f the orange-red globes now floated above the plant.
They were circling slowly, in widening arcs, toward the limits of
the factory grounds.

"Searching for human beings," Taylor decided, watching them.

Orkins clutched Taylor's coat tails.

"They're coming out!" he cried. "There's hell to pay."

Taylor took Orkins' arm and forced him down on the running board
of the car, where Norden already was coming out of his daze.

"Keep quiet!" Taylor ordered. "They'll discover us."

"They'll find us anyway!" Orkins said, frantic with fear. He
groaned loudly.

"Okay. He asked for it," Masters said.

There was a splatting sound as Masters' fist landed. Masters made
a face over a distasteful duty done and turned to Pember:

"Put them both in the car." He indicated Norden. "Here's
handcuffs. Lock them together."

Taylor and Masters watched the circling spheres. Suddenly one
darted down. From its pulsating body shot a flash of flame. A
human scream rent the air.

"It's the darnedest thing I ever saw," Masters said with a
shudder. "Those fireballs squirt heat-electricity out at a guy
and roast him!"

"Yes," Taylor said with a nod, "and that isn't all. Those spheres
act as though they were alive. When that one went out above the
opening of the tunnel, I thought I saw a pair of eyes."

Masters studied the assertion, then spoke:

"Captain, I may look dumb, but I've been in the secret service
long enough to be found out if I really am. I've a hunch you
killed that sphere."

"I've thought of that, but how could I? I didn't touch him."

"Maybe you don't have to touch 'em to kill 'em. We don't know
what they are, except they're different--"

"We don't know the real natures of anything, as far as that
goes. Man's a mixture of chemicals, but that doesn't explain him.
The spheres are a mixture of energies--we can observe that much,
but it still doesn't explain them. Where are they from? Why did
they come here? What are their primary objectives?"

"Primary objectives? That's a military term, ain't it?"

"Partly military, and partly scientific. We know the secondary
objective of the spheres. It's the same as man's or any other
living creature. The spheres are alive and their objective is to
keep on living, but that isn't their primary motif. The primary
objective is the difference between a good man and a bad one.
Whatever is more important to a man than life itself is his
primary objective."

"Life's pretty important,"