an communicating at once.
We had visiplates to show us what was going on.

"Right away, Nirzav of Shonna, one of the Statisticalist leaders who
was a personal friend of Lord Garnon's in spite of his politics,
renounced Statisticalism and went over to the Volitionalists, on the
strength of this communication. Prince Jirzyn, and Lord Girzon, the
new family-head of Roxor, decided that there would be trouble in the
next few days, so they advised the Lady Dallona to come to this
hunting lodge for safety. She and I came here in her airboat, directly
from the feast. A good thing we did, too; if we'd gone to her
apartment, we'd have walked in before that lethal gas had time to
clear.

"There are four Assassins of the family of Starpha, and six
menservants, and an upper-servant named Tarnod, the gamekeeper. The
Starpha Assassins and I have been keeping the rest under observation.
I left one of the Starpha Assassins guarding the Lady Dallona when I
came for you, under brotherly oath to protect her in my name till I
returned."

The airboat was skimming rapidly above the treetops, toward the
northern part of the city.

"What's known about that package bomb?" Verkan Vall asked. "Who sent
it?"

Dirzed shrugged. "The Statisticalists, of course. The wrapper was
stolen from the Reincarnation Research Institute; so was the case. The
Constabulary are working on it." Dirzed shrugged again.

The dome, about a hundred and fifty feet in width and some fifty in
height, stood among the trees ahead. It was almost invisible from any
distance; the concrete dome was of mottled green and gray concrete,
trees grew so close as to brush it with their branches, and the little
pavilion on the flattened top was roofed with translucent green
plastic. As the airboat came in, a couple of men in Assassins' garb
emerged from the pavilion to meet them.

"Marnik, stay at the controls," Verkan Vall directed. "I'll send
Olirzon up for you if I want you. If there's any trouble, take off for
Assassins' Hall and give the code word, then come back with twice as
many men as you think you'll need."

Dirzed raised his eyebrows over this. "I hadn't known the
Assassin-President had given you a code word, Lord Virzal," he
commented. "That doesn't happen very often."

"The Assassin-President has honored me with his friendship," Verkan
Vall replied noncommittally, as he, Dirzed and Olirzon climbed out of
the airboat. Marnik was holding it an unobtrusive inch or s