mult of sound. Fires
still burned in the city and the air was becoming heavy with smoke. All
around the temple the Ogrum were lurking. They were not venturing into
the open. Now and then they could be glimpsed darting from shelter to
shelter.

_Plunk--plunk--plunk--_

More gas grenades hit on the roof.

Somewhere near him Craig heard a man choke and gasp for breath.
Everywhere, even above the rattle of the machine guns, he could hear men
coughing. Something stung his lungs and he coughed himself. The machine
gun fire began to thin out as choking men dropped their guns. Craig
found himself firing blindly, searching for the hidden projectors. The
plunk of the gas grenades was loud in his ears.

"Tough luck," a thin voice said near him.

He looked around and saw Margy Sharp. The girl was holding a
handkerchief over her nose and was trying to keep from breathing. She
was swaying.

"I feel like I want to go to sleep," she whispered.

The gas was getting to her. It was getting to others, too. Many of the
sailors had fallen. Some of them were trying to drag themselves back to
the edge of the roof, trying to lift guns with hands that no longer had
the strength for the task.

"We fought a good fight," Margy Sharp whispered. "Too bad we lost."

"We haven't lost yet," Craig gritted.

He was lying and he knew it. His only hope was phase four of the attack
plan. Unless phase four went into operation within the space of minutes,
they were doomed. "What the hell has happened to Michaelson?" he
thought.

_Plunk, plunk, plunk_, went the grenades.

Had the scientist failed? Had something happened to Michaelson?

* * * * *

The night was hideous with the yells of the Ogrum. Sensing victory, they
were screaming with delight. Meanwhile, all over the roof of the temple,
more of the gas grenades were exploding. The wind, which had quickened
to a stiff breeze, swept much of the gas away. But not all of it. One
whiff of it and a man lost half his efficiency. Three whiffs and he was
asleep.

A man in an officer's uniform crawled to Craig's feet, looked up at him.
It was Captain Higgins.

"I--I guess this is it," the captain said.

"I guess so," Craig said miserably. The gas stung his lungs again and he
coughed. Slowly, a little at a time, he could feel a deadly lassitude
stealing over him. A weight was tugging at his knees, trying to force
his legs to buckle. More than anything else in the wo