Arrangements were made and plans proceeded accordingly. Arion found that he could not stop himself from hoping for the best, and his spirits were high as they climbed out of Sharsa's craft and walked towards a business center near the building that housed the big videcom.

They were going to meet the pilot who would fly them to Lenis, and some of the Rikshastikan officials who were making it all possible by clearing the way for the Hammerstar. Sharsa apparently had far more influence than Raach had given him credit for.

The rendezvous was now only a day away, but he stopped and turned, still jumpy, as a hovercraft pulled up behind them. Sharsa turned with him as Raach stepped out, dressed in full Rikshastikan uniform. "Well, well. You finally managed to put one over on me," he said, smiling at the two of them.

"He's not available, Raach," said Sharsa levelly.

"I know that," he answered solemnly, adopting the Homonic as well. "But do you have any idea how hard it will be for him?"

"He'll adjust. He's going home, and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

"I have nothing against him going home," he said, looking at Arion.

Arion stared, sensing that he did in fact intend to stop it, and he was suddenly terrified that Sharsa would not be a match for whatever he had in mind.

"Then why don't you just leave?" Sharsa suggested, his voice growing heavy with annoyance.

Raach shook his head, looking at Sharsa now. "Dangerous," he said quietly, returning to his own tongue. "Very dangerous, what you plan to do."

Sharsa smiled coldly, answering also in Venatese. "You simply have no patience, Raach. No patience and no imagination. When I am done, I will have more Cedrychads than you ever dreamed of. I will make you look like a pauper!"

Raach smiled broadly now, highly amused. "Brother, he speaks Venatese."

Sharsa's head snapped around. Arion met his eyes, destroyed. Sharsa glared at Raach, furious. "Fool! Idiot! You knew! You knew, and you didn't tell me? You've ruined everything!"

"Calm down," he ordered disdainfully. "It never could have worked anyway. You haven't the right. Besides," he added, almost sneering, "we still have him."

"No. I have him. You had your turn. He's mine."

Aviel...

.

.

Arion bolted past Raach to the hovercraft, still powered up and ready to sail. He jumped into the open seat, the chill of his spine desperately warning of Raach's laser behind him.

The hovercraft leaped into motion as Sharsa reached it, his hands sliding down the sleek sides as Arion pulled away. He dodged between the buildings, shielding himself, wondering wildly where he could possibly go.

He looked quickly about him in the craft. He found a laser in the catch-all, but in spite of Sharsa’s treachery, he remained unsure whether he was capable of using it. His heart swelled then as he examined the radio - it was a broadcast unit in case of breakdowns.

Please be listening! he thought desperately, knowing they must be, yet terrified they weren't. "Arion Dorios to Arlemagen! Arion Dorios to Arlemagen! Urgent! Come in please." The computer would easily pick his hailing from out of the sea of similarly weak transmissions - if they were listening.

"This is the Arlemagen. We read you, Arion."

His gratitude was instantaneous and wordless. "The truce is a fake. Abort rendezvous. I repeat, the truce is a fake. Abort rendezvous."

"Message received. What is your situation?"

Arion paused, grieving. His worst fear taken care of, he now had to face his own fate. Still, formality bade him be accurate. "I'm on the run. I have a hovercraft, a laser, and myself. That's about it."

"Are you in immediate jeopardy?"

He looked over his shoulder. Several hovercraft, including Sharsa's, were now following. "Well, not immediate. But Bootes just unleashed Chara and Asterion. It's just a matter of time."

"A little time is all we need," broke in Corbin's voice. "Are they big dogs or little dogs?"

"Just hovercraft like mine, but I'm slightly outnumbered down here, and I don't exactly have anyplace to go."

"If you can just stay ahead of them, you don't need anyplace to go. Can you just stay ahead of them for awhile?"

"Well, probably, but, you can't come down here after me," he said, fighting down an unpleasant sense of deja vu. "It's ridiculous. I appreciate the moral support, but I've had it, I know that. It's okay. At least I'm not bait anymore. But listen - "

"No. You listen. You've got a partner in this game now so don't go trying to fold. We're on our way, and not that far to go."

"But, Corbin, you can't - "

"You've been listening to venats too long, buddy. Since when do you believe in can't? I'm telling you to hang light and keep moving. Now who are you going to listen to - a bunch of venats, or your wingmate?"

Arion wavered, afraid to hope yet again. "So I'll hang light," he said at last. "But one thing at least you should know. They have a new kind of laser here. Raach called it a brotik. It doesn't kill, just knocks you out with an electric shock. You wake up with a massive headache and a full bodyache to match. Not to mention the fact that you can't even remember what happened. And get this - it doesn't do a thing to them. Not a blasted thing."

