e of the men have gone back
up there to look for him. If Cooms thought he was important enough to
start a fight over, I want him back."

"How about the crew on the Beldon ship?" Quillan asked, "Have they
been cleaned up?"

"No," Ryter said. "We'll have to do that now, of course."

"How many of them?"

"Supposedly twelve. And that's probably what it is."

"If they know or suspect what's happened," Quillan said, "twelve men
can give a boarding party in a lock a remarkable amount of trouble."

Ryter shrugged irritably. "I know, but there isn't much choice.
Lancion's bringing in the other group on the _Camelot_. We don't want
to have to handle both of them at the same time."

"How are you planning to take the freighter?"

"When the search party comes back down, we'll put every man we can
spare from guard duty here on the job. They'll be instructed to be
careful about it ... if they can wind up the matter within the next
several hours, that will be early enough. We can't afford too many
additional losses now. But we should come out with enough men to take
care of Lancion and handle the shipment of Hlats. And that's what
counts."

"Like me to take charge of the boarding party?" Quillan inquired.
"That sort of thing's been a kind of specialty of mine."

Ryter looked at him without much expression on his face. "I understand
that," he said. "But perhaps it would be better if you stayed up here
with us."

* * * * *

The search party came back down ten minutes later. They'd looked
through every corner of the fourth level. Kinmarten wasn't there,
either dead or alive. But one observant member of the group had
discovered, first, that the Duke of Fluel was also not among those
present, and, next that one of the four outportals on the level had
been unsealed. The exit on which the portal was found to be set was in
a currently unused hall in the General Office building on the other
side of the Star. From that hall, almost every other section of the
Star was within convenient portal range.

None of the forty-odd people working in the main control office on the
ground level had actually witnessed any shooting; but it was apparent
that a number of them were uncomfortably aware that something quite
extraordinary must be going on. They were a well-disciplined group,
however. An occasional uneasy glance toward one of the armed men
lounging along the walls, some anxious faces, were the only noti