"Then what do you propose?"

"Let him get beyond the interference, or get rid of it first. And please keep in mind that you can't kill Jorran, much as you might be currently relishing the thought, or we lose the leverage for a recall on all of the rods. So the original plan still holds: disable his shield so I can Transfer him to the ship, but do it in the least crowded place so you won't be jumped by locals who think you're accosting an innocent party. The advantage is still ours, since he still doesn't suspect that we're here. Ah, that's better." A sigh filled with relief, and minus any static.

"What?"

"Corth II has arrived and turned off the interference, though not very diplomatically," Martha complained. "I'll have to talk to him about threatening to break people who don't want to cooperate with him, and leaving stunned bodies all over the place. We're going to have to wrap this up, kiddo. We've got about an hour before those stuns wear off and all hell breaks loose around here."

Dalden grinned. "I will have to thank him for releasing me from your restraints."

"If I don't fry his circuits first," Martha mumbled. "But all systems are back in full operation-on our end. And those cameramen coming into the building haven't realized yet that they've been disconnected from making a live broadcast. So it was the media transmission equipment causing-Jorran is coming out. Show time."

"Show time?"

"Time for you to do your thing, warrior."

Quite a few people were coming out of the mayor's reception room. Dalden saw none of them until he saw Brittany and that she was all right. Jorran followed her. He looked harmless wearing local clothes, rather than his royal garb, but Dalden knew just how dangerous he could be, especially if he had a razor sword tucked into the pocket of his suit. Would he feel the need for a weapon here, or assume that the Altering Rod was all the weapon he needed?

At least a dozen people had come out, including the mayor. "How many are Jorran's people?" Dalden asked.

"Three of them," Martha replied. "The others with them are on the mayor's staff, though probables say they've all been altered. Your main concern will be avoiding any rods pointed your way."

"I will have you to counter any suggestions that halt me, as Brock did for us on Sunder when we were told to forget my sister."

"That will work, but it requires time for the correcting speech to be said, time in which weapons can be used against you. Avoid the damn rods!"

"This might help," Corth II said as he sauntered up to join them. "The emergency essentials Martha called for, just in case the interference didn't get turned off. Not exactly needed now-except for the confidence gained in having the right equipment at hand.

The right equipment in this case was Dalden's own sword and his intricately carved arm shields. Martha was mumbling about creating spectacles, but Dalden had gone into ignore-Martha mode as he stripped off his shirt and strapped on the Toreno steel arm shields that wrapped about his forearms from elbow to wrist. They were his only protection, but then not much more was needed with a four-foot sword in hand. Droda, it felt good clasping his fingers around that hilt again.

"I owe you," Dalden told the android.

"Yes, you do, big-time." Corth II grinned at him. "Just keep that in mind the next time I flirt with your beautiful lifemate."

That got him a scowl, but Martha wasn't done, and suggested in reasonable tones, "You could at least make an effort to conceal that ridiculously long instrument of death until you get close enough to Jorran to use it."

"Martha is too cautious where her owner's children are concerned," Corth II pointed out, more as a reminder for Martha, since Dalden already knew it from firsthand experience. "She cannot be faulted for that. It is against her basic programming to allow anything to cause Tedra distress if she can prevent it. But now that the target has been located, there is no reason not to capture him with no holds barred. I'll keep others from interfering."

"No more stunning unless absolutely necessary," Martha warned Corth II.

He just grinned cheekily and replied, "I have the third confiscated rod."

"Then why didn't you use it on those broadcast people outside?"

"Because we needed a guaranteed time frame, which the stunning has given us. Rod suggestions could have been countered, the machines fixed that I disabled, the interference turned on again-"

"All right already, I get the farden point. Let's wrap this up, children.

« ^ »

BRITTANY WAS NERVOUS AS ALL HELL, AND BEING AFRAID that it was obvious only increased it. She'd worn a pullover sweater today with her jeans, so she could conceal the Altering Rod up her sleeve for easy access. Since City Hall was air-conditioned, she'd figured she'd be okay in the thick winter sweater and had been comfortable-until she came face-to-face with Jorran. She was sweating now.

How did she get herself into this mess? This was no longer just helping a man she'd flipped over locate a wacko foreign thief. That had seemed easy, something anyone could have done, adventurous even. These people were dangerous. She had little doubt that the fat man's "dispose of" was of the permanent sort. This was a play for power, serious power. With that kind of stake involved, they wouldn't care who got hurt-or died-in the process.

And where the hell was Dalden? One of the newspeople had told the mayor they were having camera trouble, that someone had pulled the plug on their connection, so it would be a few more minutes before they were ready for his speech. That speech was going to turn this town upside down if Dalden didn't do something before Sullivan had a chance to speak.

Or if she didn't.

What would be the chance of her using the rod she had up her sleeve on Jorran before one of his two bruiser bodyguards put her out of commission? She wouldn't have to say much, just tell him to call this off, well, maybe also mention that he didn't want to be mayor-or president, maybe even suggest that he should go home.

She was standing close enough to him to do it. He'd moved in front of her, was so close that the few extra inches he had on her was blocking a good portion of the room from her view. But then the rotund fellow named Alrid was standing just as close to her at her back…

God, should she take the chance, or wait and see if Dalden was in the crowd gathering behind the camerapeople? She peered over Jorran's shoulder to get a better view of the room, hoping to spot the big guy, and caught her breath when she did. He was there and marching purposely toward the gathering in front of the mayor's offices. But half naked and with a sword in his hand? A sword, for crying out loud?

Jorran had seen him, too. Jorran was smiling, not at all confused by what he was seeing the way she was. They knew each other. That was apparent. Perhaps Jorran hadn't noticed the sword yet.

He turned to tell his men, "A Sha-Ka'ani warrior among us, how interesting. Do not interfere. This is going to be my pleasure."

"Jorran, if there is one, there will be more." There was distinct worry in Alrid's voice, in his expression as well. "We should-"

"Enjoy the diversion," Jorran cut in. "They are men, subject to the rods just like any other, and will make excellent bodyguards for me after my empire is established. But this one's family thwarted my plans. This one dies. The rest that we find, we will tame."

Such confidence went beyond mere bravery, it was certain knowledge of having a huge advantage. Brittany couldn't see what that advantage might be. Jorran lacked the muscle, the height, the brawn to compete with someone of Dalden's immense stature physically in close combat, which the sword Dalden held seemed to suggest he had in mind to do. How, then, did Jorran think to win without a gun or other long-distance-type weapon that could stop him before he was within arms' reach? And he had no weapon of that sort…