Again Jarl looked from one raider to another. But their hard faces showed no trace of mercy, no hint of indecision. Bleakly, he turned back to Bor Legat. The Mercurian set the proton bomb down on the table with a thud. A grim finality was in the gesture. "We've got three Earth days, Corvett," he said in a flat, hard voice. "Three days to turn you over to _rey_ Gundre." And then: "It could seem three thousand years to your lovely Sais, if you stay stubborn." * * * * * Once more, the seconds dragged like eons. Again Jarl looked to the raider chiefs, the burly crewmen. A thought moiled in the far reaches of his brain: _If I could only snatch a weapon...._ But even as it came, it died again. What good could any weapon do against so many? Even if he killed Bor Legat, there'd be the others. The Mercurian said: "We're wasting time, Corvett. Give us Ylana--or we'll get to work on your own woman." Sais choked, "Jarl, stand firm--! Let them have me; it doesn't matter...." Her voice broke. Jarl held her tighter. Bitterly, he thought of Wassreck, her father, and of Horla. What was loyalty now, when it made a man try to choose between Sais and the thin-drawn chance that he might somehow save Ceresta? Of a sudden he felt as if he were being pulled apart by the conflicting claims of love and loyalty, torn asunder under the impact of a dozen different kinds of duty. The proton bomb on the table would rend a man less. The proton bomb.... Bor Legat straightened. He snapped to the crewmen, "Take the woman!" Never had the basilisk eyes held more deadly malice. "Jarl ..." whispered Sais. But her voice held only proud farewell; no tears nor fears, no piteous entreaty. A raider gripped her shoulder. Jarl said, "Wait...." He spoke to Bor Legat, but his eyes were on the grenade that stood beside the Mercurian on the table. A tremor of chill fascination touched him as he stared at the safety pin, the firing lever. "A change of heart--?" Legat smiled his ghoulish smile. "For a moment, there, I thought you'd let us have the woman." "No, Bor," Jarl Corvett said tightly, and in that moment a raider's own wild recklessness was singing in him. "I've other plans for Sais and you. If they work, she'll live, and so will I--and you, you scum, there'll come a day when you'll have your chance to die by inches!" "What--?" Bor Legat came erect, as if he could not believe the words he heard. Sais' eyes went wide. She tried to push back from Jarl. A raider crewman reached for his arm. "You heard me right," Jarl Corvett said. He let his shoulders slump and made as if to turn away. Of a sudden his muscles were tense to aching. The crewman stretched to clutch him. But Jarl moved faster. Catching Sais about the waist, he flung her bodily against the raider. Then, whirling, he lunged for the proton bomb on the table. Bor Legat snatched for his pistol. But Jarl smashed an elbow into his middle.