"He is dead," Gog said again. "You lost your friend, here in this building, early this morning. My guards shot him."

Later that morning, four guards took Rilla to Gog's office. His face looked tired and his eyes were red.

"No!" Rilla cried.

"Leave us," he said to the guards. Then he looked at Rilla. "Tell me about Kiah. When did you first meet him? Is Zadak his friend? What do they talk about?"

"I'm asking the questions, not you," Gog said. "Did you see Zadak yesterday?"

"I'm going to tell you one thing," Gog said angrily. "I'm going to destroy Australia. I'm going to burn Zadak's new forest there. You can tell all your friends! Zadak wanted to kill me, but I killed him. He wanted money for rain, money for the AOL, and now he's dead. You can tell all those prisoners in prison 888. They wanted to stop me, but they can't now. I'm going to Mars! Bel always wanted to go to Mars." He began to hit the table with his hand. "I'm going to leave this dead planet! Nobody can stop me!"

Rilla looked down at the floor and said nothing.

Gog watched Rilla carefully. "Zadak is dead."

"Come on, tell me!" Gog said angrily. He waited, but Rilla said nothing. "Tell me about Zadak, then. Your father and Commander Zadak were friends. Now, you're talking to Zadak about the AOL. I know that. What is Zadak saying?"

"Why? Why do you want to know about Commander Zadak?" Rilla asked.

Rilla's face went white. "What happened? Tell me!"

"The AOL is important, not Commander Zadak," Rilla said.

The guards came in and took Rilla out.

"You're crazy," Rilla said. "You killed Zadak, but one day someone is going to kill you."

A guard took Rilla into the prison, and soon she was with Kiah again.

"What happened?" she asked them. "Commander Zadak is dead; why is Gog angry?"

The guards said nothing. But after they returned to the gate of 888, a guard said to Rilla, very quietly: "Bel is dead. Zadak didn't shoot Gog, but he shot Bel, before the guards shot him."

Gog stood up. His face was tired and he looked ill. "Be quiet!" he said. "Guards! Take her away. Back to 888."

Three or four prisoners came across the room.

Kiah sat down on the floor next to Rilla. His face was sad. "Don't cry," he said quietly.

"What happened?" Kiah asked. "Tell me."

"What's the matter?" they asked.

Rilla put her hands over her face and began to cry. "Zadak is dead," she began. "He didn't kill Gog. He killed Bel before the guards shot him, and now Gog is going to destroy Australia."

"Zadak is dead," Kiah said. "But Bel is dead, too."

The next afternoon, Captain Seru's brother took Kiah and Rilla to a little room at the back of the prison. They sat down, and five minutes later Captain Seru arrived. Nobody smiled.

"You were right, Captain," Kiah said. "Gog sent us to prison because we told him about the holes in the AOL."

Seru smiled. "You were right, Kiah," she said. "Those satellite numbers were very bad. I began to tell Gog, but he didn't listen to me."

"What's happening?" Rilla asked.

"What's going to happen next?" someone asked. But nobody answered.

"Would you like some coffee? And some sandwiches?" Seru's brother asked.

"Yes. Gog told Rilla yesterday," Kiah said.

"Yes, please," Seru said. "I'm hungry." she looked at Kiah and Rilla. "Things are very bad."

"You know about Zadak? And Bel?"

Seru smiled, but her eyes were not happy. "Gog talked to me this morning," she said. Her brother came in with the coffee and sandwiches and Seru began to eat. "Gog wants to know about Zadak, and about you," she said. "He's going to kill us all, I think, before he goes to Mars."

"Difficult," Seru said. "Last night fires began in the new forest in Europe, and they're moving across Europe. The fires in Africa are burning fast. Gog began to destroy Zadak's forest in Australia yesterday."

Captain Seru finished the last sandwich. "Let's leave that to Adai," she said. "We can do nothing."

"Did you phone Adai?" Kiah asked.

"Adai! You never stop talking about Adai. What can he do?" Rilla said. She felt angry.

Seru looked at Rilla for a minute. "Yes, I phoned Adai before I came here. I told him about Zadak and Bel, and about the fires. He asked about you, Kiah. He can't come down at Kisangani airport because Gog is there with a lot of his guards. Ship MARS 4 is nearly ready and Gog is watching it. He wants to leave Earth tomorrow."

Suddenly, Rilla felt ill. "I can't eat now!" she cried. But she took some coffee and began to drink. "Let's get out of here," she said. "Perhaps we can get a plane to Brazil and go to my family."

"How can Adai help us?" Rilla asked. "He can't shoot all the guards here."

"No, he can't," Seru's brother said. "You can stay here, in this room. Gog's guards are all afraid -- afraid of the fires, afraid of the people. They aren't going to look for you here."

"Yes," Seru answered. "Adai is coming to the prison after he arrives on Earth."

"Are you going to stay here?" Kiah asked.

"Oh yes?" Rilla said tiredly. "But when? Gog can kill us before Adai comes."