the tube about over the ground.

The policeman who was standing beside the vehicle saw him approach, and
blew his whistle, then drew the weapon from his belt. Hradzka, who had
been expecting some attempt to halt him, had let go the right-hand
steering handle and drawn his own weapon; as the policeman drew, he
fired at him. Without observing the effect of the shot, he sped on;
before he had rounded the bend above the farm, several shots were fired
after him.

A mile beyond, he came to the place where he had hidden the blaster. He
stopped the vehicle and jumped off, plunging into the brush and racing
toward the hollow tree. Just as he reached it, he heard a vehicle
approach and stop, and the door of the police vehicle slam. Hradzka's
fingers found the belt of his blaster; he dragged it out and buckled it
on, tossing away the missile weapon he had been carrying.

Then, crouching behind the tree, he waited. A few moments later, he
caught a movement in the brush toward the road. He brought up the
blaster, aimed and squeezed the trigger. There was a faint bluish glow
at the muzzle, and a blast of energy tore through the brush, smashing
the molecular structure of everything that stood in the way. There was
an involuntary shout of alarm from the direction of the road; at least
one of the policemen had escaped the blast. Hradzka holstered his weapon
and crept away for some distance, keeping under cover, then turned and
waited for some sign of the presence of his enemies. For some time
nothing happened; he decided to turn hunter against the men who were
hunting him. He started back in the direction of the road, making a wide
circle, flitting silently from rock to bush and from bush to tree,
stopping often to look and listen.

This finally brought him upon one of the policemen, and almost
terminated his flight at the same time. He must have grown
over-confident and careless; suddenly a weapon roared, and a missile
smashed through the brush inches from his face. The shot had come from
his left and a little to the rear. Whirling, he blasted four times, in
rapid succession, then turned and fled for a few yards, dropping and
crawling behind a rock. When he looked back, he could see wisps of smoke
rising from the shattered trees and bushes which had absorbed the
energy-output of his weapon, and he caught a faint odor of burned flesh.
One of his pursuers, at least, would pursue him no longer.

He slipped away, down into the tangl