ing followed, and they were, dived
approximately five minutes ago--unless somebody who might be your
wrathful rescuers approached her before that time, in which case she
dived then. In either case, the dive was seen by the Commissioner's
watchers; and the proper conclusions sooner or later will be drawn from
that."

"Supposing they dive after her and run her down?" Trigger said.

"They might! The Aurora is not an easy ship to run down in subspace; but
they might. After some hours. It would be of no consequence at all,
would it?" The amber eyes regarded Trigger with very little expression
for a moment. "How many hours or minutes do you think you could hold out
here, Trigger Argee, if it became necessary to put on real pressure?"

"I don't know," Trigger admitted. She moistened her lips.

"I could give you a rather close estimate, I think," the Ermetyne said.
"But forgive me for bringing up that matter. It was an unnecessary
discourtesy. Let's assume instead that the rather clever people with
whom you've been working are quite clever enough to see through all
these little maneuverings. Let's assume further that they are even able
to conclude immediately where you and I must be at the moment.

"We are, as it happens, on the Griffin, which is Belchik Pluly's outsize
yacht, and which is orbiting Manon at present. This room is on a sealed
level of the yacht, where Belchik's private life normally goes on
undisturbed. I persuaded him two days ago to clear out this section of
it for my own use. There is only one portal entry to the level, and that
entry is locked and heavily guarded at the moment. There are two portal
exits. One of them opens into a special lock in which there is a small
speedboat of mine, prepared to leave. It's a very fast boat. If there
have been faster ones built in the Hub, I haven't heard of them yet. And
it can dive directly from the lock."

She smiled at Trigger. "You have the picture now, haven't you? If your
friends decide to board the Griffin, they'll be able to do it without
too much argument. After all, we don't want to be blown up accidentally.
But they'll have quite a time working their way into this level. If a
boarding party is reported, we'll just all quietly go away together with
no fuss or hurry. I guarantee that no one is going to trace or overtake
that boat. You see?"

"Yes," Trigger said disconsolately, slumping back a little. Her right
hand dropped to her lap. Well, she thought, la