HUNT THE MAN DOWN! The carrier came first—a flimsy two-passenger craft, unsuited for even the shortest of interplanetary jumps. Swooping down too fast out of the eternal dust-clouds that shrouded the Venusian sky, it crested a hillock by such a narrow margin as to spray sand high into the never-ending wind, then veered right in a crazy arc. Another hillock. The carrier struck it a glancing blow that churned up new clouds of sand and dust as it skated diagonally down the slope beyond. Ahead, jutt

TROUBLE ON JAPETUS Time passed slowly, hovering there high above tiny Japetus, waiting for Saturn's shadow and a chance to slip in. Ross yawned and stretched. Then, taking out his writer, he doodled briefly on an astrogation pad. Only somehow, the doodles all seemed to end up resembling Veta Hall. Ross sighed and put away the writer. Sinking deeper into his seat, he stretched his legs at full length before him. His shoulders, his head, sagged forward just a fraction. But he still kept the blaste

SQUEEZE PLAY Prenzz was very dead. That was self-evident, without examination. No stench such as permeated this room ever could have come from living tissue. The odor grew worse by the moment. While Ross stared, his face a mask of numb, horrified disbelief, the corpse took on a strangely oozy look. Inside its clothes, the body began to lose its contours. Flesh sloughed from one cheek, then the other, as if putrefaction were somehow here motivated to race to destroy the evidence of crime. Shudder

THE GULFERS Ross carried it clear to Commandant Padora, at FedGov Security headquarters. At that level, the conversation didn't last long. "And just what is your mission, Mr. Ross?" The commandant's voice rang chill, even through the com-set. Ross ran his tongue along dry lips. "To recover Doctor Tornelescu's notes and formulae pertaining to the life catalyst at the earliest possible moment, sir." "To the best of your knowledge and belief, does Cheng hold those papers?" "No, sir." "Does the Hall

SMELL OF DEATH Porforio. Queen city of Ganymede, gem of the outer planets. Bright lights and broad avenues and the graceful architecture of a superior culture, all sealed beneath a gigantic plastic bubble. Cold-eyed, Ross followed Veta and the man called Burrage as they stepped from the transit belt and approached a low, smooth-lined row of buildings. Veta said, "The last place is my brother's." Ross nodded, not speaking, and lengthened his stride. They reached the entrance. Veta started to step

ASTRELL The warehouse at III(3) Triangle Square was sealed up tighter than any tomb. The only windows were those in front, flanking the heavy turn-plate door that opened on the street side. Narrow-eyed, Ross drew Veta back into a patch of shadow, while overhead Phobos raced Deimos across the sky, the two tiny moons like bright coins against the black backdrop of the Martian night. For the third time, Veta said, "Stewart, it's impossible. There's simply no way to get in. And even if you found one

THIEVES' HONOR It was one of those moments when everything happens at once. For as the grav-seat dropped, Cheng whipped up his gun, firing at Mawson. Veta Hall screamed. Ross lunged across the room towards girl and slaver. Somewhere outside, a blaster sang its twanging, metallic song of death. Ross crashed into Veta and her captor. Driving his shoulder between them, he jerked the girl from Cheng's grip, even while he smashed a blow to the outlaw's midriff. Cheng stared straight ahead—eyes bulged

WRITE IT IN BLOOD! Feet pounded behind Ross in the darkness of the warehouse. Dropping flat, he rolled till he bumped against stacked transit cases. Now, from the office area, a hand torch flicked this way and that, its hard, bright cone of light lancing through the murk. Ross held his breath. When the beam passed over him and moved on, he wormed his way swiftly along the cases and into the first cross-aisle. More lights. More wary shuffling. Hastily, Ross made his way to the next longitudinal a