She tried to rise from her prone position and half succeeded when she fell back with a moan. * * * * * Pell laughed and said, "I wouldn't try that so soon, Gret. Better let the corpuscles splash around before you do it again." He made as if to rise, touching her hand. Instinctively it tightened on his and he settled beside her again. The Centauri sky was a deep cobalt blue and the wind was keen and bracing. He felt in his jumper pocket for a couple of cigarettes and his atomic lighter. The novelty's vicious looking, hazy blue flame made Gret jump in spite of herself and Pell grinned. At length the girl spoke. "Pell, I don't like the idea of waiting around here. I mean ... well, I have a feeling that something is wrong." Pell glanced at her. It was plain to see that she was worried and uncertain; he could almost feel it as a tangible thing. "How do you mean?" he asked her. "Well ... for one thing, these hills. We're somewhere in the Cheon Range and there were remnants of DIC mercenaries dug in here when I left. They were holding out in an abandoned blaster tower around here somewhere. If they should happen to be in the neighborhood--" She shrugged. Pell felt a distinct chill settle down the base of his spine. "If your Insurgents are worth their U-235, they've tracked us on their radar. They should be here any minute," he said reassuringly. He rose and clambered into the ship through the rent in its side in order to salvage some outer garments because the air was becoming colder. When he returned from the ship to the place where Gret lay, he noticed that she was trembling--and not from the cold. "What's the matter, baby?" he asked, concerned. She tried to smile at him. "We outlanders are a queer bunch, Pell. We ... we hear things. There are men--many men down the valley and they are fighting. Both groups want to capture this ship." She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "But--" A memory of long-dead hackles rose along the back of Pell's neck. Shadows were growing longer and in the west he could see Alpha Centauri poised over the rocky rim of the mountain, ready to plunge beneath. * * * * * Suddenly he heard it. Far down the valley carved in the living rocks by the small stream came the sound of firing. And it was moving closer. He looked at Gret who had scrambled to her feet; evidently she had 'heard' this long before him. Silently he handed her the huge automatic pistol which he had taken from her in the ship and tightened his hand on the butt of the tiny blaster which he had taken from the body of the DIC assassin whom she had killed that first night.