five minutes, plus or minus. If we are not prevented or deterred, of course." ^

"Of course." Barton paused by the seat he wasn't using, to sip cold coffee. "Any more ships spotted? Or other

signs of activity?"

"It is yet too far," said Umila, "to note details of Sis- shain-even under high magnification. But our picture becomes clearer; SOOD we can see much more."

"Yeh-good. Excuse me a minute." He was carry- ing too much coffee, both in his nerves and elsewhere. A few minutes later be returned to Control-this time with a hastily assembled sandwich and a cup of klieta-and

sat.

"Nothing new?"

"Not yet," said Alene. The waiting continued, with lit- tle talk.

On the screen, Sisshain grew. Limila ran the magnifi- cation up, and slowly scanned the visible hemisphere.

Suddenly, Barton sat erect.

"Back it up, and to the left a little-there!" He stood, moved to view the screen at closer range. "Just what the hell is that?" -

Whatever it was-the needle-like glint visible at such distance-it was big. "There is no way to judge scale,"

said Abdul, "but if I may venture a very loose estimate, the object is at least a kilometer in height-quite possi- bly, more."

"And Hishtoo's headed for it," said Alene. "Close to it, at least."

"I think," said Barton, "we just hit the jackpot. The Ormthan said, one who sees the thing cannot fail to know of its importance. Limila-don't lose Hishtoo, of course, but any time you get a chance, give us more detail on that thing. And its surroundings-the terrain could be a big factor."

"Yes, Barton. The shadows are deceptive, but the ob- ject appears to rise from the side of a mountain, about halfway of its height."

Barton squinted. "That's more than I can make out, from here. How tall a mountain, would you say?"

"I do not know yet-not outstandingly so, I would think. I-oh, now I see a thing here. The shadows-look!

The tops of mountain and object are nearly at a level.".

Barton looked. "Yeh-I think you're right. If the

298.

angle isn't fooling us. Okay-now, how's Hishtoo do- ing?"

The view swung. Hishtoo was approaching atmosphere.

For a fugitive. Barton thought, his approach was con- servative. Which reminded him ....

"Alene," he said, "let's change seats. I'm relieving you."

She looked at him, startled. "But why. Barton? Am I goofing?"

"Not a bit of it, Alene-you're doing fine- I'm taking her down, is all. Got some ideas, and wouldn't be able to say 'em fast enough to do any good, in a pinch. Okay?"

He smiled at her, and after a moment she smiled back and let him take over.

Barton checked his control settings, flexed both bands.

"Show me Hishtoo again." The screen shifted. "Yeh, I see. Now the surface behind him . . . hey, beautiful picture! Look-the whole mountain is covered with trees -no landing, there." The screen again brought Hishtoo's ship into sharp focus.

"Clear space," said Alene, "off to the side of the pic- ture. Not a very big one."

"Yes," Barton said, "and looks like he's dropping to- ward it. No other ships, that I can see. No buildings- nothing. Camouflaged, maybe?" He shook his head; no point in guessing. "A couple of items in a hurry, people.

, Limila-that monolith." The screen showed it briefly.

Closer now, it glowed with rippling iridescence, polychro- matic, stippled with random markings.

"Some show," said Barton. "Limila, on the way in I'm going to make a pass at that thing, I want cameras and instruments on it, recording.

"Abdul. If we make it down, I intend to land as close to Hishtoo as I can. Switch the laser to side-arm-now.

And as soon as you get the chance, bum the hell out of his drive generators. You know where they are, close enough-slash around a tittle extra, to make sure." He frowned. "Oh, yen-put the sleep-gun on, too. Now.

Full strength, spherical distribution. And leave it on, after landing-just m case they got infantry."

"Barton?" said Limila. "Why disable Hishtoo's drive?

He has no fuel left, to leave Sisshain."

"He could get some. And why let him hop around any further on Sisshain?"

299.

"Yes-I see. Look, Barton!-Hishtoo is landing. And

it is where we thought."

Sure enough; the stolen ship had come to rest. Briefly,

the view expanded to show both clearing and mountain -ship and shining, flickering monolith. GodI-that thing

was huge.

"Okay-it's visiting hours!" Barton's hands moved; he

heard gasps as the screen showed wheel and swoop, Sis- shain's surface expanding and sliding across their field of

view.

The mad slide went on, and on-twenty minutes, Ab-

dul had said? Or was it forever?

Barton was taking her down like a bat out of hell. Well,

he'd done it before. ...

The giant needle, shimmering-"Get it!" he .shouted.

Trees almost close enough to touch, passing so rapidly as to blur into dull-green carpet. Sisshain swung to the side and vanished-one glimpse of Hishtoo's ship-as Barton pointed his straight up, then at tilt to kill lateral momentum, then up again.

Seconds short of touchdown, Barton's controls went dead; the ship fell at an angle. The Shield absorbed most of the impact; Ship One rocked dangerously and then settled upright, between Hishtoo's ship on one side and sheer ocher cliffs rising on the other.