ed you."

"They did; I had to crash-land in the woods. I went about a mile on
foot, and then I found a man and woman and two children, hiding in one
of these little log rain shelters. They had an airboat, a good one. It
seemed that rioting had broken out in the city unit where they lived,
and they'd taken to the woods till things quieted down again. I
offered them Assassins' protection if they'd take me to Assassins'
Hall, and they did."

"By luck, I was in when Marnik arrived," Klarnood took over. "We
brought three boatloads of men, and came here at once. Just as we got
here, two boatloads of Starpha dependents arrived; they tried to give
us an argument, and we discarnated the lot of them. Then we came down
here, crying Assassins' Truce. One of the Starpha Assassins, Kirzol,
was still carnate; he told us what had been going on." The
President-General's face-became grim. "You know, I take a rather poor
view of Prince Jirzyn's procedure in this matter, not to mention that
of his underlings. I'll have to speak to him about this. Now, how
about you and the Lady Dallona? What do you intend doing?"

"We're getting out of here," Verkan Vall said. "I'd like air transport
and protection as far as Ghamma, to the establishment of the family of
Zorda. Brarnend of Zorda has a private space yacht; he'll get us to
Venus."

Klarnood gave a sigh of obvious relief. "I'll have you and the Lady
Dallona airborne and off for Ghamma as soon as you wish," he promised.
"I will, frankly, be delighted to see the last of both of you. The
Lady Dallona has started a fire here at Darsh that won't burn out in a
half-century, and who knows what it may consume." He was interrupted
by a heaving shock that made the underground dome dwelling shake like
a light airboat in turbulence. Even eighty feet under the ground, they
could hear a continued crashing roar. It was an appreciable interval
before the sound and the shock ceased.

For an instant, there was silence, and then an excited bedlam of
shouting broke from the Assassins in the room: Klarnood's face was
frozen in horror.

"That was a fission bomb!" he exclaimed. "The first one that has been
exploded on this planet in hostility in a thousand years!" He turned
to Verkan Vall. "If you feel well enough to walk, Lord Virzal, come
with us. I must see what's happened."

They hurried from the room and went streaming up the ascent tube to
the top of the dome. About forty miles away, to the south, Ver