* * * * * Trent let the dog pull him down the hall toward a door at the end which he knew opened on the backyard where the Great Dane was kept. "Seems to me it's much the same thing," he answered her. "Scientists want to explore the mysteries of space, and the only way to do it is with an animal. Or would you like to make the trip--maybe I can arrange it? Would make a big story, just the one I've been waiting for." "I believe you would at that!" she mocked, opening the rear door. "Here, give me the leash." Trent handed over the leash to her and watched as she released the huge dog. Brutus flicked out a long tongue once again and caught the girl's cheek in a wet caress before she straightened. "Brutus! Now get along with you!" The dog took a leisurely bound through the door and into the backyard. Trent glanced through the door at the tall fenced-in yard with the large kennel that might well have served as a small garage. He stood beside the girl watching the big animal romp for a few moments, then she shut the door and they turned back down the hall. "I'll have to go inside now, Fred," she said. "If you want to wait for Gaddon, have a seat. It shouldn't be long." She started to turn in at a door marked private, when Fred pulled her gently around and before she could stop him, had kissed her. "I was getting mighty jealous of Brutus. Now I feel better." "I don't know which of you I prefer," she shot back, then smiled and pulled away from him. He watched her open the office door and close it after her. * * * * * He had lit his second cigarette and gotten halfway through his third magazine on the rack beside the chair when the office door opened again. He heard the pleasant voice of Dr. Stanley Fenwick. "If every man had a heart as strong as yours, Blair, we wouldn't need half the doctors we have." Then he heard the deep, gruff voice of Dr. Blair Gaddon half laugh. "Thanks a lot, Fenwick. You've taken a load off my mind. Goodbye, Miss Drake." He heard Joan reply and then saw Dr. Fenwick usher the physicist out into the hall. Trent rose as the two men approached. "Why, hello, Trent," Dr. Fenwick said. Trent nodded at the tall, white-coated figure of the famous gland specialist. "Afternoon, doctor." Fenwick smiled at him. "Don't tell me you're waiting to see me?" Fred shook his head. "Not exactly. I was waiting to see Dr. Gaddon though. I was on my way out to the Proving Grounds and I happened to stop by and talk to Miss Drake." He turned to the physicist, a bulky man with firm, hard features, who moved his large body with an almost cat-like grace. "I hope you don't mind, Dr. Gaddon. Possibly I can give you a lift back out to the Base. I'm covering the launching for my paper." Gaddon smiled at him. "But of course I don't mind. And I'll take you up on that offer. It'll save me a trip back to town to take one of the staff cars."