And then Haddix was upon him, clawing for the atomic rifle. They struggled there at the lip of the space-warp, the weapon between them. Slowly, Alan felt himself being forced around, felt nothing but space below his left foot as he tried to step back. Immediately behind him was the warp, and instant, horrible death if he fell in. Haddix's gauntletted fist struck his glassite helmet, jarring him. Alan swung his arms wildly for balance, then remembered his personnel jets and switched them on, pivoting around at the same instant. Borne aloft by his shoulder rockets, Alan and Haddix spun dizzily over the abyss. It was Haddix's own blind fury that killed him. He swung his fists at Alan, trying to shatter the already damaged glassite helmet. He forgot that Alan alone wore the jets. Alan watched the figure tumbling below him, head over heels, slowly, as in a dream. Haddix's voice came to him once over the radio in a hideous scream. Then the spacesuited form was swept into the warp, where it twisted, was bent and broken.... Overhead, the Earth ship hovered. Far away, the gutted hulk of the Federation craft which had come to challenge it was drifting off into space. Alan jetted for the Earth ship. * * * * * Hands lifted the helmet from his head, deflated and unfastened the spacesuit. "How are the others making out?" Alan gasped. "They're gone. All gone. Five ships, five brave crews...." "And the Federation?" "Three ships left." "Can we beat them to the moon?" "We can try." Just then the reporter joined Alan and the two crewmen in the companionway. "You'll reach the moon, all right," he said. He was pointing an atomic pistol at them. CHAPTER IX Cold and lifeless, the surface of the moon expanded before them. The six man crew of the spaceship sat in the control cabin. Alan was at the controls. The reporter stood at the door, facing them with his back to the companionway. The atomic pistol was unwavering in his hand. "You were at the Security Council meeting," Alan said bitterly. "You're working for Keifer. You sent those men to kidnap Laura. Then, in the confusion at the spacefield, you claimed the President had designated you to cover the story for Earth, and--" The reporter nodded. "A man's a fool not to join the winning side while he can. You'll take this ship down in Tycho crater. You'll land near the old Terra Mines dome. They'll drag you in through the domelock with a tractor beam. You'll be able to watch them launch the bomb to Earth." Jagged, pock-marked and buried in its mantle of pumice, the surface of the moon sped by below them. Dark, somber _maria_, the broad deep valleys of the moon, appeared, were reached and left behind. Rills cut tortuously across the moonscape; rays like molten gold radiated from some of the craters.