fra's fingers moved swiftly on the control
board, playing a symphony that only she understood. The little eagle
moved out of the slot, it spread its wings, they fluttered, it moved
upward into the air of the room.

With each circling of the room, it grew larger. The cheeping sound
became louder, there was a touch of harp music in it now. Effra's
fingers moved like lightning over the control panel. The growing eagle
seemed to pick up its controls, it swirled, circled, went through the
open slot, went out of the room, and into the air outside. It was now
the Jezbro.

Its image appeared on the screen. It shot high into the air, still
growing. The scene on the screen revealed in miniature the whole island,
the sea lapping its shores, the boat lying at anchor. Effra's fingers
moved frantically over the controls. "This is one of the hardest things
to do. They seem to be attracted to the sun, when first released. They
struggle desperately to escape into space--There! I've got it under
control."

The scene changed, became a group of men climbing the ledge. Parker saw
these men suddenly jerk their heads toward the sky as they became aware
of the Jezbro. He could imagine the fear that was shooting through them.
They had seen Johnny Retch destroy the Jezbro, only here the Jezbro was
again.

From their viewpoint, it had miraculously come back to life and was
diving again upon them from the sky. Guns were fired upward. But these
men did not have the cool, hard nerves of Johnny Retch, did not have his
shooting eye. They missed. The Jezbro dived among them.

They scattered, screaming. Two went off the ledge, three raced down it.
One mounted to the sky to the triumphant harping of the Jezbro.

Parker felt a wave of relief flow through him. Here in the Jezbro was
actually a most potent weapon, the means of stopping an attack. "Girl!
You've done it!"

A second later he caught himself. "But Johnny Retch wasn't in that
bunch. He must already be inside the cliff."

A gun roared three times inside the mountain. Footsteps faltered in the
corridor outside. Pedro stumbled into the room. His face was a bloody
mask.

"Him men inside." As he coughed out the words, he coughed out blood--and
his life. He stumbled, caught himself, stumbled again, went down the way
a dead man goes down, never to rise again.

"_Qui est in Coelis_--who are in Heaven--" Rozeno's voice whispered
through the room. The only sound.

Ulnar moved slowly, stood b