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key out of time by andre norton chapter 1 - lotus world there was a shading of rose in the pearl archof sky, deepening at the horizon meeting of sea and air in a rainbow tint of cloud. thelazy swells of the ocean held the same soft color, darkened with crimson veins where spiralsof weed drifted. a rose world bathed in soft sunlight, knowing only gentle winds, peace,and—sloth. ross murdock leaned forward over the edgeof the rock ledge to peer down at a beach of fine sand, pale pink sand with here andthere a glitter of a crystalline "shell"—or were those delicate, fluted ovals shells?even the waves came in languidly. and the

breeze which ruffled his hair, smoothed abouthis sun-browned, half-bare body, caressed it, did not buffet on its way inland to stirthe growths which the terran settlers called "trees" but which possessed long lacy frondsinstead of true branches. hawaika—named for the old polynesian paradise—aworld seemingly without flaw except the subtle one of being too perfect, too welcoming, toowooing. its long, uneventful, unchanging days enticed forgetfulness, offered a life withouteffort. except for the mystery.... because this world was not the one picturedon the tape which had brought the terran settlement team here. a map, a directing guide, a descriptionall in one, that was the ancient voyage tape. ross himself had helped to loot a storehouseon an unknown planet for a cargo of such tapes.

once they had been the space-navigation guidesfor a race or races who had ruled the star lanes ten thousand years in his own world'spast, a civilization which had long since sunk again into the dust of its beginning. those tapes returned to terra after theirchance discovery, were studied, probed, deciphered by the best brains of his time, shared outby lot between already suspicious terran powers, bringing into the exploration of space bitterrivalries and old hatreds. such a tape had landed their ship on hawaika,a world of shallow seas and archipelagoes instead of true continents. the settlementteam had had all the knowledge contained on that tape crowded into them, only to discoverthat much they had learned from it was false!

of course, none of them had expected to discoverhere still the cities, the civilization the tape had projected as existing in that long-agoperiod. but no present island string they had visited approximated those on the mapsthey had seen, and so far they had not found any trace that any intelligent beings hadwalked, built, lived, on these beautiful, slumberous atolls. so, what had happened tothe hawaika of the tape? ross's right hand rubbed across the ridgedscars which disfigured his left one, to be carried for the rest of his life as a markof his meeting with the star voyagers in the past of his own world. he had deliberatelyseared his own flesh to break the mental control they had asserted. then the battle had goneto him. but from it he had brought another

scar—the unease of that old terror whenross murdock, fighter, rebel, outlaw by the conventions of his own era, ross murdock whoconsidered himself an exceedingly tough individual, that toughness steeled by the training fortime agent sorties, had come up against a power he did not understand, instinctivelyhated and feared. now he breathed deeply of the wind—the smellof the sea, the scents of the land growths, strange but pleasant. so easy to relax, todrop into the soft, lulling swing of this world in which they had found no fault, nodanger, no irritant. yet, once those others had been here—the blue-suited, hairlessones he called "baldies." and what had happened then ... or afterward?

a black head, brown shoulders, slender body,broke the sleepy slip of the waves. a shimmering mask covered the face, catching glitter-firein the sun. two hands freed a chin curved yet firmly set, a mouth made more for laughterthan sternness, wide dark eyes. karara trehern of the alii, the one-time hawaiian god-chieftainline, was an exceedingly pretty girl. but ross regarded her aloofly, with a coldnesswhich bordered on hostility, as she flipped her mask into its pocket on top of the gill-pack.below his rocky perch she came to a halt, her feet slightly apart in the sand, an impishtwist to her lips as she called mockingly: "why not come in? the water's fine." "perfect, like all the rest of this." someof his impatience came out in the sour tone.

"no luck, as usual?" "as usual," karara conceded. "if there everwas a civilization here, it's been gone so long we'll probably never find any traces.why don't you just pick out a good place to set up that time-probe and try it blind?" ross scowled. "because"—his patience wasexaggerated to the point of insult—"we have only one peep-probe. once it's set we can'ttear it down easily for transport somewhere else, so we want to be sure there's somethingto look at beyond." she began to wring the water out of her longhair. "well, as far as we've explored ... nothing. come yourself next time. tino-rau and tauaaren't particular; they like company."

putting two fingers to her mouth, karara whistled.twin heads popped out of the water, facing the shore and her. projecting noses, mouthswith upturned corners so they curved in a lasting pleasant grin at the mammals on theshore—the dolphin pair, mammals whose ancestors had chosen the sea, whistled back in suchclose counterfeit of the girl's signal that they could be an echo of her call. years earliertheir species' intelligence had surprised, almost shocked, men. experiments, training,co-operation, had developed a tie which gave the water-limited race of mankind new eyes,ears, minds, to see, evaluate, and report concerning an element in which the bipedswere not free. hand in hand with that co-operation had goneother experiments. just as the clumsy armored

diving suits of the early twentieth centuryhad allowed man to begin penetration into a weird new world, so had the frog-man equipmentmade him still freer in the sea. and now the gill-pack which separated the needed oxygenfrom the water made even that lighter burden of tanks obsolete. but there remained depthsinto which man could not descend, whose secrets were closed to him. there the dolphins operated,in a partnership of minds, equal minds—though that last fact had been difficult for manto accept. ross's irritation, unjustified as he knewit to be, did not rest on tino-rau or taua. he enjoyed the hours when he buckled on gill-packand took to the sea with those two ten-foot, black-and-silver escorts sharing the action.but karara ... karara's presence was a different

matter altogether. the agents' teams had always been strictlymasculine. two men partnered for an interlocking of abilities and temperaments, going throughtraining together, becoming two halves of a strong and efficient whole. before beingsummarily recruited into the project, ross had been a loner—living on the ragged edgesof the law, an indigestible bit for the civilization which had become too ordered and "adjusted"to absorb his kind. but in the project he had discovered others like himself—men bornout of time, too ruthless, too individualistic for their own age, but able to operate withease in the dangerous paths of the time agents. and when the time search for the wrecked alienships had succeeded and the first intact ship

found, used, duplicated, the agents had comefrom forays into the past to be trained anew for travel to the stars. first there had beenross murdock, criminal. then there had been ross murdock and gordon ashe, time agents.now there was still ross and gordon and a quest as perilous as any they had known. yetthis time they had to depend upon karara and the dolphins. "tomorrow"—ross was still not sorting outhis thoughts, truly aware of the feeling which worked upon him as a thorn in the finger—"iwill come." "good!" if she recognized his hostility forwhat it was, that did not bother her. once more she whistled to the dolphins, waved acasual farewell with one hand, and headed

up the beach toward the base camp. ross chosea more rugged path over the cliff. suppose they did not find what they soughtnear here? yet the old taped map suggested that this was approximately the site starredupon it. marking a city? a star port? ashe had volunteered for hawaika, demandedthis job after the disastrous topaz affair when the team of apache volunteers had beensent out too soon to counter what might have been a red sneak settlement. ross was stillunhappy over the ensuing months when only major kelgarries and maybe, in a lesser part,ross had kept gordon ashe in the project at all. that topaz had been a failure was acceptedwhen the settlement ship did not return. and that had added to ashe's sense of guilt forhaving recruited and partially trained the

lost team. among those dispatched over ashe's vehementprotests had been travis fox who had shared with ashe and ross the first galactic flightin an age-old derelict spaceship. travis fox—the apache archaeologist—had he ever reachedtopaz? or would he and his team wander forever between worlds? did they set down on a planetwhere some inimical form of native life or a red settlement had awaited them? the veryuncertainty of their fate continued to ride ashe. so he insisted on coming out with the secondsettlement team, the volunteers of samoan and hawaiian descent, to carry on a yet moreexciting and hazardous exploration. just as

the project had probed into the past of terra,so would ashe and ross now attempt to discover what lay in the past of hawaika, to see thisworld as it had been at the height of the galactic civilization, and so to learn whatthey could about their fore-runners into space. and the mystery they had dropped into uponlanding added to the necessity for that discovery or discoveries. their probe, if fortune favored them, mightbecome a gate through time. the installation was a vast improvement over these passagepoints they had first devised. technical information had taken a vast leap forward after terranengineers and scientists had had access to the tapes of the stellar empire. adaptationsand shortcuts developed, so that a new hybrid

technology came into use, woven from the knowledgeand experimentation of two civilizations thousands of years apart in time. if and when he or ashe—or karara and herdolphins—discovered the proper site, the two agents could set up their own equipment.both ross and ashe had had enough drill in the process. all they needed was the brickof discovery; then they could build their wall. but they must find some remainder ofthe past, the smallest trace of ancient ruin upon which to center their peep-probe. andsince landing here the long days had flowed into weeks with no such discovery made. ross crossed the ridge of rock which formeda cocks-comb rise on the island's spine and

descended to the village. as they had beentrained, the polynesian settlers adapted native products to their own heritage of buildingand tools. it was necessary that they live off the land, for their transport ship hadhad storage space only for a limited number of supplies and tools. after it took off toreturn home they would be wholly on their own for several years. their ship, a silveryball, rested on a rock ledge, its pilot and crew having lingered to learn the resultsof ashe's search. four days more and they would have to lift for home even if the agentsstill had only negative results to report. that disappointment was driving ashe, theway that six months earlier his outrage and guilt feelings over the topaz affair had drivenhim. karara's suggestion carried weight the

longer ross thought about it. with more swimmershunting, there was just that much increased chance of turning up some clue. so far thedolphins had not reported any dangerous native sea life or any perils except the naturalones any diver always had at his shoulder under the waves. there were extra gill-packs, and all of thesettlers were good swimmers. an organized hunt ought to shake the polynesians out oftheir present do-it-tomorrow attitude. as long as they had had definite work beforethem—the unloading of the ship, the building of the village, all the labors incidentalto the establishing of this base—they had shown energy and enthusiasm. it was only duringthe last couple of weeks that the languor

which appeared part of the atmosphere herehad crept up on them, so that now they were content to live at a slower and lazier pace.ross remembered ashe's comparison made the evening before, likening hawaika to a legendaryterran island where the inhabitants lived a drugged existence, feeding upon the seedsof a native plant. hawaika was fast becoming a lotus land for terrans. "through here, then westward...." ashe hunchedover the crate table in the mat-walled house. he did not look up as ross entered. karara'sstill damp head was bowed until those black locks, now sleeked to her round skull, almosttouched the man's close-cropped brown hair. they were both studying a map as if they sawnot lines on paper but the actual inlets and

lagoons which that drawing represented. "you are sure, gordon, that this is the modernpoint to match the site on the tape?" the girl brushed back straying hair. ashe shrugged. there were tight brackets abouthis mouth which had not been there six months ago. he moved jerkily, not with the fluidgrace of those old days when he had faced the vast distance of time travel with unruffledcalm and a self-confidence to steady and support the novice ross. "the general outline of these two islandscould stand for the capes on this—" he pulled a second map, this on transparent plastic,to fit over the first. the capes marked on

the much larger body of land did slip overthe modern islands with a surprising fit. the once large island, shattered and broken,could have produced the groups of atolls and islets they now prospected. "how long—" karara mused aloud, "and why?" ashe shrugged. "ten thousand years, five,two." he shook his head. "we have no idea. it's apparent that there must have been someworld-wide cataclysm here to change the contours of the land masses so much. we may have towait on a return space flight to bring a 'copter or a hydroplane to explore farther." his handswept beyond the boundaries of the map to indicate the whole of hawaika.

"a year, maybe two, before we could hope forthat," ross cut in. "then we'll have to depend on whether the council believes this importantenough." the contrariness which spiked his tongue whenever karara was present made himsay that without thinking. then the twitch of ashe's lip brought home ross's error. gordonneeded reassurance now, not a recitation of the various ways their mission could be doomed. "look here!" ross came to the table, his handsweeping past karara, as he used his forefinger for a pointer. "we know that what we wantcould be easily overlooked, even with the dolphins helping us to check. this whole area'stoo big. and you know that it is certain that whatever might be down there would be hiddenwith sea growths. suppose ten of us start

out in a semi-circle from about here and goas far as this point, heading inland. video-cameras here and here ... comb the whole sector inchby inch if we have to. after all, we have plenty of time and manpower." karara laughed softly. "manpower—alwaysmanpower, ross? but there is woman-power, too. and we have perhaps even sharper sight.but this is a good idea, gordon. let me see—" she began to tell off names on her fingers,"pakeekee, vaeoha, hori, liliha, taema, ui, hono'ura—they are the best in the water.me ... you, gordon, ross. that makes ten with keen eyes to look, and always there are tino-rauand taua. we will take supplies and camp here on this island which looks so much like afinger crooked to beckon. yes, somehow that

beckoning finger seems to me to promise betterfortune. shall we plan it so?" some of the tight look was gone from ashe'sface, and ross relaxed. this was what gordon needed—not to be sitting in here going overmaps, reports, reworking over and over their scant leads. ashe had always been a fieldman; and the settlement work had been stultifying, a laborious chore for him. when karara had gone ross dropped down onthe bunk against the side wall. "what did happen here, do you think?" halfwas real interest in the mystery they had mulled over and over since they had landedon a hawaika which diverged so greatly from the maps; the other half, a desire to keepashe thinking on a subject removed from immediate

worries. "an atomic war?" "could be. there are old radiation traces.but these aliens had, i'm sure, progressed beyond atomics. suppose, just suppose, theycould tamper with the weather, with the balance of the planet's crust? we don't know the extentof their powers, how they would use them. they had a colony here once, or there wouldhave been no guide tape. and that is all we are sure of." "suppose"—ross rolled over on his stomach,pillowed his head on his arms—"we could uncover some of that knowledge—" the twitch was back at ashe's lips. "that'sthe risk we have to run now."

"risk?" "would you give a child one of those handweapons we found in the derelict?" "naturally not!" ross snapped and then sawthe point. "you mean—we aren't to be trusted?" the answer was plain to read in ashe's expression. "then why this whole setup, this hunt forwhat might mean trouble?" "the old pinch, the bad one. what if the redsdiscover something first? they drew some planets in the tape lottery, remember. it's a seesawbetween us—we advance here, they there. we have to keep up the race or lose it. theymust be combing their stellar colonies for a few answers just as furiously as we are."

"so, we go into the past to hunt if we haveto. well, i think i could do without answers such as the baldies would know. but i willadmit that i would like to know what did happen here—two, five, ten thousand years ago." ashe stood up and stretched. for the firsttime he smiled. "do you know, i rather like the idea of fishing off karara's beckoningfinger. maybe she's right about that changing our luck." ross kept his face carefully expressionlessas he got up to prepare their evening meal. chapter 2 - lair of mano-nui just under the surface of the water the seawas warm, weird life showed colors ross could

name, shades he could not. the corals, theanimals masquerading as plants, the plants disguised as animals which inhabited the oceansof terra, had their counterparts here. and the settlers had given them the familiar names,though the crabs, the fish, the anemones, and weeds of the shallow lagoons and reefswere not identical with terran creatures. the trouble was that there was too much, sucha wealth of life to attract the eyes, hold attention, that it was difficult to keep tothe job at hand—the search for what was not natural, for what had no normal placehere. as the land seduced the senses and bewitchedthe off-worlder, so did the sea have its enchantment to pull one from duty. ross resolutely skimmedby a forest of weaving, waving lace which

varied from a green which was almost blackto a pale tint he could not truly identify. among those waving fans lurked ghost-fish,finned swimmers transparent enough so that one could sight, through their pallid sides,the evidences of recently ingested meals. the terrans had begun their sweep-search ahalf hour ago, slipping overboard from a ferry canoe, heading in toward the checkpoint ofthe finger isle, forming an arc of expert divers, men and girls so at home in the oceanthat they should be able to make the discovery ashe needed—if such did exist. mystery built upon mystery on hawaika, rossthought as he used his spear-gun to push aside a floating banner of weed in order to peerbelow its curtain. the native life of this

world must always have been largely aquatic.the settlers had discovered only a few small animals on the islands. the largest of whichwas the burrower, a creature not unlike a miniature monkey in that it had hind legson which it walked erect and forepaws, well clawed for digging purposes, which it usedwith as much skill and dexterity as a man used hands. its body was hairless and it wasable to assume, chameleon-like, the color of the soil and rocks where it denned. thehead was set directly on its bowed shoulders without vestige of neck; and it had roundbubbles of eyes near the top of its skull, a nose which was a single vertical slit, anda wide mouth fanged for crushing the shelled creatures on which it fed. all in all, toterran eyes, it was a vaguely repulsive creature,

but as far as the settlers had been able todiscover it was the highest form of land life. the smaller rodentlike things, the two speciesof wingless diving birds, and an odd assortment of reptiles and amphibians sharing the islandwere all the burrowers' prey. a world of sea and islands, what type of nativeintelligent life had it once supported? or had this been only a galactic colony, withno native population before the coming of the stellar explorers? ross hovered abovea dark pocket where the bottom had suddenly dipped into a saucer-shaped depression. thesea growth about the rim rippled in the water raggedly, but there was something about itsgeneral outline.... ross began a circumference of that hollow.allowing for the distortion of the growths

which had formed lumpy excrescences or reachedturrets toward the surface—yes, allowing for those—this was decidedly something outof the ordinary! the depression was too regular, too even, ross was certain of that. with athrill of excitement he began a descent into the cup, striving to trace signs which wouldprove his suspicion correct. how many years, centuries, had the slow coverageof the sea life gathered there, flourished, died, with other creatures to build anew onthe remains? now there was only a hint that the depression had other than a natural beginning. anchoring with a one-handed grip on a spikeof hawaikan coral—smoother than the terran species—ross aimed the butt of his spear-gunat the nearest wall of the saucer, striving

to reach into a crevice between two lumpsof growth and so probe into what might lie behind. the spear rebounded; there was nobreaking that crust with such a fragile tool. but perhaps he would have better luck lowerdown. the depression was deeper than he had firstjudged. now the light which existed in the shallows vanished. red and yellow as colorswent, but ross was aware of blues and greens in shades and tints which were not visibleabove. he switched on his diving torch, and color returned within its beam. a swirl ofweed, pink in the light, became darkly emerald beyond as if it possessed the chameleon abilityof the burrowers. he was distracted by that phenomenon, andso he transgressed the diver's rule of never

becoming so absorbed in surroundings as toforget caution. just when did ross become aware of that shadow below? was it when aschool of ghost-fish burst unexpectedly between weed growths, and he turned to follow themwith the torch? then the outer edge of his beam caught the movement of a shape, a flutterin the water of the gloomy depths. ross swung around, his back to the wall ofthe saucer, as he aimed the torch down at what was arising there. the light caught andheld for a long moment of horror something which might have come out of the nightmaresof his own world. afterward ross knew that the monster was not as large as it seemedin that endless minute of fear, perhaps no bigger than the dolphins.

he had had training in shark-infested season terra, been carefully briefed against the danger from such hunters of the deep and oceanjungles. but this kind of thing had only existed before in the fairy tales of his race as thedragon of old lore. a scaled head with wide eyes gleaming in the light beam with coldand sullen hate, a gaping mouth fang-filled, a horn-set muzzle, that long, undulating neckand, below it, the half-seen bulk of a monstrous body. his spear-gun, the knife at his waist belt,neither were protection against this! yet to turn his back on that rising head was morethan ross could do. he pulled himself back against the wall of the saucer. the thingbefore him did not rush to attack. plainly

it had seen him and now it moved with theleisure of a hunter having no fears concerning the eventual outcome of the hunt. but thelight appeared to puzzle it and ross kept the beam shining straight into those evileyes. the shock of the encounter was wearing off;now ross edged his flipper into a crevice to hold him steady while his hand went tothe sonic-com at his waist. he tapped out a distress call which the dolphins could relayto the swimmers. the swaying dragon head paused, held rigid on a stiff, scaled column in thecenter of the saucer. that sonic vibration either surprised or bothered the hunter, madeit wary. ross tapped again. the belief that if he triedto escape, he was lost, that only while he

faced it so had he any chance, grew stronger.the head was only inches below the level of his flippered feet as he held to the weeds. again that weaving movement, the rise of head,a tremor along the serpent neck, an agitation in the depths. the dragon was on the moveagain. ross aimed the light directly at the head. the scales, as far as he could determine,were not horny plates but lapped, silvery ovals such as a fish possessed. and the underpartsof the monster might even be vulnerable to his spear. but knowing the way a terran sharkcould absorb the darts of that weapon and survive, ross feared to attack except as alast resort. above and to his left there was a small hollowwhere in the past some portion of the growths

had been ripped away. if he could fit himselfinto that crevice, perhaps he could keep the dragon at bay until help arrived. ross movedwith all the skill he had. his hand closed upon the edge of the niche and he whirledhimself up, just making it into that refuge as the head lashed at him wickedly. his suspicionthat the dragon would attack anything on the run was well founded, and he knew he had nohope of winning to the surface above. now he stood in the crevice, facing outward,watching the head darting in the water. he had switched off the torch, and the loss oflight appeared to bewilder the reptile for some precious seconds. ross pulled as farback into the niche as he could, until the point of one shoulder touched a surface whichwas sleek, smooth, and cold. the shock of

that contact almost sent him hurtling outagain. gripping the spear before him in his righthand, ross cautiously felt behind him with the left. his finger tips glided over a seamlesssurface where the growths had been torn or peeled away. though he could not, or darednot, turn his head to see, he was certain that this was his proof that the walls ofthe saucer had been fashioned and placed there by some intelligent creature. the dragon had risen, hovering now in thewater directly before the entrance to ross's hole, its neck curled back against its bulk.it had wide flippers moving like planes to hold it poised. the body, sloping from a massiveround of shoulders to a tapering rear, was

vaguely familiar. if one provided a terranseal with a gorgon head and scales in place of fur, the effect would be similar. but rosswas assuredly not facing a seal at this moment. slight movement of the flippers kept it asstabilized as if it sprawled on a supporting surface. with the neck flattened against thebody, the head curved downward until the horn on its snout pointed the tip straight at ross'smiddle. the terran steadied his spear-gun. the dragon's eyes were its most vulnerabletargets; if the creature launched the attack, ross would aim for them. both man and dragon were so intent upon theirduel that neither was conscious of the sudden swirl overhead. a sleek dark shape struckdown, skimming across the humped-back ridge

of the dragon. some of the settlers had empathywith the dolphins to a high degree, but ross's own powers of contact were relatively feeble. only now he was given an assurance of aid,and a suggestion to attack. the dragon head writhed, twisted as the reptile attemptedto see above and behind its own length. but the dolphin was only a streak fast disappearing.and that writhing changed the balance the monster had maintained, pushing it towardross. the terran fired too soon and without properaim, so the dart snaked past the head. but the harpoon line half hooked about the neckand seemed to confuse the creature. ross squirmed as far back as he could into his refuge anddrew his knife. against those fangs the weapon

was an almost useless toy, but it was allhe had. again the dolphin dived in attack on the reptile,this time seizing in its mouth the floating cord of the harpoon and giving it a jerk whichjolted the dragon even more off balance, pulling it away from ross's niche and out into thecenter of the saucer. there were two dolphins in action now, rosssaw, playing the dragon as matadors might play a bull, keeping the creature disturbedby their agile maneuvers. whatever prey came naturally to the hawaikan monster was notof this type, and the creature was not prepared to deal effectively with their teasing, dodgingtactics. neither had touched the beast, but they kept it constantly striving to get atthem.

though it swam in circles attempting to faceits teasers, the dragon did not abandon the level before ross's refuge, and now and thenit darted its head at him, unwilling to give up its prey. only one of the dolphins friskedand dodged above now as the sonic on ross's belt vibrated against his lower ribs withits message warning to be prepared for further action. somewhere above, his own kind gathered.hurriedly he tapped out in code his warning in return. two dolphins busy again, their last dive overthe dragon pushing the monster down past ross's niche toward the saucer's depths. then theyflashed up and away. the dragon was rising in turn, but coming to meet the hawaikan creaturewas a ball giving off light, bringing sharp

vision and color with it. ross's arm swung up to shield his eyes. therewas a flash; such answering vibration carried through the waves that even his nerves, farless sensitive than those of the life about him, reacted. he blinked behind his mask.a fish floated by, spiraling up, its belly exposed. and about him growths drooped, trailedlifelessly through the water; while there was a now motionless bulk sinking to the obscurityof the depression floor. a weapon perfected on terra to use against sharks and barracudahad worked here to kill what could have been more formidable prey. the terran wriggled out of the niche, roseto meet another swimmer. as ashe descended,

ross relayed his news via the sonic. the dolphinswere already nosing into the depths in pursuit of their late enemy. "look here—" ross guided ashe to the crevicewhich had saved him, aimed the torch beam into it. he had been right! there was a longgroove in the covering built up by the growths; a vertical strip some six feet long, of auniform gray, showed. ashe touched the find and then gave the alert via the sonic code. "metal or an alloy, we've found it!" but what did they have? even after an hour'sexploration by the full company, ashe's expert search with his knowledge of artifacts andancient remains, they were still baffled.

it would require labor and tools they didnot have, to clear the whole of the saucer. they could be sure only of its size and shape,and the fact that its walls were of an unknown substance which the sea could cloak but noterode. for the length of gray surface showed not the slightest pitting or time wear. down at its centermost point they found thedragon's den, an arch coated with growth, before which sprawled the body of the creature.that was dragged aloft with the dolphins' aid, to be taken ashore for study. but thearch itself ... was that part of some old installation? torches to the fore, they entered its shadow,only to remain baffled. here and there were

patches of the same gray showing in its interior.ashe dug the butt of his spear-gun into the sand on the flooring to uncover another ovaldepression. but what it all signified or what had been its purpose, they could not guess. "set up the peep-probe here?" ross asked. ashe's head moved in a slow negative. "lookfarther ... spread out," the sonic clicked. within a matter of minutes the dolphins reportednew remains—two more saucers, each larger than the first, set in a line on the oceanfloor, pointing directly to karara's finger island. cautiously explored, these were discoveredto be free of any but harmless life; they stirred up no more dragons.

when the terrans came ashore on finger islandto rest and eat their midday meal one of the men paced along the beached dragon. ashoreit lost none of its frightening aspect. and seeing it, even beached and dead, ross wonderedat his luck in surviving the encounter without a scratch. "i think that this one would be alone," pakeekeecommented. "where there is an eater of this size, there is usually only one." "mano-nui!" the girl taema shivered as shegave to this monster the name of the shark demon of her people. "such a one is trulyking shark in these waters! but why have we not sighted its like before? tino-rau, taua... they have not reported such—"

"probably because, as pakeekee says, thesethings are rare," ashe returned. "a carnivore of size would have to have a fairly wide huntingrange, yet there's evidence that this thing has laired in that den for some time. whichmeans that it must have a defined hunting territory allowing no trespassing from othersof its species." karara nodded. "also it may hunt only at intervals,eat heavily, and lie quiet until that meal is digested. there are large snakes on terrathat follow that pattern. ross was in its front yard when it came after him—" "from now on"—ashe swallowed a quarter offruit—"we know what to watch for, and the weapon which will finish it off. don't forgetthat!"

the delicate mechanisms of their sonics hadalready registered the vibrations which would warn of a dragon's presence, and the depthglobes would then do the rest. "big skull, oversize for the body." pakeekeesquatted on his heels by the head lying on the sand at the end of the now fully extendedneck. ross had heretofore been more aware of thearmament of that head, the fangs set in the powerful jaws, the horn on the snout. butpakeekee's comment drew his attention to the fact that the scale-covered skull did domeup above the eye pits in a way to suggest ample brain room. had the thing been intelligent?karara put that into words: "rule one?" she went over to survey the carcass.

ross resented her half question, whether itwas addressed to him or mere thinking aloud on her part. rule one: conserve native life to the fullestextent. humanoid form may not be the only evidence of intelligence. there were the dolphins to prove that pointright on terra. but did rule one mean that you had to let a monster nibble at you becauseit might just be a high type of alien intelligence? let karara spout rule one while backed intoa crevice under water with that horn stabbing at her mid-section! "rule one does not mean to forego self-defense,"ashe commented mildly. "this thing is a hunter,

and you can't stop to apply recognition techniqueswhen you are being regarded as legitimate prey. if you are the stronger, or an equal,yes—stop and think before becoming aggressive. but in a situation like this—take no chances." "anyway, from now on," karara pointed out,"it could be possible to shock instead of kill." "gordon"—pakeekee swung around—"what havewe found here—besides this thing?" "i can't even guess. except that those depressionswere made for a purpose and have been there for a long time. whether they were originallyin the water, or the land sank, that we don't know either. but now we have a site to setup the peep-probe."

"we do that right away?" ross wanted to know.impatience bit at him. but ashe still had a trace of frown. he shook his head. "have to make sure of our site, very sure.i don't want to start any chain reaction on the other side of the time wall." and he was right, ross was forced to admit,remembering what had happened when the galactics had discovered the red time gates and tracedthem forward to their twentieth-century source, ruthlessly destroying each station. the originalcolonists of hawaika had been as giants to terran pygmies when it came to technical knowledge.to use even a peep-probe indiscreetly near one of their outposts might bring swift andterrible retribution.

chapter 3 - the ancient mariners another map spread out and this time pinneddown with small stones on beach gravel. "here, here, and here—" ashe's finger indicatedthe points marked in a pattern which flared out from three sides of finger island. eachmarked a set of three undersea depressions in perfect alliance with the land which, accordingto the galactic map, had once been a cape on a much larger land mass. though the terranshad found the ruins, if those saucers in the sea could be so termed, the remains had nomeaning for the explorers. "do we set up here?" ross asked. "if we couldjust get a report to send back...." that might mean the difference between awakening theco-operation of the project policy makers

so that a flood of supplies and personnelwould begin to head their way. "we set up here," ashe decided. he had selected a point between two of thelines where a reef would provide them with a secure base. and once that decision wasmade, the terrans went into action. two days to go, to install the peep-probeand take some shots before the ship had to clear with or without their evidence. togetherross and ashe floated the installation out to the reef, ui and karara helping to towthe equipment and parts, the dolphins lending pushing noses on occasion. the aquatic mammalswere as interested as the human beings they aided. and in water their help was invaluable.had dolphins developed hands, ross wondered

fleetingly, would they have long ago wrestedcontrol of their native world—or at least of its seas—from the human kind? all the human beings worked with practicedease, even while masked and submerged, to set the probe in place, aiming it landwardat the check point of the finger's protruding nail of rock. after ashe made the final adjustments,tested each and every part of the assembly, he gestured them in. karara's swift hand movement asked a question,and ashe's sonic code-clicked in reply: "at twilight." yes, dusk was the proper time for using apeep-probe. to see without risk of being sighted

in return was their safeguard. here ashe hadno historical data to guide him. their search for the former inhabitants might be a longdrawn-out process skipping across centuries as the machine was adjusted to terran timeeras. "when were they here?" back on shore kararashook out her hair, spread it over her shoulders to dry. "how many hundred years back willthe probe return?" "more likely thousands," ross commented. "wherewill you start, gordon?" ashe brushed sand from the page of the notebookhe had steadied against one bent knee and gazed out at the reef where they had set theprobe. "ten thousand years—"

"why?" karara wanted to know. "why that exactfigure?" "we know that galactic ships crashed on terrathen. so their commerce and empire—if it was an empire—was far-flung at that time.perhaps they were at the zenith of their civilization; perhaps they were already on the down slope.i do not think they were near the beginning. so that date is as good a starting place asany. if we don't hit what we're after, then we can move forward until we do." "do you think that there ever was a nativepopulation here?" "might have been." "but without any large land animals, no moderntraces of any," she protested.

