It was when he looked about to make sure that they were unobserved that he caught a glimpse of motion back toward the city. He peered at the spot through the dim light. After a moment, he definitely recognized the outline of a tractor breasting a rise in the ground and tilting downward again.

"In fact, we have to get in to stay out of trouble," he said to Betty.

He located the switch-cover in the hull, opened it and activated the mechanism that swung open the airlock and extended the ladder.

It took him considerable scrambling to boost the girl up the ladder and inside, but he managed. They passed through the airlock, fretting at the time required to seal, pump air and open the inner hatch; and then Tolliver led the way up another ladder to the control room. It was a clumsy trip in their spacesuits, but he wanted to save time.

In the control room, he shoved the girl into an acceleration seat, glanced at the gauges and showed her how to open her helmet.

"Leave the suit on," he ordered, getting in the first word while she was still shaking her head. "It will help a little on the takeoff."

"Takeoff!" shrilled Betty. "What do you think you're going to do? I just want to use the radio or TV!"

"That tractor will get here in a minute or two. They might cut your conversation kind of short. Now shut up and let me look over these dials!"

He ran a practiced eye over the board, reading the condition of the ship. It pleased him. Everything was ready for a takeoff into an economy orbit for Earth. He busied himself making a few adjustments, doing his best to ignore the protests from his partner in crime. He warned her the trip might be long.

"I told you not to come," he said at last. "Now sit back!"

He sat down and pushed a button to start the igniting process.

In a moment, he could feel the rumble of the rockets through the deck, and then it was out of his hands for several minutes.

"That wasn't so bad," Betty admitted some time later. "Did you go in the right direction?"

"Who knows?" retorted Tolliver. "There wasn't time to check everything. We'll worry about that after we make your call."

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