ch of the
creature's body made him gasp.

A taloned paw clawed at him eagerly, slipped from his slime-covered body
just as he brought the force blade up. Foul breath coughed in his face
and he stumbled back as the heavy body of the ape crashed against him,
cut in half by the weapon. To Dane's sickened horror the paws still
clawed for him, the fangs still gnashed as he rolled free of the mangled
body and somehow got to his feet.

The roar of a blaster, of two blasters, drowned out the clamor of the
apes as Dane drew his fire ray, set his shoulders against a tree bole
and prepared to fight it out. He fired, saw a smaller and more nimble
enemy go down screeching. Then there were none left on their shaggy
feet, though some on the ground dragged themselves forward, still
striving to reach the men.

Dane slapped a fire-wasp from his leg. He was glad of the support of the
tree at his back as the smell of the ape's blood drenching him from
chest level down, and the mess on the ground, made his stomach churn.

When he could control his retching, he straightened. To his relief he
saw that all the others were on their feet, apparently unharmed. But
Tau, catching sight of the younger spaceman, gasped and started for him.

"Dane! What did they do?"

His junior laughed a little hysterically. "Not mine...." He swabbed with
a handful of grass at his bloodied breeches and blundered on into the
sunlight.

Nymani found them a foam-flecked stream below a miniature falls where
the swift current prevented the lurking of sand worms. They stripped
eagerly, cleaning first themselves and then their fouled clothing while
Tau tended the wealth of fire-wasp stings. There was little he could do
to relieve the swelling and pain, until Asaki produced a reed-like plant
which, chopped in sections, yielded a sticky purple liquid that dried on
the skin as a tar gum--the native remedy. So, glued and plastered, they
climbed away from the water and prepared to spend the night in a hollow
between two leaning rocks, certainly not as snug as the cave but a
fortress of sorts.

"And credit-happy space hoppers pay a fortune for an outing like this!"
Tau commented bitterly, hunching well forward so that a certain stung
portion of his anatomy would not come in contact with the rock beneath
him.

"Hardly for this," Jellico replied, and Dane saw Nymani grin
one-sidedly, his other cheek puffed and painted sticky purple.

"We do not always encounter apes an