ned you. Very soon now I shall be ready to
send the two of you through the Gate to our scientists in Xoran."

* * * * *

A cold wave of sheer horror swept over Gordon. It was impossible to
doubt the stark and deadly menace promised in the plan of this grim
visitor from an alien universe--a menace that loomed not only for
Gordon and Leah but for the teeming millions of a doomed and
defenseless world.

"Let me show you Xoran," Arlok offered. "Then you may be better able
to understand." He turned his back carelessly upon his two captives
and strode over to the apparatus along the opposite wall.

Gordon longed to hurl himself upon the unprotected back of the
retreating Xoranian, but he knew that any attempt of that kind would
be suicidal. Arlok's deadly tentacle would strike him down before he
was halfway across the room.

He searched his surroundings with desperate eyes for anything that
might serve as a weapon. Then his pulse quickened with sudden hope.
There on a small table near Leah was the familiar bulk of a .45
calibre revolver, loaded and ready for use. It was included in a
miscellaneous collection of other small earthly tools and objects that
Arlok had apparently collected for study.

There was an excellent chance that Leah might be able to secure the
gun unobserved. Gordon pressed her fingers in a swift attempt at
signalling, then jerked his head ever so slightly toward the table. A
moment later the quick answering pressure of Leah's fingers told him
that she had understood his message. From the corner of his eye Gordon
saw Leah's other hand begin cautiously groping behind her for the
revolver.

* * * * *

Then both Gordon and Leah froze into sudden immobility as Arlok faced
them again from beside an apparatus slightly reminiscent of an earthly
radio set. Arlok threw a switch, and a small bank of tubes glowed pale
green. A yard-square plate of bluish-gray metal on the wall above the
apparatus glowed with milky fluorescence.

"It is easy to penetrate the barrier with light waves," Arlok
explained. "That is a Gate that can readily be opened from either
side. It was through it that we first discovered your Earth."

Arlok threw a rheostat on to more power. The luminous plate cleared
swiftly. "And there, Earthlings, is Xoran!" Arlok said proudly.

Leah and Gordon gasped in sheer amaze as the glowing plate became a
veritable window into another