e floor, dip one end into the molten pool and
clatter out a stub. Apparently the damage was extensive; a structural
weakness threatened to make the entire ceiling go.

Temple fired again, got another ship. He could almost feel death
breathing on his shoulder, in no great hurry but sure of its prize. He
fired the weapon.

If one ship remained when they could no longer use the gun, they would
have failed. One ship might make the difference for Earth. One....

Three left. Two.

They raked the space station with blast after blast--futilely. They
spun and twisted and streaked by, offering poor targets. Temple waited
his chance ... and glanced at the dial which measured radioactivity.
He yelped, stood up. The needle had encroached upon the red area.
Death to remain where he was more than a moment or two. Not quick
death, but rather slow and lingering. He could do what he had to, then
perish hours later. His life--for Earth? If Arkalion had known all the
answers, and if he could get both ships and if there weren't another
alternative for the aliens, the parasites.... Temple stabbed out with
his pencil beam, caught the sixth ship, then saw the needle dip
completely into the red. He got up trembling, stepped back, half
tripped on the stump of a girder as his eyes strayed in fascination to
the viewing screen. The seventh ship was out of range, hovering off in
the void somewhere, awaiting its chance. If Temple left the gun the
ship would come in close enough to hit the emplacement despite its
protective shielding. Well, it was suicide to remain there--especially
when the ship wasn't even in view.

Temple leaped over the molten pool and left the vault.

* * * * *

He found Sophia stirring, sitting up.

"What hit me?" she said, and laughed. "Something seems to have gone
wrong, Kit ... what...?"

"It's all right now," he told her, lying.

"You look pale."

"You got one. I got five. One ship to go."

"What are you waiting for?" And Sophia sprang to her feet, heading for
the vault.

"Hold it!" Temple snapped. "Don't go in there."

"Why not. I'll get the last ship and--"

"_Don't go in there!_" Temple tugged at her arm, pulled her away from
the vault and its broken door which would not iris closed any more.

"What's the matter, Kit?"

"I--I want to finish the last one myself, that's all."

Sophia got herself loose, reached the circular doorway, peered inside.
"Like Dante's Inferno,"