Fast as a striking vrong, Ross caught the man by the throat with one hand and clawed out his victim's light-pistol with the other. The first beam he fired scorched the corridor wall less than a foot from Igor Cheng's head. The second dropped Cheng's other helper in his tracks. The slaver sprinted away like a scared ban. Ross' voice crackled. "All right, you! Do you live or die?" But now, equilibrium recovered, his prisoner only sneered. "Go ahead. Shoot. A fat lot of good it'll do you, locked up there in that room." Ross' nostrils flared. He dug the pistol deep into the other's broad back. But Veta caught his arm. "No, Stewart! No! That's not the way!" And then, to the guard: "Look, Burrage: this is your chance as well as ours." "My chance--?" The man's eyes rolled as he tried to look far enough round to see her. "Yes, of course." Veta moved closer. "Did Cheng tell you a batch of Tornelescu's life catalyst was stolen, along with the formulas?" "It was--?" "Yes, and it's worth millions--more money than you can even count." "Where is it?" "Porforio, on Ganymede." "Millions, you say--?" The man called Burrage was almost drooling. "I could get you out of here and down to Ganymede for that." "Then do it," Veta said. And, to Ross: "Here, let me have that." She levered the light-pistol from his hand. "Hurry! Blast the lock!" Burrage grated. "Another minute, and Cheng may be back!" "Of course," Veta nodded. "It's just that there's one other detail I want clear before we break out. About Stewart, here." Ross stared. "What--?" Coolly, Veta leveled the pistol at his belly. "I'm sorry, Stewart," she said, "but you're coming as a prisoner. "You see, the man who has that batch of catalyst is my brother, Sanford Hall!" CHAPTER V SMELL OF DEATH Porforio. Queen city of Ganymede, gem of the outer planets. Bright lights and broad avenues and the graceful architecture of a superior culture, all sealed beneath a gigantic plastic bubble. Cold-eyed, Ross followed Veta and the man called Burrage as they stepped from the transit belt and approached a low, smooth-lined row of buildings. Veta said, "The last place is my brother's." Ross nodded, not speaking, and lengthened his stride. They reached the entrance. Veta started to step into the warning-beam. But now Burrage caught her arm. "Oh, no, you don't! We're not about to let him know we're coming!" Then, pulling the girl back, he brought a long, hand-broad, wire-and-plastic tube, a beam-bridge, from beneath his tunic. Deftly, for all his lumbering-ape appearance, he slapped the ends of it over both door-casing outlet tubes at the same instant, so swift and smooth that the umbrian waves' flow was broken by only the faintest of _click-clicks_.