about eight feet. I'm in a room at the bottom of that stairway. Got all that?

You bet. I'm going to come in shooting—and we'll be on our way out of here in no time.

Following the Venusian's instructions he tiptoed along the strangely silent corridor, looking for the alcove and the half-stairway.

He found it.

The door was unguarded. Palming the tiny blaster, he went quietly down the stairs, groped for the handle of the door.

In the instant he threw the door open the Venusian's mental voice wailed, Look out, it's a trap!

But it was too late. A rolling tide of mental force came thundering out and held him frozen.

There were three people in the room. One was Klon Darra, lying on a table, his hands and legs strapped down with metal binding.

The other two were Mordargans. One was tall and fierce-looking, with bright white eyes glaring authoritatively from his gray face. The other was small—no taller than an Earthman—with an abnormally large, grotesque, swollen head. The head was light blue rather than the usual gray and was covered with the pulsing striations of veins—the telepath.

The telepath was staring at Mason and holding him immobile.

"Now we have both the spies," said the big Mordargan in a rumbling voice. "Well done, Senibro. Very well done indeed."

Mason struggled to move, to muster enough coordination to fire the blaster he still held in his hand. But despite an effort that brought sweat to his face he was totally frozen, statuelike.

The big Mordargan approached and casually relieved him of the blaster—and his other weapons as well. Impotently, Mason glared at him.

"All right," the big man said to the telepath. "You can relax the controls now. He's weaponless."

Mason went limp as the mental force-field blinked out around him. He said, "What the hell is this? Who are you, and by what authority are you holding a citizen of the Solar System prisoner here?"

The big Mordargan grinned. "I'm Levron Clargo. You may know me: I'm head of Security in Mordarga City. I'm holding this Venusian here by authority of my 

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