xplore the city was strong. He eyed the grilles
speculatively. They could be climbed--he was sure of that. Or he could
try some other of the various openings about the sanded area. But as
he hesitated over his choice, he heard something from behind. This was
no unidentifiable noise, but a scream which held both terror and pain.
It jerked him around, sent him running back almost before he thought.

But the scream did not come again. However there were other
sounds--snuffing whines--a scrabbling--

Raf found himself in the round room walled by the old prison cells.
Stabs of light shot through the gloom, thrusting into a roiling black
mass which had erupted through one of the entrances and now held at
bay one of the alien warriors. Three or four of the black creatures
ringed the alien in, moving with speed that eluded the bolts of light
he shot from his weapon, keeping him cornered and from escape, while
their fellows worried another alien limp and defenseless on the floor.

It was impossible to align the sights of his stun gun with any of
those flitting shadows, Raf discovered. They moved as quickly as a
ripple across a pond. He snapped the button on the hand grip to
"spray" and proceeded to use the full strength of the charge across
the group on the floor.

For several seconds he was afraid that the stun ray would prove to
have no effect on the alien metabolism of the creatures, for their
weaving, tearing activity did not cease. Then one after another
dropped away from the center mass and lay unmoving on the floor.
Seeing that he could control them, Raf turned his attention to the
others about the standing warrior.

Again he sent the spray wide, and they subsided. As the last curled on
the pavement, the alien moved forward and, with a snarl, deliberately
turned the full force of his beam weapon on each of the attackers. But
Raf plowed on through the limp pile to the warrior they had pulled
down.

There was no hope of helping him--death had come with a wide tear in
his throat. Raf averted his eyes from the body. The other warrior was
methodically killing the stunned animals. And his action held such
vicious cruelty that Raf did not want to watch.

When he looked again at the scene, it was to find the narrow barrel of
the strange weapon pointed at him. Paying no attention to his dead
comrade, the alien was advancing on the Terran as if in Raf he saw
only another enemy to be burned down.

Moves drilled in him by l