He crouched in the tube, stealthily opening the grating. Then the grating came loose too suddenly and slipped from his hand, falling to the floor with a clang. Kark Al whirled-
And Rab Crane sprang! He shot out of the tube like a living projectile, propelled by a terrific effort of his hunched muscles. He landed full on the Martian just as Kark Al drew his beam-gun.
They crashed to the floor together. The Martian was cat-like in his quickness, but Crane was fighting with madness born of desperate urging, and the withered little red man was no match for the Earthman's strength.
Crane tore the gun from Kark Al's hand, broke loose from the Martian and covered him with the weapon.
"Stand still, Kark Al!" he told him. "My beams didn't seem to hurt you last night for some reason, but I think that if I fire them into your face now, you'll die."
Kark Al's enormous spectacles glittered at Crane in calm curiosity. "Crane, the Earthman," he said coolly. "It was ingenious of you to come through the ventilator. I congratulate you.
"Yes, Crane the Earthman," Rab Crane said savagely. "And I'm taking this brain, and the secret it gave you for Earth!"
* * *
The brain of Doctor Alph spoke rapidly in its toneless voice:
"That secret is not for any planet, Earthman! It means doom for the rest of the Solar System if it is ever released by any planet. You must destroy it — and destroy me!"