"You were our commander--out there, in space. We're on a planet now. Things are different. I want to learn the secret of those mists, Emerson. Something tells me I'd get a fortune for it, on Earth." Emerson squirmed helplessly, cursing him, saying, "What's gotten into you?" "Nothing new. Remember me, Karl Mussdorf? I'm a convict, I am. A salt mine convict. I'd have done anything to get out of that boiling hell. I volunteered to go with you for the radium. Me and Gunn. Nichols doesn't count. He came on account of his wife and kids. We were the only two who'd come. Convicts, both of us." * * * * * Mussdorf drew air into his lungs until his ribs showed against the rips in his jacket. He went on slowly, "All along I've thought that if we ever did discover radium in any quantity to cure the folks of space out of it. I want to be that somebody, Emerson. With my pardon and that profit, I could be a boss on Mars. And you know what it's like to be a boss on Mars." Emerson writhed in his straps, wrenching and twisting until his muscles crackled, seeking freedom. His lips snarled oaths at the big criminal. "If I ever get out of this, I'll teach you who's boss--right here!" Mussdorf laughed his confidence, "Don't worry. You won't. Those straps are pretty secure. I'm lucky one of mine was ripped." The big man turned to Gunn; looked down at him, curiously. "You with me, Til?" Gunn looked at Emerson; looked up at Mussdorf, nodding. "I think we got a chance, guv'nor," he muttered softly. "Them mists that don't 'ave germs. They're worth lots. People will pay plenty for h'air without germs." The big man and the little man swung toward the door. They paused at the threshold and glanced back. "We'll give you a chance to think it over, Emerson," Mussdorf grated. "You can use a few billions, same as us. We aren't hogs. We're willing to share--" "Get out!" Emerson spat. Mussdorf shrugged and followed Gunn into the corridor, carefully closing the door behind him. He glanced both ways frowning. "We don't know this space," he said slowly. "Stick close to me, Til. We might meet some more of that beast's pals. He's too much for us physically, but damned if I don't believe we got more grey matter than him and his whole tribe, if we use it right!" They went along the black marble flooring for long minutes. The thick drapes along the walls muffled their footsteps, but they cast anxious glances behind them. The eerie silence that overhung the place scratched at their uneasy nerves. Mussdorf's hand vised on Gunn until the little man whimpered. Behind them there was the slow shuffle of a mighty body. "In here," snapped Mussdorf, drawing Gunn with him into a niche sculped in the marble wall. They pressed back, drawing the drapes about them. Biting on their tongues, they held their breaths.