"They are hemming us in!" Talu choked. A ragged, desperate note had crept into her voice. "The corridors ahead are all dead ends--" "Reggar--?" "His quarters are not even on this level. Here there is only Kyrsis, the silver woman--" "Kyrsis...." The bell clanged. The girl pressed a final button. Weariness, strain, defeat, were in her face. "We are trapped, _Sha_ Shane. I am sorry...." Shane's eyes were hot upon her. He laughed--a wild, fierce laugh that matched the reckless lines that carved his face. "Trapped? Not yet, _Malyalara_; not yet!" She stared at him in blank bewilderment. "How do you reverse the car, _Malyalara_?" The girl pointed to the button. The bell set up new clamor. Red lights blazed in the rear vision port. "Jump, Talu!" Shane threw the brake-switch. She flung back the door; leaped wide. * * * * * Shane jammed down the reverse button and sprang after the girl. He sprawled against the corridor wall as the empty car roared back towards their pursuer. The other car's gears clashed in screaming protest. It shuddered under the braking action. But too late. Shane's guard-car crashed into the other. The thunder of impact mingled with shrieks, and the scream of rending metal. "Come on!" Shane cried. Light-gun in hand, he raced towards the wreck. A third guard-car was already drawing up as they reached it. The panel door opened, and a lone _Pervod_ leaped out. Shane killed him with one slash of the light-beam. Talu pulled herself up into the car and ran to the control board. The glow of excitement was back on her face once more. "Which way?" she cried. The reckless glint in Shane's blue eyes was brighter than ever now. "Turn it loose and let it run for a decoy," he said tightly. "Our work just now is here." For a moment the girl stared at him, confusion written in her face. Then, wordless, she set the controls. Together, they leaped clear. The car thundered out of sight. Still unspeaking, Talu turned back to Shane once more, a hundred mute questions in her glance. Shane chuckled. "We'll visit the woman," he said, "the silver woman, Kyrsis." The girl's dark eyes went wide. "No! No, _Sha_ Shane--!" "Yes! Reggar's hemmed us in and tied us down. He thinks we're beaten. So now, we strike again, where it will sting and hurt the most. And where better than at his market, this Kyrsis?" "Please, no--" The girl was pleading now. "Yes!" the Earthman came back sharply. His voice took on a darkly brooding note, and his face set in rocky lines. "She is the key, _Malyalara_. She is the one who buys slaves in a universe where power is free. I'm going to ask her why." CHAPTER IV The doors were protected by rigid barriers of projected force, and the light-pistol burned out before Shane had quite finished cutting through the wall. But he had taken a long knife from the dead _Pervod_ in the third guard-car. He finished the job with it.