those upon whom the Wrath of Lurgha has fallen and we
could be in for plenty of trouble. Some of those men are trained hunters
and trackers, and the Reds may have planted an agent to report the
return of anyone to our post. Just now we're about the most important
time travelers out, for we know the Reds have appeared on this line.
They must have a large post here, too, or they couldn't have sent a
plane on that raid. You can't build a time transport large enough to
take through a considerable amount of material. Everything used by us in
this age has to be assembled on this side, and the use of all machines
is limited to where they can not be seen by any natives. Luckily large
sections of this world are mostly wilderness and unpopulated in the
areas where we operate the base posts. So if the Reds have a plane, it
was put together here, and that means a big post somewhere." Again Ashe
was thinking aloud as he pushed ahead of Ross into the fringes of a
wood. "Sandy and I scouted this territory pretty well last spring. There
is a cave about half a mile to the west; it will shelter us for
tonight."

Ashe's plans would probably have been easily accomplished if the cave
had been unoccupied. Without incident they came down into a hollow
through which trickled a small stream, its banks laced with a thin
edging of ice. Under Ashe's direction Ross collected an armload of
firewood. He was no woodsman and his prolonged exposure to the chilling
drizzle made him eager for even the very rough shelter of a cave, so
eager that he plunged forward carelessly. His foot came down on a
slippery patch of mud, sending him sprawling on his face. There was a
growl, and a white bulk rushed him. The cloak, rucked up about his
throat and shoulders, then saved his life, for only stout cloth was
caught between those fangs.

With a startled cry, Ross rolled as he might have to escape a man's
attack, struggling to unsheath his dagger. A white-hot flash of pain
scored his upper arm. The breath was driven out of him as a fight raged
over his prone body; he heard grunts, snarls, and was severely pommeled.
Then he was free as the bodies broke away. Shaken, he got to his knees.
A short distance away the fight was still in progress. He saw Ashe
straddle the body of a huge white wolf, his legs clamped about the
animal's haunches, his hooked arm under the beast's head, forcing it up
and back while his dagger rose and sank twice in the underparts of the
heavi