Free Asteroid Man by R. L. Fanthorpe Page A

forced that door open. Got through and forced it shut!" Her lips pursed in an admiring whistle.
    "I've never been able to do so much as move it," she said.
    He looked at her curiously, impatient to know the facts about her presence in the asteroid.
    "Then," he continued, "I staggered along this passage. I ripped off my space suit, put it down another passage to act as a decoy, in case anybody came hunting for me, had a sleep with one eye and one ear open, and the fingers of both hands on the triggers of my guns. I woke up, heard your footsteps, and saw the light coming —that's what I'm doing here. And in case I forgot to introduce myself during the rigmarole, my name is Greg Masterson, and I'm a space pilot." He bowed with mock seriousness and held out his hand.
    She understood the gesture and clasped his.
    "Very, very glad to know you, Greg. Is that the custom on your world? Do you use the first name of someone you think you might like, or someone you would like to like?"
    All this was quaint, almost as if she were making it up as she went along, as though she were learning it by trial and error.
    "I guess you've got it right," agreed Greg.
    "Well, I expect you want to know about me?"
    "I certainly do," replied Masterson. "But first of all, is it safe to talk here? I can tell without you saying a word that you'd nothing to do with the evil part of this asteroid. I'd say that you either came here the same way as I did, or a similar way insofar as you'd rather be some place else."
    "Yes, I would," she said sadly. "I'll tell you my story, Greg. My name is Astra, and I'm a Princess of Altair."
    "Altair! We use the same name for a very distant star."
    "I expect it's the same one. We have a planetary system not unlike your own."
    "Tell me about your Altair," said Greg.
    "Oh, it's quite simple to tell. I do not understand astronomy as you do, but—" she broke off and lapsed into a thoughtful silence—"I was trying to put myself on your earth and viewing Altair from there as if I were one of your own people. I would say that to you it would look like the brightest star of the group of Thor."
    "Constellation Aquili! Good Lord! Yes, you're right so far." Greg snapped his fingers. "Go on."
    "It's a white star; at least it would look white to you. Comparing it from your standpoint, it would give out about ten times as much light as your sun, and it's slightly larger."
    "That's it; that is Altair! I can't understand this language coincidence." ,
    "I'll explain some of that later; I think it's due to the fact that I have a special way of interpreting and translating. It's a mental process, but that's unimportant. I was beginning to tell you about my homeland. I am a Princess, Astra of the Altair Empire. There are seven planets in our system, and they, too, were in a united empire, much like yours. Beyond, for we are not so very far from you—only sixteen light years, in fact—our Altair, there are other star systems with which we have not yet made contact. Your own is one, and there are others far distant of whom we are afraid, of whom we have reason to be. I think I know what you meant by that word 'Out-worlders,' for we have a similar word for these people. Unlike you, however, who only guess at their existence we know of it, to our cost. They are jealous of our united Empire, avaricious to extend their control. For there are races out there, beyond your star and mine, who are as old as the universe itself; races out there as black as Algol. There are races darker than the infinities of night, stranger and colder than deep space. There are races who do not understand time as we have to understand it—and endure it on my world."
    "And we," said the spaceman.
    "From time to time these 'Out-worlders' have broken through our defenses," went on the girl, sadly. "I was on a state visit to one of our planets, I and my father and the Royal Court We have a type of constitutional monarchy which binds the nine planets together in their