him
upright, while a second arm drew back and came forward with a savage
right to his jaw.

He went out with a dull plopping sound in his brain. Then, slowly, an
ache came out of the blackness, and the beginning of sound. He was
fighting out of the unconsciousness, fighting against time and the
monster who'd try to steal Ellen.

But Ellen's hands were on his head, and an ice-cold towel was wet
against his forehead. "Will! Will!"

* * * * *

He groaned and sat up. The other--alien or human--was gone.

"Where--?" he began.

She was trying to help him to his feet, and he got up groggily, with
his head beginning to clear.

"He just ran out, Will." Ellen was crying, this time almost silently,
with the words coming out between shakes of her shoulders. "Will,
we've got to get out. We've got to. The men are coming for you.
They'll be here any minute. And it's wrong--it won't work! Oh, Will,
hurry!"

"Men? Men are coming?" He'd almost forgotten that it could be men who
were after him.

"I called them, Will. I thought I had to. But it won't work. Will, do
anything you like, but _get_ out! They are fools. They...."

He opened the door and peered out the doorway into the hall, which
seemed quiet. He'd been a fool again. He'd trusted her for some
reason, as if a body and loyalty had to go together. They'd been
smart, picking a virgin for the job. It must have cost them plenty,
unless they'd twisted her mind somehow. Maybe they could do it.

But he knew that whatever they looked like, it couldn't be real men
who'd meet him out there.

"Why?" he asked, and was surprised at the flatness of his voice.

She shook her head. "Because I'm a fool, Will. Because I thought they
could help you--until _he_ came! And because I'm still in love with
you, even if you'd forgotten me."

But the fear inside him was drowning out her words, and the golden
haze was faint in the air again.

"Okay," he said finally. "Okay, don't burn her, too, now that she's
done your dirty work. I'm coming."

The haze disappeared slowly, and he started down the stairs, still
holding her hand.

VI

There were men with guns in the street. He'd heard two shots as he
came down the stairs, and had shoved Ellen behind him. But it was
silent now. People with dazed, frightened faces were still darting
into the houses, leaving the street to the men with the guns.

Hawkes marched forward grimly, perversely stripped of fear,