"I'll confess that we're surprised ourselves to find any life here," Crain told him. "You're living on one of the wrecks?" The other nodded. "Yes, on the _Martian Queen_, a quarter-mile along the pack's edge. It was a Saturn-Neptune passenger ship, and about a month ago we were at this cursed dead-area's edge, when half our rocket-tubes exploded. Eighteen of us escaped the explosion, the ship's walls still being tight; and we drifted into the pack here, and have been living here ever since." "My name's Krell," he added, "and I was a tube-man on the ship. I and another of the tube-men, named Jandron, were the highest in rank left, all the officers and other tube-men having been killed, so we took charge and have been keeping order." "What about your passengers?" Liggett asked. "All killed but one," Krell answered. "When the tubes let go they smashed up the whole lower two decks." Crain briefly explained to him the _Pallas'_ predicament. "Mr. Kent and Mr. Liggett were on the point of starting a search of the wreck-pack for fuel when you arrived," he said, "With enough fuel we can get clear of the dead-area." Krell's eyes lit up. "That would mean a getaway for all of us! It surely ought to be possible!" "Do you know whether there are any ships in the pack with fuel in their tanks?" Kent asked. Krell shook his head. "We've searched through the wreck-pack a good bit, but never bothered about fuel, it being no good to us. But there ought to be some, at least: there's enough wrecks in this cursed place to make it possible to find almost anything. "You'd better not start exploring, though," he added, "without some of us along as guides, for I'm here to tell you that you can lose yourself in this wreck-pack without knowing it. If you wait until to-morrow, I'll come over myself and go with you." "I think that would be wise," Crain said to Kent. "There is plenty of time." "Time is the one thing there's plenty of in this damned place," Krell agreed. "We'll be getting back to the _Martian Queen_ now and give the good news to Jandron and the rest." "Wouldn't mind if Liggett and I came along, would you?" Kent asked. "I'd like to see how your ship's fixed--that is, if it's all right with you, sir," he added to his superior. Crain nodded. "All right if you don't stay long," he said. But, to Kent's surprise Krell seemed reluctant to endorse his proposal. "I guess it'll be all right," he said slowly, "though there's nothing much on the _Martian Queen_ to see." * * * * * Krell and his followers replaced their helmets and returned into the airlock. Liggett followed them, and, as Kent struggled hastily into a space-suit, he found Captain Crain at his side. "Kent, look sharp when you get over on that ship," Crain told him. "I don't like the look of this Krell, and his story about all the officers being killed in the explosion sounds fishy to me."