ke a
look at him so that you can testify that we didn't shoot him or
anything."

Obediently, the two guards headed for the cell, and MacMaine fell in
behind them. "You couldn't of shot him, sir," said the second guard
confidently. "We would of heard the shot."

"Besides," said the other, "it don't matter much. He was going to be
gassed day after tomorrow."

As the trio approached the cell, Tallis pulled the door open a little
wider and, in doing so, contrived to put himself behind it so that his
face couldn't be seen. The young guards weren't too awed by a full
general; after all, they'd be generals themselves someday. They were
much more interested in seeing the dead alien.

As the guards reached the cell door, MacMaine unholstered his pistol
from his sleeve and brought it down hard on the head of the nearest
youth. At the same time, Tallis stepped from behind the door and
clouted the other.

Quickly, MacMaine disarmed the fallen men and dragged them into the
open cell. He came out again and locked the door securely. Their guns
were tossed into an empty cell nearby.

"They won't be missed until the next change of watch, in four hours,"
MacMaine said. "By then, it won't matter, one way or another."

Getting out of the huge building that housed the administrative offices
of the Space Force was relatively easy. A lift chute brought the pair
to the main floor, and, this late in the evening, there weren't many
people on that floor. The officers and men who had night duty were
working on the upper floors. Several times, Tallis had to take a
handkerchief from his pocket and pretend to blow his nose in order to
conceal his alien features from someone who came too close, but no one
appeared to notice anything out of the ordinary.

As they walked out boldly through the main door, fifteen minutes later,
the guards merely came to attention and relaxed as a tall colonel and a
somewhat shorter general strode out. The general appeared to be having
a fit of sneezing, and the colonel was heard to say: "That's quite a
cold you've picked up, sir. Better get over to the dispensary and take
an anti-coryza shot."

"Mmmf," said the general. "_Ha-CHOO!_"

Getting to the spaceport was no problem at all. MacMaine had an
official car waiting, and the two sergeants in the front seat didn't
pay any attention to the general getting in the back seat because
Colonel MacMaine was talking to them. "We're ready to roll, sergeant,"
he said