They pushed it off the table. Drake tried to catch the set, and failed. He heard the glass tubes shattering, but by then he was busy protecting his eyes. In a few minutes they had killed two more bats, and the others had fled out the window. The men nailed boards over both windows, and Drake bent to examine the transmitter. "Any chance of fixing it?" Sorensen asked. "Not a hope," Drake said. "They ripped out the wiring while they were at it." "What do we do now?" "I don't know." Then the Quedak spoke to them over the walkie-talkie. "I must have your answer right now." Nobody said a word. "In that case," the Quedak said, "I'm deeply sorry that one of you must die now." VII Rain pelted the iron roof and the gusts of wind increased in intensity. There were rumbles of distant thunder. But within the copra shed, the air was hot and still. The gasoline lantern hanging from the center beam threw a harsh yellow light that illuminated the center of the room but left the corners in deep shadow. The treasure-hunters had moved away from the walls. They were all in the center of the room facing outward, and they made Drake think of a herd of buffalo drawn up against a wolf they could smell but could not see. Cable said, "Listen, maybe we should try this Quedak Cooperation. Maybe it isn't so bad as--" "Shut up," Drake said. "Be reasonable," Cable argued. "It's better than dying, isn't it?" "No one's dying yet," Drake said. "Just shut up and keep your eyes open." "I think I'm going to be sick," Cable said. "Dan, let me out." "Be sick where you are," Drake said. "Just keep your eyes open." "You can't give me orders," Cable said. He started toward the door. Then he jumped back. A yellowish scorpion had crept under the inch of clearance between the door and the floor. Recetich stamped on it, smashing it to pulp under his heavy boots. Then he whirled, swinging at three hornets which had come at him through the boarded windows. "Forget the hornets!" Drake shouted. "Keep watching the ground!" There was movement on the floor. Several hairy spiders crawled out of the shadows. Drake and Recetich beat at them with rifle butts. Byrnes saw something crawling under the door. It looked like some kind of huge flat centipede. He stamped at it, missed, and the centipede was on his boot, past it, on the flesh of his leg. He screamed; it felt like a ribbon of molten metal. He was able to smash it flat before he passed out. Drake checked the wound and decided it was not fatal. He stamped on another spider, then felt Sorensen's hand clutching his shoulder. He looked toward the corner Sorensen was pointing at. Sliding toward them were two large, dark-coated snakes. Drake recognized them as black adders. These normally shy creatures were coming forward like tigers. * * * * *