She couldn't be an Earthgirl--entirely. She must be one of those disturbingly lovely interplanetary halfbreeds. Earth-blood she had, of course, and predominantly, but there was something more, the pure essence of beauty that blazed through her like a flame kindled in a lamp of crystal. In all his wanderings between the worlds, Stuart had never seen a girl as breathtakingly lovely as this one. His hand moved on the controls: the door slid silently open. The girl's eyes brightened. She gave a little gasp and ran toward him. Without question she sought refuge in his arms, and for a moment Stuart held her--not unwillingly. He thrust her away gently. "The others." She said, "It's useless. The paralysis--" Stuart scowled and stepped across the threshold into the pit. Uneasiness crawled along his spine as he did so. The Aesir might be watching from above, or--or-- There was nothing. Only dead silence, and the uneven breathing of the girl as she stood in the doorway watching. Stuart stopped before the leather-clad Earthman and tested a burly arm. The man stood frozen, his flesh cold and hard as stone, his eyes staring glassily. He was not even breathing. So with the others. Stuart grimaced and shrugged. He turned back toward the girl, and felt a pulse of relief as he stepped into the shining chamber. He might be no safer here, but at least he wasn't so conscious of inhuman eyes that might be watching from above. Not that solid stone might be any barrier to the Aesir's probing gaze.... The girl touched the mechanism; the door slid silently shut. "It's no use," she said. "The paralysis holds all the others. Only I could battle it--a little. And that was because--" "Save it," Stuart said. He turned toward the door by which he had entered, but an urgent hand gripped his wrist. "Let me talk," the quiet voice said. "We're as safe here as anywhere. And there may be a way--now that I can think clearly again." "A way out? A _safe_ way?" There was a haunted look in her dark eyes. "I don't know. I've lived here for a long time. The others--" she pointed toward the door of the pit. "The sacrifices were brought to Asgard only yesterday. But I've been here many moons. The Aesir kept me alive for a bit, to amuse them. Then they tired, and I was thrown in with the others. But I learned a little. I--I--no one can dwell here in the Aesir stronghold without--changing a little. That's why the paralysis didn't hold me as long as it holds the others." "Can we save them?" "I don't know," she said, with a small, helpless shrug. "I don't even know if we can save ourselves. It's been so long since I was brought to Asgard that I--I scarcely remember my life before that. But I have learned a little of the Aesir--and that may help us now." Stuart watched her. She tried to smile, but not successfully. She said, "I'm Kari. The rest--I've forgotten. You're--" "Derek Stuart." "Tell me what happened."