A sudden jolt wrenched them away from the stanchions; the ship came to a stop as a warning light flickered ominously on the control board. Yet, as they picked themselves up, the cliff had disappeared; it was not behind them, and before them stretched the familiar surface of Hastur, above them the velvet of space, flecked with pinpricks of light. “A puncture!” cried Nick. He grabbed the speaker. “Nick,” came the voice of Marquis. “There’s a hole about the size of a soup plate in sector seven. Don’t worry; we’ll be sealing it off directly, and we’ve locked it off. Call you back when it’s done.” “Okay, be careful.” He turned to the others. “We’ll be on our way shortly. Anybody see that pit we turned off our course to avoid?” “It’s gone, Nick,” said Hartnett, “but the show’s still on.” He nodded toward the port. Something was coming over the horizon, something that looked partly like an arm, and partly like a molten river. It was both a flow and a wriggling, and, as they watched, another glowing thing snaked up from behind the distant ridges. This second thing went straight up into the sky, curving out as if looking for something upon which to swoop. And now the main body of the thing began to be visible. It was vaguely conical, with the apex inverted, the arms of it issuing forth from the sides. A single glowing eye bulged from the top. “It looks nasty,” said Nick, “but I don’t think it’s very powerful.” “It might bang us up a bit, though,” added Timbie. “The beastie is after something. Look at the way those three arms are swishing around.” The thing was virtually monochrome except for the jet black of the single eye. The arms were flailing in the general direction of the ship, coming closer with each cast. But apparently it had not reached them yet. “Do you suppose it can’t see well?” asked Dorothy. Before anyone could answer her the creature had already acted. For caught now in one of the brilliant arms was a flattish many-legged thing, looking more like a centipede than anything else. It had a barbed tail like a scorpion, and was writhing and trying to spear the other desperately. But the hunter had calculated well and encircled its prey in such a manner that the barb could not reach it. Closer to the brilliant body the struggling thing was borne, then a slit appeared in the side of the victor, and a deep red orifice grew. The flattish creature was popped into this; the cavity closed with a snap and again the shell of brilliant cone-thing seemed to be unbroken. [Illustration: _Caught in the brilliant arms was a flattish thing that looked more like a centipede than anything else._] “Nice fauna here,” remarked Nick. “Did your party ever meet up with that beauty?” Hartnett grinned. “In a way. But watch closely, now. There’s more to come.”