Just then the one streamlined swamp-buggy Jansen had seen came chugging up through the brackish water. A hatch opened and as it did so Wendy moved quickly away from Jansen. She waded toward the buggy, smiling. A man appeared in the hatch, a big man, big as Jansen and wider. He was younger than Jansen thought he would be. He was handsome and somehow cold-looking. "Wendy, my dear," Jansen heard him say. "This is a pleasant surprise." Wendy reached the swamp-buggy. Bareen--for it was Bareen--leaned over and offered her a hand. He drew her up to him and she turned her cheek for his kiss. Then they disappeared inside the buggy and it chugged away. Jansen sat there for a moment. Bareen, he thought. Bareen and Wendy Hilliard. Well, why not? Hadn't Ted been killed? _But why did she come to me?_ Jansen stood up. His limbs trembled with heat-fatigue and he popped two salt tablets into his mouth. He began to walk. "Hey, you!" a supervisor called. "Lunch hour's almost over. Where you going?" Jansen didn't answer. The swamp-buggy, moving slowly through the brown water, was almost out of sight. A dome corridor led from the chlorella bogs to the irrigation station, Jansen knew. The buggy was headed in that direction. "I said, where you going?" Jansen didn't answer the shouted question. There wasn't time. He ran, splashing through the thigh-deep water, moving clumsily and slowly. Instead of following Bareen's buggy, he headed for where the other vehicles were parked. He climbed on one and began to unbolt the hatch when he heard boots on metal behind him. It was the supervisor. "For the last time, buddy--" Jansen turned and hit him. The supervisor, an astonished look on his face, stumbled back off the amphibious vehicle and into the swamp. Jansen waited to see that he got up, then slid in through the hatch and started the buggy. There would be an alarm, he knew. But Bareen's buggy hadn't been hurrying. If he could overtake it.... * * * * * He chugged along, expecting pursuit momentarily. He rode with the hatch open and his body half out, for best visibility. He saw the other swamp vehicle, perhaps three hundred yards ahead. It reached the narrow neck of the domed corridor and paused at the check-point there, then went through. Soon Jansen reached the check-point. Two men with blasting rifles stood in his path, looking suspicious. "Get out of the way!" Jansen called boldly. "I'm Bareen's bodyguard." "Behind him?" "Where would you stay, friend?" The guards exchanged glances. One of them grinned. But the other one said, "We got a report of a guy who--" "I wouldn't be interested in any reports," Jansen said curtly. "Now, do you let me through or do I report you to Bareen?" Glances were exchanged again. One of the guards shrugged. They didn't want trouble. Jansen's very boldness was his best weapon. Finally, exchanging glances once more, they waved him on.