"Can't you see?" said Hugh Murdock. "John Dark's ship did crash on Vesta after being wrecked--that must be true enough. But Dark and his pirates weren't dead as the Patrol thought. They had to have machines and material to repair their ship. So Dark sent these two men to Mars for the materials. The two couldn't get a ship there any other way, so they made use of our cruiser by selling us that treasure yarn!" * * * * * Kenniston winced. He knew now that he had underestimated Murdock, who had put together the evidence quickly when his suspicions were roused. Gloria Loring, looking at Kenniston with wide dark eyes, saw the change in his expression. Into her white face came an incredulous loathing. "Then it's true," she whispered. "You did that--you deliberately planned to lead us all into capture?" "Aw, you're all space-struck," growled Holk Or, bluffing to the last. Murdock spoke over his shoulder. "Call Captain Walls, Robbie." "No need to--here he comes now!" yelped the excited youth. Captain Walls, entering the cabin in urgent haste, had eyes only for Kenniston in the first moment. "Ah, there you are, Mr. Kenniston!" the captain exclaimed relievedly. "I was just coming for you. We've reached Vesta! I've ordered the pilot to slow down, for I want you to pilot us through the swarm--" The captain's voice trailed off. His eyes bulged as for the first time he perceived that Murdock was covering the two men with a gun. "We're not going in to Vesta, captain," rapped Murdock. "John Dark and his pirates are on the asteroid--_alive_!" Captain Walls' plump face went waxy as he heard the name of the most dreaded corsair of the System. "Dark--living?" he stuttered. "Good God, you must be joking!" Mrs. Milsom, her dumpy figure shivering and her teeth chattering with terror, pointed a finger at Kenniston and the Jovian. "They're two of the pirates!" she shrilled. "They might have murdered us all in our beds! I knew this would happen when we left Earth--" Kenniston's mind was seething with despair as he stood there with hands upraised. His whole desperate plan was ruined at this last moment. He wouldn't _let_ it be ruined! He would get this cargo of machines and materials to John Dark if it meant his life! "Turn back at once toward Mars, captain," Gloria was saying quietly to the stunned officer. Her face was still very pale. Kenniston, standing tense, had had an idea. A desperate chance to make a break, in the face of Murdock's atom-gun. The captain had said that he had just ordered the pilot to slow down the _Sunsprite_. In a moment would come the shock of the braking rocket-tubes firing from the bows-- That shock came an instant after the wild expedient flashed across Kenniston's mind. It was only a jarring vibration through the fabric of the ship, for the pilot knew his business.