At the sight of the sign, Avanti spat. "You carry the symbol of the Zinatti on your ship?"

Rogar disgustedly slapped his hand on the holographic machine, turning it off.

"You conspire with the Zinatti. You deserve to die."

"The Zin?" Zical asked. "The Kwadii are at war with Zin?" His gaze found Dora's.

"Could the Zin and the Zinatti be the same race?"

"Do these beings come from another galaxy?" Dora demanded.

"Silence," Rogar roared. "We will tell you nothing."

Zical ignored the order. The Zin are our worst enemy. They almost destroyed this galaxy. Our mission is to stop another attack."

"Lies." Rogar shoved back his chair and stood. "1 would expect no more from those who would invite a Zinatti attack by flying recklessly through hypers.p.a.ce."

Avanti slapped her palm on the table, temper sparking in her eyes. "Rogar, you have no reason to insult these people. They may be our friends. Perhaps if instead of hiding from the Zin, we could join with their Federation and the next time this galaxy is attacked, we might beat the Zinatti."

Rogar didn't raise his tone, but horror edged his words. "For a millennium our isolations policies have kept Kwadii safe. Your liberal notions are madness. You and soulless Selgrens will destroy us all if we don't stop you." He glared at Avanti, who didn't flinch. "And we will stop you."

"Stars," Dora's eyes widened, "Are you saying that Zin-the Zinatti-track us through hypers.p.a.ce? That we placed our own people in danger?"

Zical already suffered enough guilt for accidentally starting up the machines that had recalled the Sentinel. Now the Kwadii accused them of blazing a trail through hypers.p.a.ce directly back to the Federation, as if their ship had drawn the Zin a map.

Horror at the menace warred with concern for Zical. No man should have to bear so much.

"Idiots." Rogar signaled for the soldiers to beep their weapons aimed at them.

"We likely are on the same side." Dora spoke slowly to Avanti. She didn't want to tell the woman about the Perceptive Ones and how Zical had accidentally recalled the Sentinel. No doubt Rogar would see it as yet another reason for execution. "My people hate the Zin. Our mission is to stop them."

132.

"You can't stop the Zinatti." Rogar stood, spoke over his shoulder as he exited the room. "You can only hide and hope they do not find you."

Avanti gestured for Zical and Dora to leave the room with her, but stopped in the doorway. "The trial will be in two days. While my defense will be vigorous, if I fail, your execution will follow immediately. Prepare yourselves."

Dora's bones seemed to turn to sand, her muscles, to water. How did one prepare for death? Her mind twisted and turned like a cornered jellyfish, but she saw no honorable way out. Dying before they completed their mission was unacceptable.

"I would like to study your laws," Zical requested.

"It will do you no good, but I will have suitable materials made available to you. I suggest you use your last days preparing to meet your G.o.ds."

Zical's guilt for putting his crew in such a tight spot to fix his earlier mistake drove him hard. If the Kwadii court had its way, they would all die, their mission a failure. He could barely bring himself to think past losing the lives of his crew and the scientists, never mind considering that he may have opened a hypers.p.a.ce trail for the Zin, and that without the Sentinel it could leave them to conquer the Federation worlds at home.

The losses would be so devastating, the guilt so high, he had to tamp it down just to keep a clear thought in his head. Focusing on survival not failure kept him going.

So he'd gathered his top people in the showers, hoping the splash of running water would hide the sound of this meeting from any listening devices. Dora, Cyn, Vax, Shannon, and Dr. Laduna stood in a close circle and Zical kept his voice to a whisper.

"My friends, the Federation is counting on us to complete our mission."

Dr. Laduna's gills flapped, a measure of his distress. "Captain, is it true the Kwadii will execute us in less than two days?"

His face grim, Zical nodded He would not lie to the scientist. "While we live, we have hope. We have two days to formulate an escape plan."

He clapped his first officer on the shoulder. "Vax, find a way to disarm and take out the guards.''

Vax met his gaze and dipped his head in agreement.

"Cyn, adapt useful survival gear from the machinery in our quarters. Drinking vessels, weapons, communication devices that we can use after we escape."

"I'll do my best, Captain."

"Shannon, work with Dr. Laduna to find a way to send a message home. We need to inform the Federation about the Kwadii and warn them about the Zin."

The Jarn scientist's scales paled. "And what will you be doing?"

Zical didn't usually explain himself but these we extraordinary circ.u.mstances.

"Dora and I will go over the Kwadii Laws and search for loopholes?"

133.

Zical had no idea if his people could accomplish the tasks he'd a.s.signed. But working toward freedom was better than doing nothing but waiting to die. These people had given him their loyalty, entrusted him with their lives. Until he drew his last breath, he would fight to stay alive, to return to his ship and complete his mission.

