"Jahnt could send that Midge flying to Shanga to tell Curtmann about the weapons," I suggested.

Old Prytan could only stammer assent to the possibility. And if Curtmann and his ruffians got to that cache before we could get there, that indeed would be the end of any possibility of overcoming him.

"Where is Meeta?" I demanded. "Meeta knows the location of the broken city."

She fluttered from behind me at the sound of my voice. "Master I am here. What I can do to serve?"

"We're going after Jahnt," Jim said. "He can't have gotten far."

"But you run so heavily," old Prytan murmured. "My young men here—"

They were all standing looking frightened and confused. Jim swept them with a glance and drew me past them. It occurred to me that we might use the three spacesuits in which we had escaped from Curtmann. With their anti-gravity mechanisms and tiny rocket-streams we could propel ourselves over the forest. But we found now that they were gone.

Precious minutes were passing. We would have to go on foot. At the door we paused, appalled by the wind and a chromatic burst of glaring light. Meeta fluttered in the air beside my head, and as the wind hit her she was tossed back.

"You can't fly out into that, Meeta?"

"No, I am afraid it's not possible now. But you can carry me."

She fluttered to my shoulder, crouching with a tiny hand gripping my coat collar. With Jim beside me we plunged out into the roaring riot of the rainbow storm.

IV

"Guess we'll have to wait a bit longer," Jim murmured. "But it seems to be easing, don't you think?"

In a sheltered recess of the forest we were crouching, forced to wait for the weird storm to pass. There had been no possible chance of finding the fleeing Jahnt. We could only hope now that he would go on to the broken city. The storm seemed to be lessening but still it was a roar of wind which cracked through the spindly giant trees, often bringing down great segments of branches which it had torn loose.

A lull came at last, and through a ragged, littered forest Jim and I pushed our tortuous way. 

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