He heard her gasp as he sprang for the keys that brought the needle gun into play.
It was a precision weapon, a fine, invisible ray of disruptive force. As the first of the web-birds dropped arrow-like into range, the ray touched it. The creature exploded like a fountain of spray. He got two more before the startled birds sheered off.
Snapping on the outside amplifiers, he yelled: "Lete!" His voice boomed through the loudspeaker—a giant's voice that stopped the cave girl dead in her tracks. "Lete! What's wrong?"
She stared upward in fright at the gleaming bullet-shaped monster.
"Quick, girl, speak up!"
"The Anolyn," she said in a small voice.
"What about them?"
"The Anolyn have sent a great army of Nehogans. Our men have seen them, less than a day's march from here."
"Get in the ship!" Jupiter commanded.
Lete began to tremble, but she was too frightened to disobey. She climbed meekly through the port. With a hollow "clang!" it shut behind her.