"of people?" ashe shrugged. "good answersfor both. suppose there was a world-wide epidemic of proportions to wipe out a species. or awar in which they used forces beyond our comprehension to alter the whole face of this planet, whichdid happen—the alteration, i mean. several things could have removed intelligent life.then such species as the burrowers could have developed or evolved from smaller, more primitivetypes." "those ape-things we found on the desert planet."ross thought back to their first voyage on the homing derelict. "maybe they had oncebeen men and were degenerating. and the winged people, they could have been less than menon their way up——" "ape-things ... winged people?" karara interrupted."tell me!"

there was something imperious in her demand,but ross found himself describing in detail their past adventures, first on the worldof sand and sealed structures where the derelict had rested for a purpose its involuntary passengershad never understood, and then of the terrans' limited exploration of that other planet whichmight have been the capital world of a far-flung stellar empire. there they had made a pactwith a winged people living in the huge buildings of a jungle-choked city. "but you see"—the polynesian girl turnedto ashe when ross had finished—"you did find them—these ape-things and the wingedpeople. but here there are only the dragons and the burrowers. are they the start or thefinish? i want to know—"

"why?" ashe asked. "not just because i am curious, though i amthat also, but because we, too, must have a beginning and an end. did we come up fromthe seas, rise to know and feel and think, just to return to such beginning at our end?if your winged people were climbing and your ape-things descending"—she shook her head—"itwould be frightening to hold a cord of life, both ends in your hands. is it good for usto see such things, gordon?" "men have asked that question all their thinkinglives, karara. there have been those who have said no, who have turned aside and tried tohalt the growth of knowledge here or there, attempted to make men stand still on one treadof a stairway. only there is that in us which

will not stop, ill-fitted as we may be forthe climbing. perhaps we shall be safe and untroubled here on hawaika if i do not goout to that reef tonight. by that action i may bring real danger down on all of us. yeti can not hold back for that. could you?" "no, i do not believe that i could," she agreed. "we are here because we are of those who mustknow—volunteers. and being of that temperament, it is in us always to take the next step." "even if it leads to a fall," she added ina low tone. ashe gazed at her, though her own eyes wereon the sea where a lace of waves marked the reef. her words were ordinary enough, butross straightened to match ashe's stare. why

had he felt that odd instant of uneasinessas if his heart had fluttered instead of beating true? "i know of you time agents," karara continued."there were plenty of stories about you told while we were in training." "tall tales, i can imagine, most of them."ashe laughed, but his amusement sounded forced to ross. "perhaps. though i do not believe that manycould be any taller than the truth. and so also i have heard of that strict rule youfollow, that you must do nothing which might alter the course of history. but suppose,suppose here that the course of history could

be altered, that whatever catastrophe occurredmight be averted? if that was done, what would happen to our settlement in the here and now?" "i don't know. that is an experiment whichwe have never dared to try, which we won't try—" "not even if it would mean a chance of lifefor a whole native race?" she persisted. "alternate worlds then, maybe." ross's imaginationcaught up that idea. "two worlds from a change point in history," he elaborated, noting herlook of puzzlement. "one stemming from one decision, another from the alternate." "i've heard of that! but, gordon, if you couldreturn to the time of decision here and you

had it in your power to say, 'yes—live!'or 'no—die!' to the alien natives, what would you do?" "i don't know. but neither do i think i shallever be placed in that position. why do you ask?" she was twisting her still damp hair intoa pony tail and tying it so with a cord. "because ... because i feel.... no, i can not reallyput it into words, gordon. it is that feeling one has on the eve of some important event—anticipation,fear, excitement. you'll let me go with you tonight, please! i want to see it—not thehawaika that is, but that other world with another name, the one they saw and knew!"

an instant protest was hot in ross's throat,but he had no time to voice it. for ashe was already nodding. "all right. but we may have no luck at all.fishing in time is a chancy thing, so don't be disappointed if we don't turn you up thatother world. now, i'm going to pamper these old bones for an hour or two. amuse yourselves,children." he lay back and closed his eyes. the past two days had wiped half the shadowsfrom his lean, tanned face. he had dropped two years, three, ross thought thankfully.let them be lucky tonight, and ashe's cure could be nearly complete. "what do you think happened here?" kararahad moved so that her back was now to the

wash of waves, her face more in the shadow. "how do i know? could be any of ten differentthings." "and will i please shut up and leave you alone?"she countered swiftly. "do you wish to savor the excitement then, explore a world uponworld, or am i saying it right? we have hawaika one which is a new world for us; now thereis hawaika two which is removed in time, not distance. and to explore that—" "we won't be exploring it really," ross protested. "why? did your agents not spend days, weeks,even months of time in the past on terra? what is to prevent your doing the same here?"

"training. we have no way of learning thedrill." "what do you mean?" "well, it wasn't as easy as you seem to thinkit was back on terra," he began scornfully. "we didn't just stroll through one of thosegates and set up business, say, in nero's rome or montezuma's mexico. an agent was physicallyand psychologically fitted to the era he was to explore. then he trained, and how he trained!"ross remembered the weary hours spent learning how to use a bronze sword, the technique ofbeaker trading, the hypnotic instruction in a language which was already dead centuriesbefore his own country existed. "you learned the language, the customs, everything youcould about your time and your cover. you

were letter perfect before you took even atrial run!" "and here you would have no guides," kararasaid, nodding. "yes, i can see the difficulty. then you will just use the peep-probe?" "probably. oh, maybe later on we can scoutthrough a gate. we have the material to set one up. but it would be a strictly limitedproject, allowing no chance of being caught. maybe the big brains back home can take peep-dataand work out some basis of infiltration for us from it." "but that would take years!" "i suppose so. only you begin to swim in theshallows, don't you—not by jumping off a

cliff!" she laughed. "true enough! however, even alook into the past might solve part of the big mystery." ross grunted and stretched out to follow ashe'sexample. but behind his closed eyes his brain was busy, and he did not cultivate the patiencehe needed. peep-probes were all right, but karara had a point. you wanted more than asmall window into a mystery, you wanted a part in solving it. the setting of the sun deepened rose to red,made a dripping wine-hued banner of most of the sky, so that under it they moved in acrimson sea, looked back at an island where

shadows were embers instead of ashes. threehumans, two dolphins, and a machine mounted on a reef which might not even have existedin the time they sought. ashe made his final adjustments, and then his finger pressed abutton and they watched the vista-plate no larger than the palms of two hands. nothing, a dull gray nothing! something musthave gone wrong with their assembly work. ross touched ashe's shoulder. but now therewere shadows gathering on the plate, thickening, to sharpen into a distinct picture. it was still the sunset hour they watched.but somehow the colors were paler, less red and sullen than the ones about them in thehere and now. and they were not seeing the

isle toward which the probe had been aimed;they were looking at a rugged coastline where cliffs lifted well above the beach-strand.while on those cliffs—! ross had not realized karara had reached out to grasp his arm untilher nails bit into his flesh. and even then he was hardly aware of the pain. because therewas a building on the cliff! massive walls of native rock reared in outwarddefenses, culminating in towers. and from the high point of one tower the pointed tailof a banner cracked in the wind. there was a headland of rock reaching out, not towardthem but to the north, and rounding that.... "war canoe!" karara exclaimed, but ross hadanother identification: "longboat!"

in reality, the vessel was neither one northe other, not the double canoe of the pacific which had transported warriors on raid fromone island to another, or the shield-hung warship of the vikings. but the terrans wereright in its purpose: that rakish, sharp-prowed ship had been fashioned for swift passageof the seas, for maneuverability as a weapon. behind the first nosed another and a third.their sails were dyed by the sun, but there were devices painted on them, and the linesof those designs glittered as if they had been drawn with a metallic fluid. "the castle!" ashe's cry pulled their attentionback to land. there was movement along those walls. thencame a flash, a splash in the water close

enough to the lead ship to wet her deck withspray. "they're fighting!" karara shouldered againstross for a better look. the ships were altering course, swinging awayfrom land, out to sea. "moving too fast for sails alone, and i don'tsee any oars." ross was puzzled. "how do you suppose...." the bombardment from the castle continuedbut did not score any hits. already the ships were out of range, the lead vessel off thescreen of the peep as well. then there was just the castle in the sunset. ashe straightenedup. "rocks!" he repeated wonderingly. "they werethrowing rocks!"

"but those ships, they must have had engines.they weren't just depending on sails when they retreated." ross added his own causefor bewilderment. karara looked from one to the other. "thereis something here you do not understand. what is wrong?" "catapults, yes," ashe said with a nod. "thosewould fit periods corresponding from the roman empire into the middle ages. but you're right,ross, those ships had power of some kind to take them offshore that quickly." "a technically advanced race coming up againsta more backward one?" hazarded the younger man.

"could be. let's go forward some." the incomingtide was washing well up on the reef. ashe had to don his mask as he plunged head andshoulders under water to make the necessary adjustment. once more he pressed the button. and ross'sgasp was echoed by one from the girl. the cliff again, but there was no castle dominatingit, only a ruin, hardly more than rubble. now, above the sites of the saucer depressionsgreat pylons of silvery metal, warmed into fire brilliance by the sunset, raked intothe sky like gaunt, skeleton fingers. there were no ships, no signs of any life. eventhe vegetation which had showed on shore had vanished. there was an atmosphere of starkabandonment and death which struck the terrans

forcibly. those pylons, ross studied them. somethingfamiliar in their construction teased his memory. that refuel planet where the derelictship had set down twice, on the voyage out and on their return. that had been a worldof metal structures, and he believed he could trace a kinship between his memory of thoseand these pylons. surely they had no connection with the earlier castle on the cliff. once more ashe ducked to reset the probe.and in the fast-fading light they watched a third and last picture. but now they mighthave been looking at the island of the present, save that it bore no vegetation and therewas a rawness about it, a sharpness of rock

outline now vanished. those pylons, were they the key to the changewhich had come upon this world? what were they? who had set them there? for the lastross thought he had an answer. they were certainly the product of the galactic empire. and thecastle ... the ships ... natives ... settlers? two widely different eras, and the mysterystill, lay between them. would they ever be able to bring the key to it out of time? they swam for the shore where ui had a fireblazing and their supper prepared. "how many years lying between those probes?"ross pulled broiled fish apart with his fingers. "that first was ten thousand years ago, thesecond," ashe paused, "only two hundred years

later." "but"—ross stared at his superior—"thatmeans——" "that there was a war or some drastic formof invasion, yes." "you mean that the star people arrived andjust took over this whole planet?" karara asked. "but why? and those pylons, what werethey for? how much later was that last picture?" "five hundred years." "the pylons were gone, too, then," ross commented."but why—?" he echoed karara's question. ashe had taken up his notebook, but he didnot open it. "i think"—there was a sharp, grim note in his voice—"we had better findout."

"put up a gate?" ashe broke all the previous rules of theirservice with his answer: "yes, a gate." chapter 4 - storm menace "we have to know." ashe leaned back againstthe crate they had just emptied. "something was done here—in two hundred years—andthen, an empty world." "pandora's box." ross drew a hand across hisforehead, smearing sweat and fine sand into a brand. ashe nodded. "maybe we run that risk, loosingall the devils of the aliens. but what if

the reds open the box first on one of theirsettlement worlds?" there it was again, the old thorn which proddedthem into risks and recklessness. danger ahead on both paths. don't risk trying to learngalactic secrets, but don't risk your enemy's learning them either. you held a white-hotiron in both hands in this business. and ashe was right, they had stumbled on somethinghere which hinted that a whole world had been altered to suit some plan. suppose the secretof that alteration was discovered by their enemies? "were the ship and castle people natives?"ross wondered aloud. "just at a guess they were, or at least settlerswho had been established here so long they

had developed a local form of civilizationwhich was about on the level of a feudal society." "you mean because of the castle and the rockbombardment. but what about the ships?" "two separate phases of a society at war,perhaps a more progressive against a less technically advanced. american warships payinga visit to the shogun's japan, for example." ross grinned. "those warships didn't seemto fancy their welcome. they steered out to sea fast enough when the rocks began to fall." "yes, but the ships could exist in the castlepattern; the pylons could not!" "which period are you aiming for first—thecastle or the pylons?" "castle first, i think. then if we can't pickup any hints, we'll take some jumps forward

until we do connect. only we'll be under severehandicaps. if we could only plant an analyzer somewhere in the castle as a beginning." ross did not show his surprise. if ashe wastalking on those terms, then he was intending to do more than just lurk around a littlebeyond the gate; he was really planning to pick up alien speech patterns, eventuallyassume an alien agent identity! "gordon!" karara appeared between two of thelace trees. she came so hastily that the contents of the two cups she carried slopped over."you must hear what hori has to say—" the tall samoan who trailed her spoke quickly.for the first time since ross had known him he was very serious, a frown line betweenhis eyes. "there is a bad storm coming. our

instruments register it." "how long away?" ashe was on his feet. "a day ... maybe two...." ross could see no change in the sky, islands,or sea. they had had idyllic weather for the six weeks since their planeting, no sign ofany such trouble in the hawaikan paradise. "it's coming," hori repeated. "the gate is half up," ashe thought aloud,"too much of it set to be dismantled again in a hurry." "if it's completed," hori wanted to know,"would it ride out a storm?"

"it might, behind that reef where we haveit based. to finish it would be a fast job." hori flexed his hands. "we're more brawn thanbrain in these matters, gordon, but you've all our help, for what it's worth. what aboutthe ship, does it lift on schedule?" "check with rimbault about that. this storm,how will it compare to a pacific typhoon?" the samoan shook his head. "how do we know?we have not yet had to face the local variety." "the islands are low," karara commented. "windsand water could—" "yes! we'd better see rimbault about a shelterif needed." if the settlement had drowsed, now its inhabitantswere busy. it was decided that they could shelter in the spaceship should the stormreach hurricane proportions, but before its

coming the gate must be finished. the finalfitting was left to ashe and ross, and the older agent fastened the last bolt when thewaters beyond the reef were already wind ruffled, the sky darkening fast. the dolphins swamback and forth in the lagoon and with them karara, though ashe had twice waved her tothe shore. there was no sunlight left, and they workedwith torches. ashe began his inspection of the relatively simple transfer—the two uprightbars, the slab of opaque material forming a doorstep between them. this was only a skeletonof the gates ross had used in the past. but continual experimentation had produced thismore easily transported installation. piled in a net were several supply containersready for an exploring run—extra gill-packs,

the analyzer, emergency rations, a medicalkit, all the basics. was ashe going to try now? he had activated the transfer, the rodswere glowing faintly, the slab they guarded having an eerie blue glimmer. he probablyonly wanted to be sure it worked. what happened at that moment ross could neverfind any adequate words to describe, nor was he sure he could remember. the disorientationof the pass-through he had experienced before; this time he was whirled into a vortex offeeling in which his body, his identity, were rift from him and he lost touch with all stability. instinctively he lashed out, his reflexesmore than his conscious will keeping him above water in the wild rage of a storm-whippedsea. the light was gone; here was only dark

and beating water. then a lightning flashripped wide the heavens over ross as his head broke the surface and he saw, with unbelievingeyes, that he was being thrust shoreward—not to the strand of finger island—but againsta cliff where water pounded an unyielding wall of rock. ross comprehended that somehow he had beenjerked through the gate, that he was now fronting the land that had been somewhere beneath theheights supporting the castle. then he fought for his life to escape the hammer of the seadetermined to crack him against the surface of the cliff. a rough surface loomed up before him, andhe threw himself in that direction, embracing

a rock, striving to cling through the backwashof the wave which had brought him there. his nails grated and broke on the stone, and thenthe fingers of his right hand caught in a hole, and he held with all the strength inhis gasping, beaten body. he had had no preparation, no warning, and only the tough survival willwhich had been trained and bred into him saved his life. as the water washed back, ross strove to pullup farther on his anchorage, to be above the strike of the next wave. somehow he gaineda foot before it came. the mask of the gill-pack saved him from being smothered in that curlingtorrent as he clung stubbornly, resisting again the pull of the retreating sea.

inch by inch between waves he fought for footingand stable support. then he was on the surface of the rock, out of all but the lash of spray.he crouched there, spent and gasping. the thunder roar of the surf, and beyond it thedeeper mutter of the rage in the heavens, was deafening, dulling his sense as much asthe ordeal through which he had passed. he was content to cling where he was, hardlyconscious of his surroundings. sparks of light along the shore to the northat last caught ross's attention. they moved, some clustering along the wave line, a fewstrung up the cliff. and they were not part of the storm's fireworks. men here—why atthis moment? another bolt of lightning showed him the answer.on the reef fringe which ran a tongue of land

into the sea hung a ship—two ships—poundedby every hammer wave. shipwrecks ... and those lights must mark castle dwellers drawn toaid the survivors. ross crawled across his rock on his handsand knees, wavered along the cliff wall until he was again faced with angry water. to dropinto that would be a mistake. he hesitated—and now more than his own predicament struck hometo him. ashe! ashe had been ahead of him at the timegate. if ross had been jerked through to this past, then somewhere in the water, on theshore, gordon was here too! but where to find him.... setting his back to the cliff and holdingto the rough stone, ross got to his feet,

trying to see through the welter of foam andwater. not only the sea poured here; now a torrential rain fell into the bargain, streamingdown about him, battering his head and shoulders. a chill rain which made him shiver. he wore gill-pack, weighted belt with itssheathed tool and knife, flippers, and the pair of swimming trunks which had been suitablefor the hawaika he knew; but this was a different world altogether. dare he use his torch tosee the way out of here? ross watched the lights to the north, deciding they were nottoo unlike his own beam, and took the chance. now he stood on a shelf of rock pitted withdepressions, all pools. to his left was a drop into a boiling, whirling caldron fromwhich points of stone fanged. ross shuddered.

at least he had escaped being pulled intothat! to his right, northward, there was anotherspace of sea, a narrow strip, and then a second ledge. he measured the distance between thatand the one on which he perched. staying where he was would not locate ashe. ross stripped off his flippers, made themfast in his belt. then he leaped and landed painfully, as his feet slipped and he skiddedface down on the northern ledge. as he sat up, rubbing a bruised and scrapedknee, he saw lights advancing in his direction. and between them a shadow crawling from waterto shore. ross stumbled along the ledge hastening to reach that figure, who lay still now justout of the waves. ashe?

ross's limping pace became a trot. but hewas too late; the other lights, two of them, had reached the shadow. a man—or at leasta body which was humanoid—sprawled face down. other men, three of them, gathered overthe exhausted swimmer. those who held the torches were still partiallyin the dark, but the third stooped to roll over their find. ross caught the glint oflight on a metallic headcovering, the glisten of wet armor of some type on the fellow'sback and shoulders as he made quick examination of the sea's victim. then.... ross halted, his eyes wide. a handrose and fell with expert precision. there had been a blade in that hand. already thethree were turning away from the man so ruthlessly

dispatched. ashe? or some survivor of thewrecked ships? ross retreated to the end of the ledge. thenarrow stream of water dividing it from the rock where he had won ashore washed into acave in the cliff. dare he try to work his way into that? masked, with the gill-pack,he could go under surface if he were not smashed by the waves against some wall. he glanced back. the lights were very closeto the end of his ledge. to withdraw to the second rock would mean being caught in a deadend, for he dared not enter the whirlpool on its far side. there was really no choice:stay and be killed, or try for the cave. ross fastened on his flippers and lowered his bodyinto the narrow stream. the fact that it was

narrow and guarded on either side by the ledgestamed the waves a little, and ross found the tug against him not so great as he fearedit would be. keeping hand-holds on the rock, he workedalong, head and shoulders often under the wash of rolling water, but winning steadilyto the break in the cliff wall. then he was through, into a space much larger than theopening, water-filled but not with a wild turbulence of waves. had he been sighted? ross kept a handholdto the left of that narrow entrance, his body floating with the rise and fall of the water.he could make out the gleam of light without. it might be that one of those hunters hadleaned out over the runnel of the cave entrance,

was flashing his torch down into the waterthere. behind mask plate ross's lips writhed in thesnarl of the hunted. in here he would have the advantage. let one of them, or all three,try to follow through that rock entrance and.... but if he had been sighted at the mouth ofthe lair, none of his trackers appeared to wish to press the hunt. the light disappeared,and ross was left in the dark. he counted a hundred slowly and then a second hundredbefore he dared use his own torch. for all its slit entrance this was a good-sizedhideaway he had chanced upon. and he discovered, when he ventured to release his wall holdand swim out into its middle, the bottom arose in a slope toward its rear.

moments later ross pulled out of the wateronce more, to crouch shivering on a ledge only lapped now and then by wavelets. he hadfound a temporary refuge, but his good fortune did not quiet his fears. had that been asheon the shore? and why had the swimmer been so summarily executed by the men who foundhim? the ships caught on the reef, the castle onthe cliff above his head ... enemies ... ships' crews and castle men? but the callous actof the shore patrol argued a state of war carried to fanatic proportions, perhaps inter-racialconflict. he could not hope to explore until the stormwas over. to plunge back into the sea would not find ashe. and to be hunted along theshore by an unknown enemy was simply asking

to die without achieving any good in return.no, he must remain where he was for the present. ross unhooked the torch from his belt andused it on this higher portion of the cave. he was perched on a ledge which protrudedinto the water in the form of a wedge. at his back the wall of the cave was rough, andtrails of weed were festooned on its projections. the smell of fishy decay was strong enoughto register as ross pulled off his mask. as far as he could now see there was no exitexcept by sea. a movement in the water brought his lightflashing down into the dark flood. then a sleek head arose in the path of that ray.not a man swimming, but one of the dolphins! ross's exclamation of surprise was half gasp,half cry. the second dolphin showed for a

moment and between the shadow of their bodies,just under the surface, moved a third form. "ashe!" ross had no idea how the dolphinshad come through the time gate, but that they had guided to safety a terran he did not doubtat all. "ashe!" but it was not ashe who came wading to theledge where ross waited with hand outstretched. he had been so sure of the other's identitythat he blinked in complete bewilderment as his eyes met karara's and she half stumbled,half reeled against him. his arms about her shoulders steadied her,and her shivering body was close to his as she leaned her full weight upon him. her handsmade a feeble movement to her mask, and he pulled it off. uncovered, her face was paleand drawn, her eyes now closed, and her breath

came in ragged, tearing sobs which shook hereven more. "how did you get here?" ross demanded evenas he pushed her down on the ledge. her head moved slowly, in a weak gesture ofnegation. "i don't know ... we were close to the gate.there was a flash of light ... then—" her voice sealed up with a note of hysteria init. "then ... i was here ... and taua with me. tino-rau came ... ross, ross ... therewas a man swimming. he got ashore; he was getting to his feet and—and they killedhim!" ross's hold tightened; he stared into herface with fierce demand. "was it gordon?"

she blinked, brought her hand up to her mouth,and wiped it back and forth across her chin. there was a small red trickle growing betweenher fingers, dripping down her arm. "gordon?" she repeated it as if she had neverheard the name before. "yes, did they kill gordon?" in his grasp she was swaying back and forth.then, realizing he was shaking her, ross got himself under control. but a measure of understanding had come intoher eyes. "no, not gordon. where is gordon?" "you haven't seen him?" ross persisted, knowingit was useless. "not since we were at the gate." her wordswere less slurred. "weren't you with him?"

"no. i was alone." "ross, where are we?" "better say—when are we," he replied. "we'rethrough the gate and back in time. and we have to find gordon!" he did not want to thinkof what might have happened out on the shore. chapter 5 - time wrecked "can we go back?" karara was herself again,her voice crisp. "i don't know." ross gave her the truth. theforce which had drawn them through the gate was beyond his experience. as far as he knew,there had never been such an involuntary passage by time gate, and what their trip might meanhe did not know.

the main concern was that ashe must have comethrough, too, and that he was missing. just let the storm abate, and, with the dolphins'aid, ross's chance for finding the missing agent was immeasurably better. he said sonow, and karara nodded. "do you suppose there is a war going on here?"she hugged her arms across her breast, her shoulders heaving in the torch light withshudders she could not control. the damp chill was biting, and ross realized that was alsodanger. "could be." he got to his feet, switched thelight from the girl to the walls. that seaweed, could it make them some form of protectivecovering? "hold this—aim it there!" he thrust thetorch into her hands and went for one of the

loops of kelp. ross reeled in lines of the stuff. it wasrank-smelling but only slightly damp, and he piled it on the ledge in a kind of nest.at least in the hollow of that mound they would be sheltered after a fashion. karara crawled into the center of the mass,and ross followed her. the smell of the stuff filled his nose, was almost like a visiblecloud, but he had been right, the girl stopped shivering, and he felt a measure of warmthin his own shaking body. ross snapped off the torch, and they lay together in the dark,the half-rotten pile of weed holding them. he must have slept, ross guessed, when hestirred, raising his head. his body was stiff,

aching, as he braced himself up on his handsand peered over the edge of their kelp nest. there was light in the cave, a pale grayishwash which grew stronger toward the slit opening. it must be day. and that meant they couldmove. ross groped in the weed, his hand fallingon a curve of shoulder. "wake up!" his voice was hoarse and held thesnap of an order. there was a startled gasp in answer, and themound beside him heaved as the girl stirred. "day out—" ross pointed. "and the storm—" she stood up, "i thinkit is over." it was true that the level of water withinthe cave had fallen, that wavelets no longer

lapped with the same vigor. morning ... thestorm over ... and somewhere ashe! ross was about to snap his mask into placewhen karara caught at his arm. "be careful! remember what i saw—last nightthey were killing swimmers!" he shook her off impatiently. "i'm no fool!and with the packs on we do not have to surface. listen—" he had another thought, one whichwould provide an excellent excuse for keeping her safely out of his company, reducing hisresponsibility for her, "you take the dolphins and try to find the gate. we'll want out assoon as i locate ashe." "and if you do not find him soon?" ross hesitated. she had not said the rest.what if he could not find gordon at all? but

he would—he had to! "i'll be back here"—he checked his watch,no longer an accurate timekeeper, for hawaikan days held an hour more than the terran twenty-four,but the settlers kept the off-world measurement to check on work periods—"in, say, two hours.you should know by then about the gate, and i'll have some idea of the situation alongthe shore. but listen—" ross caught her shoulders in a taut grip, pulled her aroundto face him, his eyes hot and almost angry as they held hers, "don't let yourself beseen—" he repeated the cardinal rule of agents in new territory. "we don't dare riskdiscovery." karara nodded and he could see that she understood,was aware of the importance of that warning.

