e was about to step around the cabinet which partially blocked the
gun-room door when he glanced up, and saw a six-foot circle on the
ceiling turning slowly brown. There was a smell of scorched plastic.
He grabbed Sarnax by the arm and pointed.

"Thermite," the Assassin whispered. "The ceiling's got six inches of
spaceship-insulation between it and the floor above; it'll take them a
few minutes to burn through it." He stooped and pushed on the
barricade, shoving it into the room. "Keep back; they'll probably drop
a grenade or so through, first, before they jump down. If we're quick,
we can get a couple of them."

Dirzed and Sarnax crouched, one at either side of the door, with
weapons ready. Verkan Vall and Dalla had been ordered, rather
peremptorily, to stay behind them; in a place of danger, an Assassin
was obliged to shield his client. Verkan Vall, unable to see what was
going on inside the room, kept his eyes and his gun muzzle on the
barricade across the openings to the lifter tubes, the erection of
which he was now regretting as a major tactical error.

Inside the gun room, there was a sudden crash, as the circle of
thermite burned through and a section of ceiling dropped out and hit
the floor. Instantly, Dirzed flung himself back against Verkan Vall,
and there was a tremendous explosion inside, followed by another and
another. A second or so passed, then Dirzed, leaning around the corner
of the door, began firing rapidly into the room. From the other side
of the door, Sarnax began blazing away with his rifle. Verkan Vall
kept his position, covering the lifter tubes.

Suddenly, from behind the barricade, a blue-white gun flash leaped
into being, and a pistol banged. He sprayed the opening between a
couch and a section of bookcase from whence it had come, releasing his
trigger as the gun rose with the recoil, squeezing and releasing and
squeezing again. Then he jumped to his feet.

"Come on, the other place; hurry!" he ordered.

Sarnax swore in exasperation. "Help me with her, Dirzed!" he implored.

Verkan Vall turned his head, to see the two Assassins drag Dalla to
her feet and hustle her away from the gun room; she was quite
senseless, and they had to drag her between them. Verkan Vall gave a
quick glance into the gun room; two of the Starpha servants and a man
in rather flashy civil dress were lying on the floor, where they had
been shot as they had jumped down from above. He saw a movement at the
edge o