"Hush, now. Be back in a jiffy," Nancy said as she slipped out the door into the darkness outside. Professor Corbett and the scientist continued talking. Others joined them and the discussion became heated. It touched on science, art, literature, and many other topics that had been important and common in the old days. A few minutes passed and Dan joined the group. "Where's Nancy, Alan?" he asked. Professor Corbett turned to Dan to explain Nancy's errand when the sound of a shrill scream from somewhere outside the house caused everyone to stiffen in fright. "It's Nancy!" Dan shouted and sprang for the door. He wrenched it open and, as he did so, a burst of flame seared out of the blackness, missing him by inches. Another scream followed the first. The people in the room were galvanized into action. Professor Corbett ran to a chest in a corner of the room. He unlocked it quickly and handed a ray gun to Dan. He distributed guns to most of the other men. The guns had been smuggled out of Dreamtown by Jennings and others over a period of years. Soon men were stationed at every window of the house firing out into the blackness. "It's the Watchers!" a woman shouted. "Be careful of your fire," Dan yelled, "they've got Nancy!" The firing continued, while Professor Corbett and some of the others struggled to smother a fire that had been started by a blast from a Watcher's ray gun. "I'm going out after them!" Dan shouted. Professor Corbett grabbed for Dan in an effort to stop him, but he was too late. The Professor left the others to battle the fire and raced after Dan. As he stumbled along in the darkness, he could barely discern Dan's figure racing in the direction from which the shots had come. There was no firing now and the hillside was quiet. Dan had stopped, and Professor Corbett joined him in the darkness. Both men looked frantically in every direction. "There's no trace of them. They got away, Alan. We held them off, but they've taken Nancy with them!" Professor Corbett put his arm around Dan's shoulder. His eyes filled with tears and he gripped Dan tightly. For a few seconds neither of them spoke and then Professor Corbett turned to Dan. "We'd better go back to the house." The two men turned and walked slowly back to the farmhouse where the others still battled the fire. * * * * * Lisa and Brant walked down the street toward the Playground. "Benton liked your script for the Council show, Brant," Lisa said as they walked along. "It was a hard card to handle, I'll tell you," Brant said. "No one actually knows anything about the Council. We don't even know how many members there are. It was hard trying to get enough information to fill the show time, so I just reworked the old stories about the Council and added a few new ones." Lisa slipped her arm through Brant's. "I'm proud of you, honey. It must have been good to set Benton hopping like that. What'd you put in it?"