Cry Chaos!

The Thorian's eyes flicked to the Earthman in the same instant. Desperately, he tried to halt his headlong plunge—to throw himself sidewise, out of the way. He moved too late. The steel struck home. The end bit in along one side of the Thorian's bulbous head. It made a moist, explosive sound, like the bursting of a melon hurled onto pavement. Vile, grey-green sludge gushed forth.

The Thorian's great body jerked in a tremendous, threshing spasm. The light-pistol still clutched in one tentacle, needled a wildly-gyrating purple beam close past Shane's shoulder, then cut off again and clattered to the floor. The body went limp; lay still.