to another level, and reacts with a courage and
cunning that are. . .remarkable."

And that was well, because the fight came, hard and long, and in it the
upper bridge was wracked by internal explosion, killing Mandlik and
half his officers. Without the Soviet cruiser, which the Belgian-Swiss
had not detected, the battle would almost certainly have gone against
them.
Brunner's first order, upon assuming command, was to stay near,
and protect the planet's prison complex, which in their late
desperation he feared the Alliance commanders might try to destroy.
And he was right.

* * *

The browning, grapple wrist, raised stiffly before him like a manikin,
or a marionette, preceded the old man from the chamber. The entire
body moved with it in stiff, convulsive strides, out onto the porch of
the Parthenon, between the pillars and onto the marble steps.

One not of that place might have been shocked by his appearance,
distorted as it was by bony growths, the jaw torn to one side by a
madman's rock. Some half-buried sense had drawn him---sight it might
be called---to stand there and watch the night sky.

Distant lightnings played before his eyes, soft bursts of light and
almost, a pool fancied, distant sounds. Perhaps Mars had come at last,
to liberate and destroy them. Through the dull horror of his
marrowmind, twisted like the frame, he recalled verses from a book long
ago, that set his knife-tattered soul on edge.

From Olympus mighty thunderbolts rain down
As futile, Titans reach to steal the crown
Of He whose strength and glory forged the lands
For greater power, rests within His hands.

His broken mouth produced a strange, pitiful utterance, as an
unbearable anguish of hope came over him.

* * *

As the last Alliance vessels retreated, or were caught and subdued by
the tractor beams of the Leningrad, Brunner's thoughts returned quickly
to the planet below. Though his battle fury was still running
hot---his own vessel was badly damaged, and there were wounded to look
after---his mind would think of nothing else. He started to assign
damage and medical crews, but found the work was already being done.
And their primary mission was, in fact, the release and rescue of the
prisoners.

But with the main bridge knocked out and the lower malfunctioning, he
could gather no ne