Cringing against the hill, he moved along the ledge to a point where it curled past a jutting crag. On the other side of that he'd be hidden from view and could make a run for it. But as soon as he'd made it, he gasped, horror-stricken.... The vague shadow of the ledge pinched inward till it became the gulfing black of a sheer cliff. He was trapped! His only hope now was the coming of the town people and he listened for noises of their approach. But all he heard was the scuffle of two beings cresting the ledge. Was it possible that he alone knew of the landing? The town people should have come by now. As it was, a lot of lives depended on him. His father and mother, the other kids, and all the people, too. He couldn't let them down! The beam of light, moving along the ledge ahead of the two beings, now touched the crag and spilled over to where he stood. Then, almost as if Fate had taken charge again, his eyes were drawn to the gleam of a sharp-edged rock.... He was gripping it, poised to strike, when the first of the beings came around the bend. Two things made him hesitate. First, size. The being was tiny--fully a third shorter than himself. Next, the way the being acted. It had stopped and raised its hand, palm out, as if trying to make friends. * * * * * It must be a trick, he told himself. Never had he heard the beings spoken of as friends--only as vicious destroyers. He took a tighter grip on the rock. Now he noticed something that filled him with a new loathing. He'd been wrong about their appearance. The sagging skin was really a bulky suit. The big head a helmet. And back of the helmet's face he could see the actual being. He felt like vomiting. He bashed the rock against the faceplate. It webbed with a cluster of tiny cracks. He struck again and again, until the helmet split open and he was pulping the face itself to a reddish smear.... Suddenly a roaring filled his ears. His side was laced with terrible pain. He reeled backward. Saw the second of the beings pointing at him with something long and rodlike. He flipped the rock. It caught the being in the chest and drove it over the side. He could see it clawing the air all the way down to the glen. There, the third being, with the light, took one look at the still form, turned and raced madly for the ship. Watching, he was overcome with a peculiar feeling of excitement. The pain in his side had ebbed and he felt hot and feverish. He wanted to do something--to act. Without thinking, he scurried down the hill and took after the fleeing figure. He caught it on the ladder, just below the trap-door, grabbed its leg, and jerked. It plunged to the ground and hit with a crash. The light blinked out. Now he heard a thin grating noise. Above him the trap-door, dimly outlined by a light from a cubbyhole beyond, had begun to move. He swung himself to the platform, dove into the cubbyhole, and heard the trap clang shut behind him.