s poor
relations, named Girzad. There are three other men, Volitionalist
precinct workers, who came with Girzad, and four Assassins, the three
who were here, and one who came with Girzad. Eleven, against the three
of us."

"The four of us, Sarnax," Dalla corrected. She had buckled on a
hunting pistol, and had a light deer rifle under her arm.

Something moved at the bottom of the descent tube. Verkan Vall gave it
a short burst, though it was probably only a dummy, dropped to draw
fire.

"The four of us, Lady Dallona," Sarnax agreed. "As to your other
Assassin, the one who stayed in the airboat, I don't know how he
fared. You see, about twenty minutes ago, this Girzad arrived in an
airboat, with an Assassin and these three Volitionalist workers.
Erarno and I were at the top of the dome when he came in. He told us
that he had orders from Prince Jirzyn to discarnate the Lady Dallona
and Dirzed at once. Tarnod, the gamekeeper"--Sarnax spat ceremoniously
against the door again--"told him you were here, and that Marnik was
one of your men. He was going to shoot Marnik at once, but Erarno and
I and his Assassin stopped him. We warned Marnik about the change in
the situation, according to the code, expecting Marnik to go down here
and join you. Instead, he lifted the airboat, zoomed over Girzad's
boat, and let go a rocket blast, setting Girzad's boat on fire. Well,
that was a hostile act, so we all fired after him. We must have hit
something, because the boat went down, trailing smoke, about ten miles
away. Girzad got another airboat out of the hangar and he and his
Assassin started after your man. About that time, your Assassin,
Olirzon--happy reincarnation to him--came up, and the Starpha servants
fired at him, and he fired back and discarnated two of them, and then
jumped down the descent tube. One of the servants jumped after him; I
found his body at the bottom when I came down to warn you formally.
You know what happened after that."

"But why did Prince Jirzyn order our discarnation?" Dalla wanted to
know. "Was it to blame the Statisticalists with it?"

Sarnax, about to answer, broke off suddenly and began firing at the
opening of the ascent tube with a hunting pistol.

"I got him," he said, in a pleased tone. "That was Erarno; he was
always playing tricks with the tubes, climbing down against negative
gravity and up against positive gravity. His body will float up to the
top--Why, Lady Dallona, that was only part