ains.

"Quite a blast," he said. "Look, Don, are you sure anything's coming to
back us up? A couple more of these and we'll be standing in an open
field."

Michaels reached up to stroke his face. "Right now, I'm not too sure
about anything," he admitted. "Except that next time they try to comb
us over, they'll take a few less chances." He frowned.

"Mr. Masterson was pretty certain about things, but----"

He spun around and walked toward the flier port.

"You know, I think we'd better play it safe," he went on. "Right now,
we've got clear air. That explosion put everything around here on the
ground, but hard. But that won't last. Stern's people will be flocking
around here in a few minutes to see what went on. We better not be
around when they arrive. Go get your father."

He pulled the flier door open.

"I'll have this thing warmed and ready to flit by the time you get back
up here. Make it fast, will you?"

Pete had already dived down an escape slot. As Don started through his
pre-flight routine, he reappeared. Jasu Waern followed him.

"What happened?" The older man looked around the littered courtyard,
then at the flier which Don had pushed out of its cover. His eyes
widened.

"But I thought they would use an inductor."

"They tried," Don told him. "Come on. Get in." He looked anxiously at
his instrument panel.

"Little risky," he muttered, "taking off so fast. Synchs and generators
haven't had time to stabilize. But it beats letting them get in range
for some more target practice."

He eased a lever toward him and watched the pointers on a dial as the
flier lifted. The red needle started to oscillate and he reached
quickly to adjust a knob. The oscillation stopped. He looked overside.

"Hm-m-m," he said, "so far, so good. Well, let's have at it."

He reached out and pulled a handle toward him, watching the needles.
They remained steady and he nodded and pulled another control toward
him, then gripped the control wheel.

The flier leaped into the air and surged toward the mountains.

Don sighed and made a minute adjustment on the synchro knob.

"Well, we haven't flipped yet," he said. "We'll stay on deck all the
way. Not such a good target that way. Take a look back there, Pete. See
anything in the air to the east?"

"Yeah." Pete had been looking back. "There's plenty back there. And
they're in a hurry."

Don jerked his head around, then glanced at the mountains before them.

"So are we. T