all, got to his feet, and edged along it. Then he
witnessed a wild scene. The fire raged in great, sky-touching tongues.
And already the roof of one of the Rover buildings smoldered. Why the
aliens had built up such a conflagration, Ross could not guess. A signal
designed to reach some distance?

He did not doubt there was some urgent purpose. For the three were
dragging in fuel with almost frenzied haste, bringing out of the Rover
buildings bales of cloth to be ripped apart and whirled into the
devouring flames, furniture, everything movable which would burn.

There was one satisfaction. The Baldies were so intent upon this
destruction that they kept no watch save that now and then one of them
would run to the head of the path leading to the lagoon and listen as if
he expected a salkar to come pounding up the slope.

"They're ... they're rattled!" Ross could hardly believe it. The Baldies
who had always occupied his mind and memory as practically invincible
supermen were acting like badly frightened primitives! And when the
enemy was so off balance you pushed--you pushed hard.

Ross thumbed the button on the grip of the strange weapon. He sighted
with deliberation and fired. The blue figure at the top of the path
wilted, and for a long moment neither of his companions noted his
collapse. Then one of them whirled and started for the limp body, his
colleague running after him. Ross allowed them to reach his first victim
before he fired the second and third time.

All three lay quiet, but still Ross did not venture forth until he had
counted off a dozen Terran seconds. Then he slipped forward keeping to
cover until he came up to the bodies.

The blue-clad shoulder had a flaccid feel under his hand as if the
muscles could not control the flesh about them. Ross rolled the alien
over, looked down in the bright light of the fire into the Baldy's
wide-open eyes. Amazement--the Terran thought he could read that in the
dead stare which answered his intent gaze--and then anger, a cold and
deadly anger which chilled into ice.

"Kill!"

Ross slewed around, still down on one knee, to face the charge of a
Rover. In the firelight the Hawaikan's eyes were blazing with fanatical
hatred. He had his hooked sword ready to deliver a finishing stroke. The
Terran blocked with a shoulder to meet the Rover's knees, threw him
back. Then Ross landed on top of the fighting crewman, trying to pin the
fellow to earth and avoid that reckless