From time to time Gates was carried back to the Crystal Planetoid, where a sting from one of the monsters' tails applied a deparalyzing fluid. Thus he found occasional relief--which, however, was not to be credited to any feeling of mercy on the part of the captors. No! for he could not be fed while paralyzed. And thanks to the way in which he was jolted around, he had to be given food every few days if he was not to perish. As yet, it was not only the purpose of the invaders to keep him alive, but to obtain as many living humans as possible. Dozens of men and women, as he saw to his dismay, had been brought to the Planetoid and paralyzed. Like flies tangled in the webs of gigantic spiders, the victims lay scattered about the webs. And Gates realized that he was, in a sense, responsible. Yes, he had been the unwilling tool to trap them; it was as a bait that he had been dangled above the earth ... so that, when the people congregated beneath, the Saturnians might take their pick and whisk the victims away while the crowd was too preoccupied to be aware what had happened. But why did they desire so many humans? Gates had the boldness to put this question to Red-Hood during one of his de-paralyzed intervals; and, to his surprise, the monster immediately rasped out an answer: "Nignig, surely you have not the brains of a gnat, else you would have guessed! We capture you earthlings so as to dangle you above the earth as a lure to capture other earthlings!" "And why capture other earthlings?" "Why?" The giant's red eyes twinkled with amusement, as at a child who persists in asking the ridiculous. "Naturally, we want specimens of all the human fauna, of every race and color, so that we may skin and dry them in the interest of science, and bring them back to Saturn as specimens for the Museum of Unnatural History." Noting the horror with which Gates greeted this explanation, Red-Hood went on to state, "After all, Nignig, you should be grateful to us for seeking to preserve some trace of your species, instead of obliterating it entirely. You earth-creatures have no sense of gratitude!" Thanks to this information, Gates' mind was more busy than ever with the problem of circumventing the Saturnians. His first thought was to destroy his own value to them by means of a hunger strike. But the result was that his food, in liquid form, was forced down his throat; while the Saturnians, apparently fearing that he would resort to other means to take his own life, vigilantly followed his every movement. Nevertheless, after a time, an idea did come to him--an idea that at first appeared wild and impossible, and yet seemed to offer the only prospect, however remote, of regaining his freedom. * * * * * But before he could try out the scheme, matters on earth went from bad to worse.[1]