oice that he hoped was soothing. He reached,
freed a corner of the tape and ripped it off in a single swipe. The girl
howled. Peter slapped her lightly. "Stop it!" he commanded sharply.
"Vanessa Lewis?"

"Yes, but--"

"Call out the marines, Peter," snarled the dog.

"No! Bo! Back!"

Reluctantly the dog backed into the room. He crouched low, poised to
spring, with his nose just beyond the doorframe.

"Four of 'em," he whimpered pleadingly. "I can get two--"

"Well, I can't get the other two unless I'm lucky," snapped Peter.
"Don't be so eager to die for nothing, Buregarde."

"All this calculation," grumbled the dog sourly. "I don't call it a loss
if I get two for one."

"I call it a loss if I don't get four for nothing--or the whole damned
Empire of Xanabar for nothing, for that matter. We've a job to do and it
ain't dying--until Miss Lewis is out of this glorious citadel."

The girl looked from one to the other. They did not need any
identification; they were their own bona fides. Only man--Terrestrial
Man--had intelligent dogs to work beside him. Period, question closed.
Buregarde snarled at the door warningly while Peter stripped surgical
tape from wrists and ankles.

Outside, someone called, "Come out or we blast!"

Buregarde snarled, "Come in and we'll cut you to bits!"

The quick flash of a pencil-ray flicked in a lance above the dog's nose:
Buregarde snapped back as the lancet of light cut downward, then snapped
forward for a quick look outside as the little pencil of danger
flickered dark.

"Careful, Bo!"

"You call the boys," snapped the dog. "I'll--"

* * * * *

Something came twisting forward to hit the doorframe, it dropped just
inside the doorjamb. Buregarde leaped, snapped at the thing and caught
it in midair, snapped his head in a vicious shake and sent it whirling
back outside again before it could be identified. The dog sunfished and
landed on all four. Then the thing went off with a dull _pouf_! outside.
There was a gentle flash of quick light that was smothered by a billow
of smoke. Buregarde leaped into the cloud and disappeared. There was a
hoarse shriek and the mad scrabble of dog-claws on the hard floor, the
sound of a heavy thud, and the angry snarl of a dog with its teeth
fastened into something soft. Then there was the fast patter of dog-feet
and Buregarde came around the door on a dead run, sliding side-wise to
carom off the opened door into s