"We are not the only ones drawn by this place, _Gar_ Shane," the _Chonya_ went on. "There was a _Malya_, a tough young buck with the walk of a fighting man. He stayed in the shadows, surveying the house from every angle, but not going near. After awhile, he went away. Then, later, a Europan came, a flat-faced _chitza_ who looked this way and that, as if he were afraid he would be seen. He knocked at the door, and after they'd checked him through a peephole, they let him in. Later, there were three others, all shrouded in _fala_ capes so I could not tell their race. They, too, went in." "And none came out?" "Only the Europan. He skulked away again in but a few moments." "A _Malya_, a Europan, and three in _fala_ cloaks," Shane repeated, half to himself. And then, speaking to the _Chonya_: "It's time we found out what black brew is cooking there, Nettar. Where are the hook and rope?" "Here, _Gar_ Shane," the other answered. He drew a coiled line and grappling iron from beneath his coat. "Which side shall it be?" "To the left are fewer windows," said Shane. "Wait here for me, Nettar." "No, _Gar_ Shane! It is madness to go alone into such a death-trap--" Shane's mirthless laugh rang through the darkness. "Worse madness for two. There'd be three times the noise." "But _Gar_--" "My mission holds less peril than you might think. But should trouble come--should I not return--I want you here, outside, to carry the word." * * * * * Silently, then, Shane ran to the building and left along it. He swung the grapnel in a tight arc ... sent it flying high into the air in an expert throw, over the roof of the house. The hook landed with a flat _thunk_! Shane hugged the shadows, listening tensely. But no sound came from within. He tugged experimentally on the line. The hook held. Bracing his feet against the wall, leaning out from it, supported by the rope, the Earthman climbed swiftly upward. In half a minute he was over the coping and lying flat on his belly on the roof, drawing up the line. The round dome of a typical _Fantay_ solarium, glowing dimly with yellowish light from some point within but below Shane's line of vision, rose in the middle of the flat roof. Cat-like, the Earthman came to his feet and crossed to it, there to peer cautiously down through the crystal into the room below. The solarium was empty, illuminated by only one dim lamp. Quickly, Shane pried loose a crystal panel. Squeezing through the opening, he dropped to the floor. A door stood half-open across the room. Noiselessly, Shane moved to it, paused and listened. No sound came. The Earthman stepped outside, and found himself in a narrow hallway. Following it, he came to a stairway, descended cautiously. Below, the lights were brighter, the air faintly redolent of age and cooking _palorsch_. And, somewhere, a woman was singing softly.