"We may not have another opportunity to gather." He paused. "And once we go to trial, the security may tighten. So our best opportunity to escape may be now." He leaned forward, his whisper intense. "But I expect each one of you to do your best to live. We shall not give up. We shall keep up the spirits of our friends and help one another through this difficult time. We've escaped tight spots before, and I have every confidence we can do so again."

Zical's words brought fire back into their eyes, color into faces gone pale and hopeless. His people were the best. They also deserved the truth. "We are not giving up.

Our mission is too important to do less than our best. I expect maximum effort and then some. Understood?"

He'd never been so proud, as his friends squared their shoulders, lifted their chins, and straightened their spines. And Dora was no different from the others in that respect. Although she obviously missed and worried about Kirek, as did he, their first priority had to be escape, and Dora-clearly understood.

She'd come a long way in such a short time, supporting him and helping him as one of the team. He vowed that together, somehow, they would all find a way track to their ship and continue their mission. And if they failed, they would have given their best.

Kirek opened his eyes and wished he could go back to sleep and wake up in his own room with the scent of his mothers cooking. His head hurt. His mouth was dry as sand worm's burrow and he had no idea where he was. The last thing he remembered was leaving Dora, falling in the skimmer. But from the look of this room, someone had moved him from the skimmer to a comfortable chamber.

Furnished with a bed, chairs, and a wooden cabinet with drawers, the room reminded him of holopics he'd seen of homes before the Federation provided suits. On a table next to his bed stood a tempting gla.s.s of water. He tried to sit up but hadn't the strength and he groaned in despair.

A woman entered the room. She had kind eyes, a wide bosom and hips, and a cheery voice. "There now. Let me help." She lifted the gla.s.s to his mouth and placed a tubular object between his lips. He bit on the tube, but nothing came out. "Suck on the straw," she instructed.

Kirek sucked greedily and water burst into his mouth and he swallowed before he lost one precious drop. He'd never tasted anything so good, but the woman pulled away the gla.s.s too soon.

"Easy now. Not too much at once. Let that settle and you may have more."

Kirek looked around the room, puzzled. "Where am I?"

134.

"I am Serri Jerhar and this is my home. My husband found you half dead in the skimmer. He wanted to take you to the authorities but I thought it better if you returned to the creche on your own accord."

Serri obviously thought he'd run away from a creche. And thanks to his loin cloth that had torn free during, his fall, his nudity hid his origins. Many beings believed that the raising of children should be left to experts. Apparently the Kwadii believed so.

And Kirek saw so reason to inform the woman of his true ident.i.ty, as he pondered what his next move should be.

"Thank you. Please." He pointed to the water. "More."

She obliged, then looked anxiously over her shoulder. My husband is a good man and he won't return from his shift until late morning. Young man, by then you need to be on your way. There's clothing for you there. Take it and go on your way. But first eat."

"Yes" Kirek agreed, realizing he'd been fortunate not to have been recaptured. He couldn't help wondering about Dora and the crew. Had they escaped? If so, they would have no idea how to find him. Kirek did his best to put the worry aside. He had more immediate concerns.

Serri shoved a plate toward him "Eat," she repeated.

The food appeared strange, but Kirek ate everything she offered, drank more water, and began to feel more like his old self. His head still throbbed but after a good night's sleep a hearty breakfast, he was ready to slip out the door when the kindly Serri placed a credit chip in his hand. "It's all I could spare. Go with the G.o.ds, child."

Once outdoors, Kirek saw that her pink rock home squatted in a cl.u.s.ter among others that looked much the same. Large leafy trees shaded a brick path and Kirek arbitrarily picked a direction. With food in his stomach, a loincloth to wear, and his thirst quenched, his spirits were up. His immediate goal was to remain free and gather information on the Kwadii.

With no destination in mind, Kirek left Serri's home and tagged after a bunch of children. They played a complex game with a ball and bouncing squares, paying no attention to him until the ball rolled away from them and into his direction. He kicked it back.

The kids were old and bigger than him. Their ragged clothes hung on bodies so thin it appeared they didn't eat regularly and their sandal straps were torn and retied in many places. He spied holes in the soles too. Miri end Etru would never have let him dress with so little respect for his appearance. Did these children come from a creche?

They looked as if they lived on the streets. Knowing better than to questions, Kirek trailed after them. He had no idea of their destination but figured that if anyone was searching for him, he could hide among the children, appearing part of their ragtag group.

135.

But he didn't count on the kids.' curiosity. One of the older boys with long hair that was clumped together like rows of corncobs planted himself in Kirek's path. "What ya doin'?"

"Nothing." Kirek looked, at the ground and shuffled his feet, doing the best to appear nonthreatening, but apparently he'd chosen the wrong behavior.

"You a snoop?"

"Me?" Kirek had always been different from other children. He'd never fit in, except with his parents and on the crew on the Verazen. Just thinking about Dora and the crew, and the scientists made him feel even lonelier.

