Hanc.o.c.k hauled out a flightpack. He led them several meters away from the lifecraft and tossed the bag to the ground.

"You're leaving us here?" the sa'aloh asked, a hint of panic in her voice.

Hanc.o.c.k nodded. "You and the Rep will be the only two sentient lifeforms on the planet. No one ever comes here, Leith. It's under Arreisan protection. Every pirate, every rogue, every starman and starwoman knows better than to p.i.s.s off the Arreisans. They'd restrict access to Trader World in a nanosecond and no one wants that. So everyone leaves Paradise alone."

J'Qhir felt her disappointment and anxiety. If no one dared to defy the Arreisans and visit this planet, then they were as good as dead. It must be true or Hanc.o.c.k would not chance leaving them here at all.

"How do you intend to explain our disappearance? The Commander will have an entire government looking for him. Dad knows enough people on the Galactic Alliance Board to get them involved."

Hanc.o.c.k smiled chillingly. "After the Rep notified his ship the cargo was ready for transfer, another ship was stolen out of the port, and a message was sent to the Zi warship that the transfer had been delayed indefinitely. You see, Rep, I've been recording our meetings for a long time, preparing for this day. When you and Cameron spoke your primitive language, excluding me from the conversation, you made it so much easier for me. I had to ask Cameron to teach me so I could understand what you were saying and carefully cull the message from all those hours of recordings. At that time, my plans included your immediate demise, but things change."

J'Qhir clenched his jaw. The Zi communications system was not state-of-the-art. They simply could not afford the latest equipment in all areas and communications was not deemed an immediate need. The crackling static of the old and worn out system would hide any signs that the message was cut-and-spliced from other recordings.

"When we return to Arreis, the ship will release a statement, in the Rep's own words, that he has renounced the Zi government and taken a human, Leith McClure, as hostage. Demands to be given later. Of course, another statement will never be released. The stolen ship will fly straight into a sun, to vaporize without a trace." He glanced back to make sure that Phillips was still out of earshot, then lowered his voice. "We're supposed to rendezvous with the lifecraft in a few hours, but I think we'l find the ship malfunctioned and poor Wiley crashed and burned with it. With Wiley gone there'l be larger shares for the rest of us and fewer witnesses."

"No one will believe any of that!" the sa'aloh snapped angrily. "You really have lost your mind, haven't you, Steve? The Zi government will never believe their top gun has gone rogue. Dad certainly won't believe it. He knows the Commander."

"It doesn't matter, Leith. The situation will cause so much confusion and accusation that by the time both sides, the Zi government and the Galactic Alliance, come to some kind of agreement, the trail will be cold. There will be no follow-up statement, no trace of either of you, and everyone concerned will a.s.sume you died in an unfortunate accident." Hanc.o.c.k shook his head sadly, but the smug smile remained on his lips. "I'l be by Cameron and Catherine's side the whole time, grieving with them, consoling them. I'l even express guilt because I was right there and should have seen it coming. I should have sensed what the Rep was up to."

Hanc.o.c.k broke into laughter as he called to Phillips and waited for him to key the lock open on the sa'aloh's cuffs. She rubbed her wrists vigorously. "It won't work. How can you explain the fourteen-hour delay in reporting my disappearance?"

Steve sighed in exasperation. "You really don't have the mental capacity for intrigue, do you? I'l tell the GPs you and the Rep were gone when I came back from repairing a malfunctioning skid. You left a message-which, by the way, I thoughtlessly erased-saying you and the Commander were going out for a while. Of course, I'l tell the GPs how well you two were getting along and wink suggestively when I say it. So I went to bed, and when you were still gone after I woke up hours later, I went looking for you. But Arreis is a huge place and filled with so many people, I couldn't find anyone who had seen you."

J'Qhir nodded thoughtfully. "How will you explain the ssship'sss disssappearance for fourteen hoursss?"

Steve frowned. "I won't. According to the s.p.a.ceport log, the ship never left Bay 3."

"It can't work," she protested with less conviction.

"Well, let's find out, shall we?" Steve nodded again and trained his Blaser on J'Qhir. Phillips keyed the lock open while both held their weapons at the ready. "By the way, I tossed a few things in the flightpack. There are enough protein packs for a few days plus a few other things that might or might not be useful."

"Steve, this is insane," she called out as they watched the two men step backward toward the lifecraft. "What is the point?"

"Wealth, power, revenge. I have a dozen Zi jewels which will be a fortune on the market, as well as the crysium, another fortune. With you out of the way and Cameron's illness, McClure Shipping is as good as mine. I've been trying to convince Cameron to expand, but he won't listen. He insists on staying strictly Earth-based. And revenge? I told you you'd be sorry for turning me down, didn't I?"

"And the Commander? You could have easily sold him the cargo at an inflated price and kept the difference. Dad never would have found out."

Hanc.o.c.k shrugged. "I just don't like Reps. Good-bye, Leith. Who knows? You two might manage to survive, after all."

J'Qhir watched as the two men jumped into the lifecraft then shifted his gaze to the sa'aloh. Her round eyes were incredibly large as the doors lowered and sealed.

"Steve! Steve!" Before J'Qhir could stop her, she took flight, darting across the clearing toward the lifecraft. J'Qhir ran after her, giving in to the searing pain with each limping stride. The foolish sa'aloh would get herself killed on the spot if the craft took off with her so near. She reached it and beat her hands against the gray metal. "You can't leave us here! You can't! Steve, there has to be another way!"

He scooped her off the lifecraft and threw her over his good shoulder, turned, and ran as if the sandpits of the Bh'rin'gha sucked at his heels.

The sa'aloh's legs churned in front of him, and her fists battered his back. The lifecraft lifted, creating a gale that reminded him of the windy season except void of grit. The force of it drove him to his knees.

The sa'aloh dropped away from his shoulder, but he could do nothing to soften her fall. He screamed as most of his weight landed on his bad knee, twisting it. He rolled to his side and doubled up, clutching the joint with both hands. