ger's pressure. Against the lambent
brown a spot glowed red where the beam struck. But, warned by some
uncanny prescience, the trespasser leaped aside in the instant between
Thomas' thought and act. Before Darl could aim and fire again the foe
had dodged back and was protected by the curve of the Dome itself.

Two white spots showed on either side of Darl's nostrils. His mouth
was a thin white slit, his eyes gray marbles. Standing against the
wall beside him was a space suit, mirror-surfaced and double-walled
against the planet's heat. In a few moments he was encased within it,
had snatched a pocket ray-gun from the long rack, and was through the
door to the auxiliary air-lock. The air soughed out in response to his
swift thrust at a lever, a second door opened, and he was on the
outside, reeling from the blast of that inferno of light and heat.

For a moment the Earthman was dazzled, despite the smoked quartz
eye-pieces in his helmet. Then, as his eyes grew used to the glare, he
saw, far below, the erect figure of the stranger. The man was standing
still, waiting. His immobility, the calm confidence with which he
stood there, was insolently challenging. Darl's rage flared higher at
the sight.

* * * * *

Scorning the ladder that curved along the Dome to the ground, he threw
himself at the polished round side of the great hemisphere. With
increasing speed he slid downward, the gleaming surface breaking only
slightly the velocity of his fall. On Earth this would have been
suicidal. Even here, where the pull of gravity was so much less, the
feat was insanely reckless. But the heat-softened ground, the strength
of his metal suit, brought Darl safely through.

He whirled to meet the expected onslaught of the interloper. The green
tube was aimed straight at him! The Earthman started to bring his own
weapon up when something exploded in his brain. There was a moment of
blackness; then he was again clear-minded. But he could not move--not
so much as the tiny twist of his wrist that would have brought his own
weapon into play.

Frozen by this strange paralysis, Darl Thomas saw the giant figure
approach. The apparition bent and slung him to its shoulder. Glowing
walls rose about him, dimmed. The Terrestrian knew that he was being
carried down into one of the myriad openings that honeycombed the
terrain. The luminescence died; there was no longer light enough to
penetrate to his helmet's dark