"But he had _two grenades_!" Orca burst out. "He had sprayguns! How
could it get him that way?"
"Brother," Quillan said, "grenades won't help you much if you don't
spot what's moving up behind you!"
Orca glared speechlessly at him. Ryter said, "All right! We've lost
another man. We're not going to lose any more. We'll station no more
guards on the fifth level. Now, get everyone who isn't on essential
guard duty to the main room, and split 'em up into life-detector
units. Five men to each detail, one to handle the detector, four to
stay with him, guns out. If the thing comes back to this level, we
want to have it spotted the instant it arrives. Orca, you stay
here--and keep _your_ gun out!"
The men filed out hurriedly. Ryter turned to Quillan. "Were you able
to get the cubicle baited?"
Quillan nodded. "Kinmarten figured out how the thing should be set for
the purpose. If the Hlat goes in after the sea beef, it's trapped. Of
course, if the hunting it's been doing was for food, it mightn't be
interested in the beef."
"We don't know," Ryter said, "that the hunting it's been doing was for
food."
"No. Did you manage to get the control device from Cooms?"