"I twisted my ankle," she murmured, not looking at me. "This man made me walk anyway." Then I'd knelt and lifted her in both arms. "Don't bother," she said, struggling half-heartedly. "I can go alone." She believed that I was a beast-man myself, and with Trutch flapping his elephant ears alongside us, I couldn't tell her different. And of course, she might be right at that.... "You feel all right otherwise?" I asked her, gently. She nodded. She was pale and haggard and her hair hadn't been brushed for twenty-four hours, but for all that she was the most beautiful woman in America. The feel of her in my arms gave me strength. I carried her over and set her lightly on the ramp. The leaders were still fumbling around the door. Then suddenly the door of the space station swung open. I got a little sick. My brother Howard stood there. He stood erect and his slight, white-smocked figure looked oddly noble above the dark-clad Neanderthals. He held his arms up; some of the Neanderthals raised their guns. Howard said slowly, "No, don't do it. Please don't do it. You don't understand. This is security for all of us!" They glanced at one another, Cuff's brows drew into a scowl, and then Skagarach, the best brain of the lot, cried, "Don't harm this man!" and leaped forward, stood with his body against the door so that it could not be closed. "He's necessary to the operation--he's vital." The Old Companions muttered and the weapons lowered. Skagarach said to Howard, "You think we've come to destroy the satellite. You believe we're aroused citizens, or religious fanatics, bent on halting the experiment. You're wrong." That was, of course, the reason why my brother had opened the door: to keep what he thought were ordinary people from wrecking the man-made moon. From within the wheel he had seen them conquer the guards and workers, and by their plain clothes had imagined them to be a bunch of fanatics who couldn't stand the idea of a policeman in the sky. If the Old Companions had worn uniforms, Howard might have kept that door shut, and the whole Neanderthal plan would have collapsed. But he thought he could reason with these creatures. Skagarach pushed past him and disappeared in the station. Bill Cuff, herding Nessa and Trutch and me ahead of him, followed, and the Old Companions trooped up the ramp behind us. Howard had seen me and was walking at my side. "If they don't want to destroy it, what _do_ they want?" he kept repeating. I kept my mouth grimly shut. I couldn't explain it to him now, I couldn't begin to. "What are you doing here, Ray?" he asked then, and again I was stuck for an answer. Trutch bent close to me, smirking. "Why, he brought us here," he said.