ickly turned his attention to
the control banks. He jacked out the auto control and took over
manually. And within seconds the pursuit was hovering over the great
whale-like back of the Thrayxite craft, and then was drawn slowly to
it as its powerful magnetics reached out, ensnared it. Then Cain cut
the pursuit's drive, and they both waited.

The airlock opened, and the two women stepped through. There were
weapons in their hands.

"I want to see your commander," Cain barked.

"I am the commander of this complement," the taller of the two said in
an almost unaccented English. "You will consider yourselves my
captives. Daleb...."

"What? Not all _women_." There was a curious look on Cain's face;
thoughts were racing behind the thin blades of his eyes.

"You are prisoners of the matriarchy of Thrayx," the officer called
Daleb said. "If you do not resist, you shall be unharmed."

"All right, come off that alien-meets-alien stuff," Cain said as
though the two briefly-uniformed women before him held toys rather
than weapons in their hands. "I didn't just tag after you at a billion
times the speed of light to get thrown into one of your dungeons! I've
got some information I think you can use. And--" and the curious look
was again on his face, "--there are some--shall we say--services, I
think I can profitably perform for you."

"Profitably, Earthman? Profitable to whom?"

"To both of us. To me--that's why I'm here--and to you."

Judith's face was white. Perhaps this was some clever trick of Cain's.
She could have been wrong.

"Tell me this information you have, Earthman."

"Let's dicker about price, first, Goldylocks!" He stood there,
confident, defiant, great muscles bunched beneath the fabric of his
tunic.

"You, Earthman, are hardly in bargaining position!" Only the woman's
mouth moved; her eyes bored straight into Cain's like fine diamond
drills.

"Chuck me," Cain said with a grin, "and you chuck the best chance
you've ever had to take your Ihelian friends to the cleaners. What
information I have concerning Ihelian plans is one thing." Judith
caught her breath. She knew Cain was lying now. Even Lance had learned
little of the Ihelian strategy, above Kriijorl's attempt to enlist
Earthwomen for Ihelian breeding colonies. It was all, she realized
suddenly, a colossal bluff, from which Cain planned to play his cards
as he went along! And now he had found a wedge of some sort, some new
bargaining point. There