Reaching their compartment, Hugh and Link found that the door had been forced open by the explosion.
Hugh hurried over to the wall safe. He felt a chill of dread race through him. The vault door also was open and the chamber was empty.
“They’re gone!” Hugh said hoarsely. “All of Dad’s stamps are gone!”
Hugh slumped remorsefully on his cot, taut fingers combing through his hair. “Dad wanted to have the stamps insured,” he said bitterly, “but I was trying to save him money. The insurance fee was enormous, and on top of that he would have had to pay the fare both to and from Mars for the agents who would carry the shipment. How I wish they had done it now!”
“If Benasco has the stamps, we may still be able to recover them,” Link said. “Let’s go see him.”
Hugh got up, his face set, his palm shaped into a fist. “If Benasco is the one, I’ll personally—oh, never mind! Come on!”
They moved down corridor “E,” which was away from the center of the damage. This was the hall where they knew Benasco’s room was located. Scarcely anybody was in the section at present. Those who resided in the nearby rooms were either helping out in the emergency, or they were idly watching the beginning of repairs. The outside meteor bumper and the inner buffer bulkheads had kept the destruction to a minimum. By automatically sealing themselves off from the rest of the ship at the moment of impact, the protective bulkheads had kept the ship from being decompressed.
Hugh and Link found their suspect’s door closed. Hugh walked up to it and tried the knob.
The door opened under Hugh’s push, but the compartment was vacant.
“He’s gone,” Link said.