aly

, breaking down the barrage, struggling to get at us. We stood huddled together; Elza clinging to me, Geo

g sparks of the barrage blurred his w

of all of us-you Geor

h. He was thrusting a weapon into Georg's han

..." Phrases I heard; but only phrases, for in those few seconds I stood dumbly confused, fascinated

ams; the growing glare of a wall-light in a tube over there. And thr

ake a show of fight! Hold him

lash; the pungent smell of burning c

cylinder to the floor. The blackness at once sprang into light; the sparks died. Tarrano wa

f the figure of Georg. Tarrano saw him also; and with a swift gesture snapped back to his belt the interfere

ard Tarrano, with Wolfgar rushing beside me. Elza screamed. Tarrano's h

es made my arm and fist go wide. My blow missed him; he stepped aside; and like a man dr

d; but there were weapons hanging from Wolfgar's belt. His numbed fingers were groping for them. But the eff

move. I felt myself growing numb, weighted to the floor as though my feet had taken root. My arms were hanging like wood; fingers tingling, then growing cold, dea

onslaught. As I stood there now with my face like fire and my bra

is Jac Hallen-as I promised

rations he was flinging at us. And I saw his other hand lift a tiny mouthpiec

Dimly to my fading senses came the triumphant thought, the realization

the room was whirling and roaring. I felt Tarrano bending swiftly over me; felt the forcible insertion of a branched metal tube in my nostrils; a hand over my mouth. I struggled to hold my breath-failed. Then inhaled