thing of the same apprehension, for he was shouting urgent orders. "Hook up those atomic welders, and start putting the new plates into the Falcon's tail. Kin Ibo, have your gang fit in the new rocket-tubes. I'll see to installing the new eyes. If we work, we can get the job done by tomorrow night and get out of here."
Through the day, the pirates toiled with an energy that showed their earnest desire to leave the asteroid. That desire was reinforced by the ever-larger number of Vestans that now swarmed outside the wall.
There were literally hundreds of the gray parasites now outside the barrier. To have tried going outside the wall now would have been sheer suicide. The creatures were apparently driven by unholy eagerness to possess themselves of human bodies.
Gloria, looking out with Kenniston, shuddered deeply. "This horrible world! It's like a nightmare."
"We'll soon be away from it," Kenniston reassured. "See, they've almost finished repairing the Falcon."
THE urgent toil of the pirates was showing results. By the time night came again, and the meteor-moonlets blazed forth with magic beauty in the dark heavens, the task of repair was almost done.
Kenniston and his companions had not ventured forth from the hut. Pirates were everywhere in the clearing, and all had heard John Dark's strict order to blast down the captives if they left their prison.
But from the hut, Kenniston and the others could see that the horde of Vestan-dominated animals around the camp had further increased. With ghastly avidity, they kept circling the shimmering, electric wall.
Kenniston turned in alarm at a ripping sound from the back of the log hut. Two of the logs were being torn out bodily. The battered green face and giant shoulders of Holk Or came through the opening.
"Kenniston, I came in this way because I didn't dare let Dark see me taking to you!" the Jovian excaimed. His face was urgent in expression. "I've found out that Dark doesn't mean to let your friends here get away from Vesta alive."
"What?" exclaimed Kenniston. "That's impossible! Dark said he was going to hold Gloria and the others for ransom."
Holk Or nodded hastily. "I know, and he meant it, then. But since then, he's found out something that's changed his plans. He found it out from me—like a big fool, I told him everything when he questioned me."
The Jovian continued rapidly. "I told him that Murdock had sent that telaudio message back to Patrol headquarters, asking about my record. Now Dark figures that the Patrol will come out here to find out if that message meant that some of John Dark's outfit had actually escaped.
"Dark wants the Patrol to keep thinking that he and his outfit were destroyed—so he can slip out to Pluto and prepare a new base. So Dark, when he leaves here, is going to drop Miss Loring and her friends by the wrecked Sunsprite, so the Patrol will find 'em dead by the wreck and will believe their cruiser crashed accidentally. That way, they won't go on searching as they would if Miss Loring's party was all missing. And Dark will have a chance to get out to Pluto without an alarm going out."
Kenniston was suspicious. "Why do you tell us this, Holk? You're one of the pirates yourself."
"I know, but I'm afraid Dark means
