Archer bit his lip. Not much was known of Evans, since he had been with them only two trips, and his responsibilities as an ordinary crewman had not been great. Archer judged him as a none-too-bright individual who would never undertake such a bold venture on his own initiative, but who might go to considerable lengths under strong leadership. Well, he had that in Stokely, whose pale blue eyes had a reckless and determined look about them. "Are you with us?" demanded Stokely. "I could probably pull this off without you, but it'll be easier with you. Because you're a damned good pilot even if you are the Captain's fair-haired boy. What do you say? Not that we'll trust you very far, either way. Evans and I keep the guns. You'll have to string along part way, anyhow--if you want to come all the way, there's a fortune in it for you." Archer unsnapped his safety belt and got to his feet, flexing his lean limbs, which were cramped from the many hours of confinement. As he faced Stokely, their eyes were on a level, although the pink-haired man would have run a good 30 pounds heavier--or, at the moment, 45. "What guarantee," asked Archer in a dull voice, "would I have of that?" "My say so, mostly," Stokely admitted evenly. "But I can use a pilot, not only now but later. After we grab the stuff, the first thing we'll need is another ship--and Faria won't be the place to look for it. When we get it, we'll get rid of this one. That's where you come in." "How do you plan to do it?" "Very simple. Charge it up to the hilt, set her course straight out of the system and let her go at about two G. It won't come back for a thousand years, at least. The company will figure something happened to it on this trip after we managed to miss the planet, and we couldn't get back. I thought of cracking it up on Faria, but somebody might spot it hitting the air, and the time would be way off. This way is better--we just got lost in space. With nobody looking for us on IX, it'll be a cinch to get out of the system from the interstellar base. "After that--we can go buy that nice planet the doctor was talking about." * * * * * Archer scarcely heard the latter part of Stokely's speech, except to visualize briefly the ironic situation in which a pilot named Archer would change ships in mid-space--or start to. The important question was whether there was anything to be gained by pretending to throw in with the conspirators. Stokely, like most people who find it difficult to appreciate a different viewpoint, should be easy enough to deceive. It might mean a gain of considerable time--for Archer. But what about Dr. Grimwood? There seemed to be no place for him in Stokely's scheme, after locating the jade, except perhaps the storage compartment with the two prospectors. Once Stokely had disposed of the doctor, he would undoubtedly require less of an excuse to do the same with Archer--and eventually Evans, in all probability.