ng themselves into this attempt to reach the
aliens, Ross could not determine. Unless the intelligence of the beasts
was such that they had been able to connect the searing beams which the
Baldies had turned on them so tellingly with the men on the beach, and
had responded by striving to reach a common enemy.

But no desire could give them the necessary energy to pull far ashore.
Almost helplessly beached, they continued to dig into the yielding sand
with their flippers in a vain effort to pursue the aliens.

Ross skirted the clamoring barrier of salkars and headed for the
fairing. A neck snapped about; a head was lowered in his direction. He
smelled the rank stench of reptile combined with burned flesh. The
nearest of the brutes must have scented the Terran in turn, as it was
now trying vainly to edge around to cut across Ross's path. But it was
completely outclassed on land, and the man dodged it easily.

Three Baldies had fled this way. Yet Jazia had reported five had come
out of the sea to take Kyn Add. Two were missing. Where? Had they
remained in the fairing? Were they now in the sub? And that sub--what
had happened to it? The broadcast had been cut off; he had seen the
failure of the weapons and the shore lights. Might the sub have suffered
from salkar attack? Though Ross could hardly believe that the beasts
could wreck it.

The Terran was traveling blindly, keeping well under cover of such brush
as he could, knowing only that he must head inland. Under his feet the
ground was rising, and he recalled the nature of this territory as
Torgul and Jazia had pictured it for him. This had to be part of the
ridge wall of the valley in which lay the buildings of the fairing. In
these heights was the Shrine of Phutka where Jazia had hidden out. To
the west now lay the Rover village, so he had to work his way left,
downhill, in order to reach the hole where the Baldies had gone to
ground. Ross made that progress with the stealth of a trained scout.

Hawaika's moon, triple in size to Terra's companion, was up, and the
landscape was sharply clear, with shadows well defined. The glow, weird
to Terran eyes, added to the effect of being abroad in a nightmare, and
the bellowing of the grounded salkars continued a devils' chorus.

When the Rovers had put up the buildings of their fairing, they had
cleared a series of small fields radiating outward from those
structures. All of these were now covered with crops almost ready to