Parr felt the warmth of her thoughts around him, and then they began to go up beyond his range and he had to strain to stay with them. Underneath her thoughts his mind began to quiet, and, in a moment he felt--isolation. "Help, here," she said. He saw the weakness and strengthened it. With her helping, he found the range less high, and he could almost relax under it. And their minds were very close together, and their thoughts were completely alone. "We're safe here," she whispered. He listened to his own far away breathing, and heard hers, too, softer but labored. They crouched, waiting, and the street before them was quiet in the sunlight, for the mail trucks were out, and no taxis moved. The city--for the moment--was deathly still and waiting uneasily. The high air was sharp in his lungs. "They've missed us," she said at length. "Wait! They're.... They're after ... it's another Knoug. They think we've separated, and they think it's you." "That would be Kal," Parr said. "He must have been waiting nearby." He brought out the comset. "He must have seen us come out together." He flicked open the comset, heard, "... joined with the Oholos. Parr and the other just left the hotel together." "He's told the Advanceship," Parr said to the girl. "It doesn't make any difference," Lauri replied wearily. And Parr breathed a nervous sigh, for the hate had found its channel. The Empire had made him unclean and debased him, and he had to cleanse himself. His vast reserve of hate shrieked out against the Empire; their own weapon turned against them. "I'd like to get back to the Advanceship," Parr said. "If I could get back, I could smash in their faces!" "Oh," she said. * * * * * The comset sputtered excitedly. "Three Oholos after me! They're armed! Must be new ones. The other two weren't armed!" The comset was silent. "Three?" Parr said. "That's right, there were three. I thought there were just five on the whole planet." "There's about fifty now. They landed last night. Out in the Arizona desert. They're the only ones who could get here in time." Parr felt elation. But it passed. "Fifty.... That's not enough to stop the invasion." "It's all we could get here," Lauri repeated. Parr groaned. "The Knougs will shield the planet tomorrow. It will trap those fifty on the surface. And us. They'll shoot us, if we're lucky. But I'd like to kill some first!" The comset crackled, and the Ship voice said: "How many new ones altogether?" "I don't know," Kal answered. "I only know of three." "We'll hurry the attack, then, before they're set. Can you hold out, Kal?" "I don't know," Kal said. The attack. The meaning of it suddenly rang in Parr's ears. Until a second ago, he had seen his hate as personal, and now he realized that the Empire was ready to capture a planet and then to destroy a System. And he saw the vast evil of the Empire hurtling toward Oholo civilization. He gnashed his teeth.