and
rapidly closing the distance.

Jon Karyl unsheathed the stubray pistol at his side, turned the oxygen
dial up for greater exertion, increased the gravity pull in his
space-suit boots as he neared the ravine he'd been racing for.

The oxygen was just taking hold when he hit the lip of the ravine and
began sprinting through its man-high bush-strewn course.

The power ray from behind ripped out great gobs of the sheltering
bushes. But running naturally, bent close to the bottom of the ravine,
Jon Karyl dodged the bare spots. The oxygen made the tremendous exertion
easy for his lungs as he sped down the dim trail, hidden from the two
steel-blue stalkers.

He'd eluded them, temporarily at least, Jon Karyl decided when he
finally edged off the dim trail and watched for movement along the route
behind him.

He stood up, finally, pushed aside the leafy overhang of a bush and
looked for landmarks along the edge of the ravine.

He found one, a stubby bush, shaped like a Maltese cross, clinging to
the lip of the ravine. The hidden entrance to the service station wasn't
far off.

His pistol held ready, he moved quietly on down the ravine until the old
water course made an abrupt hairpin turn.

Instead of following around the sharp bend, Jon Karyl moved straight
ahead through the overhanging bushes until he came to a dense thicket.
Dropping to his hands and knees he worked his way under the edge of the
thicket into a hollowed-out space in the center.

* * * * *

There, just ahead of him, was the lock leading into the service station.
Slipping a key out of a leg pouch on the space suit, he jabbed it into
the center of the lock, opening the lever housing.

He pulled strongly on the lever. With a hiss of escaping air, the lock
swung open. Jon Karyl darted inside, the door closing softly behind.

At the end of the long tunnel he stepped to the televisor which was
fixed on the area surrounding the station.

Jon Karyl saw none of the steel-blue creatures. But he saw their ship.
It squatted like a smashed-down kid's top, its lock shut tight.

He tuned the televisor to its widest range and finally spotted one of
the Steel-Blues. He was looking into the stationary rocket engine.

As Karyl watched, a second Steel-Blue came crawling out of the ship.

The two Steel-Blues moved toward the center of the televisor range.
They're coming toward the station, Karyl thought grimly.

Karyl examined