"Gregg, he's armed!"
It was his turn to fire. It came--the familiar vague flash of the
paralyzing ray. It spat its tint of color on the rocks near us, but
did not reach us.
A moment later, Miko bounded to another rock.
Time passed--only a few seconds. I could not see Miko momentarily.
Perhaps he was crouching; perhaps he had moved away again. He was, or
had been, on slightly higher ground than the bottom of our bowl. It
was dim down here where we were lying, but I feared that any moment
Miko might appear and strike at us. His ray at any short range would
penetrate our visor panes, even though our suits might temporarily
resist it.
"Anita, it's too dangerous here!"
Had I been alone, I might perhaps have leapt up to lure Miko. But with
Anita I did not dare chance it.
"We've got to get back to camp," I told her.
"Perhaps he has gone--"
But he had not. We saw him again, out in a distant patch of
Earthlight. He was further from us than before, but on still higher
ground. We had extinguished our small helmet lights. But he knew we
were here and possibly he could see us. His projector flashed again.
He was a hundred feet or more away now, and his weapon was of no
longer range than mine. I did not answer his fire, for I could not
hope to hit him at such a distance, and the flash of my weapon would
help him to locate us.