Any cry the Nehogan might have uttered was cut off at its source. He thrashed wildly, but Jupiter only tightened the noose, the muscles in his arms and shoulders bunching savagely. Suddenly he got a look at the man's distorted face. "Reiloc!" he cried and immediately slackened the cord. Reiloc sprawled on the floor, gasping painfully. "Are you crazy?" Tabak cried. "Kill him, Jupiter! Kill him before he can give the alarm." She suddenly snatched the carbine, aimed a blow at the prone warrior's head. Jupiter tore it out of her hands. Reiloc pushed himself unsteadily to his feet. He looked from the dead Anolyn to Jupiter, his hand massaging his bruised throat. "What are you?" he whispered painfully. "What manner of man are you who can kill the Anolyn in their own temple?" Jupiter's hesitation didn't show on his face. In a cold voice of authority, he said: "The Wanderer-from-Beyond!" Reiloc's eyes widened. Doubt and hope struggled in his grim countenance. Then the savage Nehogan dropped to one knee, held his sword out to Jupiter, hilt first. * * * * * Jupiter sat beside the embrasure, staring out at the street below. Behind him Reiloc was pacing back and forth in the bare little cell like a caged wolf. The copper-skinned Nehogan was nervous, worried. Action was his only emotional release. Tabak said: "Stop it, Reiloc! You're driving me crazy!" Reiloc quit pacing, squatted on his heels. But he couldn't stay still. Rising to his feet again, he growled: "Wait, wait. Are we waiting for them to come drag us out of here and take us to the vivisection rooms?" Tabak said: "Only for a little while longer." The Earth man continued to stare morosely down at the street. Under Tabak's guidance the three of them had secreted themselves in this neglected cell just off the sanctum of the Radiant God. When the city was new this chamber had been a part of the defenses of the temple in case of an uprising. But as the ages crept past without any threat from the human cattle, even its existence had gradually been forgotten. Outside, the city by the _Dra Dur_ was in the grip of hysteria. The alarm had gone out and the street below was deserted except for occasional patrols of Nehogans. Jupiter squinted at the angry orange sun. It seemed to rest on the rooftops. Only a minute or two and the ceremony should begin. He faced back into the room. Tabak said: "I think it's crazy." "Crazy or not, we need her," Jupiter said. "We can't hope to succeed without her." He closed his eyes searching the memory patterns imprinted on his brain by Tabak. The temple was built in the form of a hollow square with the breeding pens located in the main courtyard. Every day the human guinea pigs were driven up a back way into the sanctum of the Radiant God. There they were exposed to the hard radiations emitted by the statue.