e states he will now illustrate
their power to you to quell your insolence. I don't know what he means
by that...."

But she and the Earthmen were soon to find out.

The Rogan leader stepped to the window and arrogantly beckoned Brand
and Dex to join him there. They did; and the leader gazed out and down
as though searching for something.

He pointed. The two Earthmen followed his leveled arm with their eyes
and saw, a hundred yards or so away, a bent and dreary figure trudging
down the metal paving of the street. It was a figure like those to be
seen on Earth, which placed it as belonging to Greca's race.

The tall leader drew forth one of the shock-tubes. Seen near at hand,
it was observed to be bafflingly simple in appearance. It seemed
devoid of all mechanism--simply a tube of reddish metal with a sort of
handle formed of a coil of heavy wire.

The Rogan pointed the tube at the distant figure.

Greca screamed, and screamed again. Coincident with her cry, as though
the sound of it had felled him, the distant slave dropped to the
pavement.

* * * * *

That was all. The tube had merely been pointed: as far as Brand could
see, the Rogan's "hand" had not moved on the barrel of the tube, nor
even constricted about the coil of wire that formed its handle. Yet
that distant figure had dropped. Furthermore, fumes of greasy black
smoke now began to arise from the huddled body; and in less than
thirty seconds there was left no trace of it on the gleaming metal
pavement.

"So that's what those things are like at full power!" breathed Dex.
"My God!"

The Rogan leader spoke a few words. Greca, huddled despairingly on the
floor, crushed by this brutal annihilation of one of her country-men
before her very eyes, did not translate. But translation was
unnecessary. The Rogan's icy, triumphant eyes, the very posture of
his grotesque body, spoke for him.

"That," he was certainly saying, "is what will happen to any on your
helpless planet who dare oppose the Rogan will!"

He whipped out a command to the terror-stricken girl. She rose from
her crouching position on the floor; and at length formulated the
Rogan's last order:

"You will explain the working of the engine that drove your space ship
here."

Dex laughed. It was a short bark of sound, totally devoid of humor,
but very full of defiance. Brand thrust his hands into the pockets of
his tunic, spread his legs apart, and began to whi