brought a hound here just on chance that they might
miss one of us in the initial mop-up. Or, if they believe we are
natives, they could want a specimen for study."

"Wouldn't they just blast down Terrans on sight?"

Shann saw the dark blot which was Thorvald's head shake in negation.

"They might need a live Terran--badly and soon."

"Why?"

"To operate the camp call beam."

Shann's momentary bewilderment vanished. He knew enough of Survey
procedure to guess the reason for such a move on the part of the aliens.

"The settler transport?"

"Yes, the ship. She won't planet here without the proper signal. And the
Throgs can't give that. If they don't take her, their time's run out
before they have even made a start here."

"But how could they know that the transport is nearly due? When we
intercept their calls they're pure gibberish to us. Can they read our
codes?"

"The supposition is that they can't. Only, concerning Throgs, all we
know is supposition. Anyway, they do know the routine for establishing a
Terran colony, and we can't alter that procedure except in small
nonessentials," Thorvald said grimly. "If that transport doesn't pick up
the proper signal to set down here on schedule, her captain will call in
the patrol escort ... then exit one Throg base. But if the beetle-heads
can trick the ship in and take her, then they'll have a clear five or
six more months here to consolidate their own position. After that it
would take more than just one patrol cruiser to clear Warlock; it will
require a fleet. So the Throgs will have another world to play with, and
an important one. This lies on a direct line between the Odin and
Kulkulkan systems. A Throg base on such a trade route could eventually
cut us right out of this quarter of the galaxy."

"So you think they want to capture us in order to bring the transport
in?"

"By our type of reasoning, that would be a logical move--_if_ they know
we are here. They haven't too many of those hounds, and they don't risk
them on petty jobs. I'd hoped we'd covered our trail well. But we had to
risk that attack on the camp.... I needed the map case!" Again Thorvald
might have been talking to himself. "Time ... and the right maps--" he
brought his fist down on the raft, making the platform tremble--"that's
what I have to have now."

Another patch of light-willows stretched along the river-banks, and as
they sailed through that ribbon of ghostly radiance they could see e