k across the road.

Tied and gagged Dirrul watched while the black-robed creatures worked
stealthily at the central bars of the gate with tiny blue-flaming
torches. Beneath their flowing capes they were beings like himself,
which indicated that they were either Agronian or Vininese, for by the
perverse chance of biological adaptation the people of the two planets
were so structurally similar that even intermarriage was possible. One
by one they cut out the bars until the span in the gate was wide
enough for them to work their way through.

For a moment the band stood in the road, apparently talking. At least
their lips moved and their hands fluttered expressively but Dirrul
heard no sound. Reaching a decision they went through the gate in
single file, carrying long vicious weapons with them. Two of the
black-caped men came and stood guard on either side of Dirrul.

Whatever these vandals were doing they were working in stealth and
fear and Dirrul realized their aim must be illegal. He fought to break
free of his bonds so that he might warn the loyal Vininese garrison.
The two guards shoved him back roughly. One of them grabbed Dirrul's
tunic in a claw grip and the cloth tore open, revealing Sorgel's
identification disk.

Both guards bent over him, fingering the disk, talking soundlessly
with their facile fingers. Suddenly they jerked the disk off, snapping
the chain. At the same moment a rolling explosion from within the
wall shook the earth.

Dirrul heard a great noise and a terrifying fear filled his mind. It
was a steady undiminishing fear that gripped every muscle of his body.
His throat was ice-cold. His heart pounded and gasped for breath.
Every nerve-end in his body quivered and his imagination was swamped
with a flood of shattering ephemeral horrors.

Nothing could shake off the terror. Dirrul's skill with reason and
logic failed him. It was impossible to organize his thinking to combat
the sensory shock waves disrupting his thoughts. Logical patterns made
no sense. The very process of trying to build meaning into them--the
process of thinking itself--left him weak and trembling.

The guards watched his terror for a moment, watched while he clung
close to the ground, trying to dig his fingers into it. Then one of
them laughed--a piercing discordant shriek, shrilling louder than the
din behind the wall. The second man, snarling viciously, kicked Dirrul
in the ribs.

For Dirrul the blaze of pain was almo