Snap gasped, "Gregg get your hand over her mouth. Shut her up!"
We had her subdued in a moment, but it seemed almost too late. Outside the opened door a distant shout sounded.
I shoved Meka toward the door. "If you don't do what I say, I'll kill you," I whispered into her ear.
"What shall I do?"
There came another shout, closer, now. Someone was coming.
"Call out in Martian. Say there's no trouble, nothing wrong. You were arguing with these girls."
She did as I commanded. The voice down the corridor answered, and then subsided.
Snap slid the door closed. "Hurry! We'll go by the window. I dropped those damn shoes."
Anita and Venza tore their dark coats into strips. We bound and gagged Meka, laid her in a corner of the room. We had dropped the shoes as we came plunging through the door oval. We found that we could all fasten their things to our feet. I put Meka's knife in my belt.
"Hurry, all of you!" Snap was saying. "Got to get out of here; jump by the window."