"do you want tino-rau or taua?" "no, i'm going to search along the shore first.ashe would have tried for that last night ... was probably driven in the way we were.he'd go to ground somewhere. and i have this—" ross touched the sonic on his belt. "i'llset it on his call; you do the same with yours. then if we get within distance, he'll pickus up. back here in two hours—" "yes." karara kicked free of the weed, wasalready wading down to where the dolphins circled in the cave pool waiting for her.ross followed, and the four swam for the open sea. it could not be much after dawn, ross thought,as he clung by one hand to a rock and watched

karara and the dolphins on their way. thenhe paddled along the shore northward for his own survey of the coast. there was a rosecast in the sky, warming the silver along the far reaches of the horizon. and abouthim bobbed storm flotsam, so that he had to pick a careful way through floating debris. on the reef one of the wrecked ships had vanishedentirely. perhaps it had been battered to death by the waves, ground to splinters againstthe rocks. the other still held, its prow well out of the now receding waves, jaggedholes in its sides through which spurts of water cascaded now and then. the wreck which had been driven landward wascomposed of planks, boxes, and containers

rolled by the waves' force. much of this wasalready free of the sea, and on the beach figures moved examining it. in spite of thedanger of chance discovery, ross edged along rocks, seeking a vantage point from whichhe could watch that activity. he was flat against a sea-girt boulder, aswell of floating weed draped about him, when the nearest of the foraging parties movedinto good view. men ... at least they had the outward appearanceof men much like himself, though their skin was dark and their limbs appeared disproportionatelylong and thin. there were two groups of them, four wearing only a scanty loincloth, busyturning over and hunting through the debris under the direction of the other two.

the workers had thick growths of hair whichnot only covered their heads, but down their spines and the outer sides of their thin armsand legs to elbow and knee. the hair was a pallid yellow-white in vivid contrast to theirdark skins, and their chins protruded sharply, allowing the lower line of their faces totake on a vaguely disturbing likeness to an animal's muzzle. their overseers were more fully clothed, wearingnot only helmets on their heads, whose helms had a protective visor over the face, butalso breast- and back-plates molded to their bodies. ross thought that these could notbe solid metal since they adapted to the movements of the wearers.

feet and legs were covered with casing combinationsof shoe and leggings, colored dull red. they were armed with swords of an odd pattern;their points curved up so that the blade resembled a fishhook. unsheathed, the blades were clippedto a waist belt by catches which glittered in the weak morning light as if gem set. ross could see little of their faces, forthe beak visors overhung their features. but their skins were as dusky as those of thelaborers, and their arms and legs of the same unusual length ... men of the same race, hededuced. under the orders of the armed overseers thelaborers were reducing the beach to order, sorting out the flotsam into two piles. oncethey gathered about a find, and the sound

of excited speech reached ross as an agitatedclicking. the armored men came up, surveyed the discovery. one of them shrugged, and clickedan order. ross caught only a half glimpse of the thingtwo of the workers dragged away. a body! ashe.... the terran was about to move closer when hesaw the green cloak dragging about the corpse. no, not gordon, just another victim from thewrecks. the aliens were working their way toward ross,and perhaps it was time for him to go. he was pushing aside his well-arranged curtainof weed when he was startled by a shout. for a second he thought he might have been sighted,until resulting action on shore told him otherwise. the furred workers shrank back against themound to which they had just dragged the body.

while the two guards took up a position beforethem, curved swords, snapped from their belt hooks, ready in their hands. again that shout.was it a warning or a threat? with the language barrier ross could only wait to see. another party approached along the beach fromthe south. in the lead was a cloaked and hooded figure, so muffled in its covering of silver-graythat ross had no idea of the form beneath. silvery-gray—no, now that hue was deepeningwith blue tones, darkening rapidly. by the time the cloaked newcomer had passed the rockwhich sheltered the terran the covering was a rich blue which seemed to glow. behind the leader were a dozen armed men.they wore the same beaked helmets, the supple

encasing breast- and back-plates, but theirleggings were gray. they, too, carried curved swords, but the weapons were still latchedto their belts and they made no move to draw them in spite of the very patent hostilityof the guards before them. blue cloak halted some three feet from theguards. the sea wind pulled at the cloak, wrapping it about the body beneath. but evenso, the wearer remained well hidden. from under a flapping edge came a hand. the fingers,long and slender, were curled about an ivory-colored wand which ended in a knob. sparks flashedfrom it in a continuous flickering. ross clapped his hand to his belt. to hiscomplete amazement the sonic disk he wore was reacting to those flashes, pricking sharplyin perfect beat to their blink-blink. the

terran cupped his scarred fingers over thedisk as he waited to see what was going to happen, wondering if the holder of that wandmight, in return, pick up the broadcast of the code set on ashe's call. the hand clasping the wand was not dusky-skinnedbut had much of the same ivory shade as the rod, so that to ross the meeting between fleshand wand was hardly distinguishable. now by one firm thrust the hand planted the rod intothe sand, leaving it to stand sentinel between the two parties. retreating a step or two, the red-clad guardsgave ground. but they did not reclasp their swords. their attitude, ross judged, was thatof men in some awe of their opponent, but

men urged to defiance, either by a beliefin the righteousness of their cause, or strengthened by an old hatred. now the cloaked one began to speak—or wasthat speech? certainly the flow of sound had little in common with the clicking tongueross had caught earlier. this trill of notes possessed the rise and fall of a chant orsong which could have been a formula of greeting—or a warning. and the lines of warriors escortingthe chanter stood to attention, their weapons still undrawn. ross caught his lower lip between his teethand bit down on it. that chanting—it crawled into the mind, set up a pattern! he shookhis head vigorously and then was shocked by

that recklessness. not that any of those onshore had glanced in his direction. the chant ended on a high, broken note. itwas followed by a moment of silence through which sounded only the wind and the beat ofwave. then one of the laborers flung up his headand clicked a word or two. he and his fellows fell face down on the beach, cupping theirhands to pour sand over their unkempt heads. one of the guards turned with a sharp yellto boot the nearest of the workers in the ribs. but his companion cried out. the wand whichhad stood so erect when it was first planted, now inclined toward the working party, itssparks shooting so swiftly and with such slight

break between that they were fast making asingle beam. ross jerked his hand from contact with the sonic; a distinct throb of pain answeredthat stepping up of the mysterious broadcast. the laborers broke and ran, or rather crawledon their bellies until they were well away, before they got to their feet and pelted backdown the strand. however, the guards were of sterner stuff. they were withdrawing allright, but slowly backing away, their swords held up before them as men might retreat beforeinsurmountable odds. when they were well gone the robed one tookup the wand. holding it out beyond, the cloaked leader of the second party approached thetwo piles of salvage the workers had heaped into rough order. there was a detailed inspectionof both until the robed one came upon the

at a trilled order two of the warriors cameup and laid out the corpse. when the robed one nodded they stood well back. the rod moved,the tip rather than the knobbed head being pointed at the body. ross's head snapped back. that bolt of light,energy, fire—whatever it was—issuing from the rod had dazzled him into momentary blindness.and a vibration of force through the air was like a blow. when he was able to see once more there wasnothing at all on the sand where the corpse had lain, nothing except a glassy trough fromwhich some spirals of vapor arose. ross clung to his rock support badly shaken.

men with swords ... and now this—some formof controlled energy which argued of technical development and science. just as the cliffcastle had bombarded with rocks ships sailing with a speed which argued engine power ofan unknown type. a mixture of barbaric and advanced knowledge. to assess this, he neededmore experience, more knowledge than he possessed. now ashe could.... ashe! ross was jerked back to his own quest. therod was quiet, no more sparks were flung from its knob. and under ross's touch his sonicwas quiet also. he snapped off the broadcast. if that device had picked up the flickeringof the rod, the reverse could well be true.

the cloaked one chose from the pile of goods,and its escort gathered up the designated boxes, a small cask or two. so laden, theparty returned south the way they had come. ross allowed his breath to expel in a sighof relief. he worked his way farther north along thecoast, watching other parties of the furred workers and their guards. lines of the formerclimbed the cliff, hauling their spoil, their destination the castle. but ross saw no signof ashe, received no answer to the sonic code he had reset once the strangers were out ofdistance. and the terran began to realize that his present search might well be fruitless,though he fought against accepting it. when he turned back to the slit cave ross'sfear was ready to be expressed in anger, the

anger of frustration over his own helplessness.with no chance of trying to penetrate the castle, he could not learn whether or notashe had been taken prisoner. and until the workers left the beach he could not prowlthere hunting the grimmer evidence his mind flinched from considering. karara waited for him on the inner ledge.there was no sign of the dolphins and as ross pulled out of the water, pushing aside hismask, her face in the thin light of the cave was deeply troubled. "you did not find him," she made that a statementrather than a question. "no."

"and i did not find it—" ross used a length of weed from the nest asa towel. but now he stood very still. "the gate ... no sign of it?" "just this—" she reached behind her andbrought up a sealed container. ross recognized one of the supply cans they had had in thecache by the gate. "there are others ... scattered. taua and tino-rau seek them now. it is asif all that was on the other side was sucked through with us." "you are sure you found the right place?" "is—is this not part of it?" again the girlsought for something on the ledge. what she

held out to him was a length of metal rod,twisted and broken at one end as if a giant hand had wrenched it loose from the installation. ross nodded dully. "yes," his voice was harshas if the words were pulled out of him against his will and against all hope—"that's partof a side bar. it—it must have been totally wrecked." yet, even though he held that broken lengthin his hands, ross could not really believe the gate was gone. he swam out once more,heading for the reef where the dolphins joined him as guides. there was a second piece ofbroken tube, the scattered containers of supplies, that was all. the terrans were wrecked intime as surely as those ships had been wrecked

on the sea reef the night before! ross headed once again for the cave. theirimmediate needs were of major importance now. the containers must be all gathered and takeninto their hiding place, because upon their contents three human lives could depend. he paused just at the entrance to adjust thenet of containers he transported. and it was that slight chance which brought him knowledgeof the intruder. on the ledge karara was heaping up the kelpof the nest. but to one side and on a level with the girl's head.... ross dared not flash his torch, thus betrayinghis presence. leaving the net hitched to the

rock by its sling, he swam under water alongthe side of the cave by a route which should bring him out within striking distance ofthat hunched figure perching above to watch karara's every move. chapter 6 - loketh the useless the wash of waves covered ross's advance untilhe came up against the wall not too far from the spy's perch. whoever crouched there stillleaned forward to watch karara. and ross's eyes, having adjusted to the gloom of thecavern, made out the outline of head and shoulders. the next two or three minutes were the criticalones for the terran. he must emerge on the ledge in the open before he could attack.

karara might almost have read his mind andgiven conscious help. for now she went out on the point of the ledge to whistle the dolphins'summons. tino-rau's sleek head bobbed above water as he answered the girl with a bubblingsqueak. karara knelt and the dolphin came to butt against her out-held hand. ross heard a gasp from the watcher, a faintsound of movement. karara began to sing softly, her voice rippling in one of the liquid chantsof her own people, the dolphin interjecting a note or two. ross had heard them at thatbefore, and it made perfect cover for his move. he sprang. his grasp tightened on flesh, fingers closedabout thin wrists. there was a yell of astonishment

and fear from the stranger as the terran jerkedhim from his perch to the ledge. ross had his opponent flattened under him before herealized that the other had offered no struggle, but lay still. "what is it?" karara's torch beam caught themboth. ross looked down into a thin brown face not too different from his own. the wide-seteyes were closed, and the mouth gaped open. though he believed the hawaikan unconscious,ross still kept hold on those wrists as he moved from the sprawled body. with the girl'said he used a length of kelp to secure the captive. the stranger wore a garment of glisteningskintight material which covered body, legs,

and feet, but left his lanky arms bare. abelt about his waist had loops for a number of objects, among them a hook-pointed knifewhich ross prudently removed. "why, he is only a boy," karara said. "wheredid he come from, ross?" the terran pointed to the wall crevice. "hewas up there, watching you." her eyes were wide and round. "why?" ross dragged his prisoner back against thewall of the cave. after witnessing the fate of those who had swum ashore from the wreck,he did not like to think what motive might have brought the hawaikan here. again karara'sthoughts must have matched his, for she added: "but he did not even draw his knife. whatare you going to do with him, ross?"

that problem already occupied the terran.the wisest move undoubtedly was to kill the native out of hand. but such ruthlessnesswas more than he could stomach. and if he could learn anything from the stranger—gainsome knowledge of this new world and its ways—he would be twice winner. why, this encountermight even lead to ashe! "ross ... his leg. see?" the girl pointed. the tight fit of the alien's clothing madethe defect clear; the right leg of the stranger was shrunken and twisted. he was a cripple. "what of it?" ross demanded sharply. thiswas no time for an appeal to the sympathies. but karara did not urge any modification ofthe bonds as he half feared she would. instead,

she sat back cross-legged, an odd, withdrawnexpression making her seem remote though he could have put out his hand to touch her. "his lameness—it could be a bridge," sheobserved, to ross's mystification. "a bridge—what do you mean?" the girl shook her head. "this is only a feeling,not a true thought. but also it is important. look, i think he is waking." the lids above those large eyes were fluttering.then with a shake of the head, the hawaikan blinked up at them. blank bewilderment wasall ross could read in the stranger's expression until the alien saw karara. then a flood ofclicking speech poured from his lips.

he seemed utterly astounded when they madeno answer. and the fluency of his first outburst took on a pleading note, while the expectancyof his first greeting faded away. karara spoke to ross. "he is becoming afraid,very much afraid. at first, i think, he was pleased ... happy." "but why?" the girl shook her head. "i do not know; ican only feel. wait!" her hand rose in imperious command. she did not rise to her feet, butcrawled on hands and knees to the edge of the ledge. both dolphins were there, raisingtheir heads well out of the water, their actions expressing unusual excitement.

"ross!" karara's voice rang loudly. "ross,they can understand him! tino-rau and taua can understand him!" "you mean, they understand this language?"ross found that fantastic, awesome as the abilities of the dolphins were. "no, his mind. it's his mind, ross. somehowhe thinks in patterns they can pick up and read! they do that, you know, with a few ofus, but not in the same way. this is more direct, clearer! they're so excited!" ross glanced at the prisoner. the alien hadwriggled about, striving to raise his head against the wall as a support. his captorpulled the hawaikan into a sitting position,

but the native accepted that aid almost asif he were not even aware of ross's hands on his body. he stared with a kind of horrifieddisbelief at the bobbing dolphin heads. "he is afraid," karara reported. "he has neverknown such communication before." "can they ask him questions?" demanded ross.if this odd mental tie between terran dolphin and hawaikan did exist, then there was a chanceto learn about this world. "they can try. now he only knows fear, andthey must break through that." what followed was the most unusual four-sidedconversation ross could have ever imagined. he put a question to karara, who relayed itto the dolphins. in turn, they asked it mentally of the hawaikan and conveyed his answer backvia the same route.

it took some time to allay the fears of thestranger. but at last the hawaikan entered wholeheartedly into the exchange. "he is the son of the lord ruling the castleabove." karara produced the first rational and complete answer. "but for some reasonhe is not accepted by his own kind. perhaps," she added on her own, "it is because he iscrippled. the sea is his home, as he expresses it, and he believes me to be some mythicalbeing out of it. he saw me swimming, masked, and with the dolphins, and he is sure i changeshape at will." she hesitated. "ross, i get something oddhere. he does know, or thinks he knows, creatures who can appear and disappear at will. andhe is afraid of their powers."

"gods and goddesses—perfectly natural." karara shook her head. "no, this is more concretethan a religious belief." ross had a sudden inspiration. hurriedly hedescribed the cloaked figure who had driven the castle people from the piles of salvage."ask him about that one." she relayed the question. ross saw the prisoner'shead jerk around. the hawaikan looked from karara to her companion, a shade of speculationin his expression. "he wants to know why you ask about the foanna?surely you must well know what manner of beings they are." "listen—" ross was sure now that he hadmade a real discovery, though its importance

he could not guess, "tell him we come fromwhere there are no foanna. that we have powers and must know of their powers." if he could only carry on this interrogationstraight and not have to depend upon a double translation! and could he even be sure hisquestions reached the alien undistorted? wearily ross sat back on his heels. then heglanced at karara with a twinge of concern. if he was tired by their roundabout communication,she must be doubly so. there was a droop to her shoulders, and her last reply had comein a voice hoarse with fatigue. abruptly he started up. "that's enough—for now."

which was true. he had to have time for evaluation,to adjust to what they had learned during the steady stream of questions passed backand forth. and in that moment he was conscious of his hunger, just as his voice was paperdry from lack of drink. the canister of supplies he had left by the cave entrance ... "we need food and drink." he fumbled withhis mask, but karara motioned him back from the water. "taua brings ... wait!" the dolphin trailed the net of containersto them. ross unscrewed one, pulled out a bulb of fresh water. a second box yieldedthe dry wafers of emergency rations.

then, after a moment's hesitation, ross crossedto the prisoner, cut his wrist bonds, and pressed both a bulb and a wafer into his hold.the hawaikan watched the terrans eat before he bit into the wafer, chewing it with vigor,turning the bulb around in his fingers with alert interest before he sucked at its contents. as ross chewed and swallowed, mechanicallyand certainly with no relish, he fitted one fact to another to make a picture of thishawaikan time period in which they were now marooned. of course, his picture was basedon facts they had learned from their captive. perhaps he had purposely misled them or foggedsome essentials. but could he have done that in a mental contact? ross would simply haveto accept everything with a certain amount

of cautious skepticism. anyway, there were the wreckers of the castle—pettylordlings setting up their holds along the coasts, preying upon the shipping which wasthe lifeblood of this island-water world. the terrans had seen them in action last nightand today. and if the captive's information was correct, it was not only the storm's furywhich brought the waves' harvest. the wreckers had some method of attracting ships to crackup on their reefs. some method of attraction.... and that forcewhich had pulled the terrans through the time gate; could there be a connection? however,there remained the wreckers on the cliff. and their prey, the seafarers of the ocean,with an understandably deep enmity between

them. those two parties ross could understand andbe prepared to deal with, he thought. but there remained the foanna. and, from theirprisoner's explanation, the foanna were a very different matter. they possessed a power which did not dependupon swords or ships or the natural tools and weapons of men. no, they had strengthswhich were unearthly, to give them superiority in all but one way—numbers. though the foannahad their warriors and servants, as ross had seen on the beach, they, themselves, wereof another race—a very old and dying race of which few remained. how many, their enemiescould not say, for the foanna had no separate

identities known to the outer world. theyappeared, gave their orders, levied their demands, opposed or aided as they wished—alwaysjust one or two at a time—always so muffled in their cloaks that even their physical appearancesremained a mystery. but there was no mystery about their powers. ross gathered that nowrecker lord, no matter how much a leader among his own kind, how ambitious, had yetdared to oppose actively one of the foanna, though he might make a token protest againstsome demand from them. and certainly the captive's description ofthose powers in action suggested a supernatural origin of foanna knowledge, or at least forits application. but ross thought that the answer might be that they possessed the remnantsof some almost forgotten technical know-how,

the heritage of a very old race. he had triedto learn something of the origin of the foanna themselves, wondering if the robed ones couldbe from the galactic empire. but the answer had come that the foanna were older than recordedtime, that they had lived in the great citadel before the race of the terrans' prisoner hadrisen from very primitive savagery. "what do we do now?" karara broke in uponross's thoughts as she refastened the containers. "these slaves that the wreckers take uponoccasion ... maybe ashe...." ross was catching at very fragile straws; he had to. and thestranger had said that able-bodied men who swam ashore relatively uninjured were takencaptive. several had been the night before. "loketh."

ross and karara looked around. the prisonerput down the water bulb, and one of his hands made a gesture they could not mistake; hepointed to himself and repeated that word, the terran touched his own chest. "ross murdock." perhaps the other was as impatient as he withtheir roundabout method of communication and had decided to try and speed it up. the analyzer!ashe had included the analyzer with the equipment by the gate. if ross could find that ... why,then the major problem could be behind them. swiftly he explained to karara, and with avigorous nod of assent she called to taua, ordering the rest of the salvage materialfrom the gate be brought to them. "loketh." ross pointed to the youth. "ross."that was himself. "karara." he indicated the

girl. "rosss." the alien made a clicking hiss ofthe first name. "karara—" he did better with the second. ross carefully unpacked the box taua had located.he had only slight knowledge of how the device worked. it was intended to record a strangelanguage, break it down into symbols already familiar to the time agents. but could italso be used as a translator with a totally alien tongue? he could only hope that therough handling of its journey through the gate had not damaged it and that the experimentmight possibly work. putting the box between them, he explainedwhat he wanted; and karara took up the small

micro-disk, speaking slowly and distinctlythe same liquid syllables she had used in the dolphin song. ross clicked the lever whenshe was finished, and watched the small screen. the symbols which flashed there had meaningfor him right enough; he could translate what she had just taped. the machine still workedto that extent. now he pushed the box into place before lokethand made the visibly reluctant hawaikan take the disk from karara. then through the dolphinlink ross passed on definite instructions. would it work as well to translate a stellartongue as it had with languages past and present of his own planet? reluctantly loketh began to talk to the disk,at first in a very rapid mumble and then,

as there was no frightening response, withless speed and more confidence. there were symbol lines on the vista-plate in accordance,and some of them made sense! ross was elated. "ask him: can one enter the castle unseento check on the slaves?" "for what reason?" ross was sure he had read those symbols correctly. "tell him—that one of our kind may be amongthem." loketh did not reply so quickly this time.his eyes, grave and measuring, studied ross, then karara, then ross again. "there is a way ... discovered by this uselessone."

ross did not pay attention to the odd adjectiveloketh chose to describe himself. he pressed to the important matter. "can and will he show me that way?" again that long moment of appraisal on thepart of loketh before he answered. ross found himself reading the reply symbols aloud. "if you dare, then i will lead." chapter 7 - witches' meat he might be recklessly endangering all ofthem, ross knew. but if ashe was immured somewhere in that rock pile over their heads, then therisk of trusting loketh would be worth it.

however, because ross was chancing his ownneck did not mean that karara need be drawn into immediate peril too. with the dolphinsat her command and the supplies, scanty as those were, she would have a good chance tohide here safely. "holding out for what?" she asked quietlyafter ross elaborated on this subject, thus bringing him to silence. because her question was just. with the gategone the terrans were committed to this time, just as they had earlier been committed tohawaika when on their home world they had entered the spaceship for the take-off. therewas no escape from the past, which had become their present.

"the foanna," she continued, "these wreckers,the sea people—all at odds with one another. do we join any, then their quarrels must alsobecome ours." taua nosed the ledge behind the girl, squeakeda demand for attention. karara looked around at loketh; her look was as searching as theone the native had earlier turned on her and ross. "he"—the girl nodded at the hawaikan—"wishesto know if you trust him. and he says to tell you this: because the shades chose to inflictupon him a twisted leg he is not one with those of the castle, but to them a broken,useless thing. ross, i gather he thinks we have powers like the foanna, and that we maybe supernatural. but because we did not kill

him out of hand and have fed him, he considershimself bound to us." "ritual of bread and salt ... could be." thoughit might be folly to match alien customs to terran, ross thought of that very ancientpact on his own world. eat a man's food, become his friend, or at least declare a truce betweenyou. stiff taboos and codes of behavior marked nations on terra, especially warrior societies,and the same might be true here. "ask him," ross told karara, "what is therule for food and drink between friends or enemies!" the more he could learn of suchcustoms the better protection he might be able to weave for them. long moments for the relay of that message,and then loketh spoke into the micro-disk

of the analyzer, slowly, with pauses, as iftrying to make sure ross understood every word. "to give bread into the hands of one you havetaken in battle, makes him your man—not as a slave to labor, but as one who drawssword at your bidding. when i took your bread i accepted you as cup-lord. between such thereis no betrayal, for how may a man betray his lord? i, loketh, am now a sword in your hands,a man in your service. and to me this is doubly good, for as a useless one i have never hada lord, nor one to swear to. also, with this sea maid and her followers to listen to thoughts,how could any man speak with a double tongue were he one who consorted with the shadowand wore the cloak of evil?"

"he's right," karara added. "his mind is open;he couldn't hide his thoughts from taua and tino-rau even if he wished." "all right, i'll accept that." ross glancedabout the ledge. they had piled the containers at the far end. for karara to move might besafe. he said so. "move where?" she asked flatly. "those menfrom the castle are still hunting drift out there. i don't think anyone knows of thiscave." ross nodded to loketh. "he did, didn't he?i wouldn't want you trapped here. and i don't want to lose those supplies. what is in thosecontainers may be what saves us all." "we can sink those over by the wall, weightthem down in a net. then, if we have to move,

they will be ready. do not worry—that ismy department." she smiled at him with a slightly mocking lift of lips. ross subsided, though he was irritated becauseshe was right. the management of the dolphin team and sea matters were her department.and while he resented her reminder of that point he could not deny the justice of herretort. in spite of his crippled leg, loketh displayedan agility which surprised ross. freed from his ankle bonds, he beckoned the terran backto the very niche where he had hidden to watch karara. up he swung into that and in a secondhad vanished from sight. ross followed, to discover it was not a nicheafter all but the opening of a crevice, leading

upward as a vent. and it had been used beforeas a passage. there was no light, but the native guided ross's hands to the hollow climbingholds cut into the stone. then loketh pushed past and went up the crude ladder into thedark. it was difficult to judge either time or distancein this black tube. ross counted the holds for some check. his agent training made onepart of his mind sharply aware of such things; the need for memorizing a passage which ledinto the enemy's territory was apparent. what the purpose of this slit had originally beenhe did not know, but strongholds on terra had had their hidden ways in and out for usein times of siege, and he was beginning to believe that these aliens had much in commonwith his own kind.

he had reached twenty in his counting andhis senses, alerted by training and instinct, told him there was an opening not too farabove. but the darkness remained so thick it fell in tangible folds about his sweatingbody. ross almost cried out as fingers clamped about his wrist when he reached for a newhold. then urged by that grasp, he was up and out, sprawling into a vertical passage.far ahead was a gray of faint light. ross choked and then sneezed as dust puffedup from between his scrabbling hands. the hold which had been on his wrist shifted tohis shoulder, and with a surprising strength loketh hauled the terran to his feet. the passage in which they stood was a slitextending in height well above their heads,

but narrow, not much wider than ross's shoulders.whether it was a natural fault or had been cut he could not tell. loketh was ahead again, his rocking limp makingthe outline of his body a jerky up-and-down shadow. again his speed and agility amazedthe terran. loketh might be lame, but he had learned to adapt to his handicap very well. the light increased and ross marked slitsin the walls to his right, no wider than the breadth of his two fingers. he peered outof one and was looking into empty air while below he heard the murmur of the sea. thisway must run in the cliff face above the beach. a click of impatient whisper drew him on tojoin loketh. here was a flight of stairs,

narrow of tread and very steep. loketh turnedback and side against these to climb, his outspread hand flattened on the stone as ifit possessed adhesive qualities to steady him. for the first time his twisted leg wasa disadvantage. ross counted again—ten, fifteen of thosesteps, bringing them once more into darkness. then they emerged from a well-like openinginto a circular room. a sudden and dazzling flare of light made the terran shade his eyes.loketh set a pallid but glowing cone on a wall shelf, and the terran discovered thatthe burst of light was only relative to the dark of the passage; indeed it was very weakillumination. the hawaikan braced his body against the farwall. the strain of his effort, whatever its

purpose, was easy to read in the contortedline of his shoulders. then the wall slid under loketh's urging, a slow move as if theweight of the slab he strove to handle was almost too great for his slender arms, orelse the need for caution was intensified here. they now fronted a narrow opening, and thelight of the cone shone only a few feet into the space. loketh beckoned to ross and theywent on. here the left wall was cut in many places emitting patches of light in a waywhich bore no resemblance to conventional windows. it was like walking behind a piercedscreen which followed no logical pattern in the cutaway portions. ross gazed out and gasped.

he was standing above the center core of thecastle, and the life below and beyond drew his attention. he had seen drawings reproducingthe life of a feudal castle. this resembled them and yet, as ross studied the scene closer,the differences between the terran past and this became more distinct. in the first place there were those animals—orwere they animals?—being hooked up to a cart. they had six limbs, walking on four,holding the remaining two folded under their necks. their harness consisted of a networkfitted over their shoulders, anchored to the folded limbs. their grotesque heads, bobbingand weaving on lengthy necks, their bodies, were sleekly scaled. ross was startled bya resemblance he traced to the sea dragon

he had met in the future of this world. but the creatures were subject to the menharnessing them. and the activity in other respects ... ross had to fight a wayward andfascinated interest in all he could see, force himself to concentrate on learning what mightbe pertinent to his own mission. but loketh did not allow him to watch for long. instead,his hand on the terran's arm urged the other down the gallery behind the screen and oncemore into the bulk of the fortress. another narrow way ran through the thicknessof the walls. then a patch of light, not that of outer day, but a reddish gleam from anopening waist high. there loketh went awkwardly to his good knee, motioning ross to followhis example.

what lay below was a hall furnished with abarbaric rawness of color and glitter. there were long strips of brightly hued woven stuffon the walls, touched here and there with sparkling glints which were jewel-like. andset at intervals among the hangings were oval objects perhaps ross's height on which weredesigns and patterns picked out in paint and metal. maybe the stylized representation ofnative plants and animals. the whole gave an impression of clashing color,just as the garments of those gathered there were garish in turn. there were three hawaikans on the two-stepdais. all wore robes fitting tightly to the upper portion of their bodies, girded to theirwaists with elaborate belts, then falling

in long points to floor level, the pointsbeing finished off with tassels. their heads were covered with tight caps which were alatticework of decorated strips, glittering as they moved. and the mixture of colors intheir apparel was such as to offend terran eyes with their harsh clash of shade againstshade. drawn up below the dais were two rows of guards.but the reason for the assembly baffled ross, since he could not understand the clickingspeech. there came a hollow echoing sound as froma gong. the three on the dais straightened, turned their attention to the other end ofthe hall. ross did not need loketh's gesture to know that something of importance was aboutto begin.

down the hall was a somber note in the splashof clashing color. the terran recognized the gray-blue robe of the foanna. there were threeof the robed ones this time, one slightly in advance of the other two. they came ata gliding pace as if they swept along above that paved flooring, not by planting feetupon it. as they halted below the dais the men there rose. ross could read their reluctance to make thatconcession in the slowness of their movements. they were plainly being compelled to renderdeference when they longed to refuse it. then the middle one of the castle lords spoke first. "zahur—" loketh breathed in ross's ear,his pointed finger indicating the speaker.

ross longed vainly for the ability to askquestions, a chance to know what was in progress. that the meeting of the two hawaikan factionswas important he did not doubt. there was an interval of silence after thecastle lord finished speaking. to the terran this spun on and on and he sensed the mountingtension. this must be a showdown, perhaps even a declaration of open hostilities betweenwreckers and the older race. or perhaps the pause was a subtle weapon of the foanna, usedto throw a less-sophisticated enemy off balance, as a judo fighter might use an opponent'sattack as part of his own defense. when the foanna did make answer it came inthe singsong of chanted words. ross felt loketh shiver, felt the crawl of chill along hisown spine. the words—if those were words

and not just sounds intended to play uponthe mind and emotions of a listener—cut into one. ross wanted to close his ears, thrusthis fingers into them to drown out that sound, yet he did not have the power to raise hishands. it seemed to him that the men on the daiswere swaying now as if the chant were a rope leashed about them, pulling them back andforth. there was a clatter; one of the guards had fallen to the floor and lay there, rolling,his hands to his head. a shout from the dais. the chanting reacheda note so high that ross felt the torment in his ears. below, the lines of guards hadbroken. a party of them were heading for the end of the hall, making a wide detour aroundthe foanna. loketh gave a small choked cry;

his fingers tightened on ross's forearm withpainful intensity as he whispered. what was about to happen meant something important.to loketh or to him? ashe! was this concerned with ashe? ross crowded against the opening,tried to see the direction in which the guards had disappeared. the wait made him doubly impatient. one ofthe men on the dais had dropped on the bench there, his head forward on his hands, hisshoulders quivering. but the one loketh had identified as zahur still fronted the foannaspokesman, and ross gave tribute to the strength of will which kept him there. they were returning, the guards, and herdedbetween their lines three men. two were hawaikans,

their bare dark bodies easily identifiable.but the third—ashe! ross almost shouted his name aloud. the terran stumbled along and there was abandage above his knee. he had been stripped to his swimming trunks, all his equipmenttaken from him. there was a dark bruise on his left temple, the angry weal of a lashmark on neck and shoulder. ross's hands clenched. never in his life hadhe so desperately wanted a weapon as he did at that moment. to spray the company belowwith a machine gun would have given him great satisfaction. but he had nothing but the knifein his belt and he was as cut off from ashe as if they were in separate cells of someprison.

the caution which had been one of his inborngifts and which had been fostered by his training, clamped down on his first wild desire foraction. there was not the slightest chance of his doing ashe any good at the present.but he had this much—he knew that gordon was alive and that he was in the aliens' hands.faced by those facts ross could plan his own moves. the foanna chant began again, and the threeprisoners moved; the two hawaikans turned, set themselves on either side of ashe, andgave him support. their actions had a mechanical quality as if they were directed by a willbeyond their own. ashe gazed about him at the wreckers and the robed figures. his awarenessof them both suggested to ross that if the

natives had come under the control of thefoanna, the terran resisted their influence. but ashe did not try to escape the assistanceof his two fellow prisoners, and he limped with their aid back down the hall, followingthe foanna. ross deduced that the captives had been transferredfrom the lord of the castle to the foanna. which meant ashe was on his way to anotherdestination. the terran was on his feet and headed back, intent on returning to the seacave and starting out after ashe as soon as he could. "you have found gordon!" karara read his newsfrom his face. "the wreckers had him prisoner. now they'veturned him over to the foanna—"

"what will they do with him?" the girl demandedof loketh. his answer came roundabout as usual as thenative squatted by the analyzer and clicked his answer into it. "they have claimed the wreck survivors fortribute. your companion will be witches' meat." "witches' meat?" repeated ross, uncomprehending. then karara drew a gagged breath which wasa gasp of horror. "sacrifice! ross, he must mean they are goingto use gordon for a sacrifice." ross stiffened and then whirled to catch lokethby the shoulders. the inability to question the native directly was an added disasternow.