"You aren't from the creche. And your clothes are too good to be a banzoo."

Kirek had no idea how this kid knew he wasn't from the creche. Nor did he comprehend what a banzoo was. Although the kid was bigger and stronger, Kirek knew some dirty street-fighting tricks. But the other kids had circled him and he could neither beat them all, nor outrun them on his short legs.

"Where are you goin', deezer?"

Deezer must be an insult. The other kids laughed. Kirek kept his answers vague.

"I'm looking for a good time." He held up his credit chip, knowing the kid might take it from him. "And I'm wilting to share."

The kid eyed the chip. "You heading to the carnival?"

"Yeah. Want to go?" Kirek offered, hoping to avoid a beating and at the same time use these kids as cover to avoid the authorities. In the back of his mind, he hoped to reunite with Dora and Zical, but he couldn't ask questions. These kids might turn him in for a reward.

"Maybe I'll filch that credit chip and leave you behind."

"That would be a mistake." Although quaking inside, Kirek grinned, knowing bullies often backed down when challenged.

"And why is that?"

" 'Cause I'm good with machines. You stick with me and you'll win big." Kirek a.s.sumed that a carnival had gaming machines. If he was wrong, be might just end up broke and alone.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go." The boy clapped him on the back, almost knocking him down. "By the way, my name's Lew."

As promised, Avanti delivered a holochip with lengthy files of Kwadii law to the conference room a few hours later. Zical's head ached from the combination of trying to push aside his guilt over the failing mission while he tried to focus on obscure statutes.

136.

He was no law specialist and the convoluted sentences left so little open to interpretation that he was finally ready to admit defeat.

Dora had remained with him, but she didn't appear to be working too hard on deciphering the Kwadii statutes. Instead, she had a dreamy expression in her eyes, one that he'd been trying to ignore all afternoon. But he had been as successful at repressing his guilt and disregarding her expressions as he had in pretending not to look at her beautiful b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Irritated with himself for needing a distraction from the burden of his responsibility, he closed the holofile. Vax hadn't found a way to overcome the guards.

They were too well armed and backed up by lethal mechanical lasers. Cyn had made a few water bottles, which would do them no good if they couldn't escape. And no one had found a way to send word of their plight back to the Federation.

With so many seemingly unsolvable problems that appeared to lead to all their deaths and the failure of his mission, he needed a break, a distraction. But no matter how many times he told himself that Dora wasn't a solution, his mind seemed to require such a bountiful diversion.

With death facing them, he couldn't find an escape and his guilt and frustration mounted. How in the seven rings of Darnica was he supposed to concentrate with her sitting across from him half naked?

Yet h could no longer bear to worry over Kirek, his crew, the scientists, Mystique, and the Federation. His body recognized that his mind was too burdened by stress to find a solution that would keep them alive long enough to continue their mission. He needed a break.

Without his suit to suppress his natural urges, his groin ached from an excess of stimulation. And when Dora caught his gaze, he would have bet a month's pay that she knew exactly what was bothering him. But he didn't want to say a word and give her the satisfaction of knowing how badly he wanted her when he should be thinking of a way to avoid death.

"Yes?" One of her delectable eyebrows arched in speculation.

"This is getting us nowhere."

"Then why don't we do something more productive." She licked her top lip with the tip of her tongue in a most provocative manner, and his mouth went dry.

"I'm open to suggestions."

She stared him straight in the eye. "I would like to make love before I die."

"We may yet find a way off Kwadii," he pretested, yet in response to her suggestion all his blood seemed to flow below his loincloth.

"You need a rest. You aren't sleeping or eating. You owe it to yourself and everyone depending on you to relax, so you can attack the problem from a fresh angle." She paused, wet her bottom lip, and continued. "And if these are to be our last days, I would like to spend them pleasurably."

137.

She had a point. He certainly wasn't getting anywhere examining legal files. And he suspected Avanti was one sharp lawyer who would have enjoyed beating Rogar in court, not so much to save him and his crew but to best her hated adversary. No doubt she'd spent years studying to attain her position, and if she hadn't found a good defense for them, he probably wouldn't either. Still, to make love when he should be planning an escape seemed... irresponsible. And wonderful. Just the thought of having her made his blood quicken.

His guilt-laden and frustrated mind hadn't come up with a new thought in hours. A distraction might be just what he needed so he could return to the problem with fresh ideas. Shucking responsibility had never been easy for him, yet me, yet this time, he didn't know why he was resisting. He could not think of one escape scheme that might succeed.

And he wanted her. Despite all their efforts, they would likely be dead within a week. Dora had given up so much to become human and making love to her would at least let her die with the knowledge that she'd lived a little. If he couldn't save them, why not at least give Dora some pleasure and himself too?