The heavy metal wire appeared suddenly in the gloom, and he fell flat on his face in a little gulley as the tread of a guard's feet sounded from a distance. A small flashlight flicked on and off as the footsteps approached. Matt hugged the ground, holding his breath as the soldier moved silently by. Then he was up against the fence, dragging the climbers from his pockets, strapping them onto his boots. Cutting the heavy fencing wire was out of the question--the sound would ring out in the stillness like a pistol shot. But the barbed wire at the top could be cut with only a small sound. He struggled up the bare fence, a few inches at a time. It seemed like hours. He knew the guard's timing down to the second, and he worked himself up, panting. It was the dog-watch; the men would not be too alert, even men fighting for their lives-- He clung to the fence with one hand, and snapped the four barbed strands with a hand tool, felt them curl away with a _ping_. He dragged his body up and caught his knee on the top of the fence. In an instant he had dropped to the ground inside the enclosure-- On his feet, he crouched and ran for the tall, dark ship. The intervening buildings provided him cover. Down one of the concrete streets a dozen men were huddled around a small fire near the gate, talking and laughing. Matt slipped across the street, and saw the ship's mammoth scaffolding rise up in the darkness. It was a beautiful ship, tall and silvery, enshrouded like a statue waiting to be unveiled. He glanced about the grounds around, and his eyes widened. Great tanks of fuel stood nearby, recently-opened cartons of supplies were everywhere in evidence. A huge pile of oxygen cylinders formed a heavy pyramid. Matthews walked over to one of the open crates, peered into it. Heavy material, plastic, metal-- Space suits. * * * * * He opened the pack on his back, drew out the bundles of dynamite carefully, separated them from the coil of wire to the small detonator. Somewhere in the distance he heard talking, and he hurried his movements. Finally the deadly bundles were free.