ed the hunter, made it wary.

Ross tapped again. The belief that if he tried to escape, he was lost,
that only while he faced it so had he any chance, grew stronger. The
head was only inches below the level of his flippered feet as he held to
the weeds.

Again that weaving movement, the rise of head, a tremor along the
serpent neck, an agitation in the depths. The dragon was on the move
again. Ross aimed the light directly at the head. The scales, as far as
he could determine, were not horny plates but lapped, silvery ovals such
as a fish possessed. And the underparts of the monster might even be
vulnerable to his spear. But knowing the way a Terran shark could absorb
the darts of that weapon and survive, Ross feared to attack except as a
last resort.

Above and to his left there was a small hollow where in the past some
portion of the growths had been ripped away. If he could fit himself
into that crevice, perhaps he could keep the dragon at bay until help
arrived. Ross moved with all the skill he had. His hand closed upon the
edge of the niche and he whirled himself up, just making it into that
refuge as the head lashed at him wickedly. His suspicion that the dragon
would attack anything on the run was well founded, and he knew he had no
hope of winning to the surface above.

Now he stood in the crevice, facing outward, watching the head darting
in the water. He had switched off the torch, and the loss of light
appeared to bewilder the reptile for some precious seconds. Ross pulled
as far back into the niche as he could, until the point of one shoulder
touched a surface which was sleek, smooth, and cold. The shock of that
contact almost sent him hurtling out again.

Gripping the spear before him in his right hand, Ross cautiously felt
behind him with the left. His finger tips glided over a seamless surface
where the growths had been torn or peeled away. Though he could not, or
dared not, turn his head to see, he was certain that this was his proof
that the walls of the saucer had been fashioned and placed there by some
intelligent creature.

The dragon had risen, hovering now in the water directly before the
entrance to Ross's hole, its neck curled back against its bulk. It had
wide flippers moving like planes to hold it poised. The body, sloping
from a massive round of shoulders to a tapering rear, was vaguely
familiar. If one provided a Terran seal with a gorgon head and scales in
place of fur, the effect wou