VII
It seemed hours later when Ketrik awoke. He had tried in vain to find a way out of the smooth, crystyte-walled room. He had sought to loosen one of the heavy stones in the floor until, with bleeding and broken-nailed fingers, he had fallen into a sleep of sheer exhaustion.
Now, in the exact center of the room, he noticed a platter of food. He frowned, until it dawned on him that it must have been lowered from the ceiling! He glanced up, but if the entrance was there, it was tightly closed now.
He ate the palatable food, but noticed the platter was of light plastex, could not possibly be used as a weapon or anything else. He made another search through his clothes, knowing it was useless. But suddenly he remembered the tiny scanner disc which Mark had given him. He had strapped it tightly to the underside of his arm ... and it was still there!
He could think of no use for it now, however. He was still pondering this, when his attuned ears caught a faint sound of footsteps overhead. A moment later a section of the ceiling slid back. Framed in the square of light Ketrik saw a face ... golden, a bit frightened.
Praana! Ketrik's heart leaped.
"Speak softly," she whispered. "You are in a room directly beneath the main palace. Father has gone for the moment, and I took this chance...."
"Why are you here?"
She spoke quickly. "A few hours ago I tuned my tele-vise into this one. I heard everything he told you! It's horrible, what he is doing—unbelievable! I hadn't known before! I knew he was conducting some sort of experiment ... but this...." The shock of it, even disbelief, was still mirrored on her face.
"Praana, listen to me! Doesn't your father have an Ethero-Magnum here, capable of reaching Earth?"