The rockets were glowing cherry red now. The power jets would ignite any moment. * * * * * "Get away!" cried Flip. "I clogged a tube! It'll explode--" "No more of your tricks, Earthman," said Voss. He yanked Flip's gun from his belt, stuck both of them in Flip's belly. "You fool, we'll be blown to bits." "Shut up," said Voss, eyeing his comrade lying beside the ship. He poked him with the toe of his boot. The man groaned, moved slightly. Flip saw bubbles ooze from the jet he'd stopped up. It was a matter of seconds. Ignoring the gun, Flip hit Voss in the face. The man staggered back. Flip whirled to run. As he turned, the mist exploded red. Something crashed into him. An ear-splitting roar. His head hit the rock and he was stunned for a moment. Something large and heavy lay across him. It was quiet in the mist and the rain was cool. It was a man's body across him. Something hot and sticky seeped through his clothes. Flip shoved the man aside, sat up. He looked at the man's face. It was Voss. The back of his head was gone. His shoulders were a crimson mass and his back and legs were shredded. Flip got to his feet. He was covered with blood too but could find only slight cuts. Voss had received the full force of the explosion and his body had protected him. "Are all Earthians so lucky?" said a voice. Flip looked up. The woman, Captain Vixen, was standing before him in the rain. One hand was on her hip. The other held a pistol. Flip stared at her a long time and neither spoke. "Lady," he said finally, "must this game go on forever?" "Not for you," she replied. * * * * * "Earthman," said the woman, "in the hills, I am Queen. On the mainland, I am Terror. In the swamps, I am Death. Whatever defies me on this--my planet--dies. It needs be so, for the resources of Venus have been plunder to the Universe. Imperialism ruled until my father, king before me, died fighting it. You, Earthman, are a symbol of those that killed him, those that drove my people to poverty--until I came. I am a symbol of the Venus that _was_--and, as I live, shall be again. You understand now why you die...." Flip looked at the woman and the rain molded her hair into golden ringlets, the wind shaped her body in the sheer lines of an ancient goddess. The mist softened the chill beauty of her face and her green eyes were misty in the deepening twilight. The wind was keen and Flip shivered. "You are the coldest woman I ever knew," he said. "And you are the coolest man." "Since I am to die," said Flip, "you may tell me why you wanted that worthless mine." "The xanite is worthless--" She paused. "The asphalt mixed with it is pitchblende. It was a secret of my father's that the lost Swamp Mine holds enough _radium_ to buy the Universe--to return Venus to her rightful place again." She raised the pistol, took aim at his chest. Her hand was without a tremor.