"Come out!" commanded a toneless voice. "We've got you!"
Rusty ran to the left, the others to the right. He tried the door to the next room. It was locked. The others had disappeared into the forward compartments, the door closed behind them. Rusty no longer felt fear nor panic. He was an animal now, fighting to live. He silently crept to the side of the seared hole in the hull. A dim glow of light entered from the field.
A sleek vib-ray poked its long nose in the doorway. Rusty waited. The gun was followed by an arm. A man came into view. His skin was red, Martian. He climbed into the ship, followed by six more.
Rusty crouched in the darkness, holding his breath.
They stood in the dim light, peering warily about. There had been nine at the station, Rusty remembered. Spike had gotten one. Where was the other? But they would discover him in a moment.
Rusty moved swiftly. He snatched a rifle from the nearest man. With the same movement, brought the stock upward, smashed it into the crimson face.
The others whirled.
Rusty leveled the vib-ray at them. They stared and their guns clattered to the floor. Slowly, their hands raised.
"Spike!" yelled Rusty.
The door opened and the Earthian peered out. Lothar and the Venusian crowded behind him.