I could hear the tiny voice coming from the receiver as Mackensie clapped it to his ear. "This is Torio," the voice said suavely. "Have you had enough, Captain?" "You go to hell," Mackensie roared. "That would be very nice, Captain, but it's more likely to be your own destination." I could picture the sleek, ironically smiling Venus man down there at the speaking tube. "We demand your surrender now--if you do not wish to die." "To hell with you--" "All you have to do is come out of the turret, with your hands up. You'll be treated--like the passengers. Fair treatment, I do assure you." "I'll have all you pirates in the detention pen before this is ended," Mackensie roared. "All we want is your surrender. And to have you tell us where you've hidden that little leaden cylinder." "By Heaven, you'll never find it. Dead or alive." "Dead, if you say so," Torio's voice snapped. And then his irony returned. "We'll give you five minutes to decide." "I want nothing from you. By the gods, I'm still Master here!" "Empty title, Captain." "I'm steering us back to Earth," the captain rasped. "The Interplanetary Patrol is coming for us." That made the Venus man chuckle. "If only it were. But it isn't." "We'll be back on Earth in eighteen hours," the choleric Mackensie asserted. "You can all go to hell--you murderers--bandits--" "Back to Earth?" Torio sneered. "Watch us turn, Captain. Not back to Earth. It's Venus we're going to head for. Venus--where the new triumphant Government will be needing that treasure you've hidden. Up there with you in the turret, isn't it?" "To hell with you--" "Watch us turn, Captain." * * * * * I was aware of the glittering Heavens up through the glassite pressure dome as they made a dizzying swoop. The little _X-87_, with her gravity plates abruptly shifted by the manual controls in the hull room, was turning over. "See it, Captain?" "You damned fools," Mackensie roared. "Disconnect my controls if you like. What the hell of it? You can't chart a course down there. You haven't the instruments or the skill." "Quite true, Captain. That's why we want you to surrender. We'd really rather not kill you. And if we go falling through Space this way, unguided, we might eventually hit something. Your five minutes are almost up. What do you say?" My nostrils abruptly were dilating. What was this? Suddenly I was aware of a queer acrid smell here. And my head gave a swoop. Here in the turret Green and Polter were at the forward window. I saw them fling me a startled glance. Both of them staggered to their feet. And Mackensie, still gripping the receiver, was swaying. "What's the matter, Captain?" Torio's suave ironic voice was demanding. "Do you smell it already? You're so silent." William Wilson, with Nina, was alone on guard in the adjacent chart room. He gave a sudden startled cry. "Come quick! Something's the matter with me."