"But enough of talking; you are strained and weary and you must rest. As soon as your vessel was detected the beam was transferred to me--the student Rovol, perhaps the closest to Seaton of any of my race--so that I could give you this assurance. With your permission I shall direct upon your controls certain forces which shall so govern your flight that you shall alight safely upon the grounds of my laboratory in a few minutes more than twelve hours of your time, without any further attention or effort upon your part. "Further explanations can wait until we meet in the flesh. Until that time, my friends, do nothing save rest. Eat and sleep without care or fear, for your flight and your landing shall be controlled with precision. Farewell!" The projection vanished instantaneously, and Loring expelled his pent-up breath in an explosive sigh. "Whew! But what a break, chief, what a--" He was interrupted by DuQuesne, who spoke calmly and quietly, yet insistently: "Yes, it is a singularly fortunate circumstance that the Norlaminians detected us and recognized us; it probably would have required weeks for us to have found their planet unaided." DuQuesne's lightning mind found a way of covering up his companion's betraying exclamation and sought some way of warning him that could not be overheard. "Our visitor was right in saying that we need food and rest badly, but before we eat let us put on the headsets and bring the record of our flight up to date--it will take only a minute or two." "What's biting you, chief?" thought Loring as soon as the power was on. "We didn't have any--" "Plenty!" DuQuesne interrupted him viciously. "Don't you realize that they can probably hear every word we say, and that they can see every move we make, even in the dark? In fact, they may be able to read thoughts, for all I know; so _think straight_ from now on, if you never did before! Now let's finish up this record." He then impressed upon a tape the record of everything that had just happened. They ate. Then they slept soundly--the first really untroubled sleep they had enjoyed for weeks. And at last, exactly as the projection had foretold, the _Violet_ landed without a jar upon the spacious grounds beside the laboratory of Rovol, the foremost physicist of Norlamin. * * * * * When the door of the space ship opened, Rovol in person was standing before it, waiting to welcome the voyagers and to escort them to his dwelling. But DuQuesne, pretending a vast impatience, would not be dissuaded from the object of his search merely to satisfy the Norlaminian amenities of hospitality and courtesy. He poured forth his prepared story in a breath, concluding with a flat demand that Rovol tell him everything he knew about Seaton, and that he tell it at once.