Xintel put down her skirt and even unclasped her precious metal
necklace. Stark naked and unarmed she started up the slope.
"Come back!" he yelled as he sensed her intention.
She paused, but then continued upward.
A shadow swooped.
"Look out!" Barry screamed. But Xintel had been alert and had thrown
herself into a plunging dive.
"Oh!" she sobbed as she pulled herself up beside him. "It's no good. It
has gotten into my skin. Probably yours too."
But after his burst of renewed hope Barry refused to surrender. "This
corrosive jelly might counteract it," he suggested.
Xintel's eyes were somber. "We have nothing to lose," she agreed.
They scooped out two troughs in the greasy jelly and buried themselves
with only their heads projecting, but at Xintel's suggestion they took
positions where they could keep an eye on the norus.
"Rub some on your face," Barry advised the girl. "In your hair too."
"It stings!" she complained.
"I know. But it's our only chance."