he man sag to the ground.
He took a deep breath.
_Six down and only fifty-three to go._
* * * * *
He crawled back to the edge of the precipice and peered down into the
valley. There was no one to be seen. It was obvious that Colonel
Petersen was still enforcing the six-man rule.
As he watched, he saw the airlock door open. A spacesuited figure
scrambled down the ladder and sprinted across the deadly sand of the
valley floor.
It was Sherri! Wayne held his breath, expecting at any moment that one
of the little monsters beneath the sand would sink its vicious needle
upward into Sherri's foot. But her stride never faltered.
As she neared the precipice, another figure appeared at the airlock door
and took aim with a gun.
Wayne thumbed his own needle-beam pistol up to full and fired hastily
at the distant figure. At that distance, even the full beam would only
stun. The figure collapsed backwards into the airlock, and Wayne grinned
in satisfaction.
_Seven down. Fifty-two to go._
He kept an eye on the airlock door and a finger on his firing stud,
waiting to see if anyone else would come out. No one else did.
As soon as Sherri was safely up to the top of the precipice, Wayne ran
to meet her.
"Sherri! What the devil did you come out here for?"
"I had to see you," she said, panting for breath. "If you'll come back
to the ship before they beam you down, we can prove to Colonel Petersen
that you're all right. We can show them that the Masters--"
She realized suddenly what she said and uttered a little gasp. She had
her pistol out before the surprised Wayne could move.
He stared coldly at the pistol, thinking bitterly that this was a hell
of a way for it all to finish. "So they got you too," he said. "That
little display at the airlock was a phony. You were sent out here to
lure me back into the ship. Just another Judas."
She nodded slowly. "That's right," she said. "We all have to go to the
Masters. It is--it--is--is--"
Her eyes glazed, and she swayed on her feet. The pistol wavered and
swung in a feeble spiral, no longer pointed at Wayne. Gently, he took it
from her nerveless fingers and caught her supple body as she fell.
He wiped his forehead dry. Up above, the sun was climbing toward the top
of the sky, and its beams raked the planet below, pouring down heat.
* * * * *
He glanced at his wristwatch while waiting for his nerve
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