Kent Knight looked thoughtfully at Sammy's bald head and at the crooked beak of a nose. If they did, maybe Man could win after all.
It chuckled.
The suddenness of it plunged Kent Knight back into despair. But then his mind rallied, and he was chuckling himself. It wasn't inside him. Its presence wasn't strong enough.
Kent turned slowly, and the heart died within him. Bob Mallory, green eyes haunted, stared at him over the bore of an atomic pistol.
"I don't know what awful power you have, Knight," his lips twisted painfully, "but it sure played hell with me. I was going to give you a break, but now...." Mallory pushed at the white stud, bringing the atomic gun to full power.
"Don't you feel It?" Knight asked desperately. "Don't you feel the Thing in your mind?"
"I feel nothing, Knight, except that you should be exterminated. Somewhere you have picked up the power to inflict agony by the touch of your hand. I can't let you take it to Earth as I know you're planning to do."
"Mary Jo," Knight said sharply. "Mary Jo." For a moment, the haunting look was gone from the green eyes, and Mallory's lips twisted in a smile. The tense fingers on the atomic gun relaxed.
In that instant, Knight acted. Sorry, mind, he said under his breath, but we can take care of the Thing. It isn't talking to Bob. He seized Mallory by the pistol arm, and thought desperately, Bob, for the love of Mary Jo, remember the left-handed salute.