And that meant another mystery. For Palmer knew that the faintly tainted air of Venus would not knock out the trouble-shooter.

The trouble-shooter growled deep in his throat, crushed out the cigarette, stood and paced to the port window. He frowned from the port, watched the men coming toward the rocket ship. He felt no uneasiness, for he knew that the hull would be impervious to any ati-blasts they might fire in trying to force an entrance.

Then he stiffened, the blood draining from his face.

For walking quietly in the middle of the tight group was Jean Palmer.

Don Denton swore briefly, didn't move. He watched, as the group came quietly to a halt a hundred feet from the Comet, their tightness melting away as they stopped.

Then Don Denton saw Jim Palmer lift a heavy strip of leather belt, swing it with a brutal viciousness at the slender shoulders of his daughter.

Don Denton whipped around, a white hot rage blazing in his mind, his breath a choking mass in his throat, as he dashed for the port door. He uncogged it with trembling hands, pushed it open, dropped through, the ati-guns cold in his sweaty hands.

He ran toward the silent group, conscious that Palmer's arms was lifting for another blow. His hand swept up for a snap-shot.

"Drop that gun, Denton," Palmer snapped.

Don Denton snarled soundlessly, squared the muzzle of the ati-blaster on Palmer's broad chest, squeezed the firing stud.

Then a great paralysis seemed to fill his rangy body. He came to a dead stop, his guns still jutting before him, but utterly without the will to press the firing studs.

"Holster both guns, Denton," Jim Palmer barked.

Instantly, without a word, the trouble shooter's hands flicked the twin guns back into their sheaths. He stood rigidly, great veins ridging his temples, then all resistance went from his body as he waited for the other to approach.

Jim Palmer halted but a few feet from the trouble shooter, the leather strap dangling from his right hand, his feet wide-braced. He bent forward a trifle, stared directly in Don Denton's eyes.

"Can you hear me, Denton?" he asked quietly.

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