"I don't get you, mister. You stopped me, I didn't stop you. What do _you_ want?" "You were following me," Jansen said. "I never saw you before in my life." Before Jansen could answer, the sun went down. It did not set, as the sun sets on Earth. It disappeared, due to the sudden unpredictable wobbles of Mercury's twilight zone. It was an astronomical phenomena. And, despite the sun's great apparent size, Jansen suddenly found himself in pitch darkness. It alarmed him at first, until he realized that Mercury had no atmosphere, except for the artificial pockets under the man-made domes. There was no layer of air to retain the sun's glow. One moment, dazzling light; the next, almost total darkness. "Where are you?" Jansen called. He groped his way toward where the man had been standing. He heard a girl's laughter on the street nearby, heard an old woman's shout. Something struck the side of his head, summoning blinding pain. Jansen staggered and fell to the sidewalk on hands and knees. He felt himself being frisked expertly in his half-conscious state. Something was removed from his trouser-pocket: his wallet probably. He tried to get up but fell forward, scraping his jaw. He heard retreating footsteps. _Number one botch-job_, he thought, and lost consciousness. * * * * * When he came to, he was not alone. He was no longer on the sidewalk, either. He had been taken into a house. He found himself looking at a girl in insulsuit and shorts. The forehead-piece of the girl's skin-tight cowl came down in a sharp widow's peak, in the current feminine fashion. It made her entire face, with its high cheek bones and long narrow eyes and small, stubborn, pointed chin, look somewhat aquatic. She was a very pretty girl and her figure under the revealing insulsuit was breath-taking. "You're all right, Mr. Jansen?" she asked. Jansen. She'd called him by his name. He was on his guard at once. He'd gotten work at the Sun-station employment office on Earth as Wilson. His name was unknown here on Mercury--except to the person who'd gone through his bags aboard ship and the big man who'd taken his wallet on the street. He nodded his head slowly. His head ached and he felt weak and washed out, but he could feel the strength flowing back into him. The woman smiled. Then the smile left her face so quickly, it startled Jansen. "We don't want you here," she said. "We don't want you on Mercury, Jansen." He stood up. "Thanks for dragging me in off the street. I'll get out of here now." "Leave Mercury, Mr. Jansen. While you still can." He headed for the door, his temple throbbing with pain. She helped him across the room coolly, efficiently, supporting his shoulder but barely seeming to touch him. He wished his head was clearer. He wanted to question this girl. She knew him; she'd had him tailed. "Get out while you can," she was saying. "Remember what happened to your brother."