rd her when she blew up. That's
something we'll never know, positively, of course. That ship and
everything and everybody in her were simply vaporized, and the
particles are registering on our geigers now. But I'm as sure as I am
of anything about these geeks that one or both of them accompanied
her."

"Paula knows what she's talking about," King Kankad jabbered in the
Takkad Sea language which they all understood. "Just like Von saying
that he has to go on our cutter, to encourage the crew. They always
insist that their kings and generals go into battle, particularly if
something important is to be done. They think the gods get angry if
they don't."

"And we have to hit them now," von Schlichten said. "They still have a
couple of bombs left. We haven't been able to locate them with
detectors, but those geeks Kankad's men caught on that commando-raid,
last night, say that there were at least three of them made. We can't
take a chance that some fanatic may load one into an aircar and make a
kamikaze-raid on Gongonk Island."

* * * * *

The _Elmoran_ ran alongside, with her Masai-warrior figure-head and
the black cylinder on her catapult aft. Somebody had painted, on the
bomb: DIRE DAWN _by Hildegarde Hernandez. Compliments of the author to
H. M. King Orgzild of Keegark._ A canvas-entubed gangway was run out
to connect the ship with the cutter. Von Schlichten and Kent Pickering
went down the ladder from the bridge, the others accompanying them.
As he stepped into the gangway, Paula Quinton fell in behind him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

"Along with you," she replied. "I'm your adjutant, I believe."

"You definitely are not going along. Personally, I don't believe
there's any danger, but I'm not having you run any unnecessary
risks...."

"Von, I don't know much about the way Terrans think, except about
fighting and about making things," Kankad told him. "And I don't know
anything at all about the kind of Terrans who have young. But I
believe this is something important to Paula. Let her go with you,
because if you go alone and don't come back I don't think she will
ever be happy again."

He looked at Kankad curiously, wondering, as he had so often before,
just what went on inside that lizard-skull. Then he looked at Paula,
and, after a moment, he nodded.

"All right, colonel; objection withdrawn," he said.

Aboard the _Elmoran_, they gave the bomb a last-m