The gunman looked at Paul Teeter blankly.

The other's reactions were quicker. "The serum lasts for twelve hours,"
Teeter barked.

"This batch lasts for three hours," Patricia said definitely. "Your
friend Crowley is suddenly going to become visible right before the eyes
of those four guards--and long before he had expected to eliminate
them."

Teeter barked, "Larry, check that monkey."

Doc Braun spoke up for the first time since the appearance of the two.
He said dryly, "You'll also notice that the animal is sound asleep. It
seems that I added a slow-acting but rather potent sleeping compound to
the serum."

The gunman started from the room in a rush.

Ross called after him, "If you'll look closely, you'll also note the
chimp's skin has turned a brilliant red. There have been some basic
changes in the pigment."

"Holy smokes," Paul Teeter protested, moping his face with a
handkerchief. "Didn't he take any precautions against you people at
all?"

Ross said, "He was too busy telling us how smart a country boy he
happened to be."

Larry returned in moments, biting his lip in the first nervous
manifestation any of them had ever seen in him. He took Teeter to one
side.

Patricia called to them impatiently. "You have no time and no one to
contact Crowley now. Don't be fools. Mend your bridges while you can.
Let us out of here, and we'll prefer no charges."

Larry was a man of quick decisions. He snapped to the blank-faced guard
who had assimilated only a fraction of all this, "Go on back to the boys
and tell them to start packing to get out of here. Tell them the fix has
chilled. It's all off. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"O.K., chief." The other had the philosophical outlook of those who were
meant to take orders and knew it. He left.

Larry and Teeter opened the cell doors.

Teeter said, "How do we know we can trust you?"

Ross looked at him.

Larry said, "It's a deal. Give us an hour to get out of here. Then use
the phone if you want to call a taxi, or whatever. I ain't stupid, this
thing was too complicated to begin with."

When Teeter and Morazzoni were gone, the three stood alone in the
corridor, looking at each other.

The doctor pushed his glasses back onto his nose with a thumb and
forefinger. "By Caesar," he said.

Ross ran a hefty paw back through his red crew cut and twisted his face
into a mock grimace. "Well," he said, "I have to revise my former
statement. I used brute strength