"Up your rectifier." Urushkidan was emptying his ash tray in search of tobacco shreds. The airlock clanged behind Dyann. "I'll be damned," murmured Ray. "She really is going out after them." "It is a good idea," said Urushkidan, a trifle more amiably. "Tey habe sensed te radiations of our ship and are probably coming to crack it open." "Oh, well, if that's all--_Huh?_" Ray sprang to the nearest port and looked out. "Gannydragons," he groaned. "I thought they'd been exterminated." "Tose two don't seem to know it," said Urushkidan uneasily. "All right, I'll calculate your function for you." * * * * * There were two of the monsters moving toward the boat. They looked like thirty feet of long-legged alligator, but the claws and beaks had ripped metal in earlier days of colonization. Dyann lifted her rifle and fired. A dragon screamed, thin and faint in the wispy atmosphere, and turned his head and snapped. Dyann laughed and bounded closer. Another shot and another.... Something hit her and the gun flew from her hand. The dragon's tail smote again and Dyann soared skyward. As she hit the ground the two monsters leaped for her. "Ha, Ormun!" she yelled, shaking her ringing head till the ruddy hair flew within the helmet. She crouched low and then sprang. Up--over the fanged head--striking down with her sword as she went by. The monster whirled after her, greenish blood streaming from the cut and freezing. Dyann backed against a looming rock, spread her feet and lifted the sword. The first dragon struck at her, mouth agape. Dyann hewed out again, the sword a leaping blaze of steel, the blow smashing home and exploding its force back into her own muscles. The dragon's head sprang from the neck. She rolled under the lashing claws and tail to get free. The headless body struck the other dragon which promptly began to fight it. Dyann circled warily about the struggle, breathing hard. The live dragon trampled its opponent underfoot, looked around, and charged her. The ground shuddered under its galloping mass. Dyann turned and fled. The dragon roared hollowly as she went up the long slope of the nearest hill. She saw a high crag and scrambled to its top, the dragon rampaging below her. "Nyaaah!" She thumbed her faceplate. "Come and get me." The monster's dim brain finally decided that the ship was bigger and easier prey. Turning, it lumbered down the hillside. Dyann launched herself into the air and landed astride its neck. The dragon hooted and snapped after her. She climbed higher, grabbed its horn with one gauntleted hand, and hung on for her life. The steed began to run.