"where are they taking him? where?" he beganthat fiercely, and then forced control on himself. karara's eyes were half closed, her head back;she was manifestly aiming that inquiry at the dolphins, to be translated to loketh. symbols burned on the analyzer screen. "the foanna have their own fortress. it canbe entered best by sea. there is a boat ... i can show you, for it is my own secret." "tell him—yes, as soon as we can!" rossbroke out. the old feeling that time was all-important worried at him. witches' meat ... witches'meat ... the words were sharp as a lash.

chapter 8 - the free rovers twilight made a gray world where one couldnot trace the true meeting of land and water, sea and sky. surely the haze about them wasmore than just the normal dusk of coming night. ross balanced in the middle of the skiff asit bobbed along the swell of waves inside a barrier reef. to his mind the craft carryingthe three of them and their net of supplies was too frail, rode too high. but karara paddlingin the bow, loketh at the stern seemed to be content, and ross could not, for pride'ssake, question their competency. he comforted himself with the knowledge that no agent wasable to absorb every primitive skill, and karara's people had explored the pacific inout-rigger canoes hardly more stable than

their present vessel, navigating by currentsand stars. smothering his feeling of helplessness andthe slow anger that roused in him, the terran busied himself with study of a sort. theyhad had the longer part of the day in the cave before loketh would agree to ventureout of hiding and paddle south. ross, using the analyzer, had, with loketh's aid, setabout learning what he could of the native tongue. now possessed of a working vocabulary of clickedwords, he was able to follow loketh's speech so that translation through the dolphins wasnot necessary except for complicated directions. also, he had a more detailed briefing of thepresent situation on hawaika.

enough to know that they might be embarkingon a mad venture. the citadel of the foanna was distinctly forbidden ground, not onlyfor loketh's people but also for the foanna's hawaikan followers who were housed and laboredin an outer ring of fortification-cum-village. those natives were, ross gathered, a hereditarycorps of servants and warriors, born to that status and not recruited from the native populationat large. as such, they were armored by the "magic" of their masters. "if the foanna are so powerful," ross haddemanded, "why do you go with us against them?" to depend so heavily on the native made himuneasy. the hawaikan looked to karara. one of hishands raised; his fingers sketched a sign

toward the girl. "with the sea maid and her magic i do notfear." he paused before adding, "always has it been said of me—and to me—that i ama useless one, fit only to do women's tasks. no word weaver shall ever chant my battledeeds in the great hall of zahur. i who am zahur's true son can not carry my sword inany lord's train. but now you offer me one of the great to-be-remembered quests. if igo, so may i prove that i am a man, even if i go limpingly. there is nothing the foannacan do to me which is worse than what the shadow has already done. choosing to followyou i may stand up to face zahur in his own hall, show him that the blood of his househas not been drained from my veins because

i walk crookedly!" there was such bitter fire, not only in thesputtering rush of loketh's words, but in his eyes, his face, the wry twist of his lips,that ross believed him. the terran no longer had any doubts that the castle outcast waswilling to brave the unknown terrors of the foanna keep, not just to aid ross whom heconsidered himself bound to serve by the customs of his people, but because he saw in thisventure a chance to gain what he had never had, a place in his warrior culture. shut off from the normal life of his people,he had early turned to the sea. his twisted leg had not proved a handicap in the water,and he stated with confidence that he was

the best swimmer in the castle. not that themen of his father's following had taken greatly to the sea, which they looked upon merelyas a way of preying upon the true sea rovers. the reef on which the ships had been wreckedwas a snare of sorts—first by the whim of nature when wind and current piled up thetrading ships there. then, ross was startled when loketh elaborated on a later developmentof that trap. "so zahur returned from this meeting and setup a great magic among the rock, according to the spells he was taught. now ships aredrawn there so the wrecks have been many and zahur becomes an even greater lord with manymen coming to take sword oath under him." "this magic," asked ross, "of what manneris it and where did zahur obtain it?"

"it is fashioned so—" loketh sketched twostraight lines in the air, "not curved as a sword. and the color of water under a stormsky, both rods being as tall as a man. there was much care to set them in place, that wasdone by a man of glicmas." "a man of glicmas?" "glicmas is now the high lord of the iccio.he is blood kin to zahur, yet zahur must take sword oath to send to glicmas a fourth ofall his sea-gleanings for a year in payment for this magic." "and glicmas, where did he get it? from thefoanna?" loketh made an emphatic denial of that. "no,the foanna have spoken out against their use,

making even greater ill feeling between theold ones and the coast people. it is said that glicmas saw a great wonder in the skyand followed it to a high place of his own country. a mountain broke in twain and a voiceissued forth from the rent, calling that the lord of the country come and stand to hearit. when glicmas did so he was told that the magic would be his. then the mountain closedagain and he found many strange things upon the ground. as he uses them they make himakin to the foanna in power. some he gives to those who are his blood kin, and togetherthey will be great until they close their fists not only upon the sea rovers, but uponthe foanna also. this they have come to believe." "but you do not?" karara asked then.

"i do not know, sea maid. the time is comingwhen perhaps they shall have their chance to prove how strong is their magic. alreadythe rovers gather in fleets as they never did before. and it seems that they, too, havefound a new magic, for their ships fly through the water, depending no longer on wind-fillingsails, or upon strong arms of men at long paddles. there is a struggle before us. butthat you must know, being who and what you are, sea maid." "and what do you think i am? what do you thinkross is?" "if the foanna dwell on land and hold oldknowledge and power beyond our reckoning in their two hands," he replied, "then it ispossible that the same could have roots in

the sea. it is my belief that you are of theshades, but not the shadow. and this warrior is also of your kind—but perhaps in differentdegree, putting into action your desires and wishes. thus, if you go up against the foanna,you shall be well matched, kind to kind." nice to be so certain of that, ross thought.he did not share loketh's confidence on that subject. "the shades ... the shadow ..." karara persisted."what are these, loketh?" an odd expression crossed the hawaikan's face."are those not known to you, sea maid? indeed, then you are of a breed different from themen of land. the shades are those of power who may come to the aid of men should it betheir desire to influence the future. and

the shadow ... the shadow is that which endsall—man, hope, good. to which there is no appeal, and which holds a vast and enduringhatred for that which has life and full substance." "so zahur has this new magic. is it the giftof shades or shadow?" ross brought them back to the subject which had sparked in him asmall warning signal. "zahur prospers mightily." loketh's answerwas ambiguous. "and so the shadow could not provide suchmagic?" the terran pushed. but before the hawaikan had a chance to answer,karara added another question: "but you believe that it did?" "i do not know. only the magic has made zahura part of glicmas, and glicmas is now perhaps

a part of that which spoke from the mountain.it is not well to accept gifts which tie one man to another unless there is from the firsta saying of how deep that bond may run." "i think you are wise in that, loketh," kararasaid. but the uneasiness had grown in ross. alienpowers, out of a mountain heart, passed from one lord to another. and on the other handthe rovers' sudden magic in turn, lending their ships wings. the two facts balancedin an odd way. back on terra there had been those sudden and unaccountable jumps in technicalknowledge on the part of the enemy, jumps which had set in action the whole time travelservice of which he had become a part. and these jumps had not been the result of normalresearch; they had come from the looting of

derelict spaceships wrecked on his world inthe far past. could driblets of the same stellar knowledgehave been here deliberately fed to warring communities? he asked loketh about the possibilityof space-borne explorers. but to the hawaikan that was a totally foreign conception. thestars, for loketh, were the doorways and windows of the shades, and he treated the suggestionof space travel as perhaps natural to those all-powerful specters, but certainly not forbeings like himself. there was no hint that hawaika had been openly visited by a galacticship. though that did not bar such landings. the planet was, ross thought, thinly populated.whole sections of the interiors of the larger islands were wilderness, and this world mustbe in the same state of only partial occupation

as his own earth had been in the bronze agewhen tribes on the march had fanned out into virgin wilderness, great forests, and steppesunwalked by man before their coming. now as he balanced in the canoe and triedto keep his mind off the queasiness in his middle and the insecurity of the one thicknessof sea-creature hide stretched over a bone framework which made up the craft betweenhis person and the water, ross still mulled over what might be true. had the galacticinvaders for their own purposes begun to meddle here, leaking weapons or tools to upset whatmust be a very delicate balance of power? why? to bring on a conflict which would occupythe native population to the point of exhaustion or depopulation? so they could win a worldfor their own purposes without effort or risk

on their part? such cold-blooded fishing incarefully troubled waters fitted very well with the persons of the baldies as he hadknown them on terra. and he could not set aside that memory ofthis very coast as he had seen it through the peep, the castle in ruins, tall pylonsreaching from the land into the sea. was this the beginning of that change which would endin the hawaika of his own time, empty of intelligent life, shattered into a loose network of islands? "this fog is strange." karara's words startledross to return to the here and now. the haze he had been only half conscious ofwhen they had put out from the tiny secret bay where loketh kept his boat, was trulya fog, piling up in soft billows and cutting

down visibility with speed. "the foanna!" loketh's answer was sharp, arecognition of danger. "their magic—they hide their place so! there is trouble, troubleon the move!" "do we land then?" ross did not ascribe thepresent blotting out of the landscape to any real manipulation of nature on the part ofthe all-powerful foanna. too many times the reputations of "medicine men" had been soenhanced by coincidence. but he did doubt the wisdom of trying to bore ahead blindlyin this murk. "taua and tino-rau can guide us," karara remindedhim. "throw out the rope, ross. what is above water will not confuse them."

he moved cautiously, striving to adapt hisactions to the swing of the boat. the line was ready coiled to hand and he tossed theloose end overboard, to feel the cord jerk taut as one of the dolphins caught it up. they were being towed now, though both paddlersreinforced the forward tug with their efforts. the curtain gathering above the surface ofthe water did not hamper the swimmers beneath its surface, and ross felt relief. he turnedhis head to speak to loketh. "how near are we?" the mist had thickened to the point that,close as the native was, the lines of his body blurred. his clicking answer seemed distorted,too, almost as if the fog had altered not

only his form but his personality. "maybe very soon now. we must see the seagate before we are sure." "and if we aren't able to see that?" challengedross. "the sea gate is above and below the water.those who obey the sea maid, who are able to speak thought to thought, will find itif we can not." but they were never to reach that goal. kararagave warning: "there are ships about." ross knew that the dolphins had told her.he demanded in turn: "what kind?" "larger, much larger than this." then loketh broke in: "a rover raider—threeof them!"

ross frowned. he was the cripple here. theother two, with their ability to communicate with the dolphins, were the sighted, he theblind. and he resented his handicap in a burst of bitterness which must have colored histone as he ordered, "head inshore—now!" once on land, even in the fog, he felt thatthey had the advantage in any hide-and-seek which might ensue with this superior enemyforce. but afloat he was helpless and vulnerable, a state ross did not accept easily. "no," loketh returned as sharply. "there isno place to land along the cliff." "we are between two of the ships," kararareported. "your paddles—" ross schooled his voiceto a whisper, "hold them—don't use them.

let the dolphins take us on. in the fog, ifwe make no sound, we may get by the ships." "right!" karara agreed, and he heard an assentinggrunt from loketh. they were moving very slowly. strong as thedolphins were, they dared not expend all their strength on towing the skiff too fast. rossthought furiously. perhaps the sea could be their way of escape if the need arose. hehad no idea why raiding ships were moving under the cover of fog into the vicinity ofthe foanna citadel. but the terran's knowledge of tactics led him to guess that this impendingvisit was not anticipated by the foanna, nor was it a friendly one. and, as veteran seamenwho should normally be wary of fog as thick as this, the rovers themselves must have adriving reason, or some safeguard which led

them here now. but dared the three spill out of their boat,trust to their swimming ability and that of the dolphins, and invade the foanna sea gateso? could they use the coming rover attack as a cover for their own invasion of the hold?ross considered that the odds in their favor were beginning to look better. he whispered his idea and began to preparetheir gear. the boat was still headed for the shore the three could not see. but theycould hear sounds out of the white cotton wall which told them how completely they wereboxed in by the raiders; creaks, whispers, noises, ross could not readily identify, carriedacross the waves.

before leaving the cave and beginning thisvoyage they had introduced loketh to the use of the gill-pack, made him practice in thedepths of the cave pool with one of the extras drawn through the gate among the supplies.now all three were equipped with the water aid, and they could be gone in the sea beforethe trap closed. "the supply net—" ross warned karara. amoment or two later there was a small bump against the skiff at his left hand. he cautiouslyraised the collection of containers and eased the burden into the water, knowing that oneof the dolphins would take charge of it. however, he was not prepared for what happenednext. under him the boat lurched first one way and then the other in sharp jerks as ifthe dolphins were trying to spill them into

the sea. ross heard karara call out, her voicethin and frightened: "taua! tino-rau! they have gone mad! theywill not listen!" the boat raced in a zigag path. loketh clutchedat ross, striving to steady him, to keep the boat on an even keel. "the foanna—!" just as loketh cried out,karara plunged over the prow of the boat, whether by design or chance ross did not know. and then the craft whirled about, smashedside against side with a dark bulk looming out of the fog. above, ross heard cries, knewthat they had crashed against one of the raiders. he fought to retain his balance, but he hadbeen knocked to the bottom of the boat against

loketh and they struggled together, unableto move during a precious second or two. out of the air over their heads dropped amass of waving strands which enveloped both of them. the stuff was adhesive, slimy. rosslet out a choked cry as the lines tightened about his arms and body, pinioning him. those tightened, wove a net. now he was beingdrawn up out of the plunging skiff, a helpless captive. his flailing legs, still free ofthe slimy cords, struck against the side of the larger ship. then he swung in, over thewell of the deck, thudded down on that surface with bruising force, unable to understandanything except that he had been taken prisoner by a very effective device.

loketh dropped beside him. but karara wasnot brought in, and ross held to that small bit of hope. had she made it to freedom bydropping into the water before the rovers netted them? he could see men gathering abouthim, masked and distorted in the fog. then he was rolled across the deck, boosted overthe edge of a hatch and knew an instant of terror as he fell into the depth below. how long was he unconscious? it could nothave been very long, ross decided, as he opened his eyes on dark, heard the small sounds ofthe ship. he lay very still, trying to remember, to gather his wits before he tried to flexhis arms. they were held tight to his sides by strands which no longer seemed slimy, butwere wrinkling as they dried. there was an

odor from them which gagged him. but therewas no loosening of those loops in spite of his struggles, which grew more intense ashis strength returned. and at last he lay panting, knowing there was no easy way ofescape from here. chapter 9 - battle test babble of speech, cries, sounded muffled toross, made a mounting clamor on the deck. had the raiders' ship been boarded? was itnow under attack? he strove to hear and think through the pain in his head, the bewilderment. "loketh?" he was certain that the hawaikanhad been dumped into the same hold. the only answer was a low moan, a mutter fromthe dark. ross began to inch his way in that

direction. he was no seaman, but during thatworm's progress he realized that the ship itself had changed. the vibration which hadcarried through the planks on which he lay was stilled. some engine shut off; one portionof his mind put that into familiar terms. now the vessel rocked with the waves, didnot bore through them. ross brought up against another body. "loketh!" "ahhhhh ... the fire ... the fire—!" thehalf-intelligible answer held no meaning for the terran. "it burns in my head ... the fire—" the rocking of the ship rolled ross away fromhis fellow prisoner toward the opposite side

of the hold. there was a roar of voice, bullstrong above the noise on deck, then the sound of feet back and forth there. "the fire ... ahhh—" loketh's voice roseto a scream. ross was now wedged between two abutmentshe could not see and from which his best efforts could not free him. the pitching of the shipwas more pronounced. remembering the two vessels he had seen pounded to bits on the reef, rosswondered if the same doom loomed for this one. but that disaster had occurred duringa storm. and, save for the fog, this had been a calm night, the sea untroubled. unless—maybe the shaking his body had receivedduring the past few moments had sharpened

his thinking—unless the foanna had theirown means of protection at the sea gate and this was the result. the dolphins.... whathad made tino-rau and taua react as they did? and if the rover ship was out of control,it would be a good time to attempt escape. "loketh!" ross dared to call louder. "loketh!"he struggled against the drying strands which bound him from shoulder to mid thigh. therewas no give in them. more sounds from the upper deck. now the shipwas answering to direction again. the terran heard sounds he could not identify, and theship no longer rocked so violently. loketh moaned. as far as ross could judge, they were headingout to sea.

"loketh!" he wanted information; he must haveit! to be so ignorant of what was going on was unbearable frustration. if they were nowprisoners in a ship leaving the island behind.... the threat of that was enough to set rossstruggling with his bonds until he lay panting with exhaustion. "rossss?" only a hawaikan could make thatname a hiss. "here! loketh?" but of course it was loketh. "i am here." the other's voice sounded oddlyweak as if it issued from a man drained by a long illness. "what happened to you?" ross demanded.

"the fire ... the fire in my head—eating... eating...." loketh's reply came with long pauses between the words. the terran was puzzled. what fire? lokethhad certainly reacted to something beyond the unceremonious handling they had receivedas captives. this whole ship had reacted. and the dolphins.... but what fire was lokethtalking about? "i did not feel anything," he stated to himselfas well as to the hawaikan. "nothing burning in your head? so you couldnot think—" "it must have been the foanna magic. fireeating so that a man is nothing, only that which fire feeds upon!"

karara! ross's thoughts flashed back to thosefew seconds when the dolphins had seemed to go crazy. karara had then called out somethingabout the foanna. so the dolphins must have felt this, and karara, and loketh. whateverit was. but why not ross murdock? karara possessed an extra, undefinable sensewhich gave her contact with the dolphins. loketh had a mind which those could read inturn. but such communication was closed to at first that realization carried with ita feeling of shame and loss. that he did not have what these others possessed, a subtlepower beyond the body, a part of mind, was humbling. just as he had felt shut out andcrippled when he had been forced to use the analyzer instead of the sense the others had,so did he suffer now.

then ross laughed shortly. all right, sometimesinsensitivity could be a defense as it had at the sea gate. suppose his lack could alsobe a weapon? he had not been knocked out as the others appeared to be. but for the badluck of having been captured before the raiders had succumbed, ross could, perhaps, have beenmaster of this ship by now. he did not laugh now; he smiled sardonically at his own grandiosereaction. no use thinking about what might have been, just file this fact for futurereference. a creaking overhead heralded the opening ofthe hatch. light lanced down into the cubby, and a figure swung over and down a side ladder,coming to stand over ross, feet apart for balancing, accommodating to the swing of thevessel with the ease of long practice.

thus ross came face to face with his firstrepresentative of the third party in the hawaikan tangle of power—a rover. the seaman was tall, with a heavier developmentof shoulder and upper arms than the landsmen. like the guards he wore supple armor, butthis had been colored or overlaid with a pearly hue in which other tints wove opaline lines.his head was bare except for a broad, scaled band running from the nape of his neck tothe mid-point of his forehead, a band supporting a sharply serrated crest not unlike the erectfin of some terran fish. now as he stood, fists planted on hips, therover presented a formidable figure, and ross recognized in him the air of command. thismust be one of the ship's officers.

dark eyes surveyed ross with interest. thelight from the deck focused directly across the raider's shoulder to catch the terranin its full glare, and ross fought the need for squinting. but he tried to give back starefor stare, confidence for self-confidence. on terra in the past more than one adventurer'slife had been saved simply because he had the will and nerve enough to face his captorswithout any display of anxiety. such bravado might not hold here and now, but it was theonly weapon ross had to hand and he used it. "you—" the rover broke the silence first,"you are not of the foanna—" he paused as if waiting an answer—denial or protest.ross provided neither. "no, not of the foanna, nor of the scum ofthe coast either." again a pause.

"so, what manner of fish has come to the netof torgul?" he called an order aloft. "a rope here! we'll have this fish and its fellowout—" loketh and ross were jerked up to the outerdeck, dumped into the midst of a crowd of seamen. the hawaikan was left to lie but,at a gesture from the officer, ross was set on his feet. he could see the nature of hisbonds now, a network of dull gray strands, shriveled and stinking, but not giving inthe least when he made another try at moving his arms. "ho—" the officer grinned. "this fish doesnot like the net! you have teeth, fish. use them, slash yourself free."

a murmur of applause from the crew answeredthat mild taunt. ross thought it time for a countermove. "i see you do not come too close to thoseteeth." he used the most defiant words his limited hawaikan vocabulary offered. there was a moment of silence, and then theofficer clapped his hands together with a sharp explosion of sound. "you would use your teeth, fish?" he askedand his tone could be a warning. this was going it blind with a vengeance,but ross took the next leap in the dark. he had the feeling, which often came to him intight quarters, that he was being supplied

from some hard core of endurance and determinationfar within him with the right words, the fortunate guess. "on which one of you?" he drew his lips tight,displaying those same teeth, wondering for one startled moment if he should take therover's query literally. "vistur! vistur!" more than one voice called. one of the crew took a step or two forward.like torgul, he was tall and heavy, his over-long arms well muscled. there were scars on hisforearms, the seam of one up his jaw. he looked what he was, a very tough fighting man, onewho was judged so by peers as seasoned and dangerous.

"do you choose to prove your words on vistur,fish?" again the officer had a formal note in his question, as if this was all part ofsome ceremony. "if he meets with me as he stands—no otherweapons." ross flashed back. now he had another reaction from them. therewere some jeers, a sprinkling of threats as to vistur's intentions. but ross caught alsothe fact that two or three of them had gone silent and were eyeing him in a new and moresearching fashion and that torgul was one of those. vistur laughed. "well said, fish. so shallit be." torgul's hand came out, palm up, facing ross.in its hollow was a small object the terran

could not see clearly. a new weapon? onlythe officer made no move to touch it to ross, the hand merely moved in a series of wavesin mid-air. then the rover spoke. "he carries no unlawful magic." vistur nodded. "he's no foanna. and what needhave i to fear the spells of any coast crawler? i am vistur!" again the yells of his supporters arose inhearty answer. the statement held more complete and quiet confidence than any wordy boast. "and i am ross murdock!" the terran matchedthe rover tone for tone. "but does a fish swim with its fins bound to its sides? ordoes vistur fear a free fish too greatly to

face one?" his taunt brought the result ross wanted.the ties were cut from behind, to flutter down as withered, useless strings. ross flexedhis arms. tight as those thongs had been they had not constricted circulation, and he wasready to meet vistur. the terran did not doubt that the rover champion was a formidable fighter,but he had not had the advantage of going through one of the agent training courses.every trick of unarmed fighting known on his own world had been pounded into ross longago. his hands and feet could be as deadly weapons as any crook-bladed sword—or gun—providedhe could get close enough to use them properly. vistur stripped off his weapon belt, put toone side his helmet, showing that under it

his hair was plaited into a braid coiled aboutthe crown of his head to provide what must be an extra padding for that strangely narrowedhelm. then he peeled off his armor, peeled it literally indeed, catching the lower edgeof the scaled covering with his hands and pulling it up and over his head and shouldersas one might skin off a knitted garment. now he stood facing ross, wearing little morethan the terran's swimming trunks. ross had dropped his belt and gill-pack. hemoved into the circle the crew had made. from above came a strong light, centering froma point on the mainmast and giving him good sight of his opponent. vistur was being urged to make a quick endof the reckless challenger, his supporters

shouting directions and encouragement. butif the rover had confidence, he also possessed the more intelligent and valuable trait ofcaution in the face of the unknown. he outweighed, apparently outmatched ross, but he did notrush in rashly as his backers wished him to. they circled, ross studying every move ofthe rover's muscles, every slight fraction of change in the other's balance. there wouldbe something to telegraph an attack from the other. for he intended to fight purely indefense. the charge came at last as the crew grew impatientand yelled their impatience to see the prisoner taught a lesson. but ross did not believeit was that which sent vistur at him. the hawaikan simply thought he knew the best wayto take the terran.

ross ducked so that a hammer blow merely grazedhim. but the terran's stiffened hand swept sidewise in a judo chop. vistur gave a whoopingcry and went to his knees and ross swung again, sending the rover flat to the deck. it hadbeen quick but not so vicious as it might have been. the terran had no desire to killor even disable vistur for more than a few minutes. his victim would carry a couple ofaching bruises and perhaps a hearty respect for a new mode of fighting from this encounter.he could have as easily been dead had either of those blows landed other than where rosschose to plant them. "ahhhh—" the terran swung around, setting his backto the foot of the mast. had he guessed wrong?

with their chosen champion down, would thecrew now rush him? he had gambled on the element of fair play which existed in a primitiveterran warrior society after a man-to-man challenge. but he could be wrong. ross waited,tense. just let one of them pull a weapon, and it could be his end. two of them were aiding vistur to his feet.the rover's breath whistled in and out of him with that same whooping, and both of hishands rose unsteadily to his chest. the majority of his fellows stared from him to the slighterterran as if unable to believe the evidence of their eyes. torgul gathered up from the deck the beltand gill-pack ross had shed in preparation

for the fight. he turned the belt around overhis forearm until the empty knife sheath was uppermost. one of the crew came forward andslammed back into its proper place the long diver's knife which had been there when rosswas captured. then the rover offered belt and gill-pack to ross. the terran relaxed.his gamble had paid off; by the present signs he had won his freedom. "and my swordsman?" as he buckled on the beltross nodded at loketh still lying bound where they had pushed him at the beginning of thefight. "he is sworn to you?" torgul asked. "he is."

"loose the coast rat then," the rover ordered."now—tell me, stranger, what manner of man are you? do you come from the foanna, afterall? you have a magic which is not our magic, since the stone of phutka did not reveal iton you. are you from the shades?" his fingers moved in the same sign lokethhad once made before karara. ross gave his chosen explanation. "i am from the sea, captain. as for the foanna,they are no friend to me, since they hold captive in their keep one who is my brother-kin." torgul stared him up and down. "you say youare from the sea. i have been a rover since i was able to stumble on my two feet acrossa deck, after the manner and custom of my

people, yet i have never seen your like before.perhaps your coming means ill to me and mine, but by the law of battle, you have won yourfreedom on this ship. i swear to you, however, stranger, that if ill comes from you, thenthe law will not hold, and you shall match your magic against the strength of phutka.that you shall discover is another thing altogether." "i will swear any oath you desire of me, captain,that i have no ill toward you and yours. there is only one wish i hold: to bring him whomi seek out from the foanna hold before they make him witches' meat." "that will be a task worthy of any magic youmay be able to summon, stranger. we have tasted this night of the power of the sea gate. thoughwe went in under the will of phutka, we were

as weeds whirled about on the waves. who entersthat gate must have more force than any we now know." "and you, too, then have a score to settlewith the foanna?" "we have a score against the foanna, or againsttheir magic," torgul admitted. "three ships—one island fairing—are gone as if they neverwere! and those who went with them are of our fleet-clan. there is the work of the shadowstretching dark and heavy across the sea, new come into these waters. but there remainsnothing we can do this night. we have been lucky to win to sea again. now, stranger,what shall we do with you? or will you take to the sea again since you name it as home?"

"not here," ross countered swiftly. he mustgain some idea of where they might be in relation to the island, how far from its shore. kararaand the dolphins—what had happened to them? "you took no other prisoners?" ross had toask. "there were more of you?" torgul countered. "yes." no need to say how many, ross decided. "we saw no others. you ... all of you—"the captain rounded on the still-clustered crew, "get about your work! we must raisekyn add by morning and report to the council." he walked away and ross, determined to learnall he could, followed him into the stern cabin. here again the terran was faced withbarbaric splendor in carvings, hangings, a

wealth of plate and furnishing not too differentfrom the display he had seen in the wreckers' castle. as ross hesitated just within thedoorway torgul glanced back at him. "you have your life and that of your man,stranger. do not ask more of me, unless you have that within your hands to enforce theasking." "i want nothing, save to be returned to whereyou took me, captain." torgul smiled grimly. "you are the sea, youyourself said that. the sea is wide, but it is all one. through it you must have yourown paths. take any you choose. but i do not risk my ship again into what lies in waitbefore the gates of the foanna." "where do you go then, captain?"

"to kyn add. you have your own choice, stranger—thesea or our fairing." there would be no way of changing the rover'sdecision, ross thought. and even with the gill-pack he could not swim back to wherehe had been taken. there were no guideposts in the sea. but a longer acquaintance withtorgul might be helpful. "kyn add then, captain." he made the nextmove to prove equality and establish himself with this rover, seating himself at the tableas one who had the right to share the captain's quarters. chapter 10 - death at kyn add the hour was close to dawn again and a needfor sleep weighted ross's eyelids, was a craving

as strong as hunger. still restlessness hadbrought him on deck, sent him to pacing, alert to this vessel and its crew. he had seen the ships of the terran bronzeage traders—small craft compared to those of his own time, depending upon oarsmen whenthe wind failed their sails, creeping along coasts rather than venturing too far intodangerous seas, sometimes even tying up at the shore each night. there had been otherships, leaner, hardier. those had plunged into the unknown, touching lands beyond thesea mists, sailed and oared by men plagued by the need to learn what lay beyond the horizon. and here was such a ship, taut, well kept,larger than the viking longboats ross had

watched on the tapes of the project's collection,yet most like those far-faring terran craft. the prow curved up in a mighty bowsprit wherewas the carved likeness of the sea dragon ross had fought in the hawaika of his owntime. the eyes of that monster flashed with a regular blink of light which the terrandid not understand. was it a signal or merely a device to threaten a possible enemy? there were sails, now furled as this shipbored on, answering to the steady throb of what could only be an engine. and his puzzlementheld. a viking longboat powered by motor? the mixture was incongruous. the crew were uniform as to face. all of themwore the flexible pearly armor, the skull-strip

helmets. though there were individual differencesin ornaments and the choice of weapons. the majority of the men did carry curve-pointedswords, though those were broader and heavier than those the terran had seen ashore. butseveral had axes with sickle-shaped heads, whose points curved so far back that theynearly met to form a circle. spaced at regular intervals on deck were boxlikeobjects fronting what resembled gun ports. and smaller ones of the same type were onthe raised deck at the stern and mounted in the prow, their muzzles, if the square frontsmight be deemed muzzles, flanking the blinking dragon head. catapults of some type? rosswondered. "rosss—" his name was given the hiss lokethused, but it was not the wrecker youth who

joined him now at the stern of the ship. "ho... that was strong magic, that fighting knowledge of yours!" vistur rubbed his chest reminiscently. "youhave big magic, sea man. but then you serve the maid, do you not? your swordsman has toldus that even the great fish understand and obey her." "some fish," qualified ross. "such fish as that, perhaps?" vistur pointedto the curling wake of foam. startled, ross stared in that direction. torgul'scommand was the centermost in a trio of ships, and those cruised in a line, leaving threetrails of troubled wave behind them. coming

up now to port in the comparative calm betweentwo wakes was a dark object. in the limited light ross could be sure of nothing save thatit trailed the ships, appeared to rest on or only lightly in the water, and that itsspeed was less than that of the vessels it doggedly pursued. "a fish—that?" ross asked. "watch!" vistur ordered. but the hawaikan's sight must have been keenerthan the terran's. had there been a quick movement back there? ross could not be sure. "what happened?" he turned to vistur for enlightenment.

