"They ran out on me."

"Ran out on you. I thought you three were supposed to be such good
buddies?"

"When the chips were down," said Astro as harshly as he could, "they
turned out to be nothing but yellow rats!"

"Which way did they go?"

"I don't know," said Astro. "It happened last night. We went to sleep,
and when I woke up, they were gone."

"Where'd they go?" snarled the man, pushing the ray gun into Astro's
back.

"I--I--" Astro pretended he didn't want to talk.

"I'll freeze you, so help me," said the man. "I'm going to count
five--one, two, three, four--"

"Don't! I'll tell you!" cried Astro. "I'm not sure, but I think they
headed back for the city. We were talking about it last night. We
figured it would be the best place to hide."

"Ummm. That makes sense," said the man. "I guess you're telling the
truth. Now get down the hill. One false move and I'll blast you!"

Astro turned and stumbled down the hill in front of the paralo-ray gun.