st Century world.

He got out his supply of food concentrates, saw that he had only three
capsules left, and put them away again. For a long time, he sat under
the dying tree, chewing on a twig and thinking. There must be some way
in which he could overcome, or even utilize, his inherent deadliness to
these people. He might find some isolated community, conceal himself
near it, invade it at night and infect it, and then, when everybody was
dead, move in and take it for himself. But was there any such isolated
community? The farmhouse where he had worked had been fairly remote, yet
its inhabitants had been in communication with the outside world, and
the physician had come immediately in response to their call for help.

The little aircraft had been circling overhead, directly above the place
where he lay hidden. For a while, Hradzka was afraid it had spotted him,
and was debating the advisability of using his blaster on it. Then it
banked, turned and went away. He watched it circle over the valley on
the other side of the mountain, and got to his feet.

4

Almost at once, there was a new sound--a multiple throbbing, at a quick,
snarling tempo that hinted at enormous power, growing louder each
second. Hradzka stiffened and drew his blaster; as he did, five more
aircraft swooped over the crest of the mountain and came rushing down
toward him; not aimlessly, but as though they knew exactly where he was.
As they approached, the leading edges of their wings sparkled with
light, branches began flying from the trees about him, and there was a
loud hammering noise.

He aimed a little in front of them and began blasting. A wing flew from
one of the aircraft, and it plunged downward. Another came apart in the
air; a third burst into flames. The other two zoomed upward quickly.
Hradzka swung his blaster after them, blasting again and again. He hit a
fourth with a blast of energy, knocking it to pieces, and then the fifth
was out of range. He blasted at it twice, but without effect; a
hand-blaster was only good for a thousand yards at the most.

Holstering his weapon, he hurried away, following the stream and keeping
under cover of trees. The last of the attacking aircraft had gone away,
but the little scout-plane was still circling about, well out of
blaster-range.

Once or twice, Hradzka was compelled to stay hidden for some time, not
knowing the nature of the pilot's ability to detect him. It was during
one of th