ego!" he hissed, lapsing into his native tongue, which the others understood to some extent. "They have such contempt for my poor Martian brainchild, they do not even take it from me!"

"Well, it's practically useless, as near as I can see, against any number of the creatures," shrugged Elene. "I suppose we could knock out the guard, but the lock on the door is still impossible. The next Voornizar who comes along would revive him, and we'd only be in for more restrictions."

"Ah, but you do not understand. Watch." A lizard-like reptile had run down the slimy wall, paused at the bottom. Klalmar-lan aimed the gun at it, pressed the trigger. Nothing happened. "That was the choker ray. Now, observe—I move this little catch here, press the button again." There was a little frying sound. A puff of vapor rose above the lizard, and it shrank instantly to a blackened lump. The Earthians stared in amazement.

Art finally found voice. "How did you do it?"

"Simple—a disintegrator. Result, the disintegration is only begun, when it is cut off. No explosion. Only a few elements in the victim begin to go, but the molecular structure is broken down nevertheless. I can set it for any degree I want.

"Dwalbuth called me a fool, but it is he who is stupid in his conceit. Immortal! Bah! There is nothing that cannot be disintegrated."

"Then I move; we get out of here, right now!" whispered Art vehemently. "People are dying on Earth, every minute."

"Right," agreed Denny. "Let's go." He limped to the door. "Say, guard—"

Standing behind him, the gun hidden, Klalmar-lan poured the rays over the Voornizar, through Denny, door and all. The creature slumped heavily to the floor, its fiery luminescence fading to a dull leaden gray. Klalmar-lan stepped forward, turned up his disintegrator, and impassively played the beam over the Thing on the floor, until nothing remained but a heap of blackened slag. Then he went to work on the lock. In a moment they were free. Art kicked the ashes of the guard into a dark, obscure corner of the cell.

"We've got to find our way to the upper level, get to a televisor someway," panted Klalmar-lan, as they hurried up the inclined passageway.

"Don't know if I can remember all the twists and turns we followed when they brought us down or not," Denny puzzled. "How about you, Art?" Art shook his head doubtfully.

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