"A thousand men. Might not, but three men could!” Thorn flashed fiercely. “We three — we Planeteers!"
Stilicho stared hopelessly. “How could even you Planeteers hope to snatch her from the claws of Haskell Trask?"
"We've done things as seemingly impossible as that in the past, haven't we?” Thorn demanded. “Give us the chance, Stilicho, and we'll get her out of there or die trying!"
The old Martian's eyes widened. “If anybody could do it, you Planeteers could,” he muttered. He stared doubtfully at Thorn's starlit face. “But you Planeteers are only after the secret Lana knows, the same as Cheerly."
"We want that secret, yes,” Thorn said tensely. “But the only way we can hope to get it is by rescuing Lana! Can't you see that? I'm hoping that if we save her, she'll tell us the secret. But whether she does or not, she'll have been saved, and that's all that you care for!"
And as Stilicho still hesitated, Thorn hissed a grim reminder.
"Think what Cheerly will do to Lana to wring the secret from her! Haskell Trask isn't above torture!"
The old man's figure quivered at that.
"She'll never tell them,” he muttered, “even though they kill her. I know Lana."
Then the old pirate stiffened with decision, and he spoke rapidly to the tensely waiting three.