3
>"No!" Marden was plainly awed. "The Strato Rovers, eh? I've heard of them, all right."
The other nodded complacently.
"Yeah. We're about the toughest mob this side of Mars. We don't bother honest people, though. We get ours from the crooks and racketeers. They can't squeal to the Interplanetary Police."
"There's a lot in what you say," agreed Marden. "And of course that puts your ... mob in the Robin Hood class."
"Robin Hood--nuts! That guy was a dope! Runnin' around with bows and arrows. Why, we got a mystery ray that paralyzes anybody that starts up with us. They're all right when it wears off, but by that time we get away."
Marden was properly impressed.
"A mystery ray! With a weapon like that, you should be able to walk into a bank and clean it out without any trouble."
His passenger's lips curled.
"I told you, we don't bother honest people. We even help the S.P. sometimes. Right now we're workin' with the Earth-Mars G-men in roundin' up a gang of fifth-columnists that are plannin' on takin' over the gov'ment. They're led by the Black Hornet. This Black Hornet goes around pretendin' like he's a big business man, but he's really a internatural spy."
"A--what?"
"A internatural spy," repeated Marden's companion, shortly. "The E-M G-men say he's the most dangerous man in the country. But he won't last long with the Strato Rovers on his trail."
Marden nodded.
"I can believe that. Tell me, Eagen, what are you doing out here around a small Earth town like Dentonville?"
"The gov'ment's buildin' some kind of a ammunition place near here, and I understand the Black Hornet's figurin' on wreckin' everything. 'Course he won't get away with it."
Scattered plasticade houses on either side of the road indicated they had reached the outskirts of Dentonville. Mike Eagen pointed ahead to a small white house set back among a cluster of trees.
"There's where I'm holed up. Drop me off in front."
A young woman in a faded