"Let's cut the talk," said Miles. "What do we do with them?"
"Freeze them!" snapped Brett. "No telling how long they've been here and how much they know."
"We know enough to put you on a prison asteroid," challenged Tom.
"Freeze 'em, it is," said Quent. "We'll get the ship loaded and decide what to do with them later."
He pressed the trigger on his ray gun. There was a harsh crackling sound and Tom and Astro stiffened into immobility, every nerve and muscle deadened. With the exception of their hearts, and sense of seeing and hearing, they might have been dead men.
Laughing to themselves, Quent Miles and Charles Brett picked up their instruments, walked past them, and disappeared through the door.
CHAPTER 14
Charles Brett swaggered into the control room of the electronics building. Commander Walters, Captain Strong, and Kit Barnard looked up from their study of the reports the chief engineer had handed them.
"What are you doing here, Brett?" demanded Walters. "I thought you had blasted out of here long ago."