The man locked in the control room of the ship had been taken. Whoever these two men were who had championed our cause, their desperate efforts had failed, and now we were all in the same boat. The one who had addressed us over the speaker was led out of the ship and shoved into our group beside his fellow traitor, Jasper. The latter's spiral was promptly torn off. As the outlaws passed among us, searching for concealed weapons, I felt a cold object thrust cautiously into my hand. My heart thrilled to the contact of a pistol. I held my hand close to my side that none might see. The effects of the gas wore off quickly. The chief of the brigands, his brutal face set in anger, strode up to the pair who had turned against him during the stress of combat. His dark eyes blazed, and he raised his clutching hands menacingly above the two. Jasper and his friend stared back unabashed, a reckless glitter in their eyes, ready for what might happen. "I don't know who you are, but I've got suspicions!" snapped the outlaw. "You'll both die horribly--the kind of death we reserve for such as you!" He turned upon Cragley. "Where's the platinum?" he demanded. "Is it over there?" He pointed to the clump of bushes from which we had lately emerged. "Or have you hidden it?" "See for yourself!" snapped Cragley. "When we find it, all tongues will be silenced," he remarked significantly. "If it's hidden, we'll find it just the same. We know how to make tongues wag." It was a desperate situation. Cragley knew that the time of reckoning had come. The platinum lay in an open space among the bushes where we had taken our stand on seeing the approach of the outlaw ship. I fondled the gun I held out of sight. Leaving a large force of his men to guard us, the leader of the brigands took the balance of his men and headed for the spot where Captain Cragley had left the boxes of platinum. "Well, Ben," observed Jasper, philosophically scratching his head, "we did the best we could." "Which weren't quite enough, Jasper, m'lad." "Who are you two?" queried Cragley. Each one looked at the other questioningly. For a moment neither spoke. Then through a rough, unkempt beard, Ben grinned at his companion. "Might as well tell 'im, Jasper. The game's up." "We ain't outlaws, that's sure, though we might have made believe so," said Jasper. "He's Ben Cartley, the best pal a man ever had. I'm Jasper Jezzan. We're from the Hayko Unit." My mouth fell open in surprise. I nearly dropped the gun I had kept concealed in a fold of my clothing. Everyone, at some time or another, had heard of the famous Hayko Unit. The order, established since the perfection of space flying, was comprised of men pledged to keep the space lanes and colonies safe from the lawless element. "We'll be in the death unit when Ledageree and his men come back," cracked Ben, chuckling at his own grim joke. "Did you plant the platinum, or is it back there?"