McCausland's face was drawn with some nameless thought, but his eyes narrowed shrewdly enough when he saw the girl had left. Hastily he tried the safe and found it locked. Reuter came in and asked, "Where's the girl?"
"Gone back to her cabin, most likely."
The professor's eyes glanced idly over the floor and grew large. McCausland looked where he pointed. There between desk and safe lay a stock certificate!
Reuter was the first to recover his speech. "Left her alone here, eh? Try the safe...." But McCausland was already opening it and together they stared at the empty space where the Plutonian drawings should have been.
"Search the ship!" snapped the captain. Then, "Well, Reuter, why are you looking like that?"
"You don't think she's," he licked his lips furtively, "gone down there with the others ... trying to save them...."
Captain McCausland, gray in the face, was shouting into the loudspeaker, "Paulette! Paulette!"
"She won't answer you, if she's seen those drawings," reminded Reuter.
Cursing, he rushed down the corridor to the open lock that connected with the Plutonian world below. Far down on the bottom he glimpsed a familiar tiny figure as it vanished from sight.
"Paulette! Come back." His voice was a hoarse scream. He leaned against the side of the lock and groaned.