know what Captain Hobart and Lablet thought they could
accomplish here. But, as for himself, Raf was sure that he was not
going to feel easy again until he was across the northern mountain
chain and coming in for a landing close by the _RS 10_.

It was as if the alien officer had read his thoughts, for the warrior
uncrossed his black legs and got nimbly to his feet with a lithe
movement, which Raf, cramped by sitting in the unfamiliar posture,
could not emulate. No one appeared to notice their withdrawal. And
when Raf hesitated, trying to catch Hobart's eye and make some
explanation, the alien touched his arm lightly and motioned toward one
of the curtained doorways. Conscious that he could not withdraw from
the venture now, Raf reluctantly went out.

They were in a hall where bold bands of color interwove in patterns
impossible for Terran eyes to study. Raf lowered his gaze hurriedly to
the gray floor under his boots. He had discovered earlier that to try
to trace any thread of that wild splashing did weird things to his
eyesight and awakened inside him a sick panic. His space boots, with
the metal, magnetic plates set in the soles, clicked loudly on the
pavement where his companion's bare feet made no whisper of sound.

The hall gave upon a ramp leading down, and Raf recognized this. His
confidence arose. They were on their way out of the building. Here the
murals were missing so that he could look about him for reference
points.

He was sure that the banquet hall was some ten stories above street
level. But they did not go down ten ramps now. At the foot of the
third the officer turned abruptly to the left, beckoning Raf along.
When the Terran remained stubbornly where he was, pointing in the
direction which, to him, meant return to the flitter, the other made
gestures describing an aircraft in flight. His own probably.

Raf sighed. He could see no way out unless he cut and ran. And long
before he reached the street from this warren they could pick him up.
Also, in spite of all the precautions he had taken to memorize their
way here, he was not sure he could find his path back to the flyer,
even if he were free to go. Giving in, he went after the officer.

Their way led out on one of the spider-web bridges which tied building
and tower into the complicated web which was the city. Raf, as a pilot
of flitter, had always believed that he had no fear of heights. But he
discovered that to coast above the ground in a