g. At the last moment he
pulled out and up. The ship skidded down sickeningly, and then caught.
Thane fought bitterly to keep conscious.

They heard the explosion above the sound of the wind shrieking past
them. Thane looked down and back. It had worked! The Onzar ship had
followed them down, but it had not allowed for the invisible force
screen. It had hit the screen, caromed off into a wild, twisting skid,
and hit the ground, completely wrecked.

But Thane had time only for a glance. The vibration was getting worse.
One more strain and the little jet would be torn to pieces.

He eased out of the climb and tried to put the jet into a long flat
glide. It kept slipping off to the right, and the glide increased in
steepness. The ground came up and he managed to pull back into a
partial stall. At the last instant the jet dipped to the right and
hit. It spun crazily on the ground, straightened, skidded and then
buried itself in a drift of snow.

He was still numb with shock when he heard Astrid's voice. "What
happened, Roger? Why did they attack us?"

"They must have been sent as soon as our force screen was detected.
Let's get back."

They climbed out into the biting wind and started towards the house in
the distance. The red sun of Onzar was setting and the cold deepened
and chilled bitterly as they hurried on.

* * * * *

It was almost dark when they reached the house. In the lengthening
shadows there was no sign of the Darzent ship. They hurried on in
growing fear. The front of the house showed the signs of the blast
that had knocked out the force screen. Inside the house was dark. All
power had been burned out when the screen went. They went in through
the smashed, tilted doorway. In the gloom they saw the old medic
first. He was slumped in a chair against one wall. His neck was
twisted and his head slanted back. His chest was a gaping hole, with
the blood already frozen. His assistant lay beside the dead fire,
headless. What had been Pyuf was at the instrument cabinet, one hand
still on the fused panel. Manning Reine was not there.

There was a tremble of panic in Astrid's voice. "Roger, they killed
them ... and ... where is Dad?"

"They killed them deliberately with hand weapons after they knocked
down the screen. And they have your father now. That was their
purpose."

"What will they do to him? Where have they taken him? Roger, we've got
to find him!"

Roger Thane tur