"I guess so. That's why we're not going to look for him at all. He's coming right out into space after the _Vera_--I hope." So he was coming out after the _Vera_! Marnay suddenly remembered the time when Prather had smashed through a cordon of Patrol ships, demolishing four and outrunning the rest. Marnay grimaced, but he merely said: "All right, when do we leave?" "About noon, if I can wait that long! That cruiser that left here last night is probably very fast, and the _Vera_ is just a slow old freighter; so if we give them about twelve hours' start, and Prather acts at once, he ought to meet us somewhere just the other side of the asteroids." "Oh," Marnay said, pretty feebly. So the _Vera_ was just a slow old freighter. And with it they were going to capture the most ruthless pirate of the century! That was certainly a bright picture. Marnay began to wonder, wryly, how the hell he had ever gotten into this, and why! * * * * * And his first sight of the _Vera_ was nothing to inspire confidence. Shortly before noon they proceeded to the spaceport, past the Commercial locks, the Patrol locks, and on to the opposite side of the vast plaza. There, in the farthest and most obscure lock, Marnay saw the _Vera_--long, heavy, clumsy looking. He recognized it when they were yet a hundred yards away, because the name _Vera_ was emblazoned across the prow with a bold flourish that seemed somehow out of keeping with the crude ship. "It's just occurred to me," Marnay said. "_Vera_ is an unusual name for a freighter! That's a girl's name. Sounds sentimental or something." "Does it?" Kennett said. Marnay looked at him queerly, but Kennett said nothing more. They came nearer, and Marnay began to see the ship clearer, and it suddenly seemed to him there was something wrong with the whole thing. It was more than merely clumsy. It was grotesque. Marnay stopped. "Say! I never saw a spacer quite like that before. It looks kind of funny, yet I can't say exactly--" "Come on, come on," Kennett said, taking his arm and hurrying him. "Never mind that. Supplies are all aboard, all we have to do is leave." It was quiet around the spacer. No activity. They entered the bow lock. Marnay looked down a long, empty, silent corridor. "What the hell!" he exclaimed. "Ain't there any crew?" Kennett said: "Yes. You and me are the crew." "Uh huh. But we _are_ taking this misshapen piece of junk clear out to Jupiter? I got that part of it right?" "That's right. I decided it would be a long grind all by myself. There are minor annoyances, such as having to sleep sometimes." "Where's that ten million dollar cargo," Marnay grinned, staring around. Kennett said very seriously: "Oh, we're carrying quite a cargo all right. And it's all for Prather if he wants it. But it's hardly the cargo he thinks he's going to get."