Imprisoned Planeteers
Thorn rose slowly to his feet, keeping his hands raised. A wrong movement, he knew, would mean instant death. Inwardly he was bitterly reproaching himself for letting himself be surprised.
"So, Planeteer,” said Kinnel King in a deadly low tone, “you and your comrades seem to be traitors. Less than an hour after you've been initiated into the Companions, we find you here rifling Lana's secrets."
"Didn't I tell you, Kinnel?” squeaked Jenk Cheerly, the fat Uranian's little eyes glittering with beady triumph. “Didn't I tell you this Thorn was up to something when he slipped away from the. feast, and that we ought to follow him?"
"Take his atom-pistol, Jenk,” ordered Kinnel King without removing his eyes from Thorn. “Then go and get Lana and the others-and make sure you get the other two Planeteers!"
Jenk Cheerly lifted the weapon from Thorn's belt, and then the obese Uranian waddled hastily out of the room. Thorn stood, his hands still raised, facing the other Earthman.
Kinnel King's middle-aged, handsome face was dark with loathing, and there was a deadly expression in his brooding eyes as he watched the Planeteer.
"King, listen to me!” John Thorn said desperately. “You're an Earthman, and I—"
"Be silent!” Kinnel King hissed, his eyes narrowing to pinpoints. “I'll blast you where you stand, traitor."
In heavy silence, Thorn waited. He knew there was not the slightest chance for him to make a break under the muzzle of the other's weapon. To do so would be merely to commit suicide without gaining anything.