A faint, misty spray spurted from the muzzle, straight into Shane's throat. But now Shane's own gun was out. Purple light slashed like a sword at the mongrel's belly. Reggar reeled back. He smashed a wild blow to Shane's head, sent the Earthman crashing to the floor. Again Shane fired. Reggar's mottled face went black under the beam. An awful scream rose in his throat. He tottered ... lurched ... fell. Talu was with Shane, then--clutching him to her, the dark face all anguish. "Shane, Shane...." * * * * * Dazedly, the Earthman muttered, "The light-gun ... what happened to his light-gun? He triggered it straight into my throat--" With an effort, he rolled to the weapon; broke it open. The ray mechanism was gone. A hypodermic injector had been inserted in its place. Shane's hand clutched his throat. There was still a trace of moisture there ... clear, colorless moisture. Talu whispered: "Shane, let me hold you--" Shaking, he forced her away. His voice quaked: "No, _Malyalara_. No! Get away from me--now, while you have the chance--" "Shane, what is it--?" Numbly, he showed her the gun. "An injector--with _theol_. It makes three doses. In the end, Reggar wins. The madness will come upon me--" "No, Shane--" She would have embraced him. "Get away!" he shouted fiercely. "Don't you understand? This was the third dose--the dose that brings madness. And there is no cure--" His face was a mask--all despair, and all fury. She laughed, gently, then--warm, comprehending. There was no panic in her face, her voice. "No, Shane," she told him. "There will be no madness." He stared at her blankly. "It is _theol_--" "Yes, it is _theol_. But not the third dose." "Not the third--?" His tongue stumbled. "No, Shane. Because before the third, there must be a second, and I gave you what Reggar thought was the second that night back at Horla. But he left me alone for a moment with the injector, and I replaced the _theol_ with another solution--without color, but harmless." A choking sound rose in the Earthman's throat. His trembling hands touched her--smoothed her hair, brushed her shoulder. She came to him--smiling, lips warm with welcome. And suddenly their bodies were together, tight-welded, and he was whispering feverishly, "Talu ... Talu...." And when at last they parted, she said, "I am yours, Earthman ... yours now and forever. But you still have a role to play, your oath to uphold. You are _gar_ of the _Chonyas_." "And you will rule with me!" he answered her fiercely. "Your belt, Earthman...." "My belt ... the belt of the asteroids." Bending, he stripped the iron links from the corpse of Quos Reggar and girded it tight about his own waist once more. His eyes met Talu's. "Come, _Malyalara_...." Together, they crossed the threshold, into the night and the stars.