"Wait; our chance will come."

"Oh, my God! Look!" someone screamed.

A command shattered the air; the tubes of the Mercutians uplifted; a
blinding sheet of flame blazed solidly down the street. The minute's
grace was up.

* * * * *

Even at this distance, the heat scorched and seared. There were many
unfortunates caught farther down, men who had had no chance to seek
safety in time. They melted in the furnace blast as though they were
bits of metal in an electric arc.

"Run for your lives!" the shout went up. All thought of resistance was
gone. It was every one for himself. The man with the gun was the first
to run. Hilary found himself caught in the mad rush. The Mercutians
were pounding along methodically raying in front of them.

Hilary was thrust into a little eddy of men to one side. It swirled
and shoved. The entrance of the Pullman Building loomed ahead. The
sight of it gave Hilary new vigor. That was his destination. If only
he could make it.

He straightened out of his stoop, squared his shoulders. The next
instant a human battering ram crashed through the twirling, yelling
mob. Head down, right shoulder and elbow working in unison, a path
magically opened where no path had been before. Every second was
precious now. The heat of the tubes was engulfing him in waves,
raising little blisters on the unprotected skin.

Hilary plunged into the open entrance of the Pullman Building. It was
packed with humanity, struggling for the lift platforms, to take them
to the upper stories, out of reach of the awful rays. Hilary was
thankful for that. His destination was beneath, in the sub-levels. A
moving escalator led downward. It was deserted.

A fierce, wild screaming arose outside, screams that gurgled and died
horribly. Hilary felt sick inside. The full blast of the rays had
reached the milling crowd. It would be a hideous and merciless
slaughter.

* * * * *

Hilary's gray eyes burned, his lips set in a straight, hard line. The
beasts would pay for this. He shot down the escalator at full speed. A
spray of passageways met him. He did not hesitate. He chose the one
farthest to the left and dashed along its winding length until he came
to a dead end. The vita-crystal gleamed blankly back at him.

But Hilary knew what he was doing. Long ago Martin Robbins had told
him of the secret connection between the two adjoining buildings. A
passageway that