urmur sounded outside, and sharp explosions. In their
hiding place, Brion and Ulv crouched low and wondered why the attack
didn't come. Then one of the magter came in the entrance, but Brion
hesitated before shooting.

The man had _backed_ in, firing behind him as he came.

Ulv had no compunctions about killing, only his darts couldn't
penetrate the magter's thick clothing. As the magter turned, Ulv's
breath pulsed once and death stung the back of the other man's hand.
He collapsed into a crumpled heap.

"Don't shoot," a voice called from outside the cave, and a man
stepped through the swirling dust and smoke to stand in the beam
from the light.

Brion clutched wildly at Ulv's arm, dragging the blowgun from
the Disan's mouth.

The man in the light wore a protective helmet, thick boots and
a pouch-hung uniform.

He was a Nyjorder.

The realization was almost impossible to accept. Brion had heard
the bombs fall. Yet the Nyjord soldier was here. The two facts
couldn't be accepted together.

"Would you keep a hold on his arm, sir, just in case," the soldier
said, glancing warily at Ulv's blowpipe. "I know what those darts
can do." He pulled a microphone from one of his pockets and spoke
into it.

More soldiers crowded into the cave, and Professor-Commander Krafft
came in behind them. He looked strangely out of keeping in the dusty
combat uniform. The gun was even more incongruous in his blue-veined
hand. After giving the pistol to the nearest soldier with an air of
relief, he stumbled quickly over to Brion and took his hand.

"It is a profound and sincere pleasure to meet you in person,"
he said. "And your friend Ulv as well."

"Would you kindly explain what is going on?" Brion said thickly. He
was obsessed by the strange feeling that none of this could possibly
be happening.

"We will always remember you as the man who saved us from ourselves,"
Krafft said, once again the professor instead of the commander.

"What Brion wants are facts, Grandpa, not speeches," Hys said. The
bent form of the leader of the rebel Nyjord army pushed through the
crowd of taller men until he stood next to Krafft. "Simply stated,
Brion, your plan succeeded. Krafft relayed your message to me--and
as soon as I heard it I turned back and met him on his ship. I'm
sorry that Telt's dead--but he found what we were looking for. I
couldn't ignore his report of radioactive traces. Your girl friend
arrived with the hacked-up corpse at th