He was immune to the creature's control. That was apparent. Why? There was only one answer--the titanium plate in his head. His skull had been crushed like paper in the reactor explosion, but the medics on Rigel IV had painstakingly patched him together again with a cranium fashioned mostly from thin metal. From the outside, it was indistinguishable from the original--but the metal apparently served as a shield against the telepathic commands of the Khethlani. It was a logical explanation. Then he had little time to waste. Soon, the Khethlani would discover his bluff. Carter would have to make his move long before then. The thin titanium plate in his skull was all that stood between the Khethlani and its dream of galactic conquest. He had to bank on it. * * * * * Gendron was outside, in the clearing. Carter came up to him, "How are things going, Lieutenant?" "Just fine," Carter said. "I'll have to leave you for a few moments, though." "Oh? What for?" "The Khethlani is sending me back to my ship," Carter explained. "It thinks some of the equipment I have aboard can be built into the generator." "Very good," Gendron said. "That stuff can be important to us, all right. You want someone to go with you?" _Another test_, Lieutenant Carter thought. "Of course not! The Khethlani is guiding me!" "Of course, Lieutenant." The trouble was that the Khethlani was _not_ guiding him, and it took him several hours to find his way back to his ship. Eventually he found it, climbed up the catwalk, and entered. Waves of thought beat at him suddenly. He sensed hatred, anger. The Khethlani was aware! His deception was at its end. At this distance, though, the Khethlani's commands were just so much tinny jangling in his mind. Methodically, Carter went about his work, grimly adjusting the automatic pilot of the ship, computing an orbit. It took fifteen minutes. When he was finished, he blasted off, and his small ship rose high above the atmosphere of Deneb IV. He snapped on his radio. The detectors immediately picked up the SOS broadcast. Evidently the Khethlani kept its lure out at all times. He ignored it, and began to speak into the mike. "Gendron! Gendron! You hear me?" There was a crackling moment of silence, and then: "I hear you. What are you doing, Carter?" "Never mind that now. I want you to get all your men out of that building and as far from the clearing as possible, right away. You get that?" "You're a madman, Carter. The Khethlani will put a stop to--" "It hasn't stopped me yet. I'm warning you--get out of that building, or you'll die with your master." * * * * * He snapped off the radio. Gendron had had ample warning, and Carter had other things to occupy his mind. The little ship was reaching the top of its climb now, and soon it would be levelling out and plunging back down toward the surface of the planet below. The Khethlani's thoughts beat frantically at him.