“Come forward slowly, hands up.” Gene walked forward cautiously with his hands extended over his head, holding his light in one hand. When he was a few yards away, Captain Marks-Owens ordered him to stop and directed two men to search him. When it was definite that he was unarmed, she called him to approach her.
“What’s been going on here?” she asked.
Gene explained that Zimbardo had aimed the asteroid at Earth, burned out the power system, and fled two hours earlier. The Captain’s face paled as he told the story.
“Radio the ships that are still en route and have them check the course of this rock,” she ordered one of the men, who put on his helmet and contacted the ship. “And tell Mr. Madera to come here at once.” The order was given.
While they were waiting for Mr. Madera, Captain Marks-Owens quizzed Gene further. “Why did you stay behind?”
“I—, I joined Putnam’s organization because it seemed a sure thing. He was captured, but Zimbardo took over and made it seem an even better proposition. But I could see him getting crazier and crazier! I’m not ashamed to say that he began to frighten me—and he frightened others, too! And when he aimed the asteroid toward Earth...” Gene’s eyes widened and he began to tremble, “I knew there was something seriously wrong with him! I had to get away! I wanted to fix things—if I could!”
“Are there any others here?”
“I don’t know. There may be. I haven’t seen anyone else. Apart from Zimbardo and the smugglers, there were seventeen men left on the asteroid. I don’t know how many went with him. There were also some prisoners—three Starmen and some asteroid miners, but they escaped from the room where they were being held and disappeared into the depths of the asteroid. I don’t know where they are now. We never saw a trace of them after that.”
“They escaped from the asteroid three weeks ago. In fact, we expect them to arrive here soon in their own ship.”
Gene’s face showed out-and-out surprise at this news. “They escaped? They got off the asteroid? How did they do that?”