been prepared for the Ogrum sacrifice was released.

"Everybody out!" Craig yelled.

In a long line the sailors trotted toward the passage through the temple
that led to the exit. Once outside, they would reform their phalanx and
fight their way through any opposition that might develop. No sound had
come from the rear-guard they had left at the exit, proving that the
Ogrum had not yet discovered that their prisoners had been released.

"We've won!" Craig said huskily. "We've tricked those devils and beaten
them to the punch."

"You've worked a miracle," Captain Higgins said. "If we were back home,
you would get a Congressional Medal for this."

"Thanks!" the big man grinned. Then the grin vanished from his face.
"What's that?" he said sharply.

From the passage ahead of them came the metallic rattle of machine gun
fire.

"It's the rear guard at the exit!" a sailor said. "They're shooting at
something."

* * * * *

Craig ordered the file to halt and he and Higgins slipped forward to the
exit. Through the hole that served as a doorway came a dull glow of
light. The guard had taken refuge in the passage itself. An ensign came
stumbling down the passage.

"It's a trap!" he shouted. "The whole place is surrounded. There are
thousands of Ogrum out there. They deliberately let us enter the temple,
then they closed up behind us."

"Impossible!" Craig whispered.

"So help me, it's the truth," the ensign insisted. "They deliberately
trapped us. They must have known all along what we were going to try.
They let us try it. We're caught, like rats in a trap."

There was no mistaking the implication of the man's words. Although he
didn't say it, his tone indicated that Craig had led them into the worst
possible booby-trap.

The machine guns were still firing. Dimly audible from outside came a
chorus of shouting--the battle cries of the Ogrum. Craig slipped forward
to the entrance, looked out. His heart climbed up into his throat.

The temple was completely surrounded. Or, as far as he could see, it was
surrounded. From the number of Ogrum he could see in front, he did not
doubt that the whole structure was circled. The Ogrum had stopped
fighting the fires. It became apparent that they had never made any real
effort to fight them but had only pretended to extinguish the blazes,
meanwhile waiting for Craig to lead his group into the temple.

It _was_ a trap.

But how had the Ogrum b