"Yes."

"Quite dark?"

"Very dark," she said.

"That's all I wanted to know. Open the airlock and climb up. I'll follow."

Once aboard, he found the controls and set them for take-off. Then he pressed a small button. The port began to swing shut. He heard her run toward it, but he caught her and held her until the heavy hatch had banged shut with a hiss of escaping air.

"Let me go," she whimpered. "What are you going to do to me?"

"You are under civil arrest," he said harshly.

"But I haven't done anything. I have helped you."

"Of course. But you forget that I represent law—not justice. Once I told you that I could be ruthless. You see, whoever you are, you are what I came here to find. I have suspected all along; now I am certain."

"What do you mean?"