We wasted no further time on Wyk. Snap snatched several of his weapons and mechanical devices. We stowed them hastily in our pockets. One was like another to us; we could only guess at their uses. "His shoes, Gregg. I can't get the damn things off him." "Here are shoes." A small pile of shoes was in a corner of the room; wide, resilient suction soles, built like sandals. They were very large, but the things were so placed that it seemed we could fasten them to our boots. "But not now, Snap." We snatched up four pairs of the shoes. There seemed nothing else to do. Could we get the door open? Snap was already fumbling at it. "Accursed thing! It won't give." Then it slid open. The dim corridor was visible. No one, nothing, out there. "Come on, Gregg! In a rush!" We went like bouncing rubber figures up the incline ladder. "Snap, watch out!" He all but cracked his head with an upward leap. Every instant we expected to be set upon. There was a terraced upper hall, black with shadow; dark ovals of doorways led into rooms. No one here. As yet we were not discovered. We stood at the intersection of two corridors. One went almost vertically up, like a chimney extending into the dome peak of the globe. Its sides were latticed; we could go up it hand over hand, like monkeys. The other sloped at an angle downward. "Which way?" Snap whispered. "What do you think? Got to find them." It still lacked about five minutes of our designated time, but it would not do to burst in upon the girls, perhaps to find Molo and guards there. "Let's wait a minute, listen, see if we can't get some idea." We were backed against the corridor wall, almost in darkness. From the dark length of the descending corridor came a thump, the sound of a struggle, and then a muffled scream. Venza! And we heard her words: "Anita! Look out for her! She's got a knife!" As though diving into water, Snap and I plunged head first into the blackness of the corridor. 12 Later, we learned that Anita and Venza had tried much the same tactics on Meka that we had used on Wyk, but their task was more difficult. She was suspicious of them. Venza asked her where the control station was, but she wouldn't answer. "Your brother said it was just beyond the dark forest," Anita said. "What is the dark forest?" "A place with trees where no one lives." "Off that way." Venza gestured. "That's what Molo said. Will it be day soon, or will the night keep on?" "If they cause Wandl to rotate, it will soon be day." An ironic look crossed Meka's face. "I am in no mood for answering more of your silly questions. Save the breath." "Well, if that's they way you feel about it," replied Venza laughing, "we will. There's not much air in here." She shoved herself across the floor toward the closed window. "Get back!" "Oh, all right--all right!"