The voice had spoken in English! Rolf took a step forward eagerly and then doubt made his feet falter. There were Earthmen as well as Frogs among the outlaws. This mysterious world that floated above the cavern floor might be their headquarters. "But, Mark," the voice that was now unmistakably feminine argued, "he wears the uniform of a patrolman." "May be a trick." The deep voice was doubtful. "You know their leader, Cannon, wanted you. This may be a trick to join the Outcasts and kidnap you." The girl's voice was merry. "Come on Spider-legs," she said. * * * * * Rolf found himself staring, open-mouthed, at the sleek-limbed vision that parted the bushes and came toward him. A beautiful woman she was, with the long burnished copper of her hair down around her waist, but beneath the meager shortness of the skin tunic he saw that her firm flesh was covered with a fine reddish coat of hair. Even her face was sleek and gleaming with its coppery covering of down. "Hello, patrol-a-man," she said shyly. An elongated pencil-ray of a man bounced nervously out to her side. "Altha," he scolded, scrubbing at his reddened bald skull with a long-fingered hand, "why do you never listen to me? I promised your father I'd look after you." He hitched at his tattered skin robe. The girl laughed, a low liquid sound that made Rolf's heart pump faster. "This Mark Tanner of mine," she explained to the patrolman, "is always afraid for me. He does not remember that I can see into the minds of others." She smiled again as Rolf's face slowly reddened. "Do not be ashamed," she said. "I am not angry that you think I am--well, not too unattractive." Rolf threw up the mental block that was the inheritance from his grueling years of training on Earth Base. His instructors there had known that a few gifted mortals possess the power of a limited telepathy, and the secrets of the Planet Patrol must be guarded. "That is better, perhaps." The girl's face was demure. "And now perhaps you will visit us in the safety of the vaults of ancient Aryk." "Sorry," said the tall man as Rolf sprang easily from the ground to their side. "I'm always forgetting the mind-reading abilities of the Hairy People." "She one of them?" Rolf's voice was low, but he saw Altha's lip twitch. "Mother was." Mark Tanner's voice was louder. "Father was Wayne Stark. Famous explorer you know. I was his assistant." "Sure." Rolf nodded. "Lost in equatorial wastelands--uh, about twenty years ago--2053, I believe." "Only we were not lost on the surface," explained Tanner, his booming voice much too powerful for his reedy body, "Wayne Stark was searching for the lost seas of Mars. Traced them underground. Found them too." He paused to look nervously out across the blasted wasteland. "We ran out of fuel here on Lomihi," he finished, "with the vanished surface waters of Mars less than four miles beneath us."