Even as Ketrik hurled himself forward, he saw madness on Vaajo's face. More of the rays blanked off as Vaajo swept his hand down. Then Ketrik was upon him. The two metal-suited figures clashed, went spinning backward and then to the floor of the balcony in a wild tangle. Dar Vaajo was old but he was still tough and wiry. He had the strength of a madman now. He kept Ketrik at bay as the latter sought to grip his throat. He laughed wildly as Ketrik pounded futilely at the tough _crystyte_ helmet. Then Ketrik knew why he laughed. The damage had been done, the power of the Entity was lashing through the barriers now! A tendril of light curled about Ketrik's head. Even through the helmet he felt the insatiable greed of it, as his brain exploded in fire. [Illustration: _Dar Vaajo was old but he was still tough and wiry._] He forgot Dar Vaajo, managed to drag himself upward. He staggered toward the huge Vortex machine. Vaajo hurled against his legs and brought him crashing down. His brain was now a writhing agony of fire. He saw Vaajo's grinning face near his own, and knew that somehow Vaajo wasn't affected by the Entity; perhaps years of working so close to it had made him partially immune. Slowly Ketrik managed to bring his knees up under the other's body, then his feet. With his last remaining strength he lashed out. He saw the Martian's slight body hurl backward. It crashed into the balcony's low railing which caught him just at the knees. For a moment Vaajo tottered, arms flailing wildly; then his mouth opened in what must have been a shriek as he went over the edge, over and downward, to crash a hundred feet below into the great greenish bulk of the Entity. But Ketrik didn't see that. He was dragging himself the few remaining yards to the Vortex machine, then slowly up to the controls. Heedless now of the frantic light-tendrils that tried to stop him, he managed to turn on the control. He sank to the floor as he pulled back on the master lever. It was through blurring eyes this time that he saw the crazy tilting of the laboratory dome and everything beneath, saw the dark Vortex twisting through from an alien space. As though in a dream he saw a rush of light, glimpsed a greenish mass hurtling outward to disappear in a convergence of crazy space-angles.... After that he remembered finding his electro which had skidded away on the floor. He used it to blast the Vortex machine into tangled ruin. He remembered staggering to the tele-vise and turning it on, and seeing Praana's face from a screen somewhere in the palace. "Praana ... the laboratory ... your father is...." But that was all. He was sliding forward against the screen, sliding down to the floor into merciful oblivion. * * * * * He saw her face again and it was no longer startled, it was smiling down at him. He tried to sit up. A spasm of pain hit him. He heard her say, "Rest. You will be all right soon."