"as a salkar it leaps now and then above thesurface. but that is no salkar. unless, ross, you who say you are from the sea have servantsunlike any finned one we have drawn in by net or line before this day." the dolphins! could tino-rau or taua or bothbe in steady pursuit of the ships? but karara ... ross leaned against the rail, stared untilhis eyes began to water from the strain of trying to make out the nature of the blackblot. no use, the distance was too great. he brought his fist down against the wood,trying to control his impatience. more than half of him wanted to burst into torgul'squarters, demand that the captain bring the ship about to pick up or contact that traileror trailers.

"yours?" again vistur asked. ross had tight rein on himself now. "i donot know. it could well be." it could well be also that the smart thingwould be to encourage the rovers to believe that he had a force of sea dwellers much largerthan the four time castaways. the leader of an army—or a navy—had more prestige inany truce discussion than a member of a lost scouting party. but the thought that the dolphinscould be trailing held both promise and worry—promise of allies, and worry over what had happenedto karara. had she, too, disappeared after ashe into the hold of the foanna? the day did not continue to lighten. thoughthere was no cottony mist as had enclosed

them the night before, there was an odd mutingof sea and sky, limiting vision. shortly ross was unable to sight the follower or followers.even vistur admitted he had lost visual contact. had the blot been hopelessly outdistanced,or was it still dogging the wakes of the rover ships? ross shared the morning meal with captaintorgul, a round of leathery substance with a salty, meaty flavor, and a thick mixtureof what might be native fruit reduced to a tart paste. once before he had tasted alienfood when in the derelict spaceship it had meant eat or starve. and this was a like circumstance,since their emergency ration supplies had been lost in the net. but though he was apprehensive,no ill effects followed. torgul had been uncommunicative

earlier; now he was looser of tongue, volunteeringthat they were almost to their port—the fairing of kyn add. the terran had no idea how far he might questionthe hawaikan, yet the fuller his information the better. he discovered that torgul appearedwilling to accept ross's statement that he was from a distant part of the sea and thatlocal customs differed from those he knew. living on and by the sea the rovers were quick-witted,adaptive, with a highly flexible if loose-knit organization of fleet-clans. each of thesehad control over certain islands which served them as "fairings," ports for refitting andanchorage between voyages, usually ruggedly wooded where the sea people could find theraw material for their ships. colonies of

clans took to the sea, not in the slim, swiftcruisers like the ship ross was now on, but in larger, deeper vessels providing livingquarters and warehouses afloat. they lived by trade and raiding, spending only a portionof the year ashore to grow fast-sprouting crops on their fairing islands and indulgein some manufacture of articles the inhabitants of the larger and more heavily populated islandswere not able to duplicate. their main article of commerce was, however,a sea-dwelling creature whose supple and well-tanned hide formed their defensive armor and servedmanifold other uses. this could only be hunted by men trained and fearless enough to bravemore than one danger torgul did not explain in detail. and a cargo of such skins broughtenough in trade to keep a normal-sized fleet-clan

for a year. there was warfare among them. rival clanstried to jump each other's hunting territories, raid fairings. but until the immediate past,ross gathered, such encounters were relatively bloodless affairs, depending more upon craftand skillful planning to reduce the enemy to a position of disadvantage in which hewas forced to acknowledge defeat, rather than ruthless battle of no quarter. the shore-side wrecker lords were always consideredfair game, and there was no finesse in rover raids upon them. those were conducted witha cold-blooded determination to strike hard at a long-time foe. however, within the pastyear there had been several raids on fairings

with the same blood-bath result of a forayon a wrecker port. and, since all the fleet-clans denied the sneak-and-strike, kill-and-destroytactics which had finished those rover holdings, the seafarers were divided in their opinionas to whether the murderous raids were the work of wreckers suddenly acting out of characterand taking to the sea to bring war back to their enemies, or whether there was a roguefleet moving against their own kind for some purpose no rover could yet guess. "and you believe?" ross asked as torgul finishedhis rã©sumã© of the new dangers besetting his people. torgul's hand, its long, slender fingers spideryto terran eyes, rubbed back and forth across

his chin before he answered: "it is very hard for one who has fought themlong to believe that suddenly those shore rats are entrusting themselves to the waves,venturing out to stir us with their swords. one does not descend into the depths to kicka salkar in the rump; not if one still has his wits safely encased under his skull braid.as for a rogue fleet ... what would turn brother against brother to the extent of slaying childrenand women? raiding for a wife, yes, that is common among our youth. and there have beenkillings over such matters. but not the killing of a woman—never of a child! we are a peoplewho have never as many women as there are men who wish to bring them into the home cabin.and no clan has as many children as they hope

the shades will send them." "then who?" when torgul did not answer at once ross glancedat the captain, and what the terran thought he saw showing for an instant in the other'seyes was a revelation of danger. so much so that he blurted out: "you think that i—we—" "you have named yourself of the sea, stranger,and you have magic which is not ours. tell me this in truth: could you not have killedvistur easily with those two blows if you had wished it?"

ross took the bold course. "yes, but i didnot. my people kill no more wantonly than yours." "the coast rats i know, and the foanna, aswell as any man may know their kind and ways, and my people—but you i do not know, seastranger. and i say to you as i have said before, make me regret that i suffered youto claim battle rights and i shall speedily correct that mistake!" "captain!" that cry had come from the cabin door behindross. torgul was on his feet with the swift movements of a man called many times in thepast for an instant response to emergency.

the terran was close on the rover's heelsas they reached the deck. a cluster of crewmen gathered on the port side near the narrowbow. that odd misty quality this day held provided a murk hard to pierce, but the menwere gesturing at a low-riding object rolling with the waves. that was near enough for even ross to be ableto distinguish a small boat akin to the one in which he, karara, and loketh had daredthe sea gate of the foanna. torgul took up a great curved shell hangingby a thong on the mainmast. setting its narrow end to his lips, he blew. a weird boomingnote, like the coughing of a sea monster, carried over the waves. but there was no answerfrom the drifting boat, no sign it carried

any passengers. "hou, hou, hou—" torgul's signal was re-echoedby shell calls from the other two cruisers. "heave to!" the captain ordered. "wakti, zimmon,yoana—out and bring that in!" three of the crew leaped to the railing, poisedthere for a moment, and then dived almost as one into the water. a rope end was thrown,caught by one of them. and then they swam with powerful strokes toward the driftingboat. once the rope was made fast the small craft was drawn toward torgul's command, thecrewmen swimming beside it. ross longed to know the reason for the tense expectancy ofthe men around him. it was apparent the skiff had some ominous meaning for them.

ross caught a glimpse of a body huddled withinthe craft. under torgul's orders a sling was dropped, to rise, weighted with a passenger.the terran was shouldered back from the rail as the limp body was hurried into the captain'scabin. several crewmen slid down to make an examination of the boat itself. their heads came up, their eyes searched alongthe rail and centered on ross. the hostility was so open the terran braced himself to meetthose cold stares as he would a rush from a challenger. a slight sound behind sent ross leaping tothe right, wanting to get his back against solid protection. loketh came up, his limpmaking him awkward so that he clutched at

the rail for support. in his other hand wasone of the hooked swords bared and ready. "get the murderers!" someone in the back lineof the massing crew yipped that. ross drew his diver's knife. shaken at thissudden change in the crew's attitude, he was warily on the defensive. loketh was besidehim now and the hawaikan nodded to the sea. "better go there," he cried. "over beforethey try to gut you!" "kill!" the word shrilled into a roar fromthe rovers. they started up the deck toward ross and loketh. then someone leaped between,and vistur fronted his own comrades. "stand away—" one of the others ran forward,thrusting at the tall rover with a stiffened out-held arm to fend him out of their path.

vistur rolled a shoulder, sending the fellowshunting away. he went down while two more, unable to halt, thudded on him. vistur stampedon an outstretched hand and sent a sword spinning. "what goes here!" torgul's demand was loudenough to be heard. it stopped a few of the crew and two more went down as the captainstruck out with his fists. then he was facing ross, and the chill in his eyes was the threatthe others had voiced. "i told you, sea stranger, that if i foundyou were a danger to me or mine, you would meet the justice of phutka!" "you did," ross returned. "and in what wayam i now a danger, captain?" "kyn add has been taken by those who are notwreckers, not rovers, not those who serve

the foanna—but strangers out of the sea!" ross could only stare back, confused. andthen the full force of his danger struck home. who those raiding sea strangers could be,he had no idea, but that he was now condemned out of his own mouth was true and he realizedthat these men were not going to listen to any argument from him in their present stateof mind. the growl of the crew was that of a hungryanimal. ross saw the wisdom in loketh's choice. far better chance the open sea than the mobbefore them. but his time for choice had passed. out ofnowhere whirled a lacy gray-white net, slapping him back against a bulkhead to glue him there.ross tried to twist loose, got his head around

in time to see loketh scramble to the topof the rail, turn as if to launch himself at the men speeding for the now helpless terran.but the hawaikan's crippled leg failed him and he toppled back overside. "no!" again torgul's shout halted the crew."he shall take the black curse with him when he goes to meet the shadow—and only onecan speak that curse. bring him!" helpless, reeling under their blows, draggedalong, ross was thrown into the captain's cabin, confronted by a figure braced up bycoverings and cushions in torgul's own chair. a woman, her face a drawn death's head ofskin pulled tight upon bone, yet a fiery inner strength holding her mind above the sufferingof her body, looked at the terran with narrowed

eyes. she nursed a bandaged arm against her,and now and then her mouth quivered as if she could not altogether control some emotionor physical pain. "yours is the cursing, lady jazia. make itheavy to bear for him as his kind has laid the burden of pain and remembering on allof us." she brought her good hand up to her mouth,wiping its back across her lips as if to temper their quiver. and all the time her eyes heldupon ross. "why do you bring me this man?" her voicewas strained, high. "he is not of those who brought the shadow to kyn add." "what—?" torgul began and then schooledhis voice to a more normal tone. "those were

from the sea?" he was gentle in his questioning."they came out of the sea, using weapons against which we had no defense?" she nodded. "yes, they made very sure thatonly the dead remained. but i had gone to the shrine of phutka, since it was my dayof duty, and phutka's power threw its shade over me. so i did not die, but i saw—yes,i saw!" "not those like me?" ross dared to speak toher directly. "no, not those like you. there were few ... onlyso many—" she spread out her five fingers. "and they were all of one like as if bornin one birth. they had no hair on their heads, and their bodies were of this hue—" sheplucked at one of the coverings they had heaped

around her; it was a lavender-blue mixture. ross sucked in his breath, and torgul wasfast to pounce upon the understanding he read in the terran's face. "not your kind—but still you know them!" "i know them," ross agreed. "they are theenemy!" the baldies from the ancient spaceships, thatwholly alien race with whom he had once fought a desperate encounter on the edge of an unnamedsea in the far past of his own world. the galactic voyagers were here—and in active,if secret, conflict with the natives! chapter 11 - weapon from the depths

jazia told her story with an attention totime and detail which amazed ross and won his admiration for her breed. she had witnessedthe death and destruction of all which was her life, and yet she had the wit to noteand record mentally for possible future use all that she had been able to see of the raiders. they had come out of the sea at dawn, walkingwith supreme confidence and lack of any fear. axes flung when they did not reply to thesentries' challenges had never touched them, and a bombardment of heavier missiles hadbeen turned aside. they proved invulnerable to any weapon the rovers had. men who madesuicidal rushes to use sword or battle ax hand-to-hand had fallen, before they werein striking distance, under spraying tongues

of fire from tubes the aliens carried. rovers were not fearful or easily cowed, butin the end they had fled from the five invaders, gone to ground in their halls, tried to reachtheir beached ships, only to die as they ran and hid. the slaughter had been remorselessand entire, leaving jazia in the hill shrine as the only survivor. she had hidden for therest of the day, seen the killing of a few fugitives, and that night had stolen to theshore, launched one of the ship's boats which was in a cove well away from the main harborof the fairing, heading out to sea in hope of meeting the homing cruisers with her warning. "they stayed there on the island?" ross asked.that point of her story puzzled him. if the

object of that murderous raid had been onlyto stir up trouble among the hawaikan rovers, perhaps turning one clan against the other,as he had deduced when he had listened to torgul's report of similar happenings, thenthe star men should have withdrawn as soon as their mission was complete, leaving thedead to call for vengeance in the wrong direction. there would be no reason to court discoveryof their true identity by lingering. "when the boat was asea there were still lightsat the fairing hall, and they were not our lights, nor did the dead carry them," shesaid slowly. "what have those to fear? they can not be killed!" "if they are still there, that we can putto the test," torgul replied grimly, and a

murmur from his officers bore out his determination. "and lose all the rest of you?" ross retortedcoldly. "i have met these before; they can will a man to obey them. look you—" he slammedhis left hand flat on the table. the ridges of scar tissue were plain against his tannedskin. he knew no better way of driving home the dangers of dealing with the star men thanproviding this graphic example. "i held my own hand in fire so that the hurt of it wouldwork against their pull upon my thoughts, against their willing that i come and be easymeat for their butchering." jazia's fingers flickered out, smoothed acrosshis old scars lightly as she gazed into his eyes.

"this, too, is true," she said slowly. "forit was also pain of body which kept me from their last snare. they stood by the hall andi saw prahad, okun, mosaji, come out to them to be killed as if they were in a hold netand were drawn. and there was that which called me also so that i would go to them thoughi called upon the power of phutka to save. and the answer to that plea came in a strangeway, for i fell as i went from the shrine and cut my arm on the rocks. the pain of thathurt was as a knife severing the net. then i crawled for the wood and that calling didnot come again—" "if you know so much about them, tell us whatweapons we may use to pull them down!" that demand came from vistur.

ross shook his head. "i do not know." "yet," jazia mused, "all things which livemust also die sooner or later. and it is in my mind that these have also a fate they dreadand fear. perhaps we may find and use it." "they came from the sea—by a ship, then?"ross asked. she shook her head. "no, there was no ship; they came walkingthrough the breaking waves as if they had followed some road across the sea bottom." "a sub!" "what is that?" torgul demanded. "a type of ship which goes under the waves,not through them, carrying air within its

hull for the breathing of the crew." torgul's eyes narrowed. one of the other captainswho had been summoned from the two companion cruisers gave a snort of disbelief. "there are no such ships—" he began, tobe silenced by a gesture from torgul. "we know of no such ships," the other corrected."but then we know of no such devices as jazia saw in operation either. how does one warupon these under-the-seas ships, ross?" the terran hesitated. to describe to men whoknew nothing of explosives the classic way of dealing with a sub via depth charges wasclose to impossible. but he did his best. "among my people one imprisons in a containera great power. then the container is dropped

near the sub and—" "and how," broke in the skeptical captain,"do you know where such a ship lies? can you see it through the water?" "in a way—not see, but hear. there is amachine which makes for the captain of the above-seas ship a picture of where the sublies or moves so that he may follow its course. then when he is near enough he drops the containerand the power breaks free—to also break apart the sub." "yet the making of such containers and theimprisoning of the power within them," torgul said, "this is the result of a knowledge whichis greater than any save the foanna may possess.

you do not have it?" his conclusion was halfstatement, half question. "no. it took many years and the combined knowledgeof many men among my people to make such containers, such a listening device. i do not have it." "why then think of what we do not have?" torgul'sreturn was decisive. "what do we have?" ross's head came up. he was listening, notto anything in that cabin, but to a sound which had come through the port just behindhis head. there—it had come again! he was on his feet. "what—?" vistur's hand hovered over theax at his belt. ross saw their gaze centered on him.

"we may have reinforcements now!" the terranwas already on his way to the deck. he hurried to the rail and whistled, the thin,shrill summons he had practiced for weeks before he had ever begun this fantastic adventure. a sleek dark body broke water and the dolphingrin was exposed as tino-rau answered his call. though ross's communication powers withthe two finned scouts was very far from karara's, he caught the message in part and swung aroundto face the rovers who had crowded after him. "we have a way now of learning more aboutyour enemies." "a boat—it comes without sail or oars!"one of the crew pointed. ross waved vigorously, but no hand repliedfrom the skiff. though it came steadily onward,

the three cruisers its apparent goal. "karara!" ross called. then side by side with tino-rau were two wetheads, two masked faces showing as the swimmers trod water—karara and loketh. "drop ropes!" ross gave that order as if herather than torgul commanded. and the captain himself was one of those who moved to obey. loketh came out of the sea first and as hescrambled over the rail he had his sword ready, looking from ross to torgul. the terran heldup empty hands and smiled. "no trouble now."

loketh snapped up his mask. "so the sea maidsaid the finned ones reported. yet before, these thirsted for your blood on their blades.what magic have you worked?" "none. just the truth has been discovered."ross reached for karara's hand as she came nimbly up the rope, swung her across the railto the deck where she stood unmasked, brushing back her hair and looking around with a livelycuriosity. "karara, this is captain torgul," ross introducedthe rover commander who was staring round-eyed at the girl. "karara is she who swims withthe finned ones, and they obey her." ross gestured to tino-rau. "it is taua who bringsthe skiff?" he asked the polynesian. she nodded. "we followed from the gate. thenloketh came and said that ... that...." she

paused and then added, "but you do not seemto be in danger. what has happened?" "much. listen—this is important. there istrouble at an island ahead. the baldies were there; they murdered the kin of these men.the odds are they reached there by some form of sub. send one of the dolphins to see whatis happening and if they are still there...." karara asked no more questions, but whistledto the dolphin. with a flip of tail tino-rau took off. since they could make no concrete plan ofaction, the cruiser captains agreed to wait for tino-rau's report and to cruise well outof sight of the fairing harbor until it came. "this belief in magic," ross remarked to karara,"has one advantage. the natives seem able

to take in their stride the fact the dolphinswill scout for us." "they have lived their lives on the sea; forit they must have a vast respect. perhaps they know, as did my people, that the oceanhas many secrets, some of which are never revealed except to the forms of life whichclaim their homes there. but, even if you discover this baldy sub, what will the roversbe able to do about it?" "i don't know—yet." ross could not tellwhy he clung to the idea that they could do anything to strike back at the superior alienforce. he only knew that he was not yet willing to relinquish the thought that in some waythey could. "and ashe?"

yes, ashe.... "i don't know." it hurt ross to admit that. "back there, what really happened at the gate?"he asked karara. "all at once the dolphins seemed to go crazy." "i think for a moment or two they did. youfelt nothing?" "it was like a fire slashing through the head.some protective device of the foanna, i think." a mental defense to which he was not sensitive.which meant that he might be able to breach that gate if none of the others could. buthe had to be there first. suppose, just suppose torgul could be persuaded that this attackon the gutted kyn add was useless. would the

rover commander take them back to the foannakeep? or with the dolphins and the skiff could ross himself return to make the try? that he could make it on his own, ross doubted.excitement and will power had buoyed him up throughout the past hawaikan day and night.now fatigue closed in, past his conditioning and the built-in stimulant of the terran rations,to enclose him in a groggy haze. he had been warned against this reaction, but that wasjust another item he had pushed out of his conscious mind. the last thing he rememberednow was seeing karara move through a fuzzy cloud. voices argued somewhere beyond, the forceof that argument carried more by tone than

any words ross could understand. he was pulledsluggishly out of a slumber too deep for any dream to trouble, and lifted heavy eyelidsto see karara once again. there was a prick in his arm—or was that part of the unrealityabout him? "—four—five—six—" she was counting,and ross found himself joining in: "—seven—eight—nine—ten!" on reaching "ten" he was fully awake and knewthat she had applied the emergency procedure they had been drilled in using, giving hima pep shot. when ross sat up on the narrow bunk there was a light in the cabin and nosign of day outside the porthole. torgul, vistur, the two other cruiser captains, allthere ... and jazia.

ross swung his feet to the deck. a pep-shotheadache was already beginning, but would wear off soon. there was, however, a concentrationof tension in the cabin, and something must have driven karara to use the drug. "what is it?" karara fitted the medical kit into the compactcarrying case. "tino-rau has returned. there is a sub inthe bay. it emits energy waves on a shoreward beam." "then they are still there." ross acceptedthe dolphin's report without question. neither of the scouts would make a mistake in thosematters. energy waves beamed shoreward—power

for some type of unit the baldies were using?suppose the rovers could find a way of cutting off the power. "the sea maid has told us that this ship sitson the bottom of the harbor. if we could board it—" began torgul. "yes!" vistur brought his fist down againstthe end of the bunk on which the terran still sat, jarring the dull, drug-borne pain inross's head. "take it—then turn it against its crew!" there was an eagerness in all rover faces.for that was a game the hawaikan seafarers understood: take an enemy ship and turn itsarmament against its companions in a fleet.

but that plan would not work out. ross hada healthy respect for the technical knowledge of the galactic invaders. of course he, karara,even loketh might be able to reach the sub. whether they could then board her was an entirelydifferent matter. now the polynesian girl shook her head. "thebroadcast there—tino-rau rates it as lethal. there are dead fish floating in the bay. hehad warning at the reef entrance. without a shield, there will be no way of gettingin." "might as well wish for a depth bomb," rossbegan and then stopped. "you have thought of something?" "a shield—" ross repeated her words. itwas so wild this thought of his, and one which

might have no chance of working. he knew almostnothing about the resources of the invaders. could that broadcast which protected the suband perhaps activated the weapons of the invaders ashore be destroyed? a wall of fish—sealife herded in there as a shield ... wild, yes, even so wild it might work. ross outlinedthe idea, speaking more to karara than to the rovers. "i do not know," she said doubtfully. "thatwould need many fish, too many to herd and drive——" "not fish," torgul cut in, "salkars!" "salkars?"

"you have seen the bow carving on this ship.that is a salkar. such are larger than a hundred fish! salkars driven in ... they might evenwreck this undersea ship with their weight and anger." "and you can find these salkars near-by?"ross began to take fire. that dragon which had hunted him—the bulk of the thing waswell above any other sea life he had seen here. and to its ferocity he could give testimony. "at the spawning reefs. we do not hunt atthis season which is the time of the taking of mates. now, too, they are easily angeredso they will even attack a cruiser. to slay them at present is a loss, for their skinsare not good. but they would be ripe for battle

were they to be disturbed." "and how would you get them from the spawningreefs to kyn add?" "that is not too difficult; the reef lieshere." torgul drew lines with the point of his sword on the table top. "and here is kynadd. salkars have a great hunger at this time. show them bait and they will follow; especiallywill they follow swimming bait." there were a great many holes in the planwhich had only a halfway chance of working. but the rovers seized upon it with enthusiasm,and so it was set up. perhaps some two hours later ross swam towardthe land mass of kyn add. gleams of light pricked on the shore well to his left. thosemust mark the rover settlement. and again

the terran wondered why the invaders had remainedthere. unless they knew that there had been three cruisers out on a raid and for somereason they were determined to make a complete mop-up. karara moved a little to his right, taua betweenthem, the dolphin's super senses their guide and warning. the swiftest of the cruisershad departed, loketh on board to communicate with tino-rau in the water. since the maledolphin was the best equipped to provide a fox for salkar hounds, he was the bait forthis weird fishing expedition. "no farther!" ross's sonic pricked a warningagainst his body. through that he took a jolt which sent him back, away from the bay entrance.

"on the reef." karara's tapped code drew himon a new course. moments later they were both out of the water, though the wash of wavesover their flippered feet was constant. the rocks among which they crouched were a roughharborage from which they could see the shore as a dark blot. but they were well away fromthe break in the reef through which, if their outlandish plan succeeded, the salkars wouldcome. "a one-in-a-million chance!" ross commentedas he put up his mask. "was not the whole time agent project foundedon just such chances?" karara asked the right question. this was ross's kind of venture.yes, one-in-a-million chances had been pulled off by the time agents. why, it had been closeto those odds against their ever finding what

they had first sought along the back trailsof time—the wrecked spaceships. just suppose this could be a rehearsal foranother attack? if the salkars could be made to crack the guard of the baldies, could theyalso be used against the foanna gate? maybe.... but take one fight at a time. "they come!" karara's fingers gripped ross'sshoulder. her hand was hard, bar rigid. he could see nothing, hear nothing. that warningmust have come from the dolphins. but so far their plan was working; the monsters of thehawaikan sea were on their way. chapter 12 - baldies "ohhhh!" karara clutched at ross, her breathcoming in little gasps, giving vent to her

fear and horror. they had not known what mightcome from this plan; certainly neither had foreseen the present chaos in the lagoon. perhaps the broadcast energy of the enemywhipped the already vicious-tempered salkars into this insane fury. but now the moonlitwater was beaten into foam as the creatures fought there, attacking each other with aferocity neither terran had witnessed before. lights gleamed along the shore where the alieninvaders must have been drawn by the clamor of the fighting marine reptiles. somewherein the heights above the beach of the lagoon a picked band of rovers should now be makingtheir way from the opposite side of kyn add under strict orders not to go into attackunless signaled. whether the independent sea

warriors would hold to that command was aquestion which had worried ross from the first. tino-rau and taua in the waters to the seawardof the reef, the two terrans on that barrier itself, and between them and the shore thewild melee of maddened salkars. ross started. the sonic warning which had been pulsing steadilyagainst his skin cut off sharply. the broadcast in the bay had been silenced! this was thetime to move, but no swimmer could last in the lagoon itself. "along the reef," karara said. that would be the long way round, ross knew,but the only one possible. he studied the cluster of lights ashore. two or three figuresmoved there. seemingly the attention of the

aliens was well centered upon the battle stillin progress in the lagoon. "stay here!" he ordered the girl. adjustinghis mask, ross dropped into the water, cutting away from the reef and then turning to swimparallel with it. tino-rau matched him as he went, guiding ross to a second break inthe reef, toward the shore some distance from where the conflict of the salkars still madea hideous din in the night. the terran waded in the shallows, strippingoff his flippers and snapping them to his belt, letting his mask swing free on his chest.he angled toward the beach where the aliens had been. at least he was better armed forthis than he had been when he had fronted the rovers with only a diver's knife. fromthe time agent supplies he had taken the single

hand weapon he had long ago found in the armoryof the derelict spaceship. this could only be used sparingly, since they did not knowhow it could be recharged, and the secret of its beam still remained secret as far asterran technicians were concerned. ross worked his way to a curtain of underbrushfrom which he had a free view of the beach and the aliens. three of them he counted,and they were baldies, all right—taller and thinner than his own species, their baldheads gray-white, the upper dome of their skulls overshadowing the features on theirpointed chinned faces. they all wore the skintight blue-purple-green suits of the space voyagers—suitswhich ross knew of old were insulated and protective for their wearers, as well as amedium for keeping in touch with one another.

just as he, wearing one, had once been trailedover miles of wilderness. to him, all three of the invaders looked enoughalike to have been stamped out from one pattern. and their movements suggested that they workedor went into action with drilled precision. they all faced seaward, holding tubes aimedat the salkar-infested lagoon. there was no sound of any explosion, but green spears oflight struck at the scaled bodies plunging in the water. and where those beams struck,flesh seared. methodically the trio raked the basin. but, ross noted, those beams whichhad been steady at his first sighting, were now interrupted by flickers. one of the baldiesupended his tube, rapped its butt against a rock as if trying to correct a jamming.when the alien went into action once again

his weapon flashed and failed. within a matterof moments the other two were also finished. the lighted rods pushed into the sand, givinga glow to the scene, darkened as a fire might sink to embers. power fading? an ungainly shape floundered out of the churnedwater, lumbered over the shale of the beach, its supple neck outstretched, its horned nosedown for a gore-threatening charge. ross had not realized that the salkars could operateout of what he thought was their natural element, but this wild-eyed dragon was plainly benton reaching its tormentors. for a moment or two the baldies continuedto front the creature, almost, ross thought, as if they could not believe that their weaponshad failed them. then they broke and ran back

to the fairing which they had taken with suchcontemptuous ease. the salkar plowed along in their wake, but its movements grew morelabored the farther it advanced, until at last it lay with only its head upraised, dartingit back and forth, its fanged jaws well agape, voicing a coughing howl. its plaint was answered from the water asa second of its kind wallowed ashore. a terrible wound had torn skin and flesh just behindits neck; yet still it came on, hissing and bubbling a battle challenge. it did not attackits fellow; instead it dragged its bulk past the first comer, on its way after the baldies. the salkars continued to come ashore, twomore, a third, a fourth, mangled and torn—pulling

themselves as far as they could up the beach.to lie, facing inland, their necks weaving, their horned heads bobbing, their cries afrightful din. what had drawn them out of their preoccupation of battle among themselvesinto this attempt to reach the aliens, ross could not determine. unless the intelligenceof the beasts was such that they had been able to connect the searing beams which thebaldies had turned on them so tellingly with the men on the beach, and had responded bystriving to reach a common enemy. but no desire could give them the necessaryenergy to pull far ashore. almost helplessly beached, they continued to dig into the yieldingsand with their flippers in a vain effort to pursue the aliens.

ross skirted the clamoring barrier of salkarsand headed for the fairing. a neck snapped about; a head was lowered in his direction.he smelled the rank stench of reptile combined with burned flesh. the nearest of the brutesmust have scented the terran in turn, as it was now trying vainly to edge around to cutacross ross's path. but it was completely outclassed on land, and the man dodged iteasily. three baldies had fled this way. yet jaziahad reported five had come out of the sea to take kyn add. two were missing. where?had they remained in the fairing? were they now in the sub? and that sub—what had happenedto it? the broadcast had been cut off; he had seen the failure of the weapons and theshore lights. might the sub have suffered

from salkar attack? though ross could hardlybelieve that the beasts could wreck it. the terran was traveling blindly, keepingwell under cover of such brush as he could, knowing only that he must head inland. underhis feet the ground was rising, and he recalled the nature of this territory as torgul andjazia had pictured it for him. this had to be part of the ridge wall of the valley inwhich lay the buildings of the fairing. in these heights was the shrine of phutka wherejazia had hidden out. to the west now lay the rover village, so he had to work his wayleft, downhill, in order to reach the hole where the baldies had gone to ground. rossmade that progress with the stealth of a trained scout.

hawaika's moon, triple in size to terra'scompanion, was up, and the landscape was sharply clear, with shadows well defined. the glow,weird to terran eyes, added to the effect of being abroad in a nightmare, and the bellowingof the grounded salkars continued a devils' chorus. when the rovers had put up the buildings oftheir fairing, they had cleared a series of small fields radiating outward from thosestructures. all of these were now covered with crops almost ready to harvest. the grain,if that terran term could be applied to this hawaikan product, was housed in long podswhich dipped from shoulder-high bushes. and the pods were well equipped with horny projectionswhich tore. a single try at making his way

into one of those fields convinced ross ofthe folly of such an advance. he sat back to nurse his scratched hands and survey thelandscape. to go down a very tempting lane would be makinghimself a clear target for anyone in those buildings ahead. he had seen the flamers ofthe baldies fail on the beach, but that did not mean the aliens were now weaponless. his best chance, ross decided, was to circlenorth, come back down along the bed of a stream. and he was at the edge of that watercoursewhen a faint sound brought him to a frozen halt, weapon ready. "rosss—"

"and torgul and vistur." this was the party from the opposite sideof the island, gone expertly to earth. in the moonlight ross could detect no sign oftheir presence, yet their voices sounded almost beside him. "they are in there, in the great hall." thatwas torgul. "but no longer are there any lights." "now—" an urgent exclamation drew theirattention. light below. but not the glow of the rodsross had seen on the beach. this was the warm yellow-red of honest fire, bursting up, theflames growing higher as if being fed with frantic haste.

three figures were moving down there. rossbegan to believe that there were only this trio ashore. he could sight no weapons intheir hands, which did not necessarily mean they were unarmed. but the stream ran closebehind the rear wall of one of the buildings, and ross thought its bed could provide coverfor a man who knew what he was doing. he pointed out as much to torgul. "and if their magic works and you are drawnout to be killed?" the rover captain came directly to the point. "that is a chance to be taken. but remember... the magic of the foanna at the sea gate did not work against me. perhaps this won'teither. once, earlier, i won against it."

