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Big as closely as he could to the coattails of the restless Morriss, he found hi to breathless conversations which he did not always understand because of his ignorance about Venus

Morriss had no opportunity to rest Each new ht a new man, a new report, a new decision It was only twenty man had run off after Morriss, and already a dozen plans had been proposed and discarded

Onewith pounding breath, "They&039;ve got the spy rays trained on hi with the lever in his hand We beah the etherics, then through the public-address systeh loudspeaker from outside I don&039;t think he hears her At least he doesn&039;t man bit his lip What would Lucky do if he were here? The first thought that had occurred to Biget behind the man-Poppnoe, his naht everyone had had, and it had been instantly discarded The man at the lever had closed hined to prevent any forhly wired, the alar in reverse-to Aphrodite&039;s peril rather than its protection

At the first clang, at the first signal gleaman was sure, the lever would be driven hoe inward upon Aphrodite It could not be risked while evacuation was incoas, but Morriss had shaken his head without explanations Big The man at the lever was not sick or mad or malevolent, but under mental control That fact meant that there were two eneht weaken froas past the point where he would be physically capable of pulling the lever, but before that the weakening would be reflected in his mind, and the- men in control would work their tool&039;s ar for, anyway?" growled Mor- riss under his breath, while the perspiration rolled down his cheeks in streams "If I could only train an atoman knehy that was impossible, too An atom cannon trained to hit the h power to go through a quarteron the very danger they were trying to avoid

He thought, Where is Lucky, anyway? Aloud he said, "If you can&039;t get this fellohat about the controls?"

"What do you immick the lever It takes power to open the lock, doesn&039;t it? What if the power is cut?"

"Nice thought, Bigenerator on the spot"

"Can&039;t it be closed off from anywhere?"

"How? He&039;s closed off in there, with every cubic foot set off with alarhty ocean that covered them He said, "This is a closed-in city, like on Mars We&039;ve got to pump air all over Don&039;t you do that, too?"

Morriss brought a handkerchief to his forehead and wiped it slowly He stared at the little Martian "The ventilating ducts?"

"Yes There&039;s got to be one to that place with the lock, doesn&039;t there?"

"Of course"

"And isn&039;t there so the line where a wire can be wrenched loose or cut or so the duct, instead of the poison gas ere talking about"

"That&039;s not sure enough," said Big ducts for an underwater city, don&039;t you? Won&039;t they hold aas all that," said Morriss

Bigreat deal toas all that, either Maybe I&039;ll fit"

And Morriss, staring doide-eyed at the pint-size Martian, said, "Venus! You ht! Come with me!"

From the appearance of the streets of Aphrodite, it seeh not aJust outside the transite partition and surrounding the "rescue headquarters" building, people choked every avenue and turned the humanity Chains had been set up, and behind theuns paced restlessly

Lucky, having eed from rescue headquarters at what aht up sharply by those chains A hundred in in lucite curlicues, set high in Aphrodite&039;s sky with no visible support It turned slowly and said: aphrodite, beauty spot of venus, welco on in file They were carrying odd objects-stuffed brief cases, jewel boxes, clothes slung over their ar into skimmers It was obvious who and what they were: escapees froh the lock hatever they could carry that seemed most important to them The evacuation was obviously well under way There were no women and children in the line

Lucky shouted to a passing policeman, "Is there a skimmer I can use?"

The police used"

Lucky said impatiently, "Council business"

"Can&039;t help it Every skiuys" His thu file of men in the middle distance

"It&039;s iet out of here"

"Then you&039;ll have to walk," said the policeritted his teeth with vexation There was no way of getting through the crowd on foot or on wheels It had to be by air and it had to be now

"Isn&039;t there anything available I can use? Anything?" He was scarcely speaking to the police been so simply duped by the enemy

But the policeman answered wryly, "Unless you want to use a hopper"

"A hopper? Where?" Lucky&039;s eyes blazed

"I was just joking," said the policeman

"But I&039;m not Where&039;s the hopper?"

There were several in the base they had left They were disasse machine was assembled in the open The nearest of the croatched curiously, and a few shouted Jocularly, "Jump it, hopper!"

It was the old cry of the hopper races Five years ago it had been a fad that had swept the solar system: races over broken, barrier-strewn courses While the craze lasted, Venus was most enthusiastic Probably half the houses in Aphrodite had had hoppers in the basement

Lucky checked the yroscope spinning The hopper straightened i

Hoppers are probably the rotesque forms of transportation ever invented They consist of a curved body, just large enough to hold a man at the controls There was a four-bladed rotor above and a single iant wading bird gone to sleep with one leg folded under its body