It seemed as if time stood still as the knife blade came slowly toward George. The Grak’s eyes gleamed red and cruel. Then the blade struck home—not into George, but across the bindings on his hands and feet, which fell loose on the ground. The Grak grabbed George and forced his hands apart, then pointed at his right hand. Looking down, George saw in alarm that he was still carrying the bag which contained the glowing Uth stone.

George quickly closed his hand over the bag, but the Grak pried it open again, and held it open. Then another Grak gingerly lifted the bag, wincing in pain as he did so, and turned it over so that the Uth stone fell into George’s palm. The stone was hot, and seemed to be throbbing. When George closed his hand over the stone the Grak grunted in relief.

George was twisted around again, and his other hand was forced up, onto the hook of the fallen star, where the Grak deftly tied it in place with a stout rope. Then it looped a scabby, brittle belt tightly across George’s hand that held the Uth stone, so that he couldn’t open it or drop the stone. The binding was so tight and the stone so hot that George winced in pain. The Grak laughed in his face, its putrid breath nearly overpowering him.

A Grak at the side of the clearing suddenly barked an order. The creature who had tied George turned and ran toward him, along with others from around the clearing. In that instant George realized that there was another black spaceship behind them. All but two of the Grak boarded the ship, which quickly roared to life and lifted into the sky.

One of the remaining Grak ambled over to George, and smiled cruelly down upon him. Spittle dripped from its open mouth onto George’s leg, stinging him like a wasp where it landed.

“Thank you,” the Grak said unexpectedly with a mock bow. “Thank you for helping us destroy you.” Then it laughed a course laugh that sounded like breaking glass, and walked to the other side of the clearing.

There was sudden, unexpected silence. The two remaining Grak stood quietly at the side of the clearing, watching, doing nothing. No one else was in sight, and nothing moved. George struggled vainly against the bindings that held him to the hook of the star and that held his folded hand carrying the Uth stone. He tried to bite off the bindings, and to twist his feet up and push against them to pry them lose, but it was all in vain. The bindings were simply too tight. The Grak at the side of the clearing laughed with evil pleasure.

And then, a brilliant shaft of light split the air as if the sun itself had come down to the clearing. In shock and amazement, George saw that the shaft of light extended from somewhere north of him in space, and came down to his hand holding the Uth Stone. It enveloped the hand with a brilliance that made George shut his eyes, temporarily blinded. Yet, amazingly, there was no burning or heat. The stone in his hand now felt cold, like a small lump of ice.

The earth suddenly shook and reeled, knocking George off his feet. Staggering, he tried to stand up. The beam of light did not change, but continued constant and steady. The Uth stone in his hand was growing warmer. Looking around, George saw that the Grak had taken shelter behind a large rock at the side of the clearing. They seemed afraid of the light, yet remained there, watching George. The earth rocked again.

And then, in horror, George understood.

He was the link. He and his father, and their two stones. The powerful beam of energy needed to grasp the hooks and stop the earth’s rotation was not from a power source on the Grak’s ship. It was a link between the stone his father held in his hand on the Grak ship far above him in space, and the stone he was holding himself in the clearing. That was why the intergalactic police had found nothing on the Grak ship. The energy was from the Uth stones themselves. And George had no doubt that the same link had been made between Jiu Na in China and her father on the Grak ship, and between Donna Tereza in Portugal and her husband Jose. The protector had said only the pure in heart could touch or use the Uth stones. Therefore, the Grak couldn’t use them, although they had somehow discovered their secret. The purity of he and his father and the others was being used by the Grak to destroy them all.

George tried to call out, but gagged again on the cloth in his mouth. He choked in despair, his eyes filling with tears. He fell to his knees, shaking uncontrollably in horror and hopelessness.

The shaft of light continued, uninterrupted. The earth swayed again, stronger this time, twisting George around to hit the fallen star. His eyes glazed at the impact, and for a second things went black. The Uth stone in his hand was growing slowly warmer. George felt dizzy, and sensed that consciousness was fast leaving him.

In a last desperate surge of despair he cried out with all his might for relief and for help. Once again his cry caught in his throat because of the gag. But then three things happened in rapid succession.

First, George heard a cry of pain nearby, as if from a creature under attack. He heard angry shouts and the sound of fighting.

Then he noticed the beam of light waver and twist as if it were a snake.

And then he heard a clear voice in his mind, speaking directly to his soul, a voice so soft and gentle it seemed completely foreign to what was happening around him. It was a voice he had never heard before.

“What is it you want?” the voice asked simply.

“I need help!” George answered in his own mind. “The Grak are using me to destroy the earth. I need a way to stop them!”

“Why?” came the voice again.

“Because if I don’t act, everyone will die!” George answered in frustration.

“And what price are you willing to pay for help?” came the voice.

“I’ll give anything!” cried George again in his mind. “Anything!”

“Anything?” asked the voice again, gently. “Even your life?”

George hesitated. He thought of his mother, no doubt awakened by the shaking of the earth. She was probably beside herself at not finding George in his room. He thought of Janet and the fun times they had had together in earlier years, in spite of how obnoxious she sometimes was now. He thought of his father, so kind and gentle, who seemed to always know just what to do. He thought of his friends, Alex and Michael, and other people he knew in Bartletville. Was he willing to give them up? Yet, if he didn’t what would happen to them?

“There is hope, if you decide quickly,” came the voice again, in a peaceful whisper, almost like laughter. “I, too, am being used to destroy. I am the stone in your hand. Together we can act, but only if we both are united in our sacrifice and act quickly. Neither of us can hold back. We must both be willing to sacrifice everything. Are you willing?”

And then George understood completely. The person he least suspected who might betray him had not been the protector or his father or anyone else. It was he, himself. His own hesitation and unwillingness to act would betray not only him, but all those he held dear. This was why the Ziphon had kept saying he had to act quickly. If he stopped to think, if he hesitated, the opportunity to stop the Grak would pass.

“Are you ready?” the voice asked again, simply.

George closed his eyes tightly. He could feel tears stinging his eyelids. “Yes!” he cried in sudden anguish. “Of course I will. Yes! I will!”

A gentle ripple of laughter echoed through his mind. “Well done,” said the soft voice. George could feel the earth reeling again beneath his feet, and knew even though his eyes were closed that the beam of light and the energy connection between the Grak spaceship and the fallen star was still there. He could still hear sounds of distant fighting, and was aware that the earthquakes were growing more frequent and more violent. Yet he strangely now felt no fear. He had descended below fear.

“Come,” said the voice, softly. “Let us journey together.”