"Where have I been? Great Comets, I know the ropes now! Let's get Webster before the Patrol comes."
"Oh," said Uvan Commissioner Webster as he saw Bill, Kitty and Olé stumble into the parlor of his residence, "I thought you were the Tubby person. Made so much noise. He claims he's an important man—Commissioner of the Fuel Monopoly. Is that right?"
"Forget Tubby Castlebottom a moment," said Kitty. "Bill's made a discovery."
"A discovery? On Uva? That's impossible," said Webster.
"Impossible—nothing!" Bill cut in excitedly. He pushed Webster into a chair. "You know what? There's etheroel on this planetoid. The real stuff. It's drilled and ready to take off. Come on now, give me the lowdown on why those wells are sealed? Why didn't you tell me?"
Commissioner Webster stiffened in his chair. His sunny features turned dead white. For a second he gaped at his three visitors, then he noticed that little Olé looked more scared than himself.
"Y-Y-You shouldn't have found the wells," he finally stuttered. "Oh, Lord, it's the taboo."
"Taboo? You mean you knew about the etheroel wells all this time?" Bill demanded in exasperation.
Webster nodded timidly. "Certainly. But I thought you came here merely to get a formula for the synthetic fuel."