single man can't stop the bombs. What will
happen to you at midnight?"

"I'll be dead--but in spite of that I can't run away. Not now.
I must do everything possible right up until the last instant. Ulv
and I will go to the magter tower, try to find out if the bombs are
there. He will fight on our side now. He may even know more about
the bombs, things that he didn't want to tell me before. We can get
help from his people. Some of them must know where the bombs are,
being native to this planet."

Lea started to say something, but he rushed on, drowning out her words.

"You have just as big a job. Show the magter to Krafft, explain the
significance of the brain-parasite to him. Try to get him to talk to
Hys about the last raid. Try to get him to hold off the attack. I'll
keep the radio with me and as soon as I know anything I'll call in.
This is all last resort, finger in the dike kind of stuff, but it is
all we can do. Because if we do nothing, it means the end of Dis."

Lea tried to argue with him, but he wouldn't listen to her. He only
kissed her, and with a lightness he did not feel tried to convince
her that everything would be all right. In their hearts they both
knew it wouldn't be but they left it that way because it was the
least painful solution.

A sudden rumbling shook the building and the windows darkened as
a ship settled in the street outside. The Nyjord crew came in with
guns pointed, alert for anything.

After a little convincing they took the cadaver, as well as Lea,
when they lifted ship. Brion watched the spacer become a pinpoint in
the sky and vanish. He tried to shake off the feeling that this was
the last time he would see any of them.

"Let's get out of here fast," he told Ulv, picking up the radio,
"before anyone comes around to see why the ship landed."

"What will you do?" Ulv asked as they went down the street towards
the desert. "What can we do in the few hours we have left?" He
pointed at the sun, nearing the horizon. Brion shifted the weight
of the radio to his other hand before replying.

"Get to the magter tower we raided last night, that's the best chance.
The bombs might be there.... Unless you know where the bombs are?"

Ulv shook his head. "I do not know, but some of my people may.
We will capture a magter, then kill him, so they can all see
the _umedvirk_. Then they will tell us everything they know."

"The tower first then, for bombs or a sample magter. What's the
faste