She came. I suppose it was no more than an hour: It seemed an eternity
of apprehension. There was the slight hissing of the seal of my door.
The panel slid. I had leaped from my bunk where in the darkness I was
lying tense.
"Prince?" I did not dare say "Anita."
"Gregg."
Her voice. My gaze swept the deck as the panel opened. Neither
Coniston nor anyone else was in sight, save Anita's dark-robed figure
which came into my room.
"You got it?" I asked in a low whisper.
I held her for an instant, kissed her. But she pushed me away with
quick hands. She was breathless.
"Yes, I have it. Give us a little light--we must hurry!"
In the blue dimness I saw that she was holding one of the Martian
cylinders. The smaller size: it would paralyze but not kill.
"Only one, Anita?"
"Yes. And this--"
The invisible cloak. We laid it on my grid, and I adjusted its
mechanism. I donned it and drew its hood, and threw on its current.
"All right, Anita?"
"Yes."
"Can you see me?"
"No." She had stepped back a foot or two. "Not from here. But you must
let no one approach too close."
Then she came forward, put out her hand, fumbled until she found me.
It was our plan to have me follow her out. Anyone observing us would
see only the robed figure of the supposed George Prince, and I would
escape unnoticed.
The situation about the ship was almost unchanged. Anita had secured
the weapon and the cloak and slipped away to my cubby without being
observed.
"You're sure of that?"
"I think so, Gregg. I was careful."
Moa was now in the lounge, guarding the passengers. Hahn was asleep in
the chart room. Coniston was in the turret. Coniston would be off duty
presently, Anita said, with Hahn taking his place. There were lookouts
in the forward and stern watch towers, and a guard upon Snap in the
radio room.
"Is he inside the room, Anita?"
"Snap? Yes."
"No--the guard."
"The guard was sitting on the spider bridge at the door."
This was unfortunate. That guard could see all the deck clearly. He
might be suspicious of George Prince wandering around: it would be
difficult to get near enough to assail him. This cylinder, I knew, had
an effective range of only some twenty feet.
"Coniston is the sharpest, Gregg. He will be the hardest to get near."
"Where is Miko?"
The brigand leader had gone below a few moments ago, down into the
hull corridor. Anita had seized the opportunity to come to me.
"We can attack Hahn in the chart room first," I whispered. "And get
the other weapons. Are they still there?"
"Yes. But the forward deck is very bright, Gregg."
We were approaching the asteroid. Already its light, like a brilliant
moon, was brightening the forward deck space. It made me realize how
much haste was necessary.
We decided to go down into the hull corridors. Locate Miko. Fell him
and hide him. His nonappearance back on deck would very soon throw the
others into confusion, especially now with our impending landing upon
the asteroid. And, under cover of this confusion, we would try to
release Snap.
We were ready. Anita slid my door open. She stepped through, with me
soundlessly scurrying after her. The empty, silent deck was
alternately dark with shadow patches and bright with blobs of
starlight. A sheen of the Sun's corona was mingled with it; and from
forward came the radiance of the asteroid's mellow silver glow.
Anita turned to seal my door; within my faintly humming cloak I stood
beside her. Was I invisible in this light? Almost directly over us,
close under the dome, the lookout sat in his little tower. He gazed
down at Anita.
Amidships, high over the cabin superstructure, the radio room hung
dark and silent. The guard on its bridge was visible. He too, looked
down.
A tense instant. Then I breathed again. There was no alarm. The two
guards answered Anita's gesture.
Anita said aloud into my empty cubby: "Miko will come for you
presently, Haljan. He told me that he wants you at the turret controls
to land us on the asteroid."
She finished sealing my door and turned away; started forward along
the deck. I followed. My steps were soundless in my elastic-bottomed
shoes. Anita swaggered with a noisy tread. Near the door of the
smoking room a small incline passage led downward. We went into it.
The passage was dimly blue lit. We descended its length, came to the
main corridor, which ran the length of the hull. A vaulted metal
passage, with doors to the control rooms opening from it. Dim lights
showed at intervals.
The humming of the ship was more apparent here. It drowned the light
humming of my cloak. I crept after Anita; my hand under the cloak
clutched the ray weapon.
A steward passed us. I shrank aside to avoid him.