kill my world. And you want me to help you!"

"Not me--yourself!" Brion said wearily. "There's no going back,
that's the one thing we can't do. Maybe Dis would have been better
off without offplanet contact. Maybe not. In any case, you have to
forget about that. You have contact now with the rest of the galaxy,
for better or for worse. You've got a problem to solve, and I'm here
to help you solve it."

Seconds ticked by as Ulv, unmoving, fought with questions that were
novel to his life. Could killing stop death? Could he help his
people by helping strangers to fight and kill them? His world had
changed and he didn't like it. He must make a giant effort to change
with it.

Abruptly, he pushed the blowgun into a thong at his waist, turned
and strode out.

"Too much for my nerves," Telt said, settling his gun back in the
holster. "You don't know how happy I'm gonna be when this whole damn
thing is over. Even if the planet goes bang, I don't care. I'm
finished." He walked out to the sand car, keeping a careful eye
on the Disan crouched against the wall.

Brion turned back to Lea, whose eyes were open, staring at the
ceiling. He went to her.

"Running," she said, and her voice had a toneless emptiness that
screamed louder than any emotion. "They ran by the open door of my
room and I could see them when they killed Dr. Stine. Just butchered
him like an animal, chopping him down. Then one came into the room
and that's all I remember." She turned her head slowly and looked at
Brion. "What happened? Why am I here?"

"They're ... dead," he told her. "All of them. After the raid the
Disans blew up the building. You're the only one that survived.
That was Ulv who came into your room, the Disan we met in the desert.
He brought you away and hid you here in the city."

"When do we leave?" she asked in the same empty tones, turning
her face to the wall. "When do we get off this planet?"

"Today is the last day. The deadline is midnight. Krafft will have
a ship pick us up when we are ready. But we still have our job to do.
I've got that body. You're going to have to examine it. We must
find out about the magter...."

"Nothing can be done now except leave." Her voice was a dull
monotone. "There is only so much that a person can do, and I've done
it. Please have the ship come; I want to leave now."

Brion bit his lip in helpless frustration. Nothing seemed to
penetrate the apathy into which she had sunk. Too much shock, to