Thig felt his lips twitch into a grin. Fortunate that these ships were not equipped with telescreens. His story had convinced the methodical, robot-like Orthans. If he could keep them from learning that there was actually no madness on Earth until he could contrive to destroy them. The next words of the commander of the space cruiser sounded thunder-loud in his ears, tumbling his plans into ruin. "We will return to Ortha with our reports at once," said Urol. * * * * * Thig sat frozen in his seat for a long moment staring at the transmitter. If he could only be certain that the Horde would find no flaws in his story; that Earth would never know the destruction that the Horde would bring. And then he laughed. Fool! The Orthans were unimaginative as domesticated cattle. They were robotized animals, all but devoid of intelligence. He should have remembered sooner, for he had been one of the Horde before he stole the memories of an Earthman, and fell in love with the dead man's woman! Until he came to Earth, Thig had never known that there was such a thing as a lie. Among the men of Ortha there was no deceit or treachery. If they killed or destroyed, it was necessary. If they related any happening, however unimportant, it was painstakingly accurate. Imagination was a word that was meaningless among the disciplined billions of the Horde. They would not detect a lie for they would not recognize one! Earth was safe. "That is good," he said. "I will wait until you leave Earth, and then I will destroy the ship and myself." Over China they knifed, over the ruined cities and bomber fields, and down across Russia where vast armies locked in bloody combat. They saw here again great cities that were ravaged by war. Higher they climbed above the ocean, until, above North America, Thig dropped behind the great cruiser. He called the commander of the space cruiser then. "My fuel is almost exhausted," he said. "Prepare to dive into the Earth," said Urol in his emotionless voice. "We cannot waste the power of our ship to ray you. The senseless assaults of the madmen caused us to waste much of our power." "I am leaving now," said Thig. "May the Law of the Horde endure forever!" And under his breath: "on Ortha." Thig let the life boat drop away from the other ship. Slowly it fell at first, and then faster as gravity gripped it. Fifty miles the ship must fall before it smashed into the ground. By that time the cruiser would be already beyond the orbit of the moon, and all they would see would be the moment of impact. Friction was heating the metal skin of the ship slowly as it fell. Thig locked the controls; set the rocket relays for increasingly powerful thrusts of power, and waddled clumsily out through the lock into the frigid thin air of the stratosphere. He stepped out into emptiness.