an effort at reply which was close to a croak.

"Over here!"

A new shape in the fog was moving with purpose toward him. Thorvald
strode into the open, sighted Shann, and began to run.

"What did they----?" he began.

Shann wanted to laugh, but the sound which issued from his dry throat
was very little like mirth. He struggled helplessly until he managed to
get out some words which made sense.

"... hadn't started in on me yet. You were just in time."

Thorvald loosened the wires which held the younger man to the frame and
stood ready to catch him as he slumped forward. And the officer's hold
wiped away the last clammy residue of the mist. Though he did not seem
able to keep on his feet, Shann's mind was clear.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"The power." Thorvald was examining him hastily but with attention for
every cut and bruise. "The beetle-heads didn't really get to work on
you----"

"Told you that," Shann said impatiently. "But what brought that fog and
got the Throgs?"

Thorvald smiled grimly. The ghostly light was fading as the fog
retreated, but Shann could see well enough to note that around the
other's neck hung one of the Wyvern disks.

"It was a variation of the veil of illusion. You faced your memories
under the influence of that; so did I. But it would seem that the Throgs
had ones worse than either of us could produce. You can't play the role
of thug all over the galaxy and not store up in the subconscious a fine
line of private fears and remembered enemies. We provided the means for
releasing those, and they simply raised their own devils to order.
Neatest justice ever rendered. It seems that the 'power' has a big
kick--in a different way--when a Terran will manages to spark it."

"And you did?"

"I made a small beginning. Also I had the full backing of the Elders,
and a general staff of Wyverns in support. In a way I helped to provide
a channel for their concentration. Alone they can work 'magic'; with us
they can spread out into new fields. Tonight we hunted Throgs as a
united team--most successfully."

"But they wouldn't go after the one in the skull."

"No. Direct contact with a Throg mind appears to short-circuit them. I
did the contacting; they fed me what I needed. We have the answer to the
Throgs now--one answer." Thorvald looked back over the field where those
bodies lay so still. "We can kill Throgs. Maybe someday we can learn
another trick--how to live with them." He ret