Jarl leaped at him like a pouncing _zanth_, stabbing for the throat-sac with the keen-edged _skrii_ blade. The point bit in, even as the Martian tried to throw up a warding arm. What might have been a shout came out as a rush of blood and bubbling air. The _fala_ tottered, coughing out his life. Down the corridor, the Ganymedan whirled. Jarl snatched the ray-gun from the toppling guard's holster. His voice rasped, low-keyed and tense: "Don't make me kill you, _ktar_! I want only freedom, not your life!" The _kroy's_ eyes flicked down to the leveled gun. He stopped short--stiff, silent. "Back here!" Jarl clipped. "Back in my cell...." Wordless, dead-white face a chalky mask, the _kroy_ slithered past him. "Take him with you!" Jarl gestured to the fallen _fala_ guard. The _ktar_ bent. His pseudopods locked onto the dead Martian's shoulders. He dragged the corpse out of the corridor, into the cell. Jarl swept up the wave-pencil key from where it had fallen as the _fala_ died. Tight-drawn as a Uranian _tal_-string, gun still lined on the Ganymedan's neuro-plexus, he jerked the cell door shut and slid the wave-pencil into its slot beside the lock. * * * * * The bolt clicked home. A fierce excitement flared within Jarl. Heart pounding, heedless of the fatigue and pain that racked him, he spun about and ran, half-reeling, down the hall. He wondered how much time he had. Or if he had any. Wassreck and Sais.... He gripped the ray-gun tighter. The first three doors he passed stood open. The fourth was closed and locked. Jarl slid the wave-pencil into the slot. The bolt snapped back. Shoving open the door, he strained his eyes, searching the darkness of the room. A thick, familiar voice snarled sleepily from a bunk. "Ungo--!" The great, horny shoulders heaved up. The misshapen head lurched into view. "Jarl--!" It was a half gasp, half sob. "Jarl, I thought they'd done for you--that you'd gone under--!" Jarl reeled against the Jovian, clutching the mighty arm. "Quiet! They'll be after us any second!" He could feel Ungo's muscles swell. "Let them--!" Jarl laughed in spite of his tension, his pain. "Not yet, Ungo. Not till the job is done!" He pivoted. "Come on!" The Jovian's head sank down between the bulging shoulders. His eyes gleamed. "The tube again--the way we came--?" Jarl paused at the door. "No." He peered up and down the corridor. "Then what--?" "The commissioner's carrier. It's still in the court outside. We'll grab it as soon as I get back." Jarl started forward. Ungo caught his wrist. "Jarl...." "What--?" "There may be something you don't know...." Jarl came around sharply. "Speak up! Time's short!" Once more, the tension was climbing in him. Ungo fumbled: "The guards--they talked a little. They say the reason _rey_ Gundre went all-out on this raid was for a weapon, more than Wassreck." Jarl felt the cords along his neck draw tighter. "A weapon--?"