nds and his agility. He
slammed at the ensign's wrist and missed. The boy was swooping
underneath Mike's guard. Mike spun to one side to avoid Vaneski's dive
and came down with a balled fist aimed at the ensign's neck.

He almost hit Lieutenant Keku. The big Hawaiian had leaped to his feet
and landed a hard punch on Vaneski's nose. At the same time, Jeffers and
von Liegnitz had jumped up and grabbed at Vaneski, who was between them.

Black Bart had simply stood up fast, drawn his stun gun, and fired at
the young officer.

Ensign Vaneski collapsed on the table. He'd been slugged four times and
hit with a stun beam in the space of half a second. He looked, somehow,
very young and very boyish and very innocent.

Dr. Fitzhugh, who had stood up during the brief altercation, sat down
slowly and picked up his cup of coffee. But his eyes didn't leave the
unconscious man sprawled across the table. "How could you be so sure,
Commander? About his actions, I mean. About his childishness."

"A lot of things. The way he played poker. The way he played bridge. He
never took the unexpected into account."

"But why should he want to kill you here on the ship?" Fitzhugh asked.
"Why not wait until you got back to Earth, where he'd have a better
chance?"

"I think he was afraid I already knew who he was--or would find out very
quickly. Besides, he had already tried to kill me once, back on Earth."

Leda Crannon looked blank. "When was that, Mike?"

"In New York. Before I ever met him. I was responsible for the arrest of
a teen-age brother and sister named Larchmont. The detective in the case
told me that they had an older half brother--that their mother had been
married before. But he didn't mention the name, and I never thought to
ask him.

"Very shortly after the Larchmont kids were arrested, Vaneski and
another young punk climbed up into the tower of the cathedral across
from my office and launched a cyanide-filled explosive rocket into my
rooms. I was lucky to get away.

"The kid with Vaneski was shot by a police officer, but Vaneski got
away--after knifing a priest with a vibroblade.

"It must have given him a hell of a shock to report back to duty and
find that I was going to be one of his superior officers.

"As soon as I linked things up in my own mind, I checked with Captain
Quill. The boy's records show the names of his half-siblings. They also
show that he was on leave in New York just before being assigned to the