Mark complied, and instantly, as if a tremendous force had struck him, he reeled in darkness, consciousness fled. He never knew that not far behind him another being fell unconscious also. It was Palanth. The Martian had followed unseen, unwilling to let Mark risk the unknown by himself. The hours slid in silence under the unchanging luminescence of the primordial cavern, now filled with countless Panadurs in hieratic attitudes. At last one of the beings stood erect and made a silent motion; waves of pure energy began to course through Mark Lynn and Palanth. But when they awoke, all the Panadurs were gone save their leader. Mark dazedly stretched his long limbs and looked at the Martian uncomprehendingly, then slowly remembrance came. "So, you did follow me after all? Disobedience of orders in an uncharted world--do you know the penalty imposed by the Council?" "May the Council swelter in Venus' deepest swamp!" Palanth spat irreverently. "Didn't intend to take chances ... your life's too valuable, O scourge of the Planets!" Under a grandiloquent manner he tried to hide the mixture of bewilderment and awe with which he gazed at the placid Panadur Leader. He still had not quite decided what had happened to him. The Panadur in turn, gazed inscrutably at the being from Mars, its delicate nose wrinkled slightly at Palanth's mingled fragrances. What went on in the Panadur's prodigious mind was unknown to the two men, for the three-foot tall Leader's mind was not in contact with theirs. The faintest hint of a smile hovered over his placid features. At last he began to send: "The tragedy of your world, 'twice come' is only less startling than that of your Government--your leaders are a paradox! With a philosophy of achievement they conceal the greatest achievement of all--men of metal to enrich your lives; with the goal of conservation and economy, they waste the most precious of all things--Life! From such a Government, we can expect but destruction. "Yet, your people reared without controls are dissenters.... I fear they might not accept our guidance, that at some future time their will to power might create an even greater problem to be solved. However, there's no alternative now. We accept the fifteen men of metal, O Terran, but above all we must have the 'Sleeping Ones' whose minds we will study. _We Panadurs must guard against a future paradox._ Your people," he paused and gazed from Mark to Palanth, "may remain." The mental rapport was broken, and the furred leader disappeared into the depths of the cavern, leaving Mark and Palanth to retrace their steps to the _Stellar Virgin_. * * * * *