He flung back his head and laughed, and his mirth rang loud and harsh in wild, eerie peals. Listening to it, Kortha bared his teeth in a soundless snarl and shook his hammer, and said, "I would sooner be friends with a canalhound. Send your men, but they'll not find me. I'll be away, looking for the shortest route to your throat!" Guantra grinned, "I'll forgive you that when you're my friend, Kortha. Don't think you can get free of the tower. The controls for those doors are under my fingers. A trusted guard watches the screen here, night and day. He summons me when any enter the tower. He was quite excited upon seeing you. Mars has not forgotten Kortha who reunited the clans. "How Mars will worship a Kortha come to life! Mars will also worship Guantra who found you and gave you back to her. The crowds will go for you. Kortha the genius. Kortha the man-gorilla. Kortha the great. "And Kortha will be--my friend!" It was then that the giant swung the massive hammer against the quartz-crystal screen. It shattered into fragments that sounded like musical glass as they fell to the floor. Kortha looked at Xax, and rested the hammer by a sandalled foot. His green eyes glittered, and his long yellow hair shook as he moved abruptly, turning on his heel. "Guantra has his weapon now. He needed that weapon before he dared declare himself. So! A lightning-blaster. Now when Earth and Venus learn that Mars is a power to be reckoned with, they will seek Guantra's favor. Each will hasten to make peace and bid for his friendship. And Guantra will sell Mars for the highest offer. In a polite way, of course. "If I can't stop him, he will. And Guantra has an army. And an air fleet." Kortha laughed harshly, "I have two hands and a brain, and a hate for Guantra. Maybe that will even up the odds. Come, Xax. Stop talking to me." Xax shrilled a chuckle and rolled along with the fur-clad giant, back into the science hall. Kortha worked with his deft fingers, examining coils and rings, delving into the secrets of ages-ancient generators and condensors. He grunted and swore, and his brow was furrowed in thought. One engine he completely dismantled, but could make nothing of its function. Others he merely glanced at, passing them by. "I'd need a laboratory to test them all," he said at last. "I just don't have the equipment. You can't determine uses or strengths or purposes with your naked fingertips." He went and patted the ringed machine with his palms. "We have no weapon but this, Xax. It will have to do." "That?" choked the tumblie. "That's no weapon. It's just a--a luxury!" Kortha knelt and began fastening wheels to the base of the machine. He said, "In our hands it will be a weapon. It will have to be, for Guantra is sending men and ships to capture us. When those doors roll open, his men are coming in for me."