o above the
flat top of the dome, away from the edge of the pavilion roof.

The two Assassins greeted him, and a man in upper-servants' garb and
wearing a hunting knife and a long hunting pistol approached.

"Lord Virzal of Verkan? Welcome to Starpha Dome. The Lady Dallona
awaits you below."

Verkan Vall had never been in an Akor-Neb dwelling dome, but a
description of such structures had been included in his hypno-mech
indoctrination. Originally, they had been the standard structure for
all purposes; about two thousand elapsed years ago, when nationalism
had still existed on the Akor-Neb Sector, the cities had been almost
entirely under ground, as protection from air attack. Even now, the
design had been retained by those who wished to live apart from the
towering city units, to preserve the natural appearance of the
landscape. The Starpha hunting lodge was typical of such domes. Under
it was a circular well, eighty feet in depth and fifty in width, with
a fountain and a shallow circular pool at the bottom. The storerooms,
kitchens and servants' quarters were at the top, the living quarters
at the bottom, in segments of a wide circle around the well, back of
balconies.

"Tarnod, the gamekeeper," Dirzed performed the introductions. "And
Erarno and Kirzol, Assassins."

Verkan Vall hooked fingers and clapped shoulders with them. Tarnod
accompanied them to the lifter tubes--two percent positive gravitation
for descent and two percent negative for ascent--and they all floated
down the former, like air-filled balloons, to the bottom level.

"The Lady Dallona is in the gun room," Tarnod informed Verkan Vall,
making as though to guide him.

"Thanks, Tarnod; we know the way," Dirzed told him shortly, turning
his back on the upper-servant and walking toward a closed door on the
other side of the fountain. Verkan Vall and Olirzon followed; for a
moment, Tarnod stood looking after them, then he followed the other
two Assassins into the ascent tube.

"I don't relish that fellow," Dirzed explained. "The family of Starpha
use him for work they couldn't hire an Assassin to do at any price.
I've been here often, when I was with the Lord Garnon; I've always
thought he had something on Prince Jirzyn."

He knocked sharply on the closed door with the butt of his pistol. In
a moment, it slid open, and a young Assassin with a narrow mustache
and a tuft of chin beard looked out.

"Ah, Dirzed." He stepped outside. "The Lady Dallon