The man looked shaken and sick, as if the drastic awaking
they had subjected him to had left him too dazed to pull himself
together.
But out of some hidden reservoir of strength the Medic summoned the
energy he needed. And his testimony was all they had hoped it would be.
Though now and then he strayed into technical terms. But, Dane thought,
their use only enhanced the authority of his description of what he had
discovered on board the spacer and what he had done to counteract the
power of the poison. When he had done Dane added a few last words.
"We have broken the law," he admitted forthrightly, "but we were fighting
in self-defense. All we ask now is the privilege of an impartial
investigation, a chance to defend ourselves--such as any of you take for
granted on Terra--before the courts of this planet--" But he was not to
finish without interruption.
From the play-back over their heads another voice blared, breaking across
his last words:
"Surrender! This is the Patrol. Surrender or take the consequences!" And
that faint sighing which signaled their open contact with the outer world
was cut off.
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