them back by the sheer ferocity of their attack. Weapons of
steel clashed against weapons of bronze and wood.

The power weapons were used only sparingly; only when the necessity to
save a life was greater than the necessity to conserve weapon charges
was a shot fired.

The commander, from the center of the fray, took a glance around the
area. One glance was enough.

"They're dropping back!" he bellowed, his voice carrying well above the
din of the battle, "Keep 'em moving!" He singled out one of his officers
at a distance, and yelled: "Hernan! Get a couple of men to cover that
street!" He waved toward one of the narrow streets that ran off to one
side. The others were already being attended to.

The commander jerked around swiftly as one of the natives grabbed hold
of the carrier and tried to hack at the commander with a bronze sword.
The commander spitted him neatly on his blade and withdrew it just in
time to parry another attack from the other side.

By this time, the reinforcements from the other parts of the village
were beginning to come in from the side streets, but they were a little
late. The warriors in the square--what was left of them--had panicked.
In an effort to get away from the terrible monsters with their deadly
blades and their fire-spitting weapons, they were leaving by the same
channels that the reinforcements were coming in by, and the resultant
jam-up was disastrous. The panic communicated itself like wildfire, but
no one could move fast enough to get away from the sweeping, stabbing,
glittering blades of the invading Earthmen.

"All right," the commander yelled, "we've got 'em on the run now! Break
up into squads of three and clear those streets! Clear 'em out! Keep 'em
moving!"

After that, it was the work of minutes to clear the town.

The commander brought his carrier to a dead stop, reached out with his
sword, and snagged a bit of cloth from one of the fallen native
warriors. He began to wipe the blade of his weapon as Lieutenant
commander Hernan pulled up beside him.

"Casualties?" the commander asked Hernan without looking up from his
work.

"Six wounded, no dead," said Hernan. "Or did you want me to count the
aliens, too?"

The commander shook his head. "No. Get a detail to clear out the
carrion, and then tell Frater Vincent I want to talk to him. We'll have
to start teaching these people the Truth."

VIII

"Have you anything to say in your defense?" the commander