Corbin whistled. "You keep interesting company. That is something to know, isn't it?"

"Yeah. You don't want to find out the hard way, believe me. And they have the same principle applied to doorways. Not all doorways, and you can't tell by looking. Works off of some kind of electrofield. The doors are worse, but he's going to sell the guns to the Rikshastika."

"Cute."

"And they - " He broke off as a hovercraft pulled out in front of him. He swerved, then ducked as he saw the laser. He gave a sharp cry as it grazed his shoulder, burning a streak from his shoulder blade to the outer corner of his left shoulder.

"Arion!" But he didn't answer, trying desperately to maneuver the craft through the buildings, to keep them between him and the laser. "Arion! Are you all right?"

"Oh sure," he answered crossly. "I'm having a ball."

"Talk to me, partner."

"Sorry. Reinforcements."

"Are you all right?"

"Grazed my shoulder. Guess I should be glad it wasn't a brotik. You either miss or you don't... Blast!" The venator had shot at him between the buildings, hitting the craft.

He swung hard, grinding against the wall of a building. He traveled easily then, but had no idea where they were. "They hit the craft," he said, subdued. "I don't think they got anything important."

"Just keep moving, pal."

"It's no good, Corbin. I told you all the important stuff. That's all He wanted..."

"Just keep moving, I said. I'm coming."

"But, Corbin, how can you? They'll be tracking me, tracking you. You'll be a sitting duck..."

"So that's what's eating you, is it? I don't know what they told you, but get this and get it good. You're in the middle of a retreat. High level money town and some sort of research center, but hardly military. It's the source of our troubles all right, but there's no tracking station, no military base, none of that.

"They have a few fighter ships that run escort for the carriers to Lenis, but they weren't even using full power in their lasers until you and I messed things up. Every so often a bigger ship stops in to deliver supplies. They ride the fighters over by Aditi in exchange for part of the haul, then leave again."

"No base?"

"No."

No wonder it had been easy for Sharsa to clear the way. "But, Corbin..." He wanted to ask what was hanging around now, but knew he mustn’t. The Rikshastika would never allow Sharsa to draw in a Hammerstar if... Unless... Sharsa had spoken of having patience...

"Trust me, buddy."

He laughed nervously. "That's what God keeps telling me, but I don't seem to be very good at it. I guess I - Ah!" He growled in frustration as a laser blast dug into the craft. "Got her again."

"Are they military or locals?"

"I.. I don't know, I... " He looked then, disturbed that his attention could be so poor. He had assumed they were military and concentrated on avoiding them. "They're locals," he said quietly. "But Raach is military..."

"Quite likely," said Corbin, hearing his distress. "A lot of their big money is military. But I'll bet you he's on leave, or visiting family."

"Tutoring his son," answered Arion, sick. "Only he.. he lives here."

"So what do you want first when you get back?"

He laughed slightly. "How about a cup of coffee?"

"Aw, you're too easy."

"I left my mythra behind," he said suddenly.

"Your what?"

"My mythra. Like the cithara, only different. Sharsa gave it to me."

"And you're going to worry about that now?"

"Well, no... I just wish I had it, that's all. I left it in the back of his craft. We were going to-" He swerved as one of the locals appeared, startling him. A laser blast sliced past him, hitting the inside of the craft, the front panel. "Aw, crud!" he snapped, batting sparks away, gritting his teeth against the pain in his shoulder as he moved his arm.

"Keep ahead of them, Arion. Get your head in the game!"

"Glad to. Glad to hear your voice, too. They just got my panel, and I thought I might have lost you too. Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear. Any major damage?"

"I really don't know. I have no panel. But I'm still moving."

"Well at least in a hovercraft you can't crash," said Corbin, his smile sounding wickedly in his voice.

"Oh you're a real comfort, you are," said Arion, his own smile more genuine than it had been so far.

He saw the fields stretching out behind the buildings now and veered towards them. "I'm going to make a dash for it, Corbin. Out in the fields. This peek-a-boo, got-you is going to kill me. Raach's craft is a good one. It's real fast. Maybe I can outrun them long enough."

"Sounds like it's worth a try... Harder to run into anything in an open field..."

"Oh quit already!" said Arion, laughing.

"So you've got Raach's craft, huh? How'd you manage that?"

He paused, remembering, then shook his head, puzzled. "It was easy..."

"How's your escort?"

"Oh they're behind me all right," he said. "I'm in the fields now, moving fast. Three of them staying with me, but not gaining. And I'm out of range."

"Well just keep it that way, buddy, and we've got 'em licked."

"About how long do we have to go?"

