The guard swung around, his finger on the button of the Dixon Ray Rifle. Jaro noticed that sweat had traced paths down his grimy face. His hat was gone. Slowly his features relaxed as he recognized the two men as Terrestrials. "What's coming off?" Jaro asked. The guard grunted, glanced out the door. "The Mercurians have risen." Up the street a Fazoql moved in a doorway. A yellow ray leaped from the bell-shaped mouth of the guard's rifle, bathed the doorway in a saffron glare. The Fazoql tumbled into the street. "They've hired the Venusian mercenaries," the guard continued. "We're outnumbered ten to one." "Who's leading the revolution?" asked Jaro. "Karfial Hodes, the patriot," replied the guard. He flung the words over his shoulder, keeping his eyes up the vaulted passage. "But Hodes is dead!" expostulated Jaro. "Not so you could notice it," grunted the guard. Outside the rocket gun went zizz-boom! "How do you explain this?" He took a scrap of paper from his tunic, tossed it to Jaro. "What is it?" Landovitch said. The paper, Jaro saw, was a declaration. It read: "_To the Mercurian People_: "_The time has come to cast off the yoke of Earth. All loyal Mercurians are called upon to purge our ranks of the greedy Terrestrial parasites who have been exploiting our resources. Arise and take back that which is rightfully yours._" It was printed in both Mercurian and English and signed: "_Karfial Hodes, Imperator_." "Those have been stuck up all over the city," the guard informed them. "They've stormed the Spaceography Station and sent an ultimatum to the Earth Congress." Landovitch whistled. "But it's race suicide," he said, aghast. Both he and Jaro were thinking of what must be transpiring back on Earth at this minute. File upon file of huge battle spacers would be floating free from their sheds. Slim cigar-shaped corvettes, tenders, all the countless craft that comprised Earth's fleet, the mightiest fleet in the Universe, would be jockeying into position for their dash across space. Even now Earth's Sun Patrol must be hurtling upon the city of Acecia. The little uprising would be quelled almost before it got under way, martial law declared, the revolutionists hunted out, destroyed ruthlessly. Earth had experienced four such uprisings in different parts of its far-flung empire within the past decade and she would not be inclined to be lenient. "They haven't got the chance of a snowball in hell!" Jaro said bitterly. The rocket gun exploded: zizz-boom! Again the guard sprayed a doorway with the yellow ray, cursed. Three distorted figures huddled about the carriage of the rocket gun, but it was still being served. "They gutted the palace of the Governor," said the guard, "and hung the Governor from his own doorway. They've wrecked the offices of the Latonka Trust too." "What about the Terrestrials?" asked Jaro.