supposed to be approaching it; when it reached our atmosphere, it would prove a deadly poison to all life-forms on this planet."

"Yes—that's it. Well, it seems he was right. It's come—the green cloud. All I could see out that window was the nauseous swirls of it, and the people where they'd fallen in the streets. Neither of us can leave this building." He snapped on the tele-screen. It lit up; he could hear the faint hum of the machinery, but no images appeared. "Dead!"

All I could see out the window was green whirls of it—and people where they had fallen!

"Eric, it couldn't be."

He paced up and down the floor, clasping and unclasping his hands. "I don't know. It came without warning on a night when nearly everyone was out celebrating. No one in the streets or parks could have been prepared for it. Most of the dwellings were probably left with windows opened. It's only sheer luck that it wasn't the case here. And luck again that we came back early."

"Please sit down," she begged. He looked at her a moment, then shrugged, came over to the sofa, and sat beside her. "There must have been some, Eric," she said.

"The law of averages would seem to indicate that. There might be some who are naturally immune to whatever brand of poison this is; some who escaped as did we; some who were underground, or in forests. But until we learn differently, we must assume that we are the only humans alive."

His eyes were haunted. "How could we have missed it?" he whispered. "We checked and re-checked all the data, and put it to the calculating machines. The answer was the same each time: no such cloud existed."

"Perhaps there were some factors that only Greer himself knew. Some small items concerning his calculations which he overlooked in presenting data, not realizing that it had influenced him. If one factor were missing, known only to Greer, then all the machines in the world might well give a negative result."

He shook his head. "It's fantastic—yet, what can we think? If your idea of a missing factor is correct, we'll never know. Even if Greer is still alive. He was cured of his delusion."

She was silent for a moment, then she slipped off her gloves, laid a hand on his arm. "Eric," she whispered. "I'm sorry it had to happen at a time like this. It may be that Sandra escaped, too. I know what she means to 

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