"Stop!" he commanded. For a moment there was confusion in the ranks, and those in front backed water. "Come forth, Komso, and look upon me!" Barry called. "You are a trickster and a fraud, and your curses are without power!" Komso's jaw went slack and his face grew crimson. The priest spoke softly to a Chosen One. "Men," he declared. "Only a demon could survive the curse of the Gods Of The Deeps--but even a demon can die!" Barry almost missed seeing the Chosen One raise his crossbow, but some instinct warned him just as the weapon twanged. He sidestepped and the missile whizzed by. It had been close. If they were to open upon him in volleys-- "Komso's curses are powerless but mine are not!" he declared loudly, concealing his nervousness. "You are forgiven this time, but the next man who raises a weapon against me will feel my wrath. He shall die screaming in slow agony!" "Rush him! Kill him!" Komso ordered, attempting to rally his wavering ranks. But Barry's boast, and their belief that he was a demon, held them back. Barry scanned the sea for the patch of light that would indicate Xintel approaching with the women of Tana. Nothing. Stalling was his only chance. "Men of Tana," he began. "If you follow Komso you go to certain death. Already you have seen that his so-called curse means nothing. And now I shall tell you how--" "Close your ears!" Komso shrieked. "Listen to this infidel and the curse of the Gods will be upon you too!" The men trembled, torn between fear of the demon and fear of their own leader. "Those from Above would be your friends," Barry argued. "They are not demons, but men very like yourselves." "Liar!" Komso bellowed. "The people of Tana are the only true men!" The warriors nodded, accepting the oft-repeated dogma as indisputable truth. Barry realized it was useless to argue. He waited, hoping something would swing the balance. Meanwhile Komso deployed his forces in a crescent across the mouth of the slough. To Barry it looked like preparation for a rush that would overwhelm him. Each warrior, he saw, carried a large sealed wooden cylinder. They handled them gingerly. Barry guessed their purpose. They contained the hypervirulent bacterial cultures with which the colony was to be exterminated. But of course, to the Venusians themselves, they were magic. Just when it seemed Komso's men were rallying from their fright, Barry sighted a speck of brightness far out to sea. One of the men saw it too and called the priest's attention to it. Komso's stare of puzzlement changed to fury as he made out the forms of thirty women. Xintel darted ahead of the group, past Komso's men, and before the priest could give an order, she had reached Barry's side. "I had to use all the fire," she said in a low voice. "There were torvaks, and it killed them." Barry squeezed her hand, although he wished she had saved one charge with which to impress the war party.