"You stupid bastards!" he roared, wheeling to face them all. "You God-forsaken fools! A Grimnal baby is a greater fighter than your bravest man. Look what he has done to you. Look! Like blind animals you have been led into a trap. You have been put in a cage of your own ignorance. You call me _polasti_! I am the only one who can show you how to win. The only thing you know is to bunch together and be killed like animals at slaughter. You stand together in one tight group to make it easy for him. You know how it will be? Look!" He sprang to the glass globe that held the magnetized needle, seized it and hurled it to the deck. It exploded like a small bomb. The Kali moved back. "That is what the Grimnal will do to you. Your bravery will be as that glass, nice to see--but look at it now!" Water from the globe trickled slowly through the shattered glass. The chips winked red in the dying sun. Only the cry of the wind sounded through the ship. Ward forced his choking breath to an even rhythm. "Now go die like the fools you are." He left the quiet bridge and threaded his way to his cabin. Night was coming softly to the Grimnal Sea. * * * * * It was dark in the cabin when the knock sounded. There was no answer, and it came again. "Come," Ward said in a very tired, hollow voice. The door swung open and someone entered. After a long moment, Tahn's voice came softly in the dark. "No one has ever spoken to the Kali like that." Ward did not answer. "It is a brave man that can do that. And bravery is something we understand." There was a silent moment. Tahn coughed. "May I light the lamp?" Ward swung around in the chair. "Certainly." Flint flicked on steel, a spark glowed, caught, and light wavered in the cabin. The two faced each other, Ward sagged low in the chair, the Kali by the lamp. Tahn coughed again. "There is a way?" Ward let a moment pass. "There is a way to try." "Fighting?" "Yes, fighting." Tahn paused the barest second. "Tell me." IV The frigate, _Windsong_, skimmed downward like a low, lean cloud. Behind her, vague in the dim moonlight, followed four more frigates and the skating corvettes. Before her, like a gate to hell, gaped the jagged mouth of Pelo Break. Ward leaned against the bridge rail beside Resi, the scarred and battered captain of _Windsong_. "Keep close to the eastern side," Ward said. "In the shadow of the cliffs, out of the moonlight."