Everything was going too fast. He had time for a single deep breath before the shriek of a whistle paralyzed him again. Footsteps slapped towards him and one of the searchlights burned with light. The footsteps speeded up and the man ran by, close enough for Neel to touch if he had reached out a hand. His clothing was shapeless and torn, his head and face thick with hair. That was all Neel had time to see before the guns roared and burned the life from the runner. Some derelict, sleeping in the alley, who had paid with his life for being in the wrong spot at the wrong time. But his death had bought Neel a little more time. He turned and looked into the barrel of a gun. Shock after shock had destroyed his capacity for fear. There was nothing left that could move him, even his own death. He looked quietly--dully--at the muzzle of the gun. With slow determination his mind turned over and he finally realized that this time there was nothing to fear. "It's me, Adao," he whispered. "You'll be all right now." "Ahh, it is you--" the voice came softly out of the darkness, the gun barrel wavered and sank. "Lift me up so I can get at this door. Can't seem to stand too well any more." * * * * * Neel reached down, found Costa's shoulders and slowly dragged him to his feet. His eyes were adjusting to the glare above them now, and he could make out the gleam of reflected light on the metal in Costa's fingers. The UN man's other hand was clutched tightly to his waist. The gun had vanished. The metal device wasn't a key, but Costa used it like one. It turned in the lock and the door swung open under their weight. Neel half carried, half dragged the other man's dead weight through it, dropping him to the floor inside. Before he closed the door he reached down and felt a great pool of blood outside. There was no time to do a perfect job, the hard footsteps were coming, just a few yards away. His sleeves were sodden with blood as he blotted, then pushed rubble into the stain. He pulled back inside and the door closed with only the slightest click. "I don't know how you managed it, but I'm glad you found me," Costa said. There was weakness as well as silence in his whisper. "It was only chance I found you," Neel said bitterly. "But criminal stupidity on my part that let you walk into this trap." "Don't worry about it, I knew what I was getting into. But I still had to go. Spring the trap to see if it _was_ a trap." "You suspected then that Hengly was--" Neel couldn't finish the sentence. He knew what he wanted to say, but the idea was too unbearable to put into words. Costa had no such compunction.