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?"
At this point, they were joined by the young man for whom the Captain
had asked.
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