“Odd,” commented Kalinda, “that you don’t try to come and take it back yourself.” She idly whipped the blade through the air.

“Odd to you. Not to me. But then ... we have been known to move in mysterious ways.”

And with that comment, Anubis turned his back to them and walked away as if they were no longer of any interest to him. Si Cwan watched him go. He did not move like anything remotely human. Indeed, it almost seemed as if he had no mass whatsoever. For an instant, Si Cwan wondered if perhaps Anubis wasn’t there at all. Perhaps he was a hologram of some sort. But he quickly discarded the notion. Si Cwan had spent a good deal of time on the holodeck of the Excalibur,running through various combat scenarios. And no matter how realistic his opponents had seemed, his senses were never deceived. He was able to discern between that which was living and that which was manufactured. If nothing else, they tended to move with machinelike perfection. No matter how sophisticated the computer program, there were still limits as to what it was able to replicate in terms of movement.

Anubis, no matter how bizarre his appearance, was definitely living. A living what, Si Cwan could not begin to say.

The Thallonians were escorted to the landing port by a stonily silent group of senators. Lodec was still waggling his fingers, obviously to make certain that they were fully functional. Every so often he would toss an angry glance in Si Cwan’s direction. Cwan resisted the temptation to put his fist through Lodec’s face ... particularly considering that it wasn’t long before that Lodec had been lifting him off his feet as if he were a child. Truth to tell, he wasn’t all that anxious to have another run at Lodec; not until he had a clearer idea of just what had happened and how it had come to pass. His only priority at that moment was getting Kalinda out of there.

There were several vessels sitting in the port, and Lodec made a sweeping gesture. “Choose one,” he said, his voice even. “If I select one, you may suspect some sort of treachery.”

“Don’t concern yourself about that, Lodec,” replied Si Cwan. “At this point, no matter what you say or do, I will suspect treachery ... very likely because you are, in fact, a traitor.”

“Why? Because circumstances caused me to break my word to you?” He made a scoffing noise. “A traitor is someone who acts contrary to the best interests of his own people. You are simply put out because I acted contrary to yourbest interests. That does not concern me in the least.”

“Concern yourself over this, then, if you wish.” He leaned in toward Lodec, keeping a firm grip on the stone sword. “This is not over.”

“I hope not,” replied Lodec with a very unpleasant smile. “I would dearly love to have a rematch with you, Si Cwan ... preferably without your little sister to step in and save you.”

Reflexively Si Cwan started to take a step forward, but Kalinda put a firm hand on his arm that stopped him. He forced a nod in acknowledging that departure would serve them far better than continued conflict. He chose a runabout at random and then had Lodec start it up. The reason for his caution was obvious: Lodec might have some sort of fail-safe built in that would cause the thing to blow to bits if anyone other than Lodec endeavored to depart with it.

Lodec then stepped out of the runabout, but turned and called, “Lord Cwan! I believe you have something that the great Anubis requested be returned to him.”

“Oh yes. So he did.” Standing in the entrance to the runabout, Si Cwan extended a hand to Kalinda. She hesitated briefly, but then handed the scythe over to her brother. He held it a moment, feeling the heft and balance. “An impressive implement,” he said ... and then with a quick, smooth motion he sent it hurtling at Lodec.

The Danteri senator let out a shriek but was rooted to the spot as the blade whipped through the air at an angle. It landed exactly where Si Cwan intended it to, thudding into the ground directly between Lodec’s legs. Lodec looked down at the still quivering handle, the blade buried in the ground.

Si Cwan grinned broadly, and then turned and saw the disapproving scowl on Kalinda’s face. Without a word he pushed the button that caused the door to iris closed. “That was unnecessary,” she said as Si Cwan went straight over to the guidance consoles.

“I found it to be very necessary.”

The runabout lifted off and seconds later the small craft was angling skyward. Si Cwan was watching the sensor readouts carefully, concerned that Danteri vessels would be launched in pursuit with the intention of blowing them out of the sky. Kalinda obviously shared the concerns as she asked, “Are we being followed?”

“Not so far,” said Cwan. He shook his head. “This is going to be embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing?” Kalinda said in bewilderment. “How would it be ... ?” And then she realized and, despite the seriousness of their situation, she couldn’t help but smile. “Ahhh ... Captain Shelby.”

He nodded. “She’s going to laugh in my face. She tried to warn me. She cautioned me against accepting the Danteri offer. It was my own ego running rampant.”

“She said that?”

“No, I said that. That is, I say that.”

“Oh, Cwan.” She went over to him and rested a hand on his shoulder. “You did what you thought was right. All the reasons you gave her were good ones. We are who we are. We are Thallonians, the last members of our line. All during our time on the Excalibur,you’ve put yourself forward as ‘Ambassador,’ but really, that’s just been a polite fiction. The truth is, you haven’t been representing anyone or anything except yourself and your own interests. The Danteri offer was simply too good to pass up.”

Slowly he nodded. “And would you mind saying all that to Captain Shelby?”

“Out of the question. She’d laugh in my face.”

The response prompted a genuine chuckle from Si Cwan, but it died in his throat as the warning lights suddenly snapped on and a shrill alarm sounded within the runabout.

“We have a problem,” grated Si Cwan.

“What is it?!”Even as she asked, Kalinda was clambering into a seat and strapping herself in. But the response was forthcoming before Si Cwan could respond as the runabout shuddered violently. “Did we hit something?”

“No, something hit us,” he shot back. “Their ground cannons, most likely. We’ve been targeted. Apparently Lodec desired to give us a parting gift.”

“I don’t think Anubis is going to like that.”

The runabout trembled once more under another violent impact. “His likes and dislikes will be somewhat moot if we’re smashed to bits.”

“Does this vessel have shields?”

“The standard astro-nav shields to deflect debris and particles. Nothing meant to withstand the direct pounding of surface-to-air weaponry.” His fingers flew over the controls and the runabout banked sharply.

“What are you doing?!”

“If we can’t survive direct hits, then the best thing to do is be where they’re not shooting until we’re out of range.”

Under Si Cwan’s deft handling, the runabout darted to the right and left. Ground blasts erupted in the air around it, the shock waves battering the ship mercilessly even when the cannons missed. The higher into the atmosphere they went, the thinner the air became and the less of a problem the near-hits were. But Si Cwan wasn’t thrilled with the way the runabout was maneuvering. He suspected that some of the guidance systems had been damaged by the assault. He didn’t tell Kalinda that, however, seeing no point in worrying her.

Reaching escape velocity, they pulled free of the gravity of Danter, and Si Cwan and Kalinda shot each other a look of relief just before one final, stray shot slammed into them squarely, sending all their nav systems completely off line and the runabout whirling helplessly into the depths of space.