LeClarc failed to wait for that, or anything else. Chuckling, he led the first anthrovac through the high-arched stone gateway and the other two creatures herded the humans in after him. Charlie--although obviously, the man was not Charlie--went on ahead with LeClarc, and Steve had to restrain Teejay with a few terse words. The purple mists cloaked the city completely now, and as they plodded along a wide roadway, Steve half-saw figures watching them from the darkness. He could not make the figures out, however, and he heard nothing but the sounds their feet made on the stone roadway. Presently, they came to a smaller, divergent path which led back to the base of the wall. Here, in deepest shadow, was their destination--a squat, rectangular building carved from stone. A gate creaked and clanged open before them; they streamed through, weary after hours of forced march; the gate clanged resoundingly behind them. Charlie had not entered with them, nor LeClarc, nor the anthrovacs. It took Steve only a moment to discover the gate had been securely fastened from the outside. "I guess we bed down here for the night," he said, grinning ruefully. Teejay shrugged, wrapped the black cape tightly about her. It was cold and damp in the one large chamber which took up the interior of the building. In the center of the place stood a stone table, and on it a gas lamp which flickered and spluttered and cast grotesque shadows as the men wandered about. There were no beds, no furniture of any sort except for the table. And the two small peep-hole windows were fifteen or more feet off the ground. The crew of the _Frank Buck_ gathered in small, anxious knots and whispered grimly among themselves. After a time, men circulated between one group and another, and finally one of them, evidently designated as spokesman for the rest, approached Schuyler Barling. He seemed nervous, frightened, unsure of himself. "Captain Barling, my name's Steiner, and the fellows thought that--well, that I might speak for them. We don't know what's going on, but we do know this much: we don't like it." "I can't blame you," said Barling. "Point is, sir, we want you to do something about it." "Eh? Me? What can I do?" "We don't know that, sir. But a spaceman's a peculiar individual; some say he's got characteristics you won't find elsewhere, and one of them is this: he has complete confidence in his captain." "Why, thank you, Steiner." "Me, I work in fission. I like to have that confidence and the rest of the men, they like to have it too. When they lose it, they're kind of at a loss. We don't want to think we've lost it here, sir." "What do you want me to do?" Barling was restless, fidgety, twisting his hands together. "Lead us, sir. Tell us you can get us out of here. Tell us we must be prepared to fight behind you and maybe to die, but lead us."