* * * * * The mocking green eyes slitted. The firm handclasp loosened. Then Bob was writhing on the deck, his handsome face grimacing, his body twisting and convulsing within the space suit. _I hope you're satisfied, Thing!_ Kent Knight's thought was bitter. _You are giving him the pain that you gave me--pain that I wouldn't give to my worst enemy and he is a friend. Sure, he was a rival for Mary Jo, but he fought fair. I was hurt, too, sure, but it was the fortunes of love. But, see, even if I loved Mary Jo, I liked Bob. He's a grand guy...._ _Somehow, Thing, I will beat you. You have hurt a square guy. You have stolen his mind, just as you have stolen mine. You are destroying something fine and beautiful. You have trampled on an Earthman's dream. For that and for Mary Jo, you will pay._ _It_ said nothing. His mind suddenly began to signal frantically. Knight's glance flashed to the four space guards at the portal, saw them recovering from their momentary paralysis at the sight of their commander writhing on the floor. The atomic pistols which had dropped unconsciously from the ready were coming up. The pinhole muzzles were centering on him. "Wait!" Kent Knight's voice snapped authoritatively. "I warned him there was danger. Will you destroy me before I can explain?" The four guardsmen hesitated. Knight said urgently, "Don't touch any living thing on this ship. Shoot anything down if it approaches you. Anything. We harbor terrible Thought Things which steal our minds. One has just seized your commander and--" Knight's voice halted in mid-sentence. _I'm free_, his mind was crying joyfully. _It's gone. Act quickly, Kent Knight, act before it can come back._ It _is busy with Bob and he's strong enough to give it a battle so that_ It _can't watch you, too._ Knight spun around swiftly, seeking Sammy. Sammy has the answer, his mind had said. Now to find it. Sammy lay in one corner of the airlock entrance, one hand clutching his ever-present bottle. But for the first time in a week, Sammy had succumbed finally to the prodigious quantities of liquor he had consumed. He was sleeping like a child, the bottle held against his breast. Kent strode over to him and reached down to shake Sammy awake. But before his hands touched the sleeping Sammy, his mind shrieked a warning. _Remember, Kent, you touched a furry beastie and you got the Thing. Careful Sammy doesn't give you his._ _Oh, Sammy_, Kent Knight thought, _you have the answer and then, damn you, Sammy, you pass out. Just when I'm free of my Thing--just when we need you and your answer most._ Knight was angry for a moment, then his rage waned. He liked the guy, though he was always in an alcoholic fog. Unconsciously, he bent down and punched Sammy lightly in the jaw. Instantly, he knew his mistake, and his mind cried out, _Fool!..._