said Nuwell, "I'm not a Master. I don't know anything about the
summons. Someone else will have to let you in."

"If I'm late, they'll let the Toughs whip me!" wailed the Jelly
pathetically. "Please let me in, Master!"

Nuwell, the whip coiled in his hand, impatient to get to Maya's room,
was moved to pity at the creature's plight. Besides, the Jellies were
harmless, and this one certainly wouldn't be seeking admittance without
having been called.

"All right, then," said Nuwell, and flipped the switch.

The bars grated open and the Jelly came into the corridor. But as Nuwell
reached out to activate the switch and close the gate, the Jelly, with
surprising agility, slipped between him and the switch.

"What in space?" growled Nuwell. "Get out of the way!"

The Jelly did not move.

"I said get out of the way!" snapped Nuwell, shaking out the whip.

The Jelly cringed and its eyes were terrified, but it still stood
against the switch, its huge, translucent body barring Nuwell.

"No, Master," it whimpered. "Don't shut the gate!"

Viciously, Nuwell slashed the whip across its naked shoulders, and the
Jelly squealed with pain. Nuwell raised the whip again.

But then through the open gate there poured a solid mass of translucent
flesh, a horde of naked Jellies. Silently, they tumbled into the
corridor, filling it from wall to wall, and others behind them pushed to
enter as they paused.

Wide-eyed, Nuwell stared at them for the briefest of moments. Then he
dropped the whip and fled back up the hall, shouting at the top of his
voice.

The door at the end of the corridor opened as Nuwell neared it, and
Placer appeared in it. He held up a restraining hand.

"Don't make so much noise!" he snapped. "There's a conference going on
in there. What's the--"

Voiceless now, Nuwell grasped Placer's arm and pointed, trembling, back
down the corridor.

"What in space?" demanded Placer irritably, peering at the mass of
Jellies pouring out of the gate and beginning to move hesitantly along
the corridor in both directions.

"Jellies!" croaked Nuwell. "The Jellies are loose! They're attacking
us!"

"Soft hunks of blubber!" said Placer contemptously. "They can't hurt
anybody. I wonder what idiot left that gate open?"

"I did," admitted Nuwell. "I mean, one of them wanted in and I let him
in, and then he backed up against the switch so I couldn't close it,
until the others came in."

"I don't know what sort of harebrained