The door panel slowly swung the image of Sebours into Roal's line of sight. He raised the lance. But the image was so distorted in the surface that the figure of Alayna mingled and flowed with that of her father. If the warped door forced the deadly energy a fraction of a degree away from its target Alayna would receive the full reflected blast instead of Sebours. Roal waited. The door moved, then paused. It was not quite far enough--but it was moving back now in the wrong direction. In another instant it would be too late. Roal jammed himself against the wall to get the best angle of reflection. The images wobbled and flowed on the uneven surface, but there was no time to wait for a better reflection. He pressed the trigger. A fury of flame leaped out towards the door and burst against it in a bloom of crimson fire. The charred wood that remained refused to tell Roal of the success or failure of his shot. There was no sound from the laboratory to tell if the shot had hit or missed--or found the wrong target. Only a sudden great silence. And in that silence Roal plunged out. He could not endure the waiting in ambush longer. He plunged out upon a scene of disaster--for his enemies. Closely following, Shorty came out blasting with his lance. But the Martians were too dumb-stricken to fight back. They seemed to have lost all their nerve and some had even dropped their guns to the floor. They all faced the table where disaster had befallen them. Roal saw at once that his daring shot had been successful. Sebours had fallen across Alayna and now he slumped slowly to the floor. The reflected fire of the lance had not been sufficient to burn through him, but rather had enveloped him in horrible consuming fire. His death had not been pretty and he had died over the bound form of his daughter. Roal grabbed a scalpel and slashed at the bonds holding the girl to the table. Weakly, she rose and her eyes were filled with tears and thanksgiving. "I couldn't believe you'd get here," she said weakly. Roal looked down at the dead body of her father. "I'm sorry--about him," he said. "It is no matter," said Alayna. "That is sorrow that is long gone. But come with me quickly. We must get out of here. The Thousand Minds will know of what has happened and we simply must attack them first." Roal was bewildered by her words, but she gave him no time for questions. Clad in her filmy costume as if prepared for appearance in the Starhouse, Alayna jumped lightly to the floor and ran between the stupefied Martians held at bay by Shorty. The Earthmen followed into a passage and barred the doorway. Then Alayna directed them to burn down the roof and the walls with the flame lances, sealing the passage completely. As fleet as a patrol ship, Alayna darted down the passage ahead of them, making it difficult for Roal and Shorty to follow the winding tunnel beneath the desert sands. Their flame lances were kept ready, but no Martians appeared.