ready to strike.

* * * * *

In one quick movement he flung the girl aside and whipped out the ray
pistol he had taken from Pegrani. He pressed the release and a whirring
sound came from the little weapon. But no crackling blue flame sprang
forth to blast this creature into nothingness. Jumping aside, he was
thrown to the ground by its lashing body as the great snake struck and
missed.

But the pistol was useless. Short circuited by moisture, no doubt. He
crouched there, calling huskily to Ulana. She must run for it; force
her way into the thick undergrowth where the thing could not reach her.
She lay there, helpless with terror. Then, in a flash, she was on her
feet dashing to his side. God, the huge head was poised there again!
Pulsating! The glittering avid eyes upon them!

Instinctively Blaine raised the pistol just as the head darted
downward. The release clicked home. And, wonder of wonders, the blue
flame crackled spitefully. Exploding atoms, dazzling in the green
twilight. Mighty thrashings of the huge coils high up in the tangled
foliage. Crashing and tearing of great stems and rope-like tendrils.
But the enormous body was headless; a dead thing in the throes of its
final reflexes. Only the one charge had been spoiled; the little pistol
had served them well.

He drew Ulana into the thickest of the undergrowth for protection
against the tremendous lashing thing that crashed into the small
clearing where the giant mushroom grew. Their shelter was destroyed. He
must find another; he must be forever on guard over this girl whose
hand clung so confidently to his own as they wedged their way into the
thicket.

"Carson! Ulana!" A familiar voice rose above the whisperings of the
jungle. A voice familiar, yet unreal; supernatural; a calm, commanding
one that did not sound but echoed only in the consciousness.

"Hark!" Ulana gripped his hand more tightly. "Did you hear? It is
Dantor. The message Tiedus promised."

In awed silence they waited. A tiny ball of orange fire flamed suddenly
in the depths of the rushes directly before them. A sign!

"Ah, you are there!" the voice broke in. "I have your mental reactions.
You will follow the orange beacon to the Tritu Anu where I await your
coming. Be of good cheer, my children."

* * * * *

What magic was this? The science of the Rulans was beyond the
comprehension of the Earth man.