n alerted fighter.

For the wall was no longer there! Instead, there was a sharp slope of
ground cutting down from peaks where the dark green of fir trees ran
close to the snow line. Patches of snow clung to the earth in sheltered
places, and the scent of those pines was in Ross's nostrils, real as the
wind touching him with its chill.

He shivered as a howl sounded loudly and echoed, bearing the age-old
warning of a wolf pack, hungry and a-hunt. Ross had never heard that
sound before, but his human heritage subconsciously recognized it for
what it was--death on four feet. Similarly, he was able to identify the
gray shadows slinking about the nearest trees, and his hands balled into
fists as he looked wildly about him for some weapon.

The bunk was under him and three of the four walls of the room enclosed
him like a cave. But one of those gray skulkers had raised its head and
was looking directly at him, its reddish eyes alight. Ross ripped the
top blanket off the bunk with a half-formed idea of snapping it at the
animal when it sprang.

Stiff-legged, the beast advanced, a guttural growl sounding deep in its
throat. To Ross the animal, larger than any dog he had even seen and
twice as vicious, was a monster. He had the blanket ready before he
realized that the wolf was not watching him after all, and that its
attention was focused on a point out of his line of vision.

The wolfs muzzle wrinkled in a snarl, revealing long yellow-white teeth.
There was a singing twang, and the animal leaped into the air, fell
back, and rolled on the ground, biting despairingly at a shaft
protruding from just behind its ribs. It howled again, and blood broke
from its mouth.

Ross was beyond surprise now. He pulled himself together and got up, to
walk steadily toward the dying wolf. And he wasn't in the least amazed
when his outstretched hands flattened against an unseen barrier. Slowly,
he swept his hands right and left, sure that he was touching the wall of
his cell. Yet his eyes told him he was on a mountain side, and every
sight, sound, and smell was making it real to him.

Puzzled, he thought a moment and then, finding an explanation that
satisfied him, he nodded once and went back to sit at ease on his bunk.
This must be some superior form of TV that included odors, the illusion
of wind, and other fancy touches to make it more vivid. The total effect
was so convincing that Ross had to keep reminding himself that it was
all ju