"Five thousand tons!" The noblemen murmured amongst themselves restlessly. Their leader bent a shrewd, hard glance upon Gary. "That is much fuel, Earthman." "We have far to go," replied Gary. "From here to Mars ... from Mars to Jupiter ... then outward, beyond this universe itself. Five thousand tons of _neurotrope_ is barely enough for our needs." "It is _also_ enough," reminded the other, "to fuel the whole of your Earth fleet for a trip to Venus." "Yes," acknowledged Gary, "I suppose that's true. But this is a relatively short trip, whereas--" Then he stopped suddenly, the implication of the other's words striking him. "But surely you can't think--!" "Our relationship with your planet," said the Chief Councillor slowly, "has not always been ... pleasant. We have small reason to place great faith in your words and promises; none whatsoever to turn over to you a supply of the only important military weapon we possess. Unless, of course--" Gary grasped the straw eagerly. "Yes?" "Unless you would be willing to show your good faith by disclosing to us, in return, an Earthly secret vital to our defense." "But," faltered Gary, "I know no such secret." "I think you do. You came here in a spacecraft. It contains the secret we want. The knowledge of the hypatomic motor which drives it." Gary's heart sank. He turned to Hugh Warren. "Tell them, Hugh, what you told us on the trip here." Warren did so. The councillors were courteous but unmoved. Their chief merely shrugged as he made reply. "The situation is even worse than I thought. Earth's government is so jealous of its military secrets that it does not entrust them even to the Patrolmen who fight in its cause. No, gentlemen, I am afraid--" * * * * * It was the girl, Nora Powell, who interrupted him. "But, Excellency," she cried, springing forward, "you can't _do_ this! You can't risk the very existence of a dozen worlds for the sake of a selfish principle. You can't turn us away like this. Don't you realize what these men have dared already? Disgrace and death at the hands of their compatriots, unless our mission succeeds. We are exiles, fugitives from Earth, fighting alone and single-handed to protect Earth and all Sol's other children from--" The councillor said, "Yes, we have heard the news by ultrawave radio of your--er--melodramatic escape from Earth. Surely, my dear young lady, you do not think we are taken in by such a ruse? It is an exquisitely imaginative tale. But we find it scarcely credible that five learnéd scientists and a crew of Solar Patrolmen should 'steal' a ship against the will of Earth's government. "It is more likely--_much_ more likely--that your world, in order to gain a sufficient supply of our vital fuel, has planned this little drama." "Why," burst out Flick Muldoon indignantly, "that's nonsense! Begging your pardon, Excellency, but that idea's as crazy as hell! We did this on our own hook in order to--"