"Ah, now I see. Clever, Jordan, very clever. But don't congratulate yourself too soon, because you haven't won yet! We're back at the stalemate again. Why don't you pull the trigger, Jordan? Go ahead and pull it--and blast yourself to dust!" Startled, Ron looked down at the weapon in his hand. Now it was Tarnuff who was exultant as he went on: "You never had a chance, Jordan! Never from the beginning! You see, I counted on your Earth chivalry, and you did just what I expected--gave me my choice of what you thought were identical pistols. But they aren't identical! The one you now hold works in reverse! Such reverse pistols have stood me in good stead on several occasions, and I always make it a point to have one with me. Fire it--and you blast yourself, not me!" * * * * * They stood facing each other, perhaps thirty feet apart. Tarnuff glanced down and saw the pistol he had dropped. He reached out with his foot and slid it along the hull to Jordan. "There you are. If you'll compare the two, you'll see that the firing mechanism of yours is in reverse. One needs to look very closely to detect the difference." Ron didn't bother to pick up the weapon. "You know I don't know a thing about these Martian pistols, Tarnuff." "Exactly. You don't." Ron glanced at the gun in his hand, keeping a wary eye on Tarnuff. The strange weapon looked all right to him--and yet even his inexperienced eye saw that it _might_ very easily have been tampered with so that the atomic bullet would explode in the chamber. He did know that these were dangerous and tricky weapons, and that's why most men preferred the Earth electro-pistols. "All right, Tarnuff, we'll settle it without weapons! I--" Ron stopped suddenly. Something was wrong with Tarnuff. The Martian was staring past him, real horror on his face and in his voice as he whispered hoarsely: "My God ... Jordan!" Ron knew this was no trick. Tarnuff was terrified. Ron whirled, stared--and became frozen. The pistol, Tarnuff, everything else was forgotten as he felt a chill go up his spine at the sight. Literally dozens of Silicytes were swarming all over the hull amidships ... and they seemed to be absorbing the metal, literally devouring it, digesting it! Already a gaping hole was in the hull, and it grew even larger as more Silicytes came swarming up from below, to join in the fantastic meal! "You did this!" Tarnuff was shrieking now at Ron. "You fool, you must have let them out one of the portholes! I had those rooms lined with wood, the one thing they won't digest--and you let them escape!" Ron paid little heed to Tarnuff's raging, but went leaping toward the Silicytes, with some notion of throwing them off into space, anything to get them away from there. But he couldn't even reach them. When he was yet yards away, he felt a fierce heat exuding from them, heat generated by the digested metal! And he saw them becoming slowly, rosy radiant.