ammunition, and a spare needlebeam into a small
knapsack. Then he waited, hoping against all reason that Moera and her
organization would bring him a last-minute reprieve.

But no reprieve came. An hour before dawn, Barrent shouldered his
knapsack and left the Antidote Shop. He had no idea what the other
Hunteds were doing; but he had already decided on a place that might be
secure from the Hunters.

Chapter Sixteen

Authorities on Omega agree that a Hunted man experiences a change of
character. If he were able to look upon the Hunt as an abstract problem,
he might arrive at certain more or less valid conclusions. But the
typical Hunted, no matter how great his intelligence, cannot divorce
emotion from reasoning. After all, _he_ is being hunted. He becomes
panic-stricken. Safety seems to lie in distance and depth. He goes as
far from home as possible; he goes deep into the ground along the
subterranean maze of sewers and conduits. He chooses darkness instead of
light, empty places in preference to crowded ones.

This behavior is well known to experienced Hunters. Quite naturally,
they look first in the dark, empty places, in the underground
passageways, in deserted stores and buildings. Here they find and flush
the Hunted with inexorable precision.

Barrent had thought about this. He had discarded his first instinct,
which was to hide in the intricate Tetrahyde cloaca. Instead, an hour
before dawn, he went directly to the large, brightly lighted building
that housed the Ministry of Games.

When the corridors seemed to be deserted, he entered quickly, read the
directory, and climbed the stairs to the third floor. He passed a dozen
office doors, and finally stopped at the one marked NORINS JAY,
SUB-MINISTER OF GAMES. He listened for a moment, then opened the door
and stepped in.

There was nothing wrong with old Jay's reflexes. Before Barrent was
through the doorway, the old man had spotted the crimson hunt-marks on
his face. Jay opened a drawer and reached into it.

Barrent had no desire to kill the old man. He flung the government-issue
needlebeam at Jay, and caught him full on the forehead. Jay staggered
back against the wall, then collapsed to the floor.

Bending over him, Barrent found that his pulse was strong. He bound and
gagged the sub-minister, and pushed him out of sight under his desk.
Hunting through the drawers, he found a CONFERENCE: DO NOT DISTURB sign.
He hung this outside the door, and