Evans straightened with interest. "Anything you want to say you can tell me in front of my officers."
"Well," said Seaworth, "I've been spending the last year as a secret agent of the International Commission, looking for the Hawk's base on the moon. They had an idea—just an idea—that the Hawk's base was really inside one of the lunar cities."
Seaworth Explains
"In a lunar city?" Evans repeated. "Whoever got that idea?"
Seaworth shook his head. "It seemed crazy to me at first too, but there were rumors that officials in one of the lunar cities were allowing the Hawk to come there, and to refuel in exchange for a share of his loot. I was sent up to investigate, and I found out enough to call the Hawk's attention to me, and this is the second time he or his men nearly got me. I couldn't find his base, but I did find that there's a man now on earth who was formerly in his service and who could tell me where his base is if he wanted to. So I started back to earth in my own ship to see him. Well, the Hawk was waiting, and if you hadn't been within call it would have been all up with me."
Evans considered. "It did seem mighty queer to us that the Hawk would stoop to holding up one-man rockets," he admitted, "but that explains it. So they've had a secret agent on his trail, eh?"
"A very secret agent," smiled the other. "My emblem," he smiled as he opened his jacket and showed a little card sewed onto the inside.
Evans nodded. The card of an agent of the International Commission merited any help he could furnish.
"In fact," continued Seaworth, "I doubt if a dozen men on earth outside of the International Commission know what I've been doing. I've got no business, really, telling even you about it, but it's about all wound up now, for if I get the information I'm after on earth it means we'll catch the Hawk in short order."