Suddenly Lansfer stiffened with an expression of utter horror and fell away.

For a minute Barnard watched, building up his own strength. Then he tore the helmet from his head, hurled it far from him.

"Come on, you devils," he growled. "I want my mind back."

When Barnard dragged Lansfer out of the cave, his eyes were bright, and a happy grin was on his face. The first thing he saw was Gail, utterly miserable against a wall of the corridor. The first thing he did was kiss her amazed face.

"You're the boss now," he told the equally amazed Remish. "If you'll take a suggestion, let's find Lansfer's hoard and throw all the silver coins into that cave. That should put an end to the energy creatures."

Remish looked distastefully at the drooling thing that had been Lansfer and holstered his gun. He nodded.

"And we'll bring the rest of his treasure back to civilization. We can use it to rehabilitate neoin addicts."

He looked hopefully at Barnard. "When you print this, you won't be too hard on the Space Police? We could use some favorable publicity—"

Barnard was whispering to Gail. Both were grinning widely. Barnard turned his grin to Remish.

"We love the Space Police," he assured the officer. "Now, as the highest official on this planet, you have the power to marry people. If you'll hurry up, we'll be starting back to Earth on our honeymoon."

He was suddenly thoughtful. "And maybe to do a column or two for the System News Service!"

 Prev. P 28/28