"I had to do it now, darling," she answered. "There may not be a later."
Johnson had no time to ask her what she meant. Somewhere in the back of the room a human screamed. He jerked around. Back there a knot of Venusians were attacking a man.
"It's Martin!" Caldwell shouted. "He is here!"
In Johnson's hand as he came to his feet the zit gun throbbed. He fired blindly at the mass of Venusians. Caldwell was firing too. The soft throb of the guns was not audible above the uproar from the crowd. Struck by the gas-driven corvel charges, Venusians were falling. But there seemed to be an endless number of them.
"Vee Vee?" Johnson suddenly realized that she had disappeared. She had slid out of his sight.
"Vee Vee!" Johnson's voice became a shout.
"To hell with the woman!" Caldwell grunted. "Martin's the important one."
Zit, zit, zit, Caldwell moved toward the rear, shooting as he went. Johnson followed.
A voice boomed through the room, in Venusian. "Let movement stop!"