Tahn said, "He is in a cave-cell. I am ordered to take him food and drink very soon."
"What weapons have you got?" Shorty asked. "Say, if you could get one of those brain-paralyzing guns—"
Taro shook his head. "Never could I even get near one. The Great Mind always carries one—and so does Ratan. But there is no chance—"
"We must get to Blaine," I said. "And then try and find Vivian and Mack. We've all got to be together—"
We planned it for a few moments more. Then cautiously Taro and Tahn led us to a corridor intersection. "We will hide here," he said, gesturing to another shadowed recess where the ragged rocks of the wall jutted out in an overhang. "Tahn can go best." The young Lei turned to his wife. "Tahn, listen. You get food and drink. You take it to Blaine's cell. There are not always guards perhaps. You watch your chance—"
"Listen!" Shorty suddenly interjected. "Maybe I'm crazy, but there's some kind of commotion around here."
We could all hear it now—a distant murmur of turmoil down one of the side corridors. Taro nodded. "Something is wrong. And Blaine's cell is down that way. You Earthmen wait here! I will go with Tahn. Then we come back to you."
They were gone only a few moments. From a little distance they had stood unnoticed, watching and listening. Blaine had escaped! He had seized Ratan's thought-gun; turned it upon Ratan and one of the guards; had stricken them. And had knifed another guard, and vanished.
"Well! Good for Blaine," Shorty murmured. "He's smarter than all the rest of us put together! And he's got one of those guns! Where'd he go—"