She never pulled it. There was a scream behind her and one of her men collapsed to the pavement, a thin swirl of smoke drifting up from his blasted chest. The girl's eyes narrowed, then she suddenly darted towards the river that lapped against the parking level. The remaining man dropped to his knees to cover her escape and the ramp was filled with the spanging sound of his own pistol.
The sound ceased abruptly in another burst of flames and smoke and then Tanner was racing down the ramp.
"Don't let her get away!"
Stan ran to the river's edge and Tanner cut the oily surface with lancing rays from his heater.
"She's gone," Stan said in a tired voice. "Save it." He watched the surface for a moment more, than turned back to Tanner. "Who was she? What's her name?"
Tanner shrugged. "I don't know who she is or what she's doing here. I can't tell you."
He wouldn't forget her, Stan thought slowly. That long, black hair and those green eyes. And she had moved like a cat, a sleek cat who was just as willing to kill for a cause as he was.
Tanner was studying his face. "Don't get any ideas about her—she's an ape."
Stan looked at him coldly. "The only idea I have is to kill her before she kills me."
He started walking towards another flight of stairs a block down. How long had it been since he had walked down the ramp? he wondered. There had been the noise and the oily smoke from the automobile. The ramp should have been swarming with curious apes by now. But for some reason it wasn't....