* * * * * Stinson's bare feet were numb from walking on ice. Christ, he thought, what am I doing here, anyway? He glanced down at Sybtl and remembered the webfoots. He stopped, tempted to use his cylinder and move to a warmer, less dangerous spot. The woman pulled on his arm. "We must hurry!" He clutched the tube-weapon. "How many shots in this thing?" "Shots?" "How often can I use it?" "As often as you like. It is good for fifty years. Kaatr--he is the one you destroyed--brought it from the ship when we came. Many times he has used it unwisely." "When did you come?" "Ten years ago. I was a child." "I thought only criminals were brought here." She nodded. "Criminals, and their children." "When will your people come again?" She shook her head. "Never. They are no longer my people. They have disowned us." "And because of me even those in the cavern have disowned you." Suddenly she stiffened beside him. There, directly in their path, stood the Sand God. It was blood red now. It pulsed violently. The great voice burst forth. "Leave the woman!" it demanded angrily. "The webfoots are nearing your position." "I cannot leave her. She is helpless against them." "What form of primitive stupidity are you practicing now? Leave, or they will kill you." Stinson shook his head. The Sand God pulsed more violently than before. Ice melted in a wide area around it. Brown, frozen grass burned to ashes. "You will allow them to kill you, just to defend her life? What business is it of yours if she lives or dies? My race discarded such primitive logic long before it reached your level of development." "Yes," Stinson said, "and your race no longer exists." The Sand God became a sphere of blue flame. A wave of intense heat drove them backward. "Earthman," the great voice said, "go back to your Earth. Take your inconsistencies with you. Do not come here again to infect my planet with your primitive ideas. The webfoots are not as intelligent as you, but they are sane. If you bring your people here, I shall destroy you all." The sphere of blue fire screamed away across the frozen wilderness, and the thunder of its passing shook the ground and echoed among the lonely hills. * * * * * Sybtl shivered against his arm. "The Sand God is angry," she said. "My people tell how he was angry once before, when we first came here. He killed half of us and burned the ship that brought us. That is how Kaatr got the tube-weapon. It was the only thing the Sand God didn't burn, that and the skirts. Then, when he had burned the ship, the Sand God went to the sixth planet and burned two of the largest cities, as a warning that no more of us must come here." Well, Stinson said to himself, that does it. We are better off on Earth. We can't fight a monster like him. Sybtl touched his arm. "Why did the Sand God come? He did not speak." "He spoke to me." "I did not hear."