se? Here." She held her two precious Kalis in one arm while she tapped
the base of her skull. "In here is a bulb, the old brain, not even an
idiot's brain, that brought you up from the jungle. It is a simple,
worrying brain. Easily frightened. Easily convinced. It was convinced that
you were dead. We had to arouse it."

Odin fancied that he could hear the two Kalis purring contentedly like
cats. Well, they had done a good job. Let them purr. He would like to have
thanked them, but how can you thank two bowling balls with scalps of cat's
whisker wire?

* * * * *

Gunnar sat up and began grumbling anew: "Well, thanks. Now, get me some
clothes. Freida would not like it if I sat here half-undressed before a
young lady. And tell me where we are?"

It was Ato's turn to talk. "I threw The Nebula into the Fourth Drive some
time ago. That may have helped to save your lives too. We should check on
that, Nea."

"Will you please tell me where we are?" Gunnar demanded.

"Give me time, little man," Ato retorted. "We are back in Trans-Einsteinian
space, and Aldebaran and its worlds are far behind us. Ahead of us is Grim
Hagen and the Old Ship. Maya is with him. So are at least a hundred of the
white-skinned captains from the planet we just left. Also, a dozen Brons.
Maybe more, but not many. What we saw at the council that day when Rama
defied Grim Hagen was just a sample of what was to follow. The people were
bled white. Graft, corruption, and patronage had taken its toll. Some of
the Brons were older and wanted to rest. But injustice couldn't stop until
the last tear had washed away the last drop of blood. A few of the Brons
and most of the slaves revolted. They won, of course. Grim Hagen should
have known the result. He and his men were in flight when they found you
and took Maya. They gathered at the Old Ship and took off. Meanwhile, we
fought our way out of the city. We decided to have one last try for Maya.
But we found you two and a dead Bron and the head of a native. We brought
you here and took off. All this time I have had a fix on Hagen."

"Can't we overtake him?" Odin asked.

"We are trying to. He seems to be heading for a huge dust-cloud. He also
sent us a message. Some nonsense about having contacted some race at the
edge of creation who would go with him to plunder the stars. He demanded
the secret of Wolden's invention again. I think his mind is going fast."

"Not as fast as he w