Yet he couldn’t watch the black walls.  Leaving the stairway unguarded would be the most dangerous course of all.

In a few minutes the hand-radio, forgotten on the stone floor behind him, flashed an intermittent light which caught his eye in the dusk.  That would be Manning.

Rynason slid the radio over to the head of the stairs and switched on there, keeping an eye on the stairway.

“Lee, do you hear me?”

“I hear you.”  His voice was low and bitter.

“I’m coming in to talk.  Hold your God damned fire.”

“Why should I?” said Rynason,

“Because I’m bringing Mara with me.  It’s too bad you don’t trust me, Lee, but if that’s the way you want it I won’t trust you either.”

“That’s a good idea,” he said, and switched off.

Almost immediately he saw them come out from behind the cover of a fallen wall across the dusty street.  Mara walked in front of Manning; her head was high, her face almost expressionless.  The cold wind threw dust against their legs as they crossed the open space to the base of the steps.

Rynason stood motionless, watching them come up.  Manning still had his two stunners, but they were in their holsters.  He kept behind the girl all the way, pausing before pushing her up the open ramp at the top, then moving even more closely behind her.  Rynason stood with the disintegrator hanging loosely in one hand at his side.

On the colonnade Manning gripped the girl by her undamaged arm.  He nodded to one of the doorways into the temple, and Rynason preceded him inside.

As they entered Manning lit a handlight and set it on the floor.  The room was thrown into stark relief, the shadows of the motionless aliens striking the walls and ceiling with an almost physical harshness.  Manning paused a moment to look at the Hirlaji, and at the altar across the room.

“We can hear each other in here,” he said at last.

“What do you want?” said Rynason.  There was cool hatred in his voice, and the knife-scar on his forehead was a dark snake-line in the hard glare of the handlight.

Manning shrugged, a bit too quickly.  He was nervous.  “I want you out of here, Lee, and I’m not accepting any argument this time.”

Rynason looked at Mara, standing helplessly in the older man’s grip.  He glanced down at the disintegrator in his hand.

Manning drew one of his stunners quickly, and trained it at Rynason’s face.  “I said no arguments.  Put the weapon down, Lee.”

Rynason couldn’t risk a shot at the man, with Mara in front of him.  He carefully laid the disintegrator on the floor.

“Slide it over here.”

Rynason kicked it across the floor.  Manning bent and picked it up, returned the stunner to its holster and held the disintegrator on him.

“That’s better.  Now we can avoid arguments—­right, Lee?  You’ve always like peaceful settlements, haven’t you?”