inhibited their normal emotional reactions. Neither Briggan nor Drein had much to say until Tchassen helped them down from the tower and they stood looking at the hole blasted in the earth.

"The supply rocket," Sergeant Briggan said slowly, "couldn't have done this; the beam landings are foolproof. The prisoners must have pulled it off, though I don't see—"

"How?" Tchassen broke in. "The compound fence didn't go down until after the blast; there was no way any of them could get out."

"Robot ships just don't get off the beam," Corporal Drein declared stubbornly.

Briggan nodded toward the empty cell block. "It worked out nicely—for the prisoners. A single explosion wipes out most of us; but the prisoners are far enough away from the blast center to escape."

"Surely there isn't any danger of revolution," Tchassen asked, unconsciously mocking the optimism of the security bulletins. "Not any longer."

Briggan grinned. "You've only been here five days, sir; you don't know how thoroughly our indoctrination has failed. The Earth people hate us more than ever."

"Even so, how could one of the prisoners have brought the robot down?"

"By tampering with the beam."

"But that means they had a subversive—that means one of us must be—"

"An Earthman, yes. We encourage them to apply for citizenship. If we had an Earthman on the post masquerading as an officer, how would we know it—unless he told us? They're no different from our own people, Captain."

On the other side of the crater Tynia staggered out of the communications pillbox. Tchassen saw her waving frantically and he knew something was wrong—very wrong. He began to run toward her. Briggan and Drein followed close behind him. Almost immediately the Captain staggered and gasped for breath; he motioned for the Sergeant and the Corporal to go on without him.

Briggan waited long enough to say, "So far we've located four survivors, sir—only four. And one of the four is very probably an Earthman. The transit beams don't fail of their own accord. It's not a very nice thing to think about, is it, sir?"

The two men left him and Tchassen walked slowly, alone across the barren land. The wind whispered against his 

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