"have you then another hand to give to thefire as your defense?" that was vistur. "but no man has the right to order another's battlechallenge." "just so," returned ross sharply. "and thisis a thing i have long been trained to do." he slid down into the stream bed. approachingfrom this angle, the structures of the fairing were between him and the fire. so screenedhe reached a log wall, got to his feet, and edged along it. then he witnessed a wild scene.the fire raged in great, sky-touching tongues. and already the roof of one of the rover buildingssmoldered. why the aliens had built up such a conflagration, ross could not guess. a signaldesigned to reach some distance? he did not doubt there was some urgent purpose.for the three were dragging in fuel with almost

frenzied haste, bringing out of the roverbuildings bales of cloth to be ripped apart and whirled into the devouring flames, furniture,everything movable which would burn. there was one satisfaction. the baldies wereso intent upon this destruction that they kept no watch save that now and then one ofthem would run to the head of the path leading to the lagoon and listen as if he expecteda salkar to come pounding up the slope. "they're ... they're rattled!" ross couldhardly believe it. the baldies who had always occupied his mind and memory as practicallyinvincible supermen were acting like badly frightened primitives! and when the enemywas so off balance you pushed—you pushed hard.

ross thumbed the button on the grip of thestrange weapon. he sighted with deliberation and fired. the blue figure at the top of thepath wilted, and for a long moment neither of his companions noted his collapse. thenone of them whirled and started for the limp body, his colleague running after him. rossallowed them to reach his first victim before he fired the second and third time. all three lay quiet, but still ross did notventure forth until he had counted off a dozen terran seconds. then he slipped forward keepingto cover until he came up to the bodies. the blue-clad shoulder had a flaccid feelunder his hand as if the muscles could not control the flesh about them. ross rolledthe alien over, looked down in the bright

light of the fire into the baldy's wide-openeyes. amazement—the terran thought he could read that in the dead stare which answeredhis intent gaze—and then anger, a cold and deadly anger which chilled into ice. "kill!" ross slewed around, still down on one knee,to face the charge of a rover. in the firelight the hawaikan's eyes were blazing with fanaticalhatred. he had his hooked sword ready to deliver a finishing stroke. the terran blocked witha shoulder to meet the rover's knees, threw him back. then ross landed on top of the fightingcrewman, trying to pin the fellow to earth and avoid that recklessly slashing blade.

"loketh! vistur!" ross shouted as he struggled. more of the rovers appeared from between thebuildings, bearing down on the limp aliens and the two fighting men. ross recognizedthe limping gait of loketh using a branch to aid him into a running scuttle across theopen. "loketh—here!" the hawaikan covered the last few feet ina dive which carried him into ross and the rover. "hold him," the terran ordered andhad just time enough to throw himself between the baldies and the rest of the crew. therewas a snarling from the rovers; and ross, knowing their temper, was afraid he couldnot save the captives which they considered,

fairly, their legitimate prey. he must dependupon the hope that there were one or two cooler heads among them with enough authority torestrain the would-be avengers. otherwise he would have to beam them into helplessness. "torgul!" he shouted. there was a break in the line of runners speedingfor him. the big man lunging straight across could only be vistur; the other, yelling orders,was torgul. it would depend upon how much control the captain had over his men. rossscrambled to his feet. he had clicked on the beamer to its lowest frequency. it would notkill, but would render its victim temporarily paralyzed; and how long that state would continueross had no way of knowing. tried on terran

laboratory animals, the time had varied fromdays to weeks. vistur used the flat side of his war ax, clappingit against the foremost runners, setting his own bulk to impose a barrier. and now torgul'sorders appeared to be getting through, more and more of the men slacked, leaving a trioof hotheads, two of whom vistur sent reeling with his fists. the captain came up to ross. "they are alivethen?" he leaned over to inspect the baldy the terran had rolled on his back, assessingthe alien's frozen stare with thoughtful measurement. "yes, but they can not move." "well enough." torgul nodded. "they shallmeet the justice of phutka after the law.

i think they will wish that they had beenleft to the boarding axes of angry men." "they are worth more alive than dead, captain.do you not wish to know why they have carried war to your people, how many of them theremay yet be to attack—and other things? also—" ross nodded at the fire now catching the secondbuilding, "why have they built up that blaze? is it a signal to others of their kind?" "very well said. yes, it would be well forus to learn such things. nor will phutka be jealous of the time we take to ask questionsand get answers, many answers." he prodded the baldy with the toe of his sea boot. "how long will they remain so? your magichas a bite in it."

ross smiled. "not my magic, captain. thisweapon was taken from one of their own ships. as to how long they will remain so—thati do not know." "very well, we can take precautions." undertorgul's orders the aliens were draped with capture nets like those ross and loketh hadworn. the sea-grown plant adhered instantly, wet strands knitting in perfect restrainersas long as it was uncut. having seen to that, torgul ordered the excavationof kyn add. "as you say," he remarked to ross, "that firemay well be a signal to bring down more of their kind. i think we have had the favorof phutka in this matter, but the prudent man stretches no favor of that kind too far.also," he looked about him—"we have given

to phutka and the shades our dead; there isnothing for us here now but hate and sorrow. in one day we have been broken from a clanof pride and ships to a handful of standardless men." "you will join some other clan?" karara hadcome with jazia to stand on the stone ledge chipped to form a base for a column bearinga strange, brooding-eyed head looking seaward. the rover woman was superintending the freeingof the head from the column. at the terran girl's question the captaingazed down into the dreadful chaos of the valley. they could yet hear the roars of thedying salkars. the reptiles that had made their way to land had not withdrawn but stilllay, some dead now, some with weaving heads

reaching inland. and the whole of the fairingwas ablaze with fire. "we are now blood-sworn men, sea maid. forsuch there is no clan. there is only the hunting and the kill. with the magic of phutka perhapswe shall have a short hunt and a good kill." "there ... now ... so...." jazia stepped back.the head which had faced the sea was lowered carefully to a wide strip of crimson-and-goldstuff she had brought from torgul's ship. with her one usable hand the rover woman drewthe fabric about the carving, muffling it except for the eyes. those were large ovalsdeeply carved, and in them ross saw a glitter. jewels set there? yet, he had a queer, shiveryfeeling that something more than gems occupied those sockets—that he had actually beenregarded for an instant of time, assessed

and dismissed. "we go now." jazia waved and torgul sent menforward. they lifted the wrapped carving to a board carried between them and started downslope. karara cried out and ross looked around. the pillar which had supported the head wascrumbling away, breaking into a rubble which cascaded across the stone ledge. ross blinked—thismust be an illusion, but he was too tired to be more than dully amazed as he becameone of the procession returning to the ships. chapter 13 - the sea gate of the foanna ross raised a shell cup to his lips but hardlysipped the fiery brew it contained. this was

a gesture of ceremony, but he wanted a steadyhead and a quick tongue for any coming argument. torgul, afrukta, ongal—the three commandersof the rover cruisers; jazia, who represented the mysterious power of phutka; vistur andsome other subordinate officers; karara; himself, with loketh hovering behind: a council ofwar. but summoned against whom? the terran had come too far afield from hisown purpose—to reach ashe in the foanna keep. and to further his own plans was a taskhe doubted his ability to perform. his attack on the baldies had made him too importantto the rovers for them to allow him willingly to leave them on a quest of his own. "these star men"—ross set down the cup,tried to choose the most telling words in

his limited hawaikan vocabulary—"possessweapons and powers you can not dream of, that you have no defense against. back at kyn addwe were lucky. the salkars attacked their sub and halted the broadcast powering theirflamers. otherwise we could not have taken them, even though we were many against theirfew. now you talk of hunting them in their own territory—on land and in the mountainswhere they have their base. that would be folly akin to swimming barehanded to fronta salkar." "so—then we must sit and wait for them toeat us up?" flared ongal. "i say it is better to die fighting with one's blade wet!" "do you not also wish to take at least oneof the enemy with you when you fight to that

finish?" ross countered. "these could killyou before you came in blade range." "you had no trouble with that weapon of yours,"afrukta spoke up. "i have told you—this weapon was stolenfrom them. i have only one and i do not know how long it will continue to serve me, orwhether they have a defense against it. those we took were naked to any force, for theirbroadcast had failed them. but to smash blindly against their main base would be the act ofmadmen." "the salkars opened a way for us—" thatwas torgul. "but we can not move a pack of those inlandto the mountains," vistur pointed out reasonably. ross studied the captain. that torgul wasgroping for a plan and that it had to be a

shrewd one, the terran guessed. his respectfor the rover commander had been growing steadily since their first meeting. the cruiser-raidershad always been captained by the most daring men of the rover clans. but ross was alsocertain that a successful cruiser commander must possess a level-headed leaven of intelligenceand be a strategist of parts. the hawaikan force needed a key which wouldopen the baldy base as the salkars had opened the lagoon. and all they had to aid them wasa handful of facts gained from their prisoners. oddly enough the picklock to the captives'minds had been produced by the dolphins. just as tino-rau and taua had formed a bridge ofcommunication between the terran and loketh, so did they read and translate the thoughtsof the galactic invaders. for the baldies,

among their own kind, were telepathic, vocalizingonly to give orders to inferiors. their capture by these primitive "inferiors"had delivered the first shock, and the mind-probes of the dolphins had sent the "supermen" closeto the edge of sanity. to accept an animal form as an equal had been shattering. but the star men's thoughts and memories hadbeen winnowed at last and the result spread before this impromptu council. rovers andterrans were briefed on the invaders' master plan for taking over a world. why they desiredto do so even the dolphins had not been able to discover; perhaps they themselves had notbeen told by their superiors. it was a plan almost contemptuous in its simplicity,as if the galactic force had no reason to

fear effective opposition. except in one direction—onesingle direction. ross's fingers tightened on the shell cup.had torgul reached that conclusion yet, the belief that the foanna could be their key?if so, they might be able to achieve their separate purposes in one action. "it would seem that they are wary of the foanna,"he suggested, alert to any telltale response from torgul. but it was jazia who answeredthe terran's half question. "the foanna have a powerful magic; they canorder wind and wave, man and creature—if so be their will. well might these killersfear the foanna!" "yet now they move against them," ross pointedout, still eyeing torgul.

the captain's reply was a small, quiet smile. "not directly, as you have heard. it is alla part of their plan to set one of us against the other, letting us fight many small warsand so use up our men while they take no risks. they wait the day when we shall be exhaustedand then they will reveal themselves to claim all they wish. so today they stir up troublebetween the wreckers and the foanna, knowing that the foanna are few. also they strivein turn to anger us by raids, allowing us to believe that either the wreckers or foannahave attacked. thus—" he held up his left thumb, made a pincers of right thumb and forefingerto close upon it, "they hope to catch the foanna, between wreckers and rovers. becausethe foanna are those they reckon the most

dangerous they move against them now, usingus and weakening our forces into the bargain. a plan which is clever, but the plan of menwho do not like to fight with their own blades." "they are worse than the coast scum, thesecowards!" ongal spat. torgul smiled again. "that is what they believewe will say, kinsman, and so underrate them. by our customs, yes, they are cowards. butwhat care they for our judgments? did we think of the salkars when we used them to forcethe lagoon? no, they were only beasts to be our tools. so now it is the same with us,except that we know what they intend. and we shall not be such obedient tools. if thefoanna are our answer, then—" he paused, gazing into his cup as if he could read someshadowy future there.

"if the foanna are the answer, then what?"ross pushed. "instead of fighting the foanna, we must warm,cherish, try to ally ourselves with them. and do all that while we still have time!" "just how do we do these things?" demandedongal. "the foanna you would warn, cherish, claim as allies, are already our enemies.were we not on the way to force their sea gate only days ago? there is no chance ofseeking peace now. and have the finned ones not learned from the women-killers that alreadythere is an army of wreckers camped about the citadel to which these sons of the shadowplan to lend certain weapons? do we throw away three cruisers—all we have left—ina hopeless fight? such is the council of one

struck by loss of wits." "there is a way—my way," ross seized theopening. "in the foanna citadel is my sword-lord, to whose service i am vowed. we were on ourway to attempt his freeing when your ship picked us out of the waves. he is learnedbeyond me in the dealing with strange peoples, and if the foanna are as clever as you say,they will already have discovered that he is not just a slave they claimed from lordzahur." there it was in the open, his own somewhattattered hope that ashe had been able to impress his captors with his knowledge and potential.trained to act as contact man with other races, there was a chance that gordon had saved himselffrom whatever fate had been planned for the

prisoners the foanna had claimed. if thathappened, ashe could be their opening wedge in the foanna stronghold. "this also i know: that which guards the gate—whichturns your minds whirling and sent you back from your raid—does not affect me. i maybe able to win inside and find my clansman, and in that doing treat with the foanna." the baldy prisoners had not underestimatedthe attack on the foanna citadel. as the rover cruisers beat in under the cover of nightthe fires and torches of both besieged and besiegers made a wild glow across the sky.only on the sea side of the fortress there was no sign of involvement. whatever guardedthe gate must still be in force.

ross stood with his feet well apart to balancehis body against the swing of the deck. his suggestion had been argued over, protested,but at last carried with the support of torgul and jazia, and now he was to make his try.the sum of the rovers' and loketh's knowledge of the sea gate had been added for his benefit,but he knew that this venture must depend upon himself alone. karara, the dolphins,the hawaikans, were all too sensitive to the barrier. torgul moved in the faint light. "we are close;our power is ebbing. if we advance, we shall be drifting soon." "it is time then." ross crossed to the ropeladder, but another was there before him.

karara perched on the rail. he regarded herangrily. "you can't go." "i know. but we are still safe here. justbecause you are free of one defense of the gate, ross, do not believe that makes it easy." he was stung by her assumption that he couldbe so self-assured. "i know my business." ross pushed past her, swinging down the ropeladder, pausing only above water level to snap on flippers, make sure of the set ofhis weighted belt, and slide his gill-mask over his face. there was a splash beside himas the net containing spare belt, flippers,

and mask hit the water and he caught at it.these could provide ashe's escape from the fortress. the lights on the shore made a wide arc ofradiance across the sea. as ross headed toward the wave-washed coast he began to hear shoutingand other sounds which made him believe that the besiegers were in the midst of an all-outassault. yet those distant fires and rocketlike blasts into the sky had a wavery blur. andross, making his way with the effortless water cleaving of the diver, surfaced now and thento spot film curling up from the surface of the sea between the two standing rock pillarswhich marked the sea gate. he was startled by a thunderous crack, rendingthe air above the small bay. ross pulled to

one of the pillars, steadied himself withone hand against it. those twists of film rising from the surging surface were thickening.more tendrils grew out from parent stems to creep along above the waves, raising up sproutsand branches in turn. a wall of mist was building between gate and shore. again a thunderclap overhead. involuntarilythe terran ducked. then he turned his face up to the sky, striving to see any evidenceof storm. what hung there sped the growth of the fog on the water. yet where the fogwas gray-white, it was a darkness spouting from the highest point of the citadel. rosscould not explain how he was able to see one shade of darkness against equal dusk, buthe did—or did he only sense it? he shook

his head, willing himself to look away fromthe finger. only it was a finger no longer; now it was a fist aimed at the stars it wasfast blotting out. a fist rising to the heavens before it curled back, descended to pressthe fortress and its surroundings into rock and earth. fog curled about ross, spilled outward throughthe sea gates. he loosed his grip on the pillar and dived, swimming on through the gap withthe fortress of the foanna before him. there was a jetty somewhere ahead; that muchhe knew from torgul's description. those who served the foanna sometimes took sea roadsand they had slim, fast cutters for such coastwise travel. ross surfaced cautiously, to discoverthere was no visibility to wave level. here

the mist was thick, a smothering cover sobewildering he was confused as to direction. he ducked below again and flippered on. was his confusion born of the fog, or wasit also in his head? did he, after all, have this much reaction to the gate defense? rossducked that suspicion as he had ducked the moist blanket on the surface. he had comefrom the gate, which meant that the jetty must lie—there! a few moments later ross had proof that hissense of direction had not altogether failed him, when his shoulder grazed against a solidobstruction in the water and his exploring touch told him that he had found one of thejetty piles. he surfaced again and this time

he heard not a thunder roll but the singsongchanting of the foanna. it was loud, almost directly above his head,but since the cotton mist held he was not afraid of being sighted. the chanter mustbe on the jetty. and to ross's right was a dark bulk which he thought was one of thecutters. was a sortie by the besieged being planned? then, out of the night, came a dazzling beam,well above the level of ross's head where he clung to the piling. it centered on thecutter, slicing into the substance of the vessel with the ease of steel piercing clay.the chanting stopped on mid-note, broken by cries of surprise and alarm. ross, pressingagainst the pile, received a jolt from his

belt sonic. there must be a baldy sub in the basin insidethe gate. perhaps the flame beam now destroying the cutter was to be turned on the walls ofthe keep in turn. foanna chant again, low and clear. splashesfrom the water as those on the jetty cast into the sea objects ross could not define.the terran's body jerked, his mask smothered a cry of pain. about his legs and middle,immersed in the waves, there was cold so intense that it seared. fear goaded him to pull upon one of the under beams of the pier. he reached that refuge and rubbed his icy legswith what vigor he could summon. moments later he crept along toward the shore.the energy ray had found another target. ross

paused to watch a second cutter sliced. ifthe counter stroke of the foanna would rout the invaders, it had not yet begun to work. the net holding the extra gear brought alongin hopes of ashe's escape weighed the terran down, but he would not abandon it as he felthis way from one foot- and hand-hold to the next. the waves below gave off an icy exudationwhich made him shiver uncontrollably. and he knew that as long as that effect lastedhe dared not venture into the sea again. light ... along with the cold, there was aphosphorescence on the water—white patches floating, dipping, riding the waves. someof them gathered under the pier, clustering about the pilings. and the fog thinned withtheir coming, as if those irregular blotches

absorbed and fed upon the mist. the terrancould see now he had reached the land end of the jetty. he wedged his flippers intohis belt, pulled on over his feet the covers of salkar-hide torgul had provided. save for his belt, his trunks, and the gill-pack,ross's body was bare and the cold caught at him. but, slinging the carry net over hisshoulder, he dropped to the damp sand and stood listening. the clamor of the attack which had carriedall the way offshore to the rover cruisers had died away. and there were no more clapsof thunder. instead, there was now a thick wash of rain.

no more fire rays as he faced seaward. andthe fog was lifting, so ross could distinguish the settling cutters, their bows still mooredto the jetty. there was no movement there. had those on the pier fled? dot ... dash ... dot ... ross did not drop the net. but he crouchedback in the half protection of the piling. for a moment which stretched beyond terrantime measure he froze so, waiting. not the prickle induced by the enemy installations,it was a real coded call picked up by his sonic, and one he knew. don't rush, he told himself sharply—playit safe. by rights only two people in this

time and place would know that call. and onewould have no reason to use it. but—a trap? this could be a trap. awe of the foanna powershad touched him a little in spite of his off-world skepticism. he could be lured now by someoneusing ashe's call. ross stripped for action after a fashion,bundling the net and its contents into a hollow he scooped behind a pile well above waterlevel. the alien hand weapon he had left with karara, not trusting it to the sea. but hehad his diver's knife and his two hands which, by training, could be, and had been, deadlyweapons. with the sonic against the bare skin of hismiddle where it would register strongest, knife in hand, ross moved into the open. thefloating patches did not supply much light,

but he was certain the call had come fromthe jetty. there was movement there—a flash or two.and the sonic? ross had to be sure, very sure. the broadcast was certainly stronger whenhe faced in that direction. dared he come into the open? perhaps in the dark he couldcut ashe away from his captors so they could swim for it together. ross clicked a code reply. dot ... dot ... dot... the answer was quick, imperative: "where?" surely no one but ashe could have sent that!ross did not hesitate. "be ready—escape."

"no!" even more imperative. "friends here...." had he guessed rightly? had ashe establishedfriendly relations with the foanna? but ross kept to the caution which had been his defenseand armor so long. there was one question he thought only ashe could answer, somethingout of the past they had shared when they had made their first journey into time disguisedas beaker traders of the bronze age. deliberately he tapped that question. "what did we kill in britain?" tensely he waited. but when the reply cameit did not pulse from the sonic under his fingers; instead, a well-remembered voicecalled out of the night.

"a white wolf." and the words were terranenglish. "ashe!" ross leaped forward, climbed towardthe figure he could only dimly see. chapter 14 - the foanna "ross!" ashe's hands gripped his shouldersas if never intending to free him again. "then you did come through—" ross understood. gordon ashe must have fearedthat he was the only one swept through the time door by that freak chance. "and karara and the dolphins!" "here—now?" in this black bowl of the citadelbay ashe was only a shadow with voice and

hands. "no, out with the rover cruisers. ashe, doyou know the baldies are on hawaika? they've organized this whole thing—the attack here—troubleall over. right now they have one of their subs out there. that's what cut those cuttersto pieces. five days ago five of them wiped out a whole rover fairing, just five of them!" "gordoon." unlike the hissing speech of thehawaikans, this new voice made a singing, lilting call of ashe's name. "this is yourswordsman in truth?" another shadow drew near them, and ross saw the flutter of cloak edge. "this is my friend." there was a tone of correctionin ashe's reply. "ross, this is the guardian

of the sea gate." "and you come," the foanna continued, "withthose who gather to feast at the shadow's table. but your rovers will find little lootto their liking—" "no." ross hesitated. how did one addressthe foanna? he had claimed equality with torgul. but that approach was not the proper one here;instinct told him that. he fell back on the complete truth uttered simply. "we took threeof the baldy killers. from them we learned they move to wipe out the foanna first. foryou," he addressed himself to the cloaked shape, "they believe to be a threat. we heardthat they urged the wreckers to this attack and so—"

"and so the rovers come, but not to loot?then they are something new among their kind." the foanna's reply was as chill as the seabay's water. "loot does not summon men who want a bloodprice for their dead kin!" ross retorted. "no, and the rovers are believers in the balanceof hurt against hurt," the foanna conceded. "do they also believe in the balance of aidagainst aid? now that is a thought upon which depends much. gordoon, it would seem thatwe may not take to our ships. so let us return to council." ashe's hand was on ross's arm guiding himthrough the murk. though the fog which had choked the bay had vanished, thick darknessremained and ross noted that even the fires

and flares were dimmed and fewer. then theywere in a passage where a very faint light clung to the walls. robed foanna, three of them, moved ahead withthat particular gliding progress. then ashe and ross, and bringing up the rear, a dozenof the mailed guards. the passageway became a ramp. ross glanced at ashe. like the foanna,the terran agent wore a cloak of gray, but his did not shift color from time to timeas did those of the hawaikan enigmas. and now gordon shoved back its folds, revealingsupple body armor. questions gathered in ross. he wanted to know—neededdesperately to know—ashe's standing with the foanna. what had happened to raise gordonfrom the status of captive in zahur's hold

to familiar companionship with the most dreadedrace on this planet? the ramp's head faced blank wall with a sharp-angledturn to the right of a narrower passage. one of the foanna made a slight sign to the guards,who turned with drilled precision to march off along the passage. now the other foannaheld out their wands. what a moment earlier had been unbroken surfaceshowed an opening. the change had been so instantaneous that ross had not seen any movementat all. beyond that door they passed from one worldto another. ross's senses, already acutely alert to his surroundings, could not supplyhim with any reason by sight, sound, or smell for his firm conviction that this hold wasalien as neither the wrecker castle nor the

rover ships had been. surely the foanna werenot the same race, perhaps not even the same species as the other native hawaikans. those robes which he had seen both silvergray and dark blue, now faded, pearled, thinned, until each of the three still gliding beforehim were opalescent columns without definite form. ashe's grasp fell on ross's arm once more,and his whisper reached the younger man thinly. "they are mistresses of illusion. be preparednot to believe all that you see." mistresses—ross caught that first. women,or at least female then. illusion, yes, already he was convinced that here his eyes couldplay tricks on him. he could hardly determine

what was robe, what was wall, or if more thanshades of shades swept before him. another blank wall, then an opening, and flowingthrough it to touch him such a wave of alienness that ross felt he was buffeted by a stormwind. yet as he hesitated before it, reluctant in spite of ashe's hold to go ahead, he alsoknew that this did not carry with it the cold hostility he had known while facing the baldies.alien—yes. inimical to his kind—no. "you are right, younger brother." spoken those words—or forming in his mind? ross was in a place which was sheer wonder.under his feet dark blue—the blue of a terran sky at dusk—caught up in it twinkling pointsof light as if he strode, not equal with stars,

but above them! walls—were there any wallshere? or shifting, swaying blue curtains on which silvery lines ran to form symbols andwords which some bemused part of his brain almost understood, but not quite. constant motion, no quiet, until he came toa place where those swaying curtains were stilled, where he no longer strode above thesky but on soft surface, a mat of gray living sod where his steps released a spicy fragrance.and there he really saw the foanna for the first time. where had their cloaks gone? had they tossedthem away during that walk or drift across this amazing room, or had the substance whichhad formed those coverings flowed away by

itself? as ross looked at the three in wonderhe knew that he was seeing them as not even their servants and guards ever viewed them.and yet was he seeing them as they really were or as they wished him to see them? "as we are, younger brother, as we are!" againan answer which ross was not sure was thought or speech. in form they were humanoid, and they wereundoubtedly women. the muffling cloaks gone, they wore sleeveless garments of silver whichwere girded at the waist with belts of blue gems. only in their hair and their eyes didthey betray alien blood. for the hair which flowed and wove about them, cascading downshoulders, rippling about their arms, was

silver, too, and it swirled, moved as if ithad a separate life of its own. while their eyes.... ross looked into those golden eyesand was lost for seconds until panic awoke in him, forcing him after sharp struggle tolook away. laughter? no, he had not heard laughter. buta sense of amusement tinged with respect came to him. "you are very right, gordoon. this one isalso of your kind. he is not witches' meat." ross caught the distaste, the kind of hauntingunhappiness which colored those words, remnants of an old hurt. "these are the foanna," ashe's voice brokemore of the spell. "the lady ynlan, the lady

yngram, the lady ynvalda." the foanna—these three only? she whom ashe had named ynlan, whose eyeshad entrapped and almost held what was ross murdock, made a small gesture with her ivoryhand. and in that gesture as well as in the words witches' meat the terran read the unhappinesswhich was as much a part of this room as the rest of its mystery. "the foanna are now but three. they have beenonly three for many weary years, oh man from another world and time. and soon, if theseenemies have their way, they will not be three—but none!"

"but—" ross was still startled. he knewfrom loketh that the wreckers had deemed the foanna few in number, an old and dying race.but that there were only three women left was hard to believe. the response to his unspoken wonder came clearand determined. "we may be but three; however, our power remains. and sometimes power distilledby time becomes the stronger. now it would seem that time is no longer our servant butperhaps among our enemies. so tell us this tale of yours as to why the rovers would makeone with the foanna—tell us all, younger brother!" ross reported what he had seen, what tino-rauand taua had learned from the prisoners taken

at kyn add. and when he had finished, thethree foanna stood very still, their hands clasped one to the other. though they wereonly an arm's distance from him, ross had the feeling they had withdrawn from his timeand world. so complete was their withdrawal that he daredto ask ashe one of the many questions which had been boiling inside him. "who are they?" but ross knew he really meant:what are they? gordon ashe shook his head. "i don't reallyknow—the last of a very old race which possesses powers and knowledge different from any wehave believed in for centuries. we have heard of witches. in the modern day we discountthe legends about them. the foanna bring those

legends alive. and i promise you this—ifthey turn those powers loose"—he paused—"it will be such a war as this world, perhapsany world has never seen!" "that is so." the foanna had returned fromthe place to which they had withdrawn. "and this is also the truth or one face of thetruth. the rovers are right in their belief that we have kept some measure of balancebetween one form of change and another on this world. if we were as many as we oncewere, then against us these invaders could not move at all. but we are three only andalso—do we have the right to evoke disaster which will strike not only the enemy but perhapsrecoil upon the innocent? there has been enough death here already. and those who are ourservants shall no longer be asked to face

battle to keep an empty shell inviolate. wewould see with our own eyes these invaders, probe what they would do. there is ever changein life, and if a pattern grows too set, then the race caught in it may wither and die.maybe our pattern has been too long in its old design. we shall make no decision untilwe see in whose hands the future may rest." against such finality of argument there wasno appeal. these could not be influenced by words. "gordoon, there is much to be done. do youtake with you this younger brother and see to his needs. when all is in readiness weshall come." one minute ross had been standing on the carpetof living moss. then ... he was in a more

normal room with four walls, a floor, a ceiling,and light which came from rods set in the corners. he gasped. "stunned me, too, the first time they putme through it," he heard ashe say. "here, get some of this inside you, it'll steadyyour head." there was a cup in his hand, a beautifullycarved, rose-red container shaped in the form of a flower. somehow ross brought it to hislips with shaking hands, gulped down a good third of its contents. the liquid was a mixtureof tart and sweet, cooling his mouth and throat, but warming as it went down, and that glowspread through him. "what—how did they do that?" he demanded.

ashe shrugged. "how do they do the hundredand one things i have seen happen here? we've been teleported. how it's done i don't knowany more than i did the first time it happened. simply a part of foanna 'magic' as far asspectators are concerned." he sat down on a stool, his long legs stretched out beforehim. "other worlds, other ways—even if they are confounded queer ones. as far as i know,there's no reason for their power to work, but it does. now, have you seen the time gate?is it in working order?" ross put down the now empty cup and sat downopposite ashe. as concisely as he could, he outlined the situation with a quick rã©sumã©of all that had happened to him, karara, and the dolphins since they had been sucked throughthe gate. ashe asked no questions, but his

expression was that of the agent ross hadknown, evaluating and listing all the younger man had to report. when the other was throughhe said only two words: "no return." so much had happened in so short a time thatross's initial shock at the destruction of the gate had faded, been well overlaid byall the demands made upon his resources, skill, and strength. even now, the fact ashe voicedseemed of little consequence balanced against the struggle in progress. "ashe—" ross rubbed his hands up and downhis arms, brushing away grains of sand, "remember those pylons with the empty seacoast behindthem? does that mean the baldies are going

to win?" "i don't know. no one has ever tried to changethe course of history. maybe it is impossible even if we dared to try." ashe was on hisfeet again, pacing back and forth. "try what, gordoon?" ross jerked around, ashe halted. one of thefoanna stood there, her hair playing about her shoulders as if some breeze felt onlyby her stirred those long strands. "dare to try and change the course of thefuture," ashe explained, accepting her materialization with the calm of one who had witnessed itbefore. "ah, yes, your traveling in time. and nowyou think that perhaps this poor world of

ours has a choice as to which overlords itwill welcome? i do not know either, gordoon, whether the future may be altered nor if itbe wise to try. but also ... well, perhaps we should see our enemy before we are setin any path. now, it is time that we go. younger brother, how did you plan to leave this placewhen you accomplished your mission?" "by the sea gate. i have extra swimming equipmentcached under the jetty." "and the rover ships await you at sea?" "yes." "then we shall take your way, since the cuttersare sunk." "there is only one extra gill-pack—and thatbaldy sub is out there, too!"

