"You know what'll happen," Blayne shouted. "You'll rot on Venus for the rest of your life if I don't get back!" "I'll take that chance, Blayne. I can't let you kill that bird." He put his head down and bulled into Blayne's midsection, ignoring the rain of blows that descended on his neck and shoulders. He forced Blayne back toward the water's edge, only to have to let go when the other's fingers clawed into his throat. He pulled away, and Blayne's fingers left bright red streaks on Elliot's flesh. Blood mingled with sweat. A cloud of Venusian gnats descended on them, humming gently around their heads. Blayne's fist smashed into Elliot's stomach, but the pilot shook off the blow and landed one in the bowl of lard that cushioned the other's intestines. Blayne coughed and stepped backward. Elliot leaped for him and wrapped his arms around Blayne, barely managing to encircle the fat man's body. Then, slowly, he lifted the struggling Blayne from the ground. "Here ... we ... go...." he said, as he heaved the Commissioner's bulk upward. He got Blayne as far off the ground as he could, and started to dash him to the ground again, when the other broke Elliot's grasp. Elliot let him go and he fell heavily. Instantly the pilot was upon him, and the two rolled one over the other down the side of the bank toward the river. Just at the river's edge, Elliot managed to check their fall and broke loose. Blayne was on his feet again in an instant. Elliot's first punch crashed through Blayne's guard. The fat man reeled backward, lost his footing, and toppled off the embankment into the quiet water below, shouting wildly as he fell. As he struck, he shot up a torrent of water that splashed over Elliot's feet. Suddenly the water was quiet no longer. There was a swirl beneath the river's surface, and Blayne's body became the center of a tangle of dark saurian shapes. Blayne screamed just once before the razor-sharp teeth dragged him beneath the water. A red stain formed and drifted slowly down the sluggish stream, and then the water was quiet once again. * * * * * Elliot stood on the riverbank, gasping heavily as he fought to recover his breath, and mopped away the blanket of gnats that had adhered to him during the fight. He watched the streaks of red drifting downstream, and knew that his own life was forfeit now for Blayne's. He shook his head and turned away. There was nothing else he could have done. He started to walk slowly back away from the river. There was a rustling sound in the air above him. He looked up, into the blazing sun, and a moment later was crouching in a huddled ball on the ground. The Dragonbird was dropping gently toward him. Elliot remembered only too well what those gleaming talons had done to the sacrificial animal strapped to the altar. And then-- _Do not be afraid_, a calm, silent voice said. _You have done me a great service, Daniel Elliot._