him, too, and he remembered how good they were--and how frustrated Sean
got--with a child-warrior's hyperactivity. Other news was almost as
interesting to him, if less personal: the warrior Leslie had broken his
leg in war games with the Combat Division Marines stationed at Shangri-La
Base, and the clan had been asked to train more assault-lander
pilots.

The hour was all too short, but Nevan didn't let himself stretch his
visit beyond that point. He left the destroyer after a final promise
to Morna that he would get off the meds as soon as he could, then made
his way through even thicker crowds to his rented car.

He spent the drive back to his ship going over his options. Things
didn't look quite as unpromising as they had earlier, even though it
still seemed that he would have to go back to Terra for a fresh start.
This time, he reminded himself, at least the start wouldn't be from
zero; he had a name and a reputation to work with, and a few days to
dig out some background would give him more data.

He had resigned himself to starting over by the time he got back to the
spaceport. Not even the sight of half a decade secret police making no
secret of their surveillance of his ship disturbed him; he grinned at
them as he palmed open the outer hatch of his ship, giving Owajima
points for letting the locals handle the presumed assassin. He'd just
have to take more precautions the next time around-- Oh, gods, the
inner hatch was ajar, and he hadn't left it that way!

He barely had time to spot a stunner muzzle in the opening and start
reaching for his needler before his ambusher fired and he slumped to
the airlock deck.

* * * * *

Owajima was a little surprised at the ease of his success, though there
was no way even one as skilled as DarLeras was reputed to be could have
detected any sign of his entry. He went to the outer lock and signaled
his success to the watchers, then carried the Sandeman to his cabin and
secured him to the bunk. Then he went into the 'fresher, found
synthiskin release in the medikit, and used it on the Sandeman's face,
smiling as it peeled free to reveal the tattoo so familiar from news
shows. That was conclusive enough for Owajima; if, contrary to all
other evidence, DarLeras had gone renegade, he would have removed the
tattoo rather than simply covering it.

* * * * *

When Nevan woke, he was spread-eagled, tied to his bunk