"so? then we shall try another road, thoughit will sap our power temporarily." her head inclined slightly to the left as if she listened."good! our people are now in the passage which will take them to safety. what those outsidewill find here when they break in will be of little aid to their plans. secrets of thefoanna remain secrets past others' prying. though they shall try, oh, how they shalltry to solve them! there is knowledge that only certain types of minds can hold and use,and to others it remains for all time unlearnable. now—" her hand reached out, flattened against ross'sforehead. "think of your rover ship, younger brother,see it in your mind! and see well and clearly

for me." torgul's cruiser was there; he could picturewith details he had not thought he knew or remembered. the deck in the dark of the nightwith only a shaded light at the mast. the deck ... ross gave a choked cry. he did not see thisin his mind; he saw it with his eyes! his hand swung out in an involuntary gesture ofrepudiation and struck painfully against wood. he was on the cruiser! a startled exclamation from behind him—thena shout. ashe was here and beyond him three cloaked figures, the foanna. they had theirown road indeed and had taken it.

"you ... rosss—" vistur fronted them, hisface a mixture of bewilderment and awe. "the foanna—" said in a half whisper, echoedby crewmen gathering around, but not too close. "gordon!" karara elbowed her way between twoof the hawaikans and ran across the deck. she caught the agent's both hands as if toassure herself that he was alive and there before her. then she turned to the three foanna. there was an odd expression on the polynesiangirl's face, first of measurement with some fear, and then of dawning wonder. from beneaththe cloak of the middle foanna came the rod of office with its sparking knob. karara droppedashe's hands, took a tentative step forward and then another. the knob was directly beforeher, breast high. she brought up both hands,

cupping them about the knob, but not touchingit directly. the sparks it emitted could have been flashing against her flesh, but kararadisplayed no awareness of that. instead, she lifted both hands farther, palm up and cupped,as if she carried some invisible bounty, then flattened them, loosing what she held. there was a sigh from the crewmen; karara'sgesture had been confident, as if she knew just what she was doing and why. and rossheard ashe draw a deep breath also as the terran girl turned, allying herself with thefoanna. "these great ones stand in peace," she said."it is their will that no harm comes to this ship and those who sail in her."

"what do the great ones want of us?" torguladvanced but not too near. "to speak concerning those who are your prisoners." "so be it." the captain bowed. "the greatones' will is our will; let it be as they wish." chapter 15 - return to the battle ross lay listening to the even breathing fromacross the cabin. he had awakened in that quick transference from sleep to consciousnesswhich was always his when on duty, but he made no attempt to move. ashe was still sleeping. ashe, whom he thought or had thought he knewas well as one man could ever know another,

who had taken the place of family for rossmurdock the loner. years—two ... four of them now since he had made half of that partnership. his head turned, though he could not see thatlean body, that quiet, controlled face. ashe still looked the same, but ... ross's senseof loss was hurt and anger mingled. what had they done to gordon, those three? bewitched?tales terrans had accepted as purest fantasy for centuries came into his mind. could itbe that his own world once had its foanna? ross scowled. you couldn't refute their "magic,"call it by what scientific name you wished—hypnotism ... telaporting. they got results, and theresults were impressive. now he remembered the warning the foanna themselves had deliveredhours earlier to the rovers. there were limits

to their abilities; because they were forcedto draw on mental and physical energy, they could be exhausted. thus, they had barriers,too. again ross considered the subject of barriers.karara had been able to meet the aliens, if not mind-to-mind, then in a closer way eventhan ashe. the talent which tied her to the dolphins had in turn been a bond with thefoanna. ashe and karara could enter that circle, but not ross murdock. along with his new separationfrom ashe came that feeling of inferiority to bite on, and the taste was sour. "this isn't going to be easy." so ashe was awake.

"what can they do?" ross asked in return. "i don't know. i don't believe that they cantelaport an army into baldy headquarters the way torgul expects. and it wouldn't do suchan army much good to get there and then be outclassed by the weapons the baldies mighthave," ashe said. ross had a moment of warmth and comfort; heknew that tone of old. ashe was studying the problem, willing to talk out difficultiesas he always had before. "no, outright assault isn't the answer. we'llhave to know more about the enemy. one thing puzzles me: why have the baldies suddenlystepped up their timing?" "what makes you think they have?"

"well, according to the accounts i've heard,it's been about three or four planet years here since some off-world devices have beeninfiltrating the native civilization—" "you mean such things as those attractorsset up on the reef at zahur's castle?" ross remembered loketh's story. "those, and other things. the refinementsadded to the engine power on these ships.... torgul said they spread from rover fleet tofleet; no one's sure where they started. the baldies began slowly, but they are speedingup now—those fairing attacks have all been recent. and this assault on the foanna citadelblew up almost overnight on a flimsy excuse. why the quick push after the slow beginning?"

"maybe they decided the natives are easy pushoversand they no longer have to worry about any real opposition," ross suggested. "could be. self-confidence becoming arrogancewhen they didn't uncover any opponent strong enough to matter. or else, they may be spurredby some need with a time limit. if we knew the reason for those pylons, we might guesstheir motives." "are you going to try to change the future?" "that sounds arrogant, too. can we if we wishto? we never dared to try it on terra. and the risk may be worse than all our fears.also, the choice is not ours." "there's one thing i don't understand," rosssaid. "why did the foanna walk out of the

citadel and leave it undefended for theirenemies? what about their guards? did they just leave them too?" he was willing to makethe most of any flaw in the aliens' character. "most of their people had already escapedthrough underground ways. the rest left when they knew the cutters had been sunk," ashereturned. "as to why they deserted the citadel, i don't know. the decision was theirs." there—up with the barrier between them again.but ross refused to accept the cutoff this time, determined to pull ashe back into thefamiliar world of the here and now. "that keep could be a trap, about the beston this planet!" the idea was more than just a gambit to attract ashe's attention, it wastrue! a perfect trap to catch baldies.

"don't you see," ross sat up, slapped hisfeet down on the deck as he leaned forward eagerly. "don't you see ... if the baldiesknow anything at all about the foanna, and i'm betting they do and want to learn allthey can, they'll visit the citadel. they won't want to depend on second- and third-handreports of the place, especially ones delivered by primitives such as the wreckers. they hada sub there. i'll bet the crew are in picking over the loot right now!" "if that's what they're hunting"—there wasamusement in ashe's tone—"they won't find much. the foanna have better locks than theirenemies have keys. you heard ynlan before we left—any secrets left will remain secrets."

"but there's bait—bait for a trap!" arguedross. "you're right!" to the younger man's joy ashe'senthusiasm was plain. "and if the baldies could be led to believe that what they wantedwas obtainable with just a little more effort, or the right tools—" "the trap could net bigger catch than justunderlings!" ross's thought matched ashe's. "why, it might even pull in the vip directingthe whole operation! how can we set it up, and do we have time?" "the trap would have to be of foanna setting;our part would come after it was sprung." ashe was thoughtful again. "but it is theonly move which we can make at present with

any hope of success. and it will only workif the foanna are willing." "have to be done quickly," ross pointed out. "yes, i'll see." ashe was a dark figure againstthe thin light of the companionway as he slid back the cabin door. "if ynvalda agrees...."as he went out ross was right behind him. the foanna had been given, by their own choice,quarters on the bow deck of the cruiser where sailcloth had been used to form a tent. notthat any of the awe-stricken rovers would venture too near them. ashe reached for theflap of the fabric and a lilting voice called: "you seek us, gordoon?" "this is important."

"yes, it is important, for the thought whichbrings you both has merit. enter then, brothers!" the flap was looped aside and before themwas a swirling of mist? ... light? ... sheets of pale color? ross could not have describedwhat he saw—save if the foanna were there, he could not distinguish them from the ripplingof their hair, the melting film of their robes. "so, younger brother, you think that whichwas our home and our treasure box has now become a trap for the confounding of thosewho believe we are a threat to them?" somehow ross was not surprised that they knewabout his idea before he had said a word, before ashe had given any explanations. theiromniscience was only a small portion of their other talents.

"and why do you believe so? we swear to youthat the coast folk can not be driven into those parts of the castle which mean the most,any more than our sea gate can be breached unless we will it so." "yet i swam through the sea gate, and thesub was there also." ross knew again a flash of—was it pleasure?—at being able to statethis fact. there were chinks in the foanna defenses. "again the truth. you have that within you,young brother, which is both a lack and a shield. true also that this underseas shipentered after you. perhaps it has a shield as part of it; perhaps those from the starshave their own protection. but they can not

reach the heart of what they wish, not unlesswe open the doors for them. it is your belief, younger brother, that they still strive toforce such doors?" "yes. knowing there is something to be learned,they will try for it. they will not dare not to." ross was very certain on that point.his encounters with the baldies had not led to any real understanding. but the way theyhad wiped out the line of russian time stations made him sure that they dealt thoroughly withany situation they considered a threat. from the prisoners taken at kyn add they hadlearned the invaders believed the foanna their enemies here, even though the old ones hadnot repulsed them or their activities. therefore, it followed that, having taken the stronghold,the baldies would endeavor to rip open every

one of its secrets. "a trap with good bait—" ross wondered which one of the foanna saidthat. to see nothing but the swirls of mist-color, listen to disembodied voices from it, wasdisconcerting. part of the stage dressing, he decided, for building their prestige withthe other races with whom they dealt. three women alone would have to buttress their authoritywith such trappings. "ah, younger brother, indeed you are beginningto understand us!" laughter, soft, but unmistakable. ross frowned. he did not feel the touch-go-touchof mental communication which the dolphins used. but he did not doubt that the foannaread his thoughts, or at least a few of them.

"some of them," echoed from the mist. "notall—not as your older brother's or the maiden whose mind meets with ours. with you, youngerbrother, it is a thought here, a thought there, and only our intuition to connect them intoa pattern. but now, there is serious planning to be done. and, knowing this enemy, you believethey will come to search for what they can not find. so you would set a trap. but theyhave weapons beyond your weapons, have they not, younger brother? brave as are these roverkind, they can not use swords against flame, their hands against a killer who may standapart and slay. what remains, gordoon? what remains in our favor?" "you have your weapons, too," ashe answered.

"yes, we have our weapons, but long have theybeen used only in one pattern, and they are atuned to another race. did our defenses holdagainst you, gordoon, when you strove to prove that you were as you claimed to be? and didanother repulse younger brother when he dared the sea gate? so can we trust them in turnagainst these other strangers with different brains? only at the testing shall we know,and in such learning perhaps we shall also be forced to eat the sourness of defeat. torisk all may be to lose all." "that may be true," ashe assented. "you mean the sight you have had into ourfuture says that this happens? yes, to stake all and to lose—not only for ourselves,but for all others here—that is a weighty

decision to make, gordoon. but the trap promises.let us think on it for a space. do you also consult with the rovers if they wish to takepart in what may be desperate folly." torgul paced the afterdeck, well away fromthe tent which sheltered the foanna, but with his eyes turning to it as ross explained whatmight be a good attack. "those women-killers would have no fear offoanna magic, rather would they come to seek it out? it would be a chance to catch leadersin a trap?" "you have heard what the prisoners said orthought. yes, they would seek out such knowledge and we would have this chance to capture them—" "with what?" torgul demanded. "i am not ongalto argue that it is better to die in pursuit

of blood payment than to take an enemy orenemies with me! what chance have we against their powers?" "ask that of them!" ross nodded toward thestill silent tent. even as he spoke the three cloaked foannaemerged, pacing down to mid-ship where torgul and his lieutenants, ross and ashe came tomeet them. "we have thought on this." the lilting halfchant which the foanna used for ordinary communication was a song in the dawn wind. "it was in ourminds to retreat, to wait out this troubling of the land, since we are few and that whichwe hold within us is worth the guarding. but now, what profit such guardianship when theremay be none to whom we may pass it after us?

and if you have seen the truth, elder brother"—thecowled heads swung to ashe—"then there may be no future for any of us. but still thereare our limitations. rover," now they spoke directly to torgul, "we can not put your menwithin the citadel by desiring—not without certain aids which lie sealed there now. no,we, ourselves, must win inside bodily and then ... then, perhaps, we can pull tightthe lines of our net!" "to run a cruiser through the gate—" torgulbegan. "no, not a ship, captain. a handful of warriorsin the water can risk the gate, but not a ship." ashe broke in, "how many gill-packs do wehave?"

ross counted hurriedly. "i left one cachedashore. but there's mine and karara's and loketh's—also two more—" "to pass the gates," that was the foanna,"we ourselves shall not need your underwater aids." "you," ross said to ashe, "and i with karara'spack——" "for karara!" both the terrans looked around. the polynesiangirl stood close to the foanna, smiling faintly. "this venture is mine also," she spoke withconviction. "as it is tino-rau's and taua's. is that not so, daughters of the alii of thisworld?"

"yes, sea maid. there are weapons of manysorts, and not all of them fit into a warrior's hand or can be swung with the force of a man'sarm and shoulder. yes, this venture is yours, also, sister." ross's protests bubbled unspoken; he had toaccept the finality of the foanna decree. it seemed now that the make-up of their taskforce depended upon the whims of the three rather than the experience of those trainedto such risks. and ashe was apparently willing to accept their leadership. so it was an odd company that took to thewater just as dawn colored the sky. loketh had clung fiercely to his pack, insisted thathe be one of the swimmers, and the foanna

accepted him as well. ross and ashe, loketh,and baleku, a young under-officer of ongal's, accorded the best swimmer of the fleet, kararaand the dolphins. and with them those three others, shapes sliding smoothly through thewater, as difficult to define in this new element as they had been in their tent. beforethem frisked the dolphins. tino-rau and taua played about the foanna in an ecstatic joyand when all were in the sea they shot off shoreward. that sub within the sea gate, had it unleashedthe same lethal broadcast as the one at kyn add? but the dolphins could give warning ifthat were so. ross swam easily, ashe next, loketh on hisleft, baleku a little behind and karara to

the fore as if in vain pursuit of the dolphins—thefoanna well to the left. a queer invasion party, even queerer when one totaled up theodds which might lie ahead. there was no mist or storm this morning tohide the headlands where the foanna citadel stood. and the promontories of the sea gatewere starkly clear in the growing light. the same drive which always was a part of rosswhen he was committed to action sustained him now, though he was visited by a smallprick of doubt when he thought that the leadership did not lie with ashe but with the foanna. no warning of any trouble ahead as they passedbetween the mighty, sea-sunk bases of the gate pillars. ross depended upon his sonic,but there was no adverse report from the sensitive

recorder. the terrible chill of the waterduring the night attack had been dissipated, but here and there dead sea things floated,being torn and devoured by hunters of the waves. they were well past the pillars when rosswas aware that loketh had changed place in the line, spurting ahead. after him went baleku.they caught up with karara, flashed past her. ross looked to ashe, on to the foanna, butsaw nothing to explain the action of the two hawaikans. then his sonic beat out a signalfrom ashe. "danger ... follow the foanna ... left." karara had already changed course to headin that direction. ahead of her he could see

loketh and baleku both still bound for themid-point of the shore where the jetty and the sunken cutters were. ashe passed beforehim, and ross reluctantly followed orders. a shelf of rock reached out from the cliffwall, under it a dark opening. the foanna sought this without hesitation, ashe, karara,and ross following. moments later they were out of the water where footing sloped backand up. below them tino-rau and taua nosed the rise, their heads lifting out of the wateras they "spoke." and karara hastened to reply. "loketh ... baleku ..." ross began when hecaught a mental stroke of anger so deadly that it was a chill lance into his brain.he faced the foanna, startled and a little frightened.

"they will not come—now." a knob-crownedwand stretched out in the air, pointing to the upper reaches of the slope. "nor can anyof their blood—unless we win." "what is wrong?" ashe asked. "you were right, very right, men out of time!these invaders are not to be lightly dismissed. they have turned one of our own defenses againstus. loketh, baleku, all of their kind, can be made into tools for a master. they belongto the enemy now." "and we have failed so early?" karara wantedto know. again that piercing thrust of anger so vividthat it was no mere emotion but seemed a tangible force.

"failed? no, not yet have we even begun tofight! you were very right; this is such an evil as must be faced and fought, even ifwe lose all in battle! now we must do that which none of our own race has done for generations—wemust open three locks, throw wide the great door, and seek out the keeper of the closedknowledge!" light, a sharp ray sighting from the tip ofthe wand. and the foanna following that beam, the three terrans coming after ... into theunknown. chapter 16 - the opening of the great door it was not the general airlessness of thelong-closed passage which wore on ross's nerves, made karara suddenly reach out and clasp fingersabout the wrists of the two men she walked

between; it was a crushing sensation of age,of a toll of years so long, so heavy, as to make time itself into a turgid flood whichtugged at their bodies, mired their feet as they trudged after the foanna. this senseof age, of a dead and heavy past, was so stifling that all three terrans breathed in gasps. karara's breaths became sobs. yet she matchedher pace to ashe and ross, kept going. ross himself had little idea of their surroundings,but one small portion of his brain asked answerless questions. the foremost being: why did thepast crush in on him here? he had traveled time, but never before had he been beatenwith the feel of countless dead and dying years.

"going back—" that hoarse whisper came fromashe, and ross thought he understood. "a time gate!" he was eager to accept suchan explanation. time gates he could understand, but that the foanna used one.... "not our kind," ashe replied. but his words had pulled ross out of a spellwhich had been as quicksand about him. and he began to fight back with a determinationnot to be sucked into what filled this place. in spite of ross's efforts, his eyes couldsupply him with no definite impression of where they were. the ramp had led them outof the sea, but where they walked now, linked hand to hand, ross could not say. he couldsee the glimmer of the foanna; turning his

head he could see his companions as shadows,but all beyond that was utter dark. "ahhhh—" karara's sobs gave way to a whisperwhich was half moan. "this is a way of gods, old gods, gods who never dealt with men! itis not well to walk the road of the gods!" her fear lapped to ross. he faced that emotionas he had faced so many different kinds of fear all his life. sure, he felt that pressureon him, not the pressure of past centuries now—but a power beyond his ability to describe. "not our gods!" ross put his stubborn defianceinto words, more as a shield against his own wavering. "no power where there is no belief!"from what half-forgotten bit of reading had he dredged that knowledge? "no being withoutbelief!" he repeated.

to his vast amazement he heard ashe laugh,though the sound bordered on hysteria. "no belief, no power," the older man replied."you've speared the right fish, ross! no gods of ours dwell here, karara, and whatever goddoes has no rights over us. hold to that, girl, hold tight!""ah, ye forty thousand gods, ye gods of sea, of sky, of woods, of mountains, of valleys,ye assemblies of gods, ye elder brothers of the gods that are, ye gods that once were,ye that whisper. ye that watch by night, ye that show your gleaming eyes, come down, awake,stir, walk this road, walk this road!" she was singing, first softly and then morestrongly, the liquid words of her own tongue repeated in english as if what she stroveto call she would share with her companions.

now there was triumph in her singing and rossfound himself echoing her, "walk this road!" as a demand. it was still there, all of it, the crushingweight of the past, and that which brooded within that past, which had reached out forthem, to possess or to alter. only they were free of that reaching now. and they couldsee too! the fuzzy darkness was lighter and there were normal walls about them. ross putout his free hand and rubbed finger tips along rough stone. once more their senses were assaulted by astealthy attack from beyond the bounds of space and time as the walls fell away andthey came out into a wide space whose boundaries

they could not see. here that which broodedwas strong, a mighty weight poised aloft to strike them down. "come down, awake, stir...." karara's pleadingsank again to a whisper, her voice sounded hoarse as if her mouth were dry, her wordsformed by a shrunken tongue, issued from a parched throat. light spreading in channels along the floor,making a fiery pattern—patterns within patterns, intricate designs within designs. ross jerkedhis eyes away from those patterns. to study them was danger, he knew without being warned.karara's nails bit into his flesh and he welcomed that pain; it kept him alert, conscious ofwhat was ross murdock, holding him safely

apart from something greater than he, butentirely alien. the designs and patterns were lines on a pavement.and now the three foanna, swaying as if yielding to unseen winds, began to follow those patternswith small dancing steps. but the terrans remained where they were, holding to one anotherfor the sustaining strength their contact offered. back, forth, the foanna danced—and oncemore their cloaks vanished or were discarded, so their silver-bright figures advanced, retreated,weaving a way from one arabesque to another. first about the outer rim and then in, byspirals and circles. no light except the crimson glowing rivulets on the floor, the silverbodies of the foanna moving back and forth,

in and out. then, suddenly, the three dancers halted,huddled together in an open space between the designs. and ross was startled by theimpression of confusion, doubt, almost despair wafted from them to the terrans. back acrossthe patterned floor they came, their hands clasped even as the terrans stood together,and now they fronted the three out of time. "too few ... we are too few...." she who wasthe mid one of the trio said. "we can not open the great door." "how many do you need?" karara's voice wasno longer parched, frightened. she might have traveled through fear to a new serenity.

why did he think that, ross wondered fleetingly.was it because he, too, had had the same release? the polynesian girl loosed her grip on hercompanions' hands, taking a step closer to the foanna. "three can be four—" "or five." ashe moved up beside her. "if wesuit your purpose." was gordon ashe crazy? or had he fallen victimto whatever filled this place? yet it was ashe's voice, sane, serene, as ross had alwaysheard it. the younger agent wet his lips; it was his turn to have a dry mouth. thiswas not his game; it could not be. yet he summoned voice enough to add in turn:

"six—" when it came the foanna answer was a warning: "to aid us you must cast aside your shields,allow your identities to become one with our forces. having done so, it may be that youshall never be as you are now but changed." "changed...." the word echoed, perhaps not in the placewhere they stood, but in ross's head. this was a risk such as he had never taken before.his chances in the past had been matters of action where his own strength and wits werematched against the problem. here, he would open a door to forces he and his kind shouldnot meet—expose himself to danger such as

did not exist on the plane where weapons andstrength of arm could decide victory or defeat. and this was not really his fight at all.what did it matter to terrans ten thousand years or so in the future what happened tohawaikans in this past? he was a fool; they were all fools to become embroiled in this.the baldies and their stellar empire—if that ever had existed as the terrans surmised—waslong gone before his breed entered space. "if you accomplish this with our aid," saidashe, "will you be able to defeat the invaders?" again a lengthening moment of silence beforethe foanna replied: "we can not tell. we only know that thereis a force laid up here, set behind certain gates in the far past, upon which we may callfor some supreme effort. but this much we

also know: the evil of the shadow reachesout from here now, and where that darkness falls men will no longer be men but thingsin the guise of men who obey and follow as mindless creatures. as yet this shadow ofthe shadow is a small one. but it will spread, for that is the nature of those who have spawnedit. they have chanced upon and corrupted a thing we know. such power feeds upon the willto power. having turned it to their bidding, they will not be able to resist using it,for it is so easy to do and the results exult the nature of those who employ it. "you have said that you and those like youwho travel the time trails fear to change the past. here the first steps have been takento alter the future, but unless we complete

the defense it will be ill for all of us." "and this is your only weapon?" ashe askedonce more. "the only one strong enough to stand againstthat which is now unleashed." in the pavement the fiery lines were brightand glowing. even when ross shut his eyes, parts of those designs were still visibleagainst his eyelids. "we don't know how." he made a last feebleprotest on the side of prudence. "we couldn't move as you did." "apart, no—together, yes." the silvery figures were once more swaying,the mist which was their hair flowing about

them. karara's hands went out, and the slenderfingers of one of the foanna lifted, closed about firm, brown terran flesh. ashe was doingthe same! ross thought he cried out, but he could notbe sure, as he watched karara's head begin to sway in concert with her foanna partner,her black hair springing out from her shoulders to rival the rippling strands of the alien's.ashe was consciously matching steps with the companion who also drew him along a flowingline of fire. in this last instant ross realized the timefor retreat was past—there was no place left to go. his hands went out, though hehad to force that invitation because in him there was a shrinking horror of this surrender.but he could not let the others go without

him. the foanna's touch was cool, and yet it seemedthat flesh met his flesh, fingers as normal as his met fingers in that grasp. and whenthat hold was complete he gave a small gasp. for his horror was wiped away; he knew inits place a burst of energy which could be disciplined to use as a weapon or a tool inconcentrated and complicated action. his feet so ... and then so.... did those directionsflow without words from the foanna's fingers to his and then along his nerves to his brain?he only knew which was the proper next step, and the next, and the next, as they wove theirway along the pattern lines, with their going adding a necessary thread to a design.

forward four steps, backward one—in andout. did ross actually hear that sweet thrumming, akin to the lilting speech of the foanna,or was it a throbbing in his blood? in and out.... what had become of the others he didnot know; he was aware only of his own path, of the hand in his, of the silvery shape athis side to whom he was now tied as if one of the rover capture nets enclosed them both. the fiery lines under his feet were smoking,tendrils rising and twisting as the hair of the foanna rippled and twisted. and the smokeclung, wreathed his body. they moved in a cocoon of smoke, thicker and thicker, untilross could not even see the foanna who accompanied him, was only assured of her presence by thehand which grasped his.

and a small part of him clung desperatelyto the awareness of that clasp as an anchorage against what might come, a tie between theworld of reality and the place into which he was passing. how did one find words to describe this? rosswondered with that part of him which remained stubbornly ross murdock, terran time agent.he thought that he did not see with his eyes, hear with his ears but used other senses hisown kind did not recognize nor acknowledge. space ... not a room ... a cave-anything madeby normal nature. space which held something. pure energy? his terran mind strove to givename to that which was nameless. perhaps it was that spark of memory and consciousnesswhich gave him that instant of "seeing." was

it a throne? and on it a shimmering figure?he was regarded intently, measured, and—set aside. there were questions or a question he couldnot hear, and perhaps an answer he would never be able to understand. or had any of thishappened at all? ross crouched on a cold floor, his head hanging,drained of energy, of all that feeling of power and well-being he had had when theyhad begun their dance across the symbols. about him those designs still glowed dully.when he looked at them too intently his head ached. he could almost understand, but thestruggle was so exhausting he winced at the effort.

"gordon—?" there was no clasp on his hand; he was alone,alone between two glowing arabesques. that loneliness struck at him with the sharpnessof a blow. his head came up; frantically he stared about him in search of his companions."gordon!" his plea and demand in one was answered: "ross?" on his hands and knees, ross used the ragsof his strength to crawl in that direction, stopping now and then to shade his eyes withhis hands, to peer through the cracks between his fingers for some sight of ashe. there he was, sitting quietly, his head upas if he were listening, or striving to listen.

his cheeks were sunken; he had the drained,worn look of a man strained to the limit of physical energy. yet there was a quiet peacein his face. ross crawled on, put out a hand to ashe's arm as if only by touching the othercould he be sure he was not an illusion. and ashe's fingers came up to cover the youngerman's in a grasp as tight as the foanna's hold had been. "we did it; together we did it," ashe said."but where—why—?" those questions were not aimed at him, rossknew. and at that moment the younger man did not care where they had been, what they haddone. it was enough that his terrible loneliness was gone, that ashe was here.

still keeping his hold on ross, ashe turnedhis head and called into the wilderness of the symbol-glowing space about them, "karara?" she came to them, not crawling, not wrungalmost dry of spirit and strength, but on her two feet. about her shoulders her darkhair waved and spun—or was it dark now? along those strands there seemed to be threadedmotes of light, giving a silvery sheen which was a faint echo of the foanna's tresses.and was it only his bemused and bewildered sight, ross mused, or was her skin fairer? karara smiled down at them and held out herhands, offering one to each. when they took them ross knew again that surge of energyhe had felt when he had followed the foanna

into the maze dance. "come! there is much to do." he could not be mistaken; her voice held thesinging lilt of the foanna. somehow she had crossed some barrier to become a paler, perhapsa lesser, but still a copy of the three aliens. was this what they had meant when they warnedof a change which might come to those who followed them into the ritual of this place? ross looked from the girl to ashe with searchingintensity. no, he could see no outward change in gordon. and he felt none within himself. "come!" some of karara's old impetuousnessreturned as she tugged at them, urging them

to their feet and drawing them with her. sheappeared to know where they must go, and both men followed her guidance. once more they came out of the weird and alieninto the normal, for here were the rock walls of a passage running up at an angle whichbecame so steep they were forced to pull along by handholds hollowed in the walls. "where are we going?" ashe asked. "to cleanse." karara's answer was ambiguous,and she sped along hardly touching the handholds. "but hurry!" they finished their climb and were in anothercorridor where patches of sunlight came through

a pierced wall to dazzle their eyes. thiswas similar to the way which had run beside the courtyard in zahur's castle. ross looked out of the first opening downinto a courtyard. but where zahur's had held the busy life of a castle, this was silent.silent, but not deserted. there were men below, armed, helmed. he recognized the uniform ofthe wrecker warriors, saw one or two who wore the gray of the foanna servants. they stoodin lines, unmoving, without speech among themselves, men who might have been frozen into immobilityand arranged so for some game in which they were the voiceless, will-less pieces. and their immobility was a thing to arousefear. were they dead and still standing?

"come!" karara's voice had sunk to a whisperand her hand pulled at the men. "what—?" began ross. ashe shook his head. those rows below drawnup as if in order to march, unliving rows. they could not be alive as the terrans knewlife! ross left his vantage point, ready to followkarara. but he could not blot from his mind the picture of those lines, nor forget theterrible blankness which made their faces more unhuman, more frightenly alien than thoseof the foanna. chapter 17 - shades against shadow the corridor ended in a narrow slit of room,and the wall before them was not the worked

stone of the citadel but a single slab ofwhat appeared to be glass curdled into creamy ridges and depressions. here were the foanna, their robes once morecloaking them. each held, point out, one of the rods. they moved slowly but with the precisegestures of those about a demanding and very important task as they traced each depressionin the wall before them with the wand points. down, up, around ... as their feet had movedin the dance pattern, so now their wands moved to cover each line. "now!" the wands dropped points to the floor. thefoanna moved equidistant from one another.

then, as one, the rods were lifted vertically,brought down together with a single loud tap. on the wall the blue lines they had tracedwith such care darkened, melted. the glassy slab shivered, shattered, fell outward ina lace of fragments. so the narrow room became a balcony above a large chamber. below a platform ran the full length of thathall, and on it were mounted a line of oval disks. these had been turned to differentangles and each reflected light, a ray beam directed at them from a machine whose metalliccasing, projecting antennae, was oddly out of place here. once more the three staffs of the foanna raisedas one in the air. this time, from the knobs

held out over the hall blazed, not the usualwhirl of small sparks, but strong beams of light—blue light darkening as it pierceddownward until it became thrusting lines of almost tangible substance. when those blue beams struck the nearest ovalsthey webbed with lines which cracked wide open. shattered bits tinkled down to the platform.there was a stir at the end of the hall where the machine stood. figures ran into plainsight. baldies! ross cried out a warning as he saw those star men raise weapon tubes aimedat the perch on which the foanna stood. fire crackling with the speed and sound oflightning lashed up at the balcony. the lances of light met the spears of dark, and therewas a flash which blinded ross, a sound which

split open the whole world. the terran's eyes opened, not upon darknessbut on dazzling light, flashes of it which tore over him in great sweeping arcs. dazed,sick, he tried to press his prone body into the unyielding surface on which he lay. butthere was no way of burrowing out of this wild storm of light and clashing sound. nowunder him the very fabric of the floor rocked and quivered as if it were being shaken apartinto crumbling rubble. all the will and ability to move was gone.ross could only lie there and endure. what had happened, he did not know save that whatraged about him now was a warring of inimical forces, perhaps both feeding on each othereven as they strove for mastery.

the play of rays resembled sword blades crossing,fencing. ross threw his arm over his eyes to shut out the intolerable brilliance ofthat thrust and counter. his body tingled and winced as the whirlwind of energy clashedand reclashed. he was beaten, stupid, as a man pinned down too long under a heavy shelling. how did it end? in one terrific thunderclapof sound and blasting power? and when did it end—hours ... days later? time was athing set apart from this. ross lay in the quiet which his body welcomed thirstily. thenhe was conscious of the touch of wind on his face, wind carrying the hint of sea salt. he opened his eyes and saw above him a patchof clouded sky. shakily he levered himself

up on his elbows. there were no complete wallsany more, just jagged points of masonry, broken teeth set in a skull's jawbone. open sky,dark clouds spattering rain. "gordon? karara?" ross's voice was a thinwhisper. he licked his lips and tried again: "gordon!" had there been an answering whimper? rosscrawled into a hollow between two fallen blocks. a pool of water? no, it was the cloak of oneof the foanna spread out across the flooring in this fragment of room. then ross saw thatashe was there, the cloaked figure braced against the terran's shoulder as he half supported,half embraced the foanna. "ynvalda!" ashe called that with an urgencywhich was demanding. now the foanna moved,

raising an arm in the cloak's flowing sleeve. ross sat back on his heels. "ross—ashe?" he turned his head. kararastood here, then came forward, planting her feet with care, her hands outstretched, hereyes wide and unseeing. ross pulled himself up and went to her, finding that the oncesolid floor seemed to dip and sway under him, until he, too, must balance and creep. hishands closed on her shoulders and he pulled her to him in mutual support. "gordon?" "over there. you all right?"

"i think so." her voice was weak. "the foanna... ynlan ... ynvalda—" steadying herself against him, she tried to look around. the place which had once been a narrow room,then a balcony, was now a perch above stomach-turning space. the hall of the oval mirrors was gone,having disappeared into a hollow the depths of which were veiled by a vapor which boiledand bubbled as if, far below, some huge caldron hung above a blazing fire. karara cried out and ross drew her back fromthat drop. he was clearer-headed now and looked about for some way down from this doubtfulperch. of the other two foanna there was no sign. had they been sucked up and out in theinferno they had created with their unleashing

of energy against the baldies' installation? "ross—look!" karara's cry, her upflung armdirected his attention aloft. under the sullen gathering of the storm asphere arose as a bubble might seek the surface of a pool before breaking. a ship—a baldyship taking off from the ruined citadel! so some of the enemy had survived that trialof strength! the globe was small, a scout used for within-atmosphereexploration, ross judged. it arose first, and then moved inland, fleeing the gatheringstorm, to be out of sight in moments. inland, where the mountain base of the invaders wasreputed to be. retreating? or bound to gather reinforcements?

"baldies?" karara asked. she wiped her hand across her face, smearingdust and grime on her cheeks. as raindrops pattered about them, ross drew the girl withhim into the alcove where ashe sheltered with the foanna. the cowled alien was sitting up,her hand still gripping one of the wands, now a half-melted ruin. ashe glanced at them as if for the first timehe remembered they might be there. "baldy ship just took off inland," ross toldhim. "we didn't see either of the other foanna." "they have gone to do what is to be done,"ashe's companion replied. "so some of the enemy fled. well, perhaps they have learnedone lesson, not to meddle with others' devices.

ahh, so much gone which will never come again!never again—" she held up the half-melted wand, turningit back and forth before her, before she cast it away. it flew out, up, then dropped intothe caldron of the hall which had been. a gust of rain, cold, chilling the lightly cladterrans, swept across them. the foanna was helped to her feet by ashe.for a moment she turned slowly, giving a lingering look to the ruins. then she spoke: "brokenstone holds no value. take hands, my brothers, my sister, it is time we go hence." karara's hand in ross's right, ashe's in hisleft, and both linked to ynvalda in turn. then—they were indeed elsewhere, in a courtyardwhere bodies lay flaccid under the drenching

downpour of the rain. and moving among thosebodies were the two other foanna, bending to examine one man after another. perhapsover one in three they so inspected they held consultation before a wand was used in tracingcertain portions of the body between them. when they were finished, that man stirred,moaned, showed signs of life once more. "rosss—!" from behind a tumbled wall crepta hawaikan who did not wear the guard armor of the others. gill-pack, flippers, diver'sbelt, had been stripped from him. there was a bleeding gash down the side of his face,and he held his left arm against his body, supported by his right hand. "baleku!"

the rover pulled himself up to his feet andstood swaying. ross reached him quickly to catch him as he slumped forward. "loketh?" the terran asked. "the women-killers took him." somehow therover got that out as ross half supported, half led him to where the foanna were gatheringthose they had been able to revive. "they wanted to learn"—baleku was obviously makinga great effort to tell his story—"about ... about where we came from ... where wegot the packs." "so now they will know of us, or will if theyget the story out of loketh." ashe worked with ross to splint the rover's broken arm."how many of them were here, baleku?"

the rover's head moved slowly from side toside. "i do not know in truth. it is—was—like a dream. i was in the water swimming throughthe sea gate. then suddenly i was in another place where those from the stars waited aboutme. they had our packs and belts and these they showed us, demanding to know whereofthese were. loketh was like one deep in sleep and they left him so when they questionedme. then there came a great noise and the floor under us shook, lightning flashed throughthe air. two of the women-killers ran from the room and all of them were greatly excited.they took up loketh and carried him away, with him the packs and other things. and iwas left alone, though i could not move—as if they had left me in a net i could not see.

"more and more were the flashes. then oneof those slayers of women stood in the doorway. he raised his hand, and my feet were free,but i could not move otherwise than to follow after him. we came along a hall and into thiscourt where men stood unstirring, although stones fell from the walls upon some of themand the ground shook—" baleku's voice grew shriller, his words rantogether. "the one who pulled me after him by his will—he cried out and put his handsto his head. back and forth he ran, bumping into the standing men, and once running intoa wall as if he were blinded. and then he was gone and i was alone. there was more fallingstone and one struck my shoulder so i was thrown to the ground. there i lay until youcame."

"so few—out of many so few—" one of thefoanna stood beside them, her cloak streaming with the falling rain. "and for these"—shefaced the lines of those they had not revived—"there was no chance. they died as helplessly asif they went into a meeting of swords with their arms bound to their sides! evil havewe wrought here." ashe shook his head. "evil has been wroughthere, ynlan, but not by your seeking. and those who died here helplessly may be onlya small portion of those yet to be sacrificed. have you forgotten the slaughter at kyn addand those other fairings where women and children were also struck down to serve some purposewe do not even yet know?" "lady, great one—" baleku struggled to situp and ross slipped an arm behind him in aid.

"she for whom i made a bride-cup was meatfor them at kyn add, along with many others. if these slayers are not put to the sword'sedge, there will be other fairings so used. and these shadow ones possess a magic to drawmen to them helplessly to be killed. great one, you have powers; all men know that windand wave obey your call. do you now use your magic! it is better to fall with a power weknow, than answer such spells as those killers have netted about the men here!" "this is one weapon which they shall not useagain." ynvalda rose from a stone block where she had been sitting. "and perhaps in itsway it was one of the most dangerous. but in defeating it we have by so much weakenedourselves also. and the strong place of these

star men lies not on the coast, but inland.they will be warned by those who fled this place. wind and wave, yes, those have servedour purpose in the past. but now perhaps we have found that which our power will not best!only—for this"—her gesture was for the ruins of the citadel and the dead—"thereshall be a payment exacted—to the height of our desire!" whether the foanna did have any control overthe storm winds or not, the present deluge appeared not to accommodate them. the dazed,injured survivors of the courtyard were brought to shelter in some of the underground passages. there appeared to be no other reminders ofthe wrecker force which had earlier besieged

the keep than those survivors. but withinhours some of those who had served the foanna for generations returned. and the foanna themselvesopened the sea gates so that the rover cruisers anchored in the small bay below their ruinedwalls. a small force, and one ill-equipped to goup against the baldies. some five star men's bodies had been found in the citadel, butthe ship had gone off to warn their base. to ross's thinking the advantage still laywith the invaders. but the hawaikans refused to accept the ideathat the odds were against them. as soon as the storm blew out its force ongal's cruiserheaded northwest to other clan fairings where the rovers could claim kinship. and afruktasailed on the same errand south. while some

of the wreckers were released to carry thewarning to their lords. just how great a force could be gathered through such means and howeffective it would be, was a question to make the terrans uneasy. karara disappeared with the foanna into thesurviving inner cliff-burrows below the citadel. but ashe and ross remained with torgul andhis officers, striving to bring organization out of the chaos about them. "we must know just where their lair lies,"torgul stated the obvious. "the mountains you believe, and they can fly in sky shipsto and from that point. well"—he spread out a chart—"here are the mountains on thisisland, running so. an army marching hither

could be sighted from sky ships. also, thereare many mountains. which is the one or ones we must seek? it may take many tens of daysto find that place, while they will always know where we are, watch us from above, preparefor our coming—" again ross mentally paid tribute to the captain'squick grasp of essentials. "you have a solution, captain?" ashe asked. "there is the river—here—" torgul saidreflectively. "perhaps i think in terms of water because i am a sailor. but here it doesrun, and for this far along it our cruisers may ascend." he pointed with his finger tip."this lies, however, in glicmas's land, and he is now the mightiest of the wrecker lords,his sword always drawn against us. i do not

believe that we could talk him into——" "glicmas!" ross interrupted. they both lookedat him inquiringly, and he repeated loketh's story of the wrecker lord who had had dealingswith a "voice from the mountain" and so gained the wrecking devices to make him the dominantlord of the district. "so!" torgul exclaimed. "that is the evilof this shadow in the mountains! no, under those circumstances i do not think we shalltalk glicmas into furthering any raid against those who have made him great over his fellows.rather will he turn against us in their cause." "and if we do not use the cruisers up theriver"—ashe conned the map—"then perhaps a small party or parties working overlandcould strike the stream here, nearer to the

uplands." torgul frowned at the map. "i do not thinkso. even small parties moving in that direction would be sighted by glicmas's people. themore so if they headed inland. he will not wish to share his secrets with others." "but, say—a party of foanna." the captain glanced up swiftly to favor ashewith a keen regard. "then he would not dare. no, i am sure he would not dare to interfere.not yet has he risen high enough to turn the hook of his sword against them. but wouldthe foanna do so?" "if not the foanna, then others wearing likerobes," ashe said slowly.

"others wearing like robes?" repeated torgul.now his frown was heavy. "no man would take on the guise of the foanna; he would be blastedby their power for so doing. if the foanna will lead us in their persons, then we shallfollow gladly, knowing that their magic will be with us." "there is also this," ross broke in. "thebaldies have the gill-packs they took from baleku and loketh, and they have loketh. theywill want to learn more about us. we hoped that the citadel would provide bait to drawthem and it did. that our plan for a trap there was spoiled was ill fortune. but i amsure that if the baldies believe we are coming to them, they will hold off an all-out attackagainst our march, hoping to gather us in

intact. they'd risk that." ashe nodded. "i agree. we are the unknownthey must solve now. and this much i am sure of—the future of this world and her peoplebalances on a very narrow line of choice. it is my hope that such a choice is stillto be made." torgul smiled thinly. "we live in periloustimes when the shades require our swords to go up against the shadow!" chapter 18 - world in doubt? the day was dully overcast as all days hadbeen since they had begun this sulk-and-march penetration into the mountain territory. rosscould not accept the idea that the foanna

might actually command wind and wave, stormand sun, as the hawaikans firmly believed, but the gloomy weather had favored them sofar. and now they had reached the last breathing point before they took the plunge into theheart of the enemy country. about the way in which they were to make that plunge, rosshad his own plan. one he did not intend to share with either ashe or karara. though hehad had to outline it to the one now waiting here with him. "this is still your mind, younger brother?" he did not turn his head to look at the cloakedfigure. "it is still my mind!" ross could be firm on that point.

the terran backed out of the vantage placefrom which he had been studying the canyonlike valley cupping the baldy spaceship. now hegot to his feet and faced ynlan, his own gray cloak billowing out in the wind to revealthe rover scale armor underneath. "you can do it for me?" he asked in turn.during the past days the foanna had admitted that the weird battle within the citadel hadweakened and limited their "magic." last night they had detected a force barrier ahead andto transport the whole party through that by telaporting was impossible. "yes, you alone. then my wand would be drainedfor a space. but what can you do within their hold, save be meat for their taking?"

"there can not be too many of them left there.that's a small ship. they lost five at the citadel, and the rovers have three prisoners.no sign of the scout ship we know they have—so more of them must be gone in it. i won't befacing an army. and what they have in the way of weapons may be powered by installationsin the ship. a lot of damage done there. or even if the ship lifted—" he was not sureof what he could do; this was a venture depending largely on improvisation at the last moment. "you propose to send off the ship?" "i don't know whether that is possible. no,perhaps i can only attract their attention, break through the force shield so the restmay attack."

ross knew that he must attempt this independentaction, that in order to remain the ross murdock he had always been, he must be an actor nota spectator. the foanna did not argue with him now. "where—?"her long sleeve rippled as she gestured to the canyon. dull as the skies were overhead,there was light here—too much of it for his purpose as the ground about the ship wasopen. to appear there might be fatal. ross was grasped by another and much morepromising idea. the foanna had transported them all to the deck of torgul's cruiser afterasking him to picture it for her mentally. and to all outward appearances the baldy shipbefore them now was twin to the one which had taken him once on a fantastic voyage acrossa long-vanished stellar empire. such a ship

he knew! "can you put me in the ship?" "if you have a good memory of it, yes. buthow know you these ships?" "i was in one once for many days. if theseare alike, then i know it well!" "and if this is unlike, to try such may meanyour death." he had to accept her warning. yet outwardlythis ship was a duplicate. and before he had voyaged on the derelict he had also exploreda wrecker freighter on his own world thousands of years before his own race had evolved.there was one portion of both ships which had been identical—save for size—and thatpart was the best for his purpose.

"send me—here!" with closed eyes, ross produced a mental pictureof the control cabin. those seats which were not really seats but webbing support swingingbefore banks of buttons and levers; all the other installations he had watched, studied,until they were as known to him as the plate bulkheads of the cabin below in which he hadslept. very vivid, that memory. he felt the touch of the foanna's cool fingers on hisforehead—then it was gone. he opened his no more wind and gloom, he stood directlybehind the pilot's web-sling, facing a vista-plate and rows of controls, just as he had stoodso many times in the derelict. he had made it! this was the control cabin of the spacer.and it was alive—the faint thrumming in

the air, the play of lights on the boards. ross pulled the cowl of his foanna cloak upover his head. he had had days to accustom himself to the bulk of the robe, but stillits swathings were sometimes a hindrance rather than a help. slowly he turned. there wereno baldies here, but the well door to the lower levels was open, and from it came smallsounds echoing up the communication ladder. the ship was occupied. not for the first time since he had startedon this venture ross wished for more complete information. doubtless several of those buttonsor levers before him controlled devices which could be the greatest aid to him now. butwhich and how he did not know. once in just

such a cabin he had meddled and, in activatinga long silent installation, had called the attention of the baldies to their wreckedship, to the terrans looting it. only by the merest chance had the vengeance of the stellarspacemen fallen then on the russian investigators and not on his own people. he knew better than to touch anything beforethe pilot's station, but the banks of controls to one side were concerned with the innerwell-being of the ship—and they tempted him. to go it blind was, however, more ofa risk than he dared take. there was one future precaution for him. from a very familiar case beside the pilot'sseat ross gathered up a collection of disks,

sorted through them hastily for one whichbore a certain symbol on its covering. there was only one of those. slapping the rest backinto their container, ross pressed a button on the control board. again his guess paid off! another disk wasexposed as a small panel slid back. ross clawed that out of the holder, put in its place theone he had found. now, if his choice had been correct, the crew who took off in this ship,unless they checked their route tape first, would find themselves heading to another primitiveplanet and not returning to base. perhaps exhaustion of fuel might ground them pasthope of ever regaining their home port again. next to damaging the ship, which he couldnot do, this was the best thing to assure

that any enemy leaving hawaika would not speedilyreturn with a second expeditionary force. ross dropped the route disk he had taken outinto a pocket on his belt, to be destroyed when he had the chance. now he catfooted acrossthe deck to look into the well and listen. the walls glowed with a diffused light. fromhere the terran could count at least four levels under him, with perhaps another. thebottom two ought to be supplies and general storage. then the engine room, tech labs above,and next to the control cabin the living quarters. through the fabric of the ship, shiveringup his body from the soles of his feet, he could feel the vibration of engines at work.one such must control the force field which ringed this canyon, perhaps even powered theweapons the invaders could turn against any

assault. ross whirled about, his foanna cloak in awide swing. there was one control which he knew. yes, again the board was the same asthe one he was familiar with. his hand plunged out and down, raking the lever from one measurepoint to the very end of the slit in which it moved. then he planted himself with hisback to the wall. whoever came up the well hunting the cause for the failure would befacing the other way. ross crouched a little, pushing the cape well back on his shouldersto free his arms. there was a feline suppleness in his stance just as a jungle cat might waitcoming of its prey. what he heard was a shout below, the clickof foot-gear on the rungs of the level ladder.

ross's lips drew back in a snarl which wasalso feline. he thought that would do it! spacemen were ultra-sensitive to any failurein air flow. white head, bare of any hair, thin shouldersa little hunched under the blue-green-lavender stuff of the baldies' uniforms.... head turningnow so that the eyes could see the necessary switch. an exclamation from the alien and— but the baldy never had a chance to completethat turn, look behind him. ross sprang and struck with the side of his hand. the hairlesshead snapped forward. his hands already hooked in the other's armpits, the terran heavedthe alien up and over onto the deck of the control cabin. it was only when he was aboutto bind his captive that ross discovered the

baldy was dead. a blow calculated to stunthe alien had been too severe. breathing a little faster, the terran rolled the bodyback and hoisted it into the navigator's swing-seat, fastening it with the take-off belts. onedown—how many left? he had little time to wonder, for before hecould reach the well once again there was a call from below—sharp and demanding. theterran searched his victim, but the baldy was unarmed. again a shout. then silence—too completea silence. how could they have guessed trouble so quickly. unless, unless the baldies' mentalcommunication had been at work ... they might even now know their fellow was dead.

but not how he died. ross was prepared togrant the baldies super-terran abilities, but he did not see how they could know whathad happened here. they could only suspect danger, not know the form it had taken. andsooner or later one of them must come to adjust the switch. this could be a duel of patience. ross squatted at the edge of the well, tryingto make his ears supply him with hints of what might be happening below. had there beenan alteration in the volume of vibration? he set his palm flat to the deck, tried todeduce the truth. but he could not be sure. that there had been some slight change hewas certain. they could not wait much longer without makingan attempt to reopen the air-supply regulator,

or could they? again ross was hampered bylack of information. perhaps the baldies did not need the same amount of oxygen his ownkind depended upon. and if that were true, ross could be the first to suffer in playinga waiting game. well, air was not the only thing he could cut off from here, though ithad been the first and most important to his mind. ross hesitated. two-edged weapons cutin both directions. but he had to force a countermove from them. he pulled another switch.the control cabin, the whole of the ship, was plunged into darkness. no sound from below this time. ross picturedthe interior layout of the ships he had known. two levels down to reach the engine room.could he descend undetected? there was only

one way to test that—try it. he pulled the foanna cloak about him, wasseveral rungs down on the ladder when the glow in the walls came on. an emergency switch?with a forward scramble, ross swung into one of the radiating side corridors. the sliding-doorpanels along it were all closed; he could detect no sounds behind them. but the vibrationin the ship's walls had returned to its steady beat. now the terran realized the folly of his move.he was more securely trapped here than he had been in the control cabin. there was onlyone way out, up or down the ladder, and the enemy could have that under observation frombelow. all they would need to do was to use

a flamer or a paralyzing ray such as the onehe had turned over to ashe several days ago. ross inched along to the stairwell. a faintpad of movement, a shadow of sound from the ladder. someone on the way up. could theymentally detect him, know him for an alien intruder by the broadcast of his thoughts?the baldies had a certain respect for the foanna and might desire to take one alive.he drew the robe about him, used it to muffle his figure completely as the true wearersdid. but the figure pulling painfully up from rungto rung was no baldy. the lean hawaikan arms, the thin hawaikan face, drawn of feature,painfully blank of expression—loketh—under the same dread spell as had held the warriorsin the citadel courtyard. could the aliens

be using this hawaikan captive as a defenseshield, moving up behind him? loketh's head turned, those blank eyes regardedross. and their depths were troubled, recognition of a sort returning. the hawaikan threw upone hand in a beseeching gesture and then went to his knees in the corridor. "great one! great one!" the words came fromhis lips in a breathy hiss as he groveled. then his body went flaccid, and he sprawledface down, his twisted leg drawn up as if he would run but could not. "foanna!" the one word came out of the wallsthemselves, or so it seemed. "foanna—the wise learn what lies beforethem when they walk alone in the dark." the

hawaikan speech was stilted, accented, butunderstandable. ross stood motionless. had they somehow seenhim through loketh's eyes? or had they been alerted merely by the hawaikan's call? theybelieved he was one of the foanna. well, he would play that role. "foanna!" sharper this time, demanding. "youlie in our hand. let us clasp the fingers tightly and you shall be naught." out of somewhere the words karara had chantedin the foanna temple came to ross—not in her polynesian tongue but in the english shehad repeated. and softening his voice to his best approximation of the foanna singsongross sang:

"ye forty thousand gods, ye gods of sea, ofsky—of stars," he improvised. "ye elders of the gods that are, ye gods that once were,ye that whisper, yet that watch by night, ye that show your gleaming eyes." "foanna!" the summons was on the ragged edgeof patience. "your tricks will not move our mountains!" "ye gods of mountains," ross returned, "ofvalleys, of shades and not the shadow," he wove in the beliefs of this world, too. "walknow this world, between the stars!" his confidence was growing. and there was no use in remainingpent in this corridor. he would have to chance that they were not prepared to kill summarilyone of the foanna.

ross went to the well, went down the ladderslowly, keeping his robe about him. here at the next level there was a wider space aboutthe opening, and three door panels. behind one must be those he sought. he was buoyedup by a curious belief in himself, almost as if wearing this robe did give him in partthe power attributed to the foanna. he laid his hand on the door to his rightand sent it snapping back into its frame, stepped inside as if he entered here by right. there were three baldies. to his terran eyesthey were all superficially alike, but the one seated on a control stool had a cold arrogancein his expression, a pitiless half smile which made ross face him squarely. the terran longedfor one of the foanna staffs and the ability

to use it. to spray that energy about thiscabin might reduce the baldy defenses to nothing. but now two of the paralyzing tubes were trainedon him. "you have come to us, foanna, what have youto offer?" demanded the commander, if that was his rank. "offer?" for the first time ross spoke. "thereis no reason for the foanna to make any offer, slayer of women and children. you have comefrom the stars to take, but that does not mean we choose to give." he felt it now, that inner pulling, twistingin his mind, the willing which was their more subtle weapon. once they had almost bent himwith that willing because then he had worn

their livery, a spacesuit taken from the wreckedfreighter. now he did not have that chink in his defense. and all that stubborn independenceand determination to be himself alone resisted the influence with a fierce inner fire. "we offer life to you, foanna, freedom ofthe stars. these other dirt creepers are nothing to you, why take you weapons in their cause?you are not of the same race." "nor are you!" ross's hands moved under theenvelope of the robe, unloosing the two hidden clasps which held it. that bank of controlsbefore which the commander sat—to silence that would cause trouble. and he dependedupon ynlan. the rovers should now be massed at either end of the canyon waiting for theforce field to fail and let them in.

ross steadied himself, poised for action."we have something for you, star men—" he tried to hold their attention with words,"have you not heard of the power of the foanna—that they can command wind and wave? that theycan be where they were not in a single movement of the eyelid? and this is so—behold!" it was the oldest trick in the world, perhapson any planet. but because it was so old maybe it had been forgotten by the aliens. for,as ross pointed, those heads did turn for an instant. he was in the air, the robe gathered in hisarms wide spread as bat wings. and then they crashed in a tangle which bore them all backagainst the controls. ross strove to enmesh

them in the robe, using the pressure of hisbody to slam them all on the buttons and levers of the board. whether that battering wouldaccomplish his purpose, he could not tell. but that he had only these few seconds tornout of time to try, he knew, and determined to use them as best he could. one of the baldies had slithered down to thefloor and another was aiming strangely ineffectual blows at him. but the third had wriggled freeto bring up a paralyzer. ross slewed around, dragging the alien he held across his bodyjust as the other fired. but though the fighter went limp and heavy in ross's hold, the terran'sown right arm fell to his side, his upper chest was numb, and his head felt as if oneof the rover's boarding axes had clipped it.

ross reeled back and fell, his left hand rakingdown the controls as he went. then he lay on the cabin floor and saw the convulsed faceof the commander above him, a paralyzer aiming at his middle. to breathe was an effort ross found tortureto endure. the red haze in his head filled all the world. pain—he strove to flee thepain but was held captive in it. and always the pressure on him kept that agony steady. "let ... be...." he wanted to scream that.perhaps he had, but the pressure continued. then he forced his eyes open. ashe—asheand one of the foanna bending over him, ashe's hands on his chest, pressing, relaxing, pressingagain.

"it is good—" he knew ynvalda's voice. herhand rested lightly on his forehead and from that touch ross drew again the quickeningof body and spirit he had felt on the dancing floor. "how—?" he began and then changed to—"where—?"for this was not the engine room of the spacer. he lay in the open, with sweet, rain-wet windfilling his starved lungs now without ashe's force aid. "it is over," ashe told him, "all over—fornow." but not until the sun reached the canyon hourslater and they sat in council, did ross learn all the tale. just as he had made his ownplan for reaching the spacer, so had ashe,

karara, and the dolphins worked on a similarattempt. the river running deep in those mountain gorges had provided a road for the dolphinsand they found beneath its surface an entrance past the force barrier. "the baldies were so sure of their superiorityon this primitive world they set no guards save that field," ashe explained. "we slippedthrough five swimmers to reach the ship. and then the field went down, thanks to you." "so i did help—that much." ross grinnedwryly. what had he proven by his sortie? nothing much. but he was not sorry he had made it.for the very fact he had done it on his own had eased in part that small ache which wasin him now when he looked at ashe and remembered

how it had once been. ashe might be—alwayswould be—his friend, but the old tight-locking comradeship of the project was behind them,vanished like the time gate. "and what will you do with them?" ross noddedtoward the captives, the three from the ship, two more taken from the small scouting globewhich had homed to find their enemies ready for them. "we wait," ynvalda said, "for those on therover ship to be brought hither. by our laws they deserve death." the rovers at that council nodded vigorously,all save torgul and jazia. the rover woman spoke first.

"they bear the curse of phutka heavy on them.to live under such a curse is worse than a clean, quick dying. listen, it has come uponme that better this curse not only eat them up but be carried by them to rot those whosent them—" together the foanna nodded. "there has beenenough of killing," said ynlan. "no, warriors, we do not say this because we shrink fromrightful deaths. but jazia speaks the truth in this matter. let these depart. perhapsthey will bear that with them which will convince their leaders that this is not a world theymay squeeze in their hands as one crushes a ripe quaya to eat its seeds. you believein your cursing, rovers, then let the fruit of it be made plain beyond the stars!"

was this the time to speak of the switchedtapes, ross wondered. no, he did not really believe that the rover curse or their treatmentof the captives would, either one, influence the star leaders. but, if the invaders didnot return to their base, their vanishing might also work to keep another expeditionfrom invading hawaikan skies. leave it to chance, a curse, and time.... so it was decided. "have we won?" ross asked ashe later. "do you mean, have we changed the future?who can answer that? they may return in force, this may have been a step which was takenbefore. those pylons may still stand in the

future above a deserted sea and island. weshall probably never know." that was also their own truth. for them alsothere had been a substitution of journey tapes by fate, and this was now their hawaika. rossmurdock, gordon ashe, karara trehern, tino-rau, taua—five terrans forever lost in time—inthe past with a dubious future. would this be the barren, lotus world, or another now?yes, no—either. they had found their key to the mystery out of time, but they couldnot turn it, and there was no key to the gate which had ceased to exist. grasp tight thepresent. ross looked about him. yes, the present, which might be very satisfying after all....

green canyon resort entrance fee 2017-03-07T22:47:00+07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Melissa Nur Aulia El-Zulfa