The room was quite real, but there was no sign of Luna City nor of the moon's desolate surface. He sucked in his breath.
The office seemed to be part of a large windowless structure. He could see, through the walls, a restless ochre sea outside and a red pebble beach. Strange, sinuous vegetation cloaked the shore.
"Where are we?" he blurted out. "How did I get here?"
"I'm sorry," said Thorpe, "but that's one secret that isn't for sale."
Vickers closed the nictitating lids and the office recovered its solidity.
"What's your proposition?"
Thorpe gave him a shrewd look. "This is Tani Fralick," he introduced the girl. "I'm sure you've heard of her father. He's the physicist...."
Vickers sat bolt upright. Fralick was probably the most renowned man on Earth, Mars or Venus. He certainly was the Systems greatest physicist. Fralick was head of the United States' Bureau of Research. It was practically treason for his daughter to be in the offices of such an organization as "International Spy Ring, Inc."
Thorpe said: "Tani's father has been abducted by the Arab Federation."