Man and dog started along the hallway warily. Buregarde said, "Any touch?"
"Got a faint impression of alarm, danger, call out the guards."
"I scent violence," said the dog. "And—"
The door at the end of the hallway opened and a big man stepped out. "What's going on here?" he demanded flatly.
The check girl said, "He wouldn't check ..."
The big man reached for his hip pocket.
Peter said, "Take him high!" and they plunged.
Peter dove for the man's knees, Buregarde went in a three-stride lope like an accordion folding and unfolding and then arched in a long leap with his snarling fangs aimed at the man's throat. Man and dog hit him low and high before he could open his mouth, before he could free the snub pencil-ray. There was a short scrabble that ended when Buregarde lifted the man's head and whammed it down hard against the floor.
Weakly, the check girl finished her statement, "... His weapons!" and keeled over in a dead faint.