Mike motioned to the H'Lorkan, gesturing frantically. The other quickly understood. Mike picked Doree up and put her inside the dark opening. He followed her and moved her further inside away from the small opening. Then he looked out to find that the H'Lorkan had had difficulty with Nicko, but had found a way of grasping him so as not to get cut by the sharp scales. He pushed the little Martian's body in to Mike and followed quickly. Mike turned immediately to Doree and began examining her for injury. There was a small gash on her forehead and a bruise on her shoulder. She moaned and opened her eyes. Mike put a finger over her lips. "Be very quiet." "Where are we? What happened?" "The ship crashed," he whispered, "but we may be safe for a while." Doree smiled weakly. "I thought it was the end." "How do you feel?" "All right--I guess. Nothing seems to be broken." "Lie and rest." Mike turned and found Nicko was sitting up, his eyes open but still a trifle vacant. "You okay?" "Guess so. They couldn't kill me with a club but I get knocked out coming downstairs." "Something must have hit you on the head just right." "Something sure did. Tell me, what's the situation?" "I don't know. I'm playing it from hand to mouth. We're hidden under the ruins of the ship." "They'll be after us." "If they weren't killed." Mike found a small opening and peered out. Help had come from the city now and he saw a line of stretcher bearers moving away from the wreck. His spirits rose as he identified three of the casualties. McKee, Talbott, Katal'halee. Were any or all of them dead? He had no way of knowing. But at least they appeared to be past caring about the four prisoners--at least for a time. This did not insure safety however. The entrance to the improvised cave darkened and a face appeared. Mike held his breath, expecting challenge and exposure. But none came. Then Mike realized that dusk had fallen and the eyes of the searcher could not penetrate their hiding place with any degree of surety. There were sharp words in the alien tongue. Obviously the searcher was calling for any trapped or injured person. Desperately, Mike hoped he would let it go at that. But such was not the case. The man got down on his knees and pushed inside. He found himself taken instantly into the iron grasp of three desperate tenants. The H'Lorkan got him by the legs, Nicko hit him in the middle, and Mike got strong hands on his throat, drove powerful fingers into it, shutting off the man's breath forever. The man struggled helplessly for a few moments. Then he lay still as Mike snapped his neck suddenly backward and broke it. * * * * * The darkness served another purpose. It kept Doree from the horror of seeing a man killed not two feet from her eyes. But she realized what was happening and buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry," Mike whispered. "But this is a matter of survival. Try and look at it in that light."