It turned a knob on top, and Maynard whipped his MacMillan from its holster and blasted the tentacle off at the "shoulder."

And then, in Maynard's mind there came a thought. It staggered the patrol marshal, and he blinked in unbelief. It rang in his mind: "You shouldn't have done that!"

"What?" asked Maynard aloud. "Why—?"

"You shouldn't have done that. I meant no harm with this. Now I may not retune it to your fellows."

"But—?"

"It is a development that will ultimately win for us," came the thought. "A thought-beam transmitter."

Maynard sat down suddenly. "No," he said. "I'm mad! I must be."

Hamilton said: "That I doubt, Guy. What's the matter, though. You look ill, but madness I doubt."

"He says that thing on his head and belt is a thought-beam transmitter."

"What? He says—?"