In the sudden silence Tchassen heard nothing but the whisper of icy wind in the trees. He opened the door and looked at the deserted building. The roofs of the smaller structures nearby had collapsed under the pressure of winter snows, but the main building, sheltered by tall pines, was in good repair. "We'd be warmer inside," Tchassen suggested. "In the morning after the sun comes out--" "Captain!" Briggan broke in. "We must reach the coast!" "--after the sun comes out, the ice on the road should begin to melt; the driving will be much easier." "Don't you realize, sir--these mountains are enemy territory?" "We're still well-armed, Sergeant." "We had the rays in Reno, too, but Drein's dead." "I tell you we'll be safe here. I remember a trick I saw demonstrated at the school of tactics." "You security men have the advantage. I'm just an enlisted non-com. I never went to the military schools and learned any fancy tricks, but I know I have a duty to reach the coast and report what's happened." Tynia took Briggan's arm. "The sedan won't run, Sergeant. Surely you aren't saying we have to walk--" "It's interesting, isn't it, that the car stopped right here--in front of a place where it would be so convenient for us to spend the night?" "What do you mean, Briggan?" "I wasn't doing the driving, Tynia." A hard knot of anger exploded in Tchassen's mind, but he held his temper. It was easier to ignore Briggan than to answer his suspicion. In a tone that concealed his feelings, the Captain said, "Let me show you what I saw them do in the demonstration, Sergeant." He slid out of the sedan. With numb fingers, he opened the firing box of the portable heat ray and took out one of the two thermal coils. Breaking the seal, he began to unwind the thin thread of wire. "We have our own alarm system right here," he explained, trying to convey more enthusiasm than he really felt. "Nearly a quarter mile of wire. We'll string it in a circle around this clearing, six inches above the ground. The natives will never notice it. If they attack us, they'll snap the wire and set off the thermal reaction. We'll be surrounded for a second or two in a blazing ring of fire." "Maybe it'll work, Captain." * * * * * The two men strung the wire while Tynia lugged the weapons and the canned goods into the abandoned building. When the Sergeant and Tchassen went inside, they found that she had started a fire in a pot-bellied stove. The Captain stood holding his hands over the flames and gradually he began to feel warm again. He knew that the pillar of smoke rising from the chimney might invite an attack by the natives, but there was also a good chance that the smoke would disperse before it could be spotted.