Hosato thought of his family’s generations-long record of successful missions, but kept his silence.

“Now, here’s where I take my hat off to you, Hosato.” Gedge smiled. “Ninety-nine out of a hundred space bums would have taken the money and run, but not you. You saw a way to squeeze a few more credits out of the situation. You reveal yourself to Mc. Crae, and offer to use your position with Ravensteel to get a spy through the door—not just a spy, but their own chief of security!”

Hosato forced a smile. “I suppose it doesn’t make an impression on anyone that she’s had her arm blown off.”

“That was a nice touch,” Gedge admitted. “It almost worked, until I reminded the board that Sasha would probably let you cut off both her legs to get an inside look at Ravensteel security.”

“I see,” Hosato said thoughtfully.

“So the only question left is, how much did they pay you, or, more important, how much will it cost to get you back on our side?”

Hosato met his eyes and smiled. For a brief moment anger flashed in Gedge’s ice-blue eyes; then it was gone.

“You’re a brassy bastard!” He laughed, shaking his head. “I think it’s safe to say the board will probably go along with it, especially since you brought them a present.”

“How’s that?”

“Sasha, of course.” Gedge winked again. “She was your ace in the hole all along. She has enough data on Mc. Crae security in her head to keep my team busy for a long time. I don’t know how you got her to go along with this, but bringing her with you gives you the leverage you need to change sides again. Sheer brilliance.”

Hosato shrugged modestly and stood up, extending his hand. “Well,” he said, “I tried. It’s good to be working for Ravensteel again.”

Gedge ignored his hand. “When will you be ready to start?” he asked. “As soon as we get the information out of Sasha, I assume.”

“Actually”—. Hosato smiled—. “I won’t have to wait that long. I’ve gotten most of the data I need. Just keep her here and away from Mc. Crae until I’m done. Incidentally”—he shot a glance around the room—“what did you do with the other two. The kid and the mechanic.”

“We’re holding them next door.” Gedge gestured at the door in the wall. “We weren’t sure if we should kick 'em off-planet or just kill them.”

“Keep 'em,” Hosato advised. “They’ll make good hostages.”

“Hey, that’s a good idea,” Gedge admitted. “Say, what is that thing, anyway?”

Hosato had started to pick up his gear from the desk.

“This?” he asked, holding up a six-inch metal rod with a sharp point.

“Yeah. Is it a poison injector or a climbing spike or what?”

Hosato smiled. “Actually, it’s much simpler than that,” he confided. “It works like this.”

As he spoke, he released the throwing spike with a sharp snap of his wrist. The spike darted across the room and embedded half its length in the forehead of the watching guard.

A surprised look spread across the guard’s face; then he crumpled to the floor.

Gedge blinked, then started to turn to Hosato.

An epee was in Hosato’s hand, and a gleam of light from the overhead lamp shone from its needle point, hovering inches from Gedge’s throat.

“Don’t even twitch, Gedge,” he said coldly. “There aren’t many reasons for keeping you alive, and lots for killing you. All I need is an excuse to change my mind.”

Gedge swallowed hard but kept his voice level. “What… What’s your game, Hosato?”

“That’s the problem,” Hosato retorted. “You’ve got it into your head I’m out to destroy Ravensteel. Well, that’s your prerogative. It’s mine not to go along with it.”

Gedge licked his lips nervously. “Okay, Hosato. Put the sword away and let’s talk it out.”

“No deal. Now we play it my way.” He edged over to the fallen guard and retrieved the blaster, shifting the sword to his left hand.

“How many guards on the two next door?” he demanded.

“Look, Hosato, we can—”

“How many?”

“Two.”

Hosato moved sideways until he stood against the wall beside the door into the adjoining room.

“If you’re lying, Gedge, you’ll be the first to go. Now, open the door and call to them.”

Gedge hesitated, then moved to the door and opened it.

“We’ve got a code Delta,” he announced casually.

In a flash Hosato was in the doorway, his blaster leveled at the occupants of the next room.

“Freeze!” he snarled.

The two guards, hands on the butts of their blasters, froze in place. Rick and James were seated on a sofa against the far wall, apparently unharmed. Hosato noted with satisfaction they had failed to relieve James of his dress sword—probably didn’t consider it a serious weapon.

“All right, toss your blasters into the corner,” he instructed the guards. “Easy!”

The guards obeyed with leaden slowness.

“Nice try, Gedge,” Hosato commented to his captive as the blasters thudded into the corner. “I don’t know what a code Delta is, but I had a hunch I wouldn’t like it. Okay, Rick, get their—”

Gedge kicked the door shut on his arm and rushed him.

Fighting the pain of his pinned arm, Hosato hammered at his assailant with the bell guard of his epee. Gedge was inside the length of the sword, negating the use of the point, and he clung to Hosato tenaciously for several precious seconds.

Finally Hosato slammed the heavy pommel against the larger man’s temple, and Gedge sagged, his grip loosening. With a heave Hosato shoved the man off him and wrenched the door open.

In the corner, Rick was wrestling with one of the guards, apparently for possession of one of the blasters. Before Hosato could call out, the mechanic found the proper leverage and jerked his opponent’s head around sharply. There was an audible crack, and the guard went limp.

The other guard was Hosato hesitated as he focused for the first time on the prostrate form on the floor by his feet. There was a pool of blood slowly spreading from the body.

James was standing shakily nearby, his bloody dress sword hanging limply in his hand.

Their eyes met.

“He… he was going to…”

“It’s all right now, James,” Hosato said quietly.

“I… killed him.”

“You sure did, kid,” Rick interrupted. “Saved your hide, too, Hosato. What do we do now?”

Hosato felt a quick surge of anger at Rick’s callousness; then it subsided. Rick was right. This was a time for action.

“Are you all right, James?” he asked brusquely, taking the boy by the shoulder.

The youth blinked vacantly, then nodded his head in stubborn assent.

“Rick, get their blasters.”

Without waiting for the mechanic’s reply, Hosato turned and strode into Gedge’s office once more. The security chief was conscious but out of action. He was hunched over on his hands and knees, holding his head and moaning softly. Hosato ignored him and moved to the desk, arming himself from his own arsenal, which Gedge had so conveniently laid out for him.

As he had noted earlier, his blasters were gone. Well, no matter. They’d gotten new ones from the guards. Throwing spikes in his belt, knife in his boot One by one he secured the deadly tools of his trade at various points on his body. Items such as clothing, he ignored. This was a combat mission.

“I’ve got the blasters, Hosato,” Rick said, joining him. “Now what?”

Hosato gestured at Gedge’s huddled form. “Ask our friend there where they took Sasha.”

Rick frowned. “I don’t think hell tell me.”

“They’ve taken her off to interrogate her,” Hosato informed him. “Thinking about that might help you find the right way to ask him.”

“Right!” Rick said, his face hardening.

Hosato felt a twinge of guilt as he turned his back on the inevitable scene in the corner. He shouldn’t delegate such a task to someone else, but forcing information out of people, especially injured people, had never been his forte. Still, he winced at Gedge’s first gasp of pain.