Edu looked away. "It doesn't matter. We will have many, many more pleasurable encounters-pleasurable for me, at any rate. As my consort, you can help me persuade our people that my plan is in the best interests of this world - and of the universe. You will be the woman with whom I start an empire. Other lesser females 'will be good enough for my dynasty building."

He had begun loosening his clothing and hers. Regrettably,

there was plenty of room in the flitter for what he had in mind. Macostut didn't seem to mind or even notice. He sat looking out into the desert, waiting to see if anything else of interest would happen in the patch where Becker's flitter had landed.

The light inside the Federation flitter was quite dim by now - probably Edu considered it romantic. That would make sense, given his limited understanding of such things. Outside the hatch, the desert landscape no longer seemed peaceful. It looked like a storm might be blowing up out there. The flitter rocked slightly.

Nadhari was glad Acorna was the one who read minds, not Edu. He didn't know about the mind reading or about Acorna's other special powers. Those powers would have to be considered if he was to have any hope of carrying out his plans. Nor did he know about Tagoth yet. At least Tagoth was safe with her friends, as she knew from Acorna's message.

Becker, Acorna, and her Makahomian friends were all in the flitter heading on the correct course for the stronghold of the sacred lake. They would alert the Aridimi to the dangers Edu posed to them all. Nadhari would elaborate on his schemes in another message to Acorna as soon as Acorna contacted her again. Meanwhile, all she had to do was distract Edu by feeding into his schemes until the others were safely away. Perhaps, if she could just get free, she could wrest control of the ship away from him and Macostut.

"Edu?" she asked as he bent toward her.

"Yes?" His voice was gloating and bubbling with too much saliva. He liked having his prey under his control, though he enjoyed a bit of a struggle in the process. That would be the catty side of him, she supposed. Perhaps he couldn't help it.

"Did you ever think there might be a better way to accomplish these things you want?"

"Accomplish what things?"

"Your goals. You're a very talented, and some might say you

are an attractive man, quite aside from your political power. Did it ever occur to you to ask a girl to dinner and a vid - oh, wait, they aren't available here-or just to watch a sunset, and then romancing her into bed with you, instead of beating the s.h.i.t out of her and raping her? Did you ever think of how much easier that might be for you?" She could see the shock in his face. She just knew he was going to say he didn't see where he'd find the fun in that.

She hurried on. "Or, how about the changes you want to make on the planet? Maybe everybody else here is sick of war and farming, too. If you formed an alliance with the priests and then persuaded the people that the stones were our divine gift to help us move into a more technological economy, you'd still end up ruling the planet, and you wouldn't have to kill everything in sight to do it. I know you hate the cats, but you don't need to worship them. You could just let them go be cats, and live with people who do like them."

Edu smiled with all of his teeth. He leaned over and bit her hard on the neck. As the pain of his attack shot through her, he reached out, took out a small key, and released some of the restraints that held her captive. After he freed her right hand, he refastened her left hand to the bindings strapped to her heel, then hid the key again.

"Make me," he challenged.

She sighed. The Linyaari would have to give her credit. She had just tried reason and persuasion, though of course she had known it was futile. Now it was time to revert to the more primitive things Edu had taught her.

Nadhari was skewed sideways against Edu. He leaned in to rip her uniform shirt from her skin.

She shrank away as if frightened, which excited him so much that he stopped for a moment, backing away a fraction to enjoy the full expression of her fear. So predictable... She flung her whole body forward and slammed the bridge of his nose with her

head. He recoiled in surprise and pain, and the air rushed out of his lungs. He landed hard against Macostut.

The flitter lurched and jerked, but not just because of Macostut. A great wall of sand struck them suddenly, the force of it knocking the flitter this way and that until it flipped the vessel over and drove it down toward the desert floor.

Nadhari laughed out loud, feeling as if she had been given a gift-She threw herself b.u.t.t-first on top of Edu's chest and took the key to her restraints from the pocket where she'd seen him deposit it. She twisted and kicked Macostut in the head with her boots, then bounced on Edu's chest again, just in case he'd managed to take in some more air. That gave her time to free her other hand and legs.

Straddling the two men in a way that Edu could hardly find pleasurable, she took over the controls from the unconscious Macostut. She ignored Edu's pained gasps and managed to steer the flitter to a stop just before the wind and sand smashed it nose-first into the desert.

Instead of crashing and breaking up into pieces, the craft sc.r.a.ped to a harmless halt on its side within the wall of sand.

Nadhari had no time to congratulate herself on this, however. Edu grabbed Macostut's weapon from the unconscious man's belt.

Bracing her feet against the top of the hatch, Nadhari dug her thumbs into Edu's eye sockets. The hand with the weapon jerked to his face to try to protect his eyes while his other hand flailed and then connected with the hatch control. The hatch sprang open and all the air was immediately sucked out of the flitter into the storm, along with Nadhari, who found that it was possible to fly and be flayed alive at the same time.

Nineteen.

The elder priest and all of his retinue led Acorna and hers into the Temple. RK prowled around, working the crowd of Temple cats, no doubt looking for one that was the equal of Haruna. The Hissimi cats, with the exception of the kittens cradled in their basket next to Miw-Sher's chest, occupied the shoulders and arms of the other travelers.

The Temple was extremely spartan, even on the levels where the high priests lived. The most luxurious items in the rooms were the quilted pads along the walls where the Temple guardians could stretch out and knead their claws if they wished.

But just as Acorna thought the priests were taking her deeper into the Temple, suddenly they were on the other side of it, facing a long, broad lake that looked extremely deep. The lake's narrow sh.o.r.es ab.u.t.ted the steep cliffs of a canyon whose sheltering sides admitted only a slice of night large enough to allow the cat's eye moons to shine down upon the lake and be reflected by it.

The near sh.o.r.es of the lake and the walls of the Temple gleamed with stones that mirrored both the moons and their reflections on the sacred lake. Further down the lake's length, shadowy foliage huddled in the shelter of the cliffs.

The mystical beauty of this place was overwhelming. It captivated them, enchanting the people of their little parry into silence. As they saw it for the first time, not even Becker seemed able to speak. Their cats, however, had a different reaction. They grew hyperactive-playing leapfrog with each other, rolling and rumbling, running halfway up the walls of the Temple to use it as a springboard to jump down onto their companions.

Suddenly Becker yawned, as did Miw-Sher.

Acorna opened her mouth to tease them, and she yawned, too.

"You are tired from your long journey," the high priest said to Acorna in Linyaari. "You must all rest."

"We haven't the time," Acorna told him. "We came here on a mission to warn you. Tagoth knows more details about this than I do, but the Mulzar Edu Kando is plotting to kill all of the cats of this world, and all of the members of the priesthood that he doesn't control. He killed all of the Temple cats in Hissim except for the four guardians we brought with us. He released a plague that has killed many of the farm animals around Hissim, and the wild animals of the fields and the steppes. He tried to spread the plague to the jungle and may have succeeded. One of our friends, a Terran named Captain MacDonald, has concocted a remedy and is trying to get it to all the people now. I really must get back and help him. Also-Nadhari!" She turned to Becker. "I haven't heard from Nadhari in hours and hours. Not since the sandstorm struck."

Becker met her gaze. "We had to lose them out there, or we could have brought them right where they wanted to go-into this secret stronghold." He thought about what Nadhari could be going through, and the concern in his eyes mirrored what Acorna was feeling. "Maybe she's fine. Maybe Edu's too busy to be giving Nadhari much trouble right now. That was a heck of a sandstorm, and the Federation flitters aren't as well able to withstand turbulence as that slick little model your people made."

Acorna explained the problem to the high priest, who said, "Our people will search for survivors of the storm. But we would

not bring anyone we find back here. Only, perhaps, the woman who is your friend, Kh.o.r.n.ya."

Acorna was momentarily startled by the priest's use of her Linyaari name and yet, if Aari had foretold her coming, that was the name he would have used.

Tagoth said, "Holy one, I have much to tell you about the plots of the Mulzar Kando. Among the news, I must tell you that Brother f.a.gad was a spy for the Mulzar. I confess that I killed him before he could reveal holy secrets to the Mulzar."

The priest's face grew grave. "You should have reported his treachery to us, rather than killed him yourself."

"I had no time. I had to act," Tagoth said.

"Brother f.a.gad was a very holy person among our people, and we have had no indication he was other than as we knew him," the old priest said. "You have committed a very grave crime." He nodded to the flock of other wizened little priests who had accompanied them. "Please interrogate this man and report back to me."

Acorna began to protest, but the priest patted her hand.

"If he had just cause in his actions, no harm will come to him. If he is telling the truth, then we will merely learn that which he wishes to tell us. You, Kh.o.r.n.ya, have a greater purpose in being here. I must show you something that only I, of all the priesthood, am privileged to know, and only my predecessor knew before me. This is a treasured secret of my people and ensures that a successor will always be named before the demise of the previous high priest. Come."

Acorna looked at her friends.

Becker said, "I think I'll bunk down in the flitter, Princess. I'll work on the com unit and see if there's anything I can do about it from this end."

The old priest said, "I regret, Captain, that if you choose to return to your flying animal, you will be unable to enter the Temple until morning. The crater entrance is secured and locked at night."

"That's okay. I just want to be ready to roll in case Acorna gets any more mental messages from our missing friend." He tapped his temple. "You'll give me a heads-up if you get any vibes from her, right?"