e right and he had it. Thane let the anti-grav hover for a moment,
and then dropped silently downward. Branches of spruce brushed against
the plastic cabin as the anti-grav settled into the forest. It gently
settled on a thin layer of powder snow. There was nothing but the
silence of the forest, broken only by the thin sound of the wind in
the branches above.

He stepped out, breathing in the cold, crisp air. He started off
through the forest using the unfamiliar Terran compass. One hundred
twenty meters, azimuth 273 (difficult to maintain through the trees)
and he would come, according to his directions, to a tree a little
different from the rest. He continued, with the brittle snow tinkling
faintly under his feet.

Then a new sound. Once ... again ... then a repeated volley. Stoltz
guns. From the tone, hand size, tuned down below lethal potential, but
enough to stun and mutilate.

He was absolutely still for a moment. Then he began running towards
the sound, trying to minimize the noise of crunching snow under his
feet.

He swerved to pass a clump of trees and brush. As he did three things
happened. A small thrush started into the air off a branch, fluttered
a moment, then fell to the snow. A white-clad figure appeared ahead,
just at the next bend. And.... Thane wondered just what he was doing
here ... why wasn't he on Proxima? He remembered school there at
fun in elementary atomics....

Then his training took over, forcing his temporarily twisted brain to
perform rationally. As he dropped to the brittle snow and aimed his
own Stoltz, he automatically catalogued his confusion as the result of
an off-shot, a near miss. He hit the snow. The white figure was just
off his sights, but close enough. He pressed the impeller. That one
didn't miss, and it had been set on "lethal." He crept forward across
the ground. He was sure that his immediate opponent was through, but
there were others. The slithering Stoltz noises ahead increased in
volume.

He reached the white-cloaked figure. Onzarian. The eyes and mouth had
the idiot expression peculiar to a Stoltz corpse. Thane considered. He
was at a disadvantage against the snow in his blue civilian coveralls.
He quickly stripped the white cloak off the corpse and put it on as he
continued at a run.

He slowed as he approached a clearing. Not much of a clearing, not
large enough to be spotted from the air. Two figures in the Patrol
uniform were stretched out, motionless, a