He closed his eyes, saw her as he first saw her, bright with silk, twirling beneath the masks at the Festival Ball. But the man with broad shoulders who bent her back and whispered in her hair, then looked up for all the world to see his pride, was Konrad. Even after his threats, she had said very little against him. Perhaps she had a vaguely guilty feeling too. People were the way they were. Konrad was a prime example. When you pressed the proper buttons they did what they were set to do. Could you blame such a man as Konrad? He shivered and prayed Kit would never learn what was happening to Konrad just then. When the next rocket came in two months, they'd be on it. She'd be happier if she never knew. "It's awfully quiet Jeff." "Not for long." * * * * * The Assassin's men returned in comparative silence. Bloodsoaked and weary, they filed in and laid the old man upon the table. Immediately, Jeff prepared another hypo, for The Assassin was white and shallow-breathing from shock. It would be better to postpone the last phase of the operation, but Taen was already opening the freezing cylinder to show him their success. The earless man set a moist package on the floor beneath the table. "Guards fought like women," he smiled. "We can keep them off till you're done." Jeff looked around. Kit had already left the room. Quickly he stripped off the bandages as Taen raised his hands to the germicidal light, then moved rather clumsily to assist. "What happened?" Jeff hissed from the corner of his mouth. Taen failed to answer. Jeff cursed softly. Without knowing what had passed between Konrad and The Assassin, how was he to act? With an unsteady hand that could ruin the operation, Taen jabbed the suction hose at the orbital cavity. As Jeff turned to him the mountain man fell heavily against the table, reeled back with an apologetic expression on his oddly pale face and sat down with a thud on the floor. "What's the matter, you hurt?" The mountain man's jaw opened and closed like that of a stranded fish. His eyes bulged and perspiration beaded his brow but words would not come. The earless man squatted beside them. "Perhaps when he was cutting out the eyes he stayed too long in the room where the gas was." "What kind of gas?" "I don't know the names of gases." "Dammit, what did it smell like? Salty? Stinging?" "No, like the flower with the red and white petals. Leave him alone," the young man's voice rose in sudden authority. "You haven't time for him. Put in the eyes." But Jeff hastened to the medicine cabinet and took out an emetic and a heart stimulant. He knew that gas. "Get to work on the master, I said." The earless one's voice rose a notch. "Quick or I shall kill you." He brought the large muzzle of his sten gun in line with Jeff's eyes. "And The Assassin will die on the table," the doctor retorted as he pried open Taen's mouth.