They struck the closed doors with a shock which almost hurled them from their seats.  But that engraved bronze expanse had not been cast to withstand a head-on blow from a heavy duty off-world vehicle and the leaves tore apart letting them into the wide hall beyond.

“Take Hovan and make for the riser!” For the second time it was Dane who gave the orders.  “I have a blocking job to do here.”  He expected every second to feel the bit of a police blaster somewhere along his shrinking body—­could even a space suit protect him now?

At the far end of the corridor were the attendants and visitors, trapped in the building, who had fled in an attempt to find safety at the crashing entrance of the crawler.  These flung themselves flat at the steady advance of the two space-suited Traders who supported the unconscious Medic between them, using the low-powered anti-grav units on their belts to take most of his weight so each had one hand free to hold a sleep rod.  And they did not hesitate to use those weapons—­spraying the rightful inhabitants of the tower until all lay unmoving.

Having seen that Ali and Rip appeared to have the situation in hand, Dane turned to his own self-appointed job.  He jammed the machine on reverse, maneuvering it with an ease learned by practice on the rough terrain of Limbo, until the gate doors were pushed shut again.  Then he swung the machine around so that its bulk would afford an effective bar to keep the door locked for some very precious moments to come.  Short of using a flamer full power to cut their way in, no one was going to force an entrance now.

He climbed out of the machine, to discover, when he turned, that the trio from the Queen had disappeared—­leaving all possible opposition asleep on the floor.  Dane clanked on to join them, carrying in plated fingers their most important weapon to awake public opinion—­an improvised cage in which was housed one of the pests from the cargo hold—­the proof of their plague-free state which they intended Hovan to present, via the telecast, to the whole system.

Dane reached the shaft of the riser—­to find the platform gone.  Would either Rip or Ali have presence of mind enough to send it down to him on automatic?

“Rip—­return the riser,” he spoke urgently into the throat mike of his helmet com.

“Keep your rockets straight,” Ali’s cool voice was in his earphones, “It’s on its way down.  Did you remember to bring Exhibit A?”

Dane did not answer.  For he was very much occupied with another problem.  On the bronze doors he had been at such pains to seal shut there had come into being a round circle of dull red which was speedily changing into a coruscating incandescence.  They had brought a flamer to bear!  It would be a very short time now before the Police could come through.  That riser—­