It was a terrifying sound, guttural, deep in the great animal's throat--but it proved something to Steel after its first shock. He'd heard sound-blending devices before. That was a human voice set in the growl of a bear. The disguise was perfect but it _was a_ disguise. This however did nothing to answer the two big questions. How did The Bear know him? And who was in that disguise? Well, he wasn't going to be long finding out. "Whoever _you_ are," Steel said, "I'm giving you five seconds to get out of there." He raised the pistol a fraction of an inch, years of police training, perfect aim from the hip. Then suddenly--insanely--the powerful Mike Doyle was diving toward him. Two thoughts flashed in Steel's head as he saw him coming--Mike had picked up a mighty strange loyalty lately to risk his life for his boss--and, Steel knew he couldn't shoot. It would bring the whole gang here instantly. He jumped aside. He smashed Mike across the head with his pistol. Mike sprawled and slid across the stage, to lay still. Steel whirled back to The Bear. "Are you getting out of there or not?" There was no answer for a moment. Then The Bear's voice was a deep whisper. "When I do, Mr. Steel, you're going to be in for a mighty big surprise...." "Get out of there!" Steel was in no mood for games. Deep in the matted hair of The Bear's chest, a small door started opening, slowly, mechanically. The whole thing was mechanical, arms, legs, head, everything operated electrically. The door-- The door was the last thing Steel remembered. A slamming blow. The back of his head. Then blackness.... III When the blackness vanished, as suddenly as it had come, Steel didn't open his eyes at first, figuring out what had happened. Mike had obviously came to and crept up behind him. Rabbit punch--Mike was a master at that. When he got this figured out, he started to work on what to do about it. He lay there motionless, listening. Then he realized he wasn't lying on the stage floor. He was lying on a bed of some kind. Somewhere in the distance, he heard the muffled crackling of a video transmitter. They'd moved him! How long had he been out! His eyes snapped open. "Well!" a familiar voice said. "Sleeping beauty awakes!" It was the tall thin-lipped fellow, his original captor. He stood beside the bunk on which Steel found himself lying. Across the fellow's thin cheek now was a taped bandage, the result of Steel's helmet-wielding. "I guess its time you knew my name," he said. "It's Dirk." And as he introduced himself, his right fist arced across the bunk, contacted Steel's jaw like a spark-gap and Steel's blackness returned once more.... This time however the blackness vanished in a deluge of ice water. Steel sat up on the bunk sputtering, shaking his head dazedly. Dirk threw the empty bucket in the corner and stood before him, hands on his narrow hips. "If I didn't have orders to take it easy, I'd drown you."