d keeps complete records of every trick, device,
and escape ever used. It's part of our business."

"That's very interesting," Barrent said. He knew that Rend had seen
through his disguise. Tem was being a good neighbor--though a bad
assassin.

"Of course," Rend said, "it isn't easy to get out of the city. And once
a man's out, that doesn't mean he's clear. There are Hunter patrols to
watch out for, and even worse than that--"

Rend stopped abruptly. A group of Hunters were coming toward them. Rend
nodded pleasantly and walked off.

After the Hunters had passed, Barrent got up and started walking. Rend
had given him good advice. Of course some men would escape from the
city. Life in Omega's barren mountains would be extremely difficult; but
any difficulty was better than death.

If he were able to get by the city gate, he would have to watch for the
hunting patrols. And Tem had mentioned something worse. Barrent
wondered what that was. Special mountain-trained Hunters, perhaps?
Omega's unstable climate? Deadly flora and fauna? He wished Rend had
been able to finish the sentence.

By nightfall he had reached the South Gate. Bent painfully over, he
hobbled toward the guard detachment that blocked his way out.

Chapter Seventeen

There was no trouble with the guards. Whole families of mutants were
streaming out of the city, seeking the protection of the mountains until
the frenzy of the Hunt was over. Barrent attached himself to one of
these groups, and soon he found himself a mile past Tetrahyde, in the
low foothills that curled in a semicircle around the city.

The mutants stopped here and made their camp. Barrent went on, and by
midnight he was starting up the rocky, windswept slope of one of the
higher mountains. He was hungry, but the cool, clear air was
exhilarating. He began to believe that he really would live through the
Hunt.

He heard a noisy group of Hunters making a sweep around the mountain. He
avoided them easily in the darkness, and continued climbing. Soon there
was no sound except the steady rush of wind across the cliffs. It was
perhaps two in the morning; only three more hours until dawn.

In the small hours of the morning it began to rain, lightly at first,
then in a cold torrent. This was predictable weather for Omega.
Predictable also were the towering thunderheads that formed over the
mountains, the rolling thunder, and the vivid yellow flashes of
lightning. Barrent found shelt