I strode to the door and glanced up and down the tunnel. No guards were present--they were probably outside discussing the conference, which was now in progress. I twined my "fingers" about a thick, steel bar and gave it all the juice I had! The metal glowed red-hot slowly fading into an incandescent white! The stuff began to melt, flowing out into the tunnel and forming bubbling puddles at my feet. The door didn't last long; all that was left was the cooling pools of metal and a gaping frame that yawned invitingly! The way was clear! "Willing to take a chance?" I asked. Augie gulped and nodded weakly. I boosted him to my back and made a sudden dash through the hissing, liquid steel, taking care not to slip. I wasn't afraid for myself, I'm non-conducive to heat. But Augie, perched precariously on my back, would certainly be engulfed and devoured by the stuff if I should fall. * * * * * Then we were through the molten hell, making our way cautiously down the passageway. Pitiful moans assailed our ears; frenzied pleas for us to release the sufferers inside welled forth from the dark cells. But I was adamant. "Time enough for that later, _if_ we're successful," I said to Augie. "These half-dead creatures would only be in our way in the coming fight." We reached the outer door and I pulled tentatively on the handle. It was unlocked! Apparently, the guards thought the thick cell-doors were enough protection against escape and hadn't bothered to fasten this one. Anyway, they would return soon. "You wait here," I whispered to Augie. "They're probably outside the door and would raise a hell of a noise if we came rushing out fighting. I may be forced to use a little persuasion on them." I opened the door and stepped casually outside. The guards were huddled in a circle not ten feet from me, absorbed in an abstract debate on what would arise from the palace conference. One of them spotted me and let out a squeal. "L-look!" he stammered. "One of de prisoners is loose!" They marshalled their forces and advanced on me slowly, quietly, seeing no reason to summon aid. There were five of them--I was but one. They made a concerted rush and clamped eager hands on my arms. Mon Pordo and Xan would reward them liberally for thwarting such an ill-planned coup. It was so easy, too. I placed my exposed tentacle on the shoulder of one and let go with a few thousand volts! The Jovians were packed together tightly and the electric charge dispatched them with grim ease. There was nothing left but a sickening mass of blackened, cooked flesh. Augie poked his head through the door and gagged wretchedly at the charnel sight. "It was necessary," I said. We stuffed the charred bodies inside the tunnel door and fled swiftly across the courtyard to the palace-proper where I pointed to a high window. Vines ran rampant on the wall. It would be an easy matter to climb up them to the window.