled. Coming toward him over the floor of the ringwall was a huge anthrovac, walking erect with a shuffling gait. Charlie's voice grew louder. * * * * * "It's no good, Mac. We can't find him." "As soon as we turn back he's as good as dead." "Our air won't last forever," Teejay said. "He's got even less." "Ten more minutes?" "All right, ten. But why did you come out here with me if you're ready to give up so easy?" "Who said I am? I'm trying to be practical, Mac. Listen, I saved Stedman's life once already--and stayed out on the hot side of Mercury longer than a person should, too. I like Stedman, but if we ever find him, better not say that or I'll break your neck, hear? So I want to find him, but I don't want to sacrifice your life or mine in the attempt. Is that clear?" Kevin said that it was. A moment later, Teejay climbed higher. Half a thousand feet above the surface of Ganymede she circled. Abruptly, she leveled off at a hundred feet again, said: "There's something over there, Mac. In that ringwall." "What?" "I don't know. Movement. A big figure and a little one. The big one seems too large for a man, but the smaller--well, let's go." * * * * * The anthrovac paused a dozen yards from Steve. There had been nothing hostile in its movements to begin with, and now it might have been a statue for all the activity it displayed. From crown of head to small, hand-like feet, it stood almost a yard taller than Steve, but it did not have the great-muscled girth of a gorilla. Instead, it looked quite manlike, except for the incredibly broad shoulders, the thick, matted hair covering its entire body, the too-long arms, the nine feet of height. Did the voice emanate from it? Now that the creature had approached him, Steve wasn't sure. The voice continued, pulsing and throbbing in his ears like the Ganymede-fear itself--_but in his ears_. Not from the bleak terrain around him, and certainly not from the anthrovac. "I'm going crazy," he said, aloud, driving the voice away temporarily. "No. No, I'm not, because I realize it too soon. A crazy man doesn't realize it and doesn't warn himself about it--certainly not at the outset." But did that mean the voice had any real existence? How could it? _I am Charlie Stedman...._