sat down and drew the wire-and-disk frame
over his head. His hands moved under the lights, but Ross could not
guess what he was doing.

The captive at Murdock's side tried to stir, but Ross's hand pinned him
quiet. The shrill noise which had originally summoned the man at the
lights was interrupted by a sharp pattern of long-and-short sounds, and
his hands flew even more quickly while Ross took in every detail of the
other's clothing and equipment. He was neither a shaggy tribesman nor a
trader. He wore a dull-green outer garment cut in one piece to cover his
arms and legs as well as his body, and his hair was so short that his
round skull might have been shaven. Ross rubbed the back of his wrist
across his eyes, experiencing again that dim other memory. Odd as this
man looked, Murdock had seen his like before somewhere, yet the
background had not been Gurdi's post on the southern river. Where and
when had he, Rossa, ever been with such strange beings? And why could he
not remember it all more clearly?

Boots sounded once more in the hall, and another figure strode in. This
one wore furs, but he, too, was no woods hunter, Ross realized as he
studied the newcomer in detail. The loose overshirt of thick fur with
its hood thrown back, the high boots, and all the rest were not of any
primitive fashioning. And the man had four eyes! One pair were placed
normally on either side of his nose, and the other two, black-rimmed and
murky, were set above on his forehead.

The fur-clad man tapped the one seated at the board. He freed his head
partially from the wire cage so that they could talk together in a
strange language while lights continued to flash and the buzzing died
away. Ross's captive wriggled with renewed vigor and at last thrashed
free a foot to kick at one of the metal installations. The resulting
clang brought both men around. The one at the board tore his head cage
off as he jumped to his feet, while the other brought out a gun.

Gun? One little fraction of Ross's mind wondered at his recognition of
that black thing and of the danger it promised, even as he prepared for
battle. He pushed his captive across the path of the man in fur and
threw himself in the other direction. There was a blast to make a
torment in his head as he hurled toward the door.

So intent was Ross upon escape that he did not glance behind but skidded
out on his hands and knees, thus fortunately presenting a poor target to
the third man co