WITHOUT A PLAN OF ANY kind he headed instinctively toward the slag pile and the tower from which that strange vibration had come. He had reached the extreme end of the village when voices reached his ears. Quickly Simms darted into the doorway of a near hut. The men were Halleck and Gately!
“Why take chances?” Gately was saying. “We’ve got all the time in the world, and we might as well give those salts a longer vibration exposure. That way the Earth people who take the stuff won’t feel any bad effects for maybe two years.”
Halleck swore in reply. “You fool,” he said. “Don’t you realize we’re working on counted time. The I.P. men are after me now on Mars and Jupiter. We’ve got to work fast. Have you convinced the Oligarch?”
Gately grunted. “Yes, the whole village sets out on an expediti