"Oh, call it the final quarter of a quad-ball game, give or take. Not long."

"Ah," he sighed, "we can go from star to star, and it still takes so long just to come down."

"Well, I could shift to magnethrust if you wanted, but there wouldn't be much left to ride home in. Assuming you had about a year to dig me out once I got there."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." He looked behind him and sighed. "Corbin, there is something else you should know..."

"What's that?"

"Well, it's going to sound really weird, but... You know in the old writings, where it says Satan is locked up?"

"Yeah."

"Well... He's loose."

Corbin was silent for several moments. "Can't be," he said gently. "He's gone. Destroyed. That's all over with."

"No. That's.. That's what he wants us to think. But he's loose. It says, in the old writings, that he'll be turned loose again. For a little while..." Corbin didn't answer, so he plunged the rest of the way in. "Corbin, it's even possible that.. the venators might have souls..."

"Listen, we'll sort it all out when you get back, okay?"

He looked behind him again. "Okay," he said softly, sighing heavily. "But they're still back there. They know something... What am I missing, Corbin?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, with you coming, it'd be a lot smarter for them to leave. All they have are hovercrafts. Unless they know something. Something we don't. What if they're laying a trap for you?"

"I don't show anything. Maybe they don't know I'm coming."

"How can they not know?" demanded Arion crossly. He knew he sounded crazy, wasn't sure he wasn't, but Corbin was being far too casual. "This isn't exactly a private link. How can they not know?"

"Maybe they aren't listening."

He groaned softly, writhing against sudden despair. "They're always listening. Corbin, you don't know. It may be civilian, but it's different here. They have all kinds of surprises. So many times. So many times, and it's never any good."

"Hang in there, buddy. You've got friends now. We're coming."

"No. I'm going to get you killed." He was growing desperate. Corbin was becoming condescending, trying to humor him. He didn't understand, wouldn't believe... "Corbin, please. Don't let me get you caught. Go back. Please, you've got to go back. They're setting us up. That's what they wanted. He did it on purpose. I'm still the bait..."

"There's nothing on the scanners, Arion. Just you, them, and the wide open fields."

"No, Corbin, you don't understand. He did it on purpose. He warned me. You see? Why would he do that? They're setting us up."

"Who warned you?"

"Raach. I mean, not really, but he made Sharsa mess it up. So I would know..."

"Well, so he's got a beef against Sharsa. Maybe he's getting even for something."

"Then why don't they turn back?"

"...Maybe they're trying to bluff."

"Bluff?"

"Yeah. You know, like cards?" His voice was slightly teasing, trying to calm him down.

"...He never bluffed before," he said slowly.

"Then it's perfect timing."

Arion didn't answer, his emotions swimming about inside of him, making him feel confused and distant.

"You still with me Arion?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Just stay with me now, all right? Just a little longer and none of this will matter anymore."

"But what if - "

"No more what if's," said Corbin firmly. "I'm coming, so get used to it. ...There's nothing showing on the scanners. Nothing. They're not even talking to each other. Just cruising. So we'll cruise too. If anything happens, we'll deal with it then. Right?"

"...Right," he answered, lacking Corbin's conviction. He was angry with himself, and grateful to Corbin. He felt like a skittish child. Always they had handled tight situations together with calm, cheerful clear-headedness. But he couldn't find it, didn't even know where to look for it...

"So what else do you want when we get back, besides a lousy cup of coffee?"

He smiled then, grasping, a well rehearsed daydream suddenly coming to mind. "Neil's gremlin."

"Where to?"

"Little island. Remember the one we found...?"

"Sure. But the Delphineus got us there last time. What's Neil's for?"

"His has a cabin," he answered, smiling more easily now. "I plan on staying awhile. Want to come?"

"Sure!" Corbin chuckled. "Sounds good. But you'll have to help me snooker some time off. I just had leave."

Arion sighed. "That's okay. By the time they finish debriefing me, you'll be ready for another one."

"Yeah? Got that much to share with us, huh?"

Another sigh, heavier. "No, not really. They just aren't going to like the answers."

"Don't sweat it. We'll get it sorted out. And then we'll get Neil's gremlin. Or maybe you can get your own. You've certainly earned it."

He laughed softly, pleased. "I hadn't thought of that. That's a good idea too... Uh, Corbin?" he asked, his voice suddenly tight but level.

"What's up?"

"I'm starting to hear some.. odd noises out of this craft. How much quad-ball do we have left?"

"Down to the final count. I'll be losing radio in a minute or two. How bad is it?"

"Sounds like something's about to seize up. The whole craft feels like it's straining..." He sighed softly. "I'm slowing down."

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