"We are very glad indeed to see you, sir; particularly since we know neither the name nor the location of the planet for which we are searching. Your assumptions are correct in every particular save one--" [Illustration: _Self-contained as DuQuesne was, this statement almost took his breath away, squaring almost perfectly as it did with the tale he had so carefully prepared._] "You do not know even the name of Norlamin?" the Green scientist interrupted. "How can that be? Did not Dr. Seaton send the projections of all his party to you upon Earth, and did he not discuss matters with you?" "I was about to explain that." DuQuesne lied instantly, boldly, and convincingly. "We heard that he had sent a talking, three-dimensional picture of his group to Earth, but after it had vanished all the real information that any one seemed to have obtained was that they were here in the Green System somewhere, but not upon Osnome, and that they had been taught much of science. Mrs. Seaton did most of the talking, I gather, which may account for the dearth of pertinent details. "Neither my friend Loring, here, nor I--I am Stewart Donovan, by the way--saw the picture, or rather, projection. You assumed that we are Seaton's close friends. We are engineers in his company, but we have not the honor of his personal acquaintance. His scientific knowledge was needed so urgently that it was decided that we should come out here after him, since the chief of construction had heard nothing from him for so long." "I see." A shadow passed over the seamed green face. "I am very sorry indeed at what I have to tell you. We did not report anything of it to Earth because of the panic that would have ensued. We shall of course send the whole story as soon as we can learn what actually did take place and can deduce therefrom the probable sequence of events yet to occur." "What's that--an accident? Something happened to Seaton?" DuQuesne snapped. His heart leaped in joy and relief, but his face showed only strained anxiety and deep concern. "He isn't here now? Surely nothing serious could have happened to him." "Alas, young friend, none of us knows yet what really occurred. It is highly probable, however, that their vessel was destroyed in intergalactic space by forces about which we have as yet been able to learn nothing; forces directed by some intelligence as yet to us unknown. There is a possibility that Seaton and his companions escaped in the vessel you knew as _Skylark Two_, but so far we have not been able to find them.