ing the ashes of
the fire.

Out of the dark crept that which was not thought, not substance, but
alien to the off-world men. But the barrier, meant to deter
multi-footed creatures, with wings or no visible limbs at all, proved
to be a better protection than its creators had hoped. There was no
penetration--only a baffled butting of one force against another. And
then the probe withdrew as undetected as it had come.

Only, the thing which had no intelligence, as humankind rated
intelligence, did possess the ability to fathom the nature of that
artificial barrier. The force field was examined, its nature digested.
First approach had failed. The second was now ready--ready as it had
not been months before when the first coming of these creatures had
alerted the very ancient watchdog on Jumala.

Deep in the darker woods on the mountain sides there was a stirring.
Things whimpered in their sleep, protested subconsciously commands
they could never understand, only obey. With the coming of dawn there
would be a marshaling of hosts, a new assault--not on the camp, but on
any leaving its protection. And also on the boy now sleeping in a
shallow cave formed by the swept roots of a tree--a tree which had
crashed when the L-B landed.

Again, fortune favored Hume. With the dawn the rain was over. There
was a cloudy sky overhead, but he believed the day would clear. The
roily, rushing water of the river would aid Chambriss' quest.
Water-cats holed up in the banks, but rising water often forced them
out of such dens. A course parallel to the stream bed could well show
them the tracks of one of the felines.

They started off in a group, Hume leading, with Chambriss treading
briskly behind him, Rovald bringing up the rear in the approved trail
technique. Chambriss carried a needler, Starns was unarmed except for
a small protection stunner, his tri-dee box slung on his chest by
well-worn carrying straps. Yactisi shouldered an electric pole, wore
its control belt buckled about his middle, though Hume had warned him
that the storm would prevent any deep hole fishing.

Only a short distance from the campsite they came upon the
unmistakable marks of a water-cat's broad paws, pressed in so heavy
and distinct a pattern that Hume knew the animal could not be far
ahead. The indentations were deep, and he measured the distance
between them with the length of his hand.

"Big one!" Chambriss exclaimed in satisfaction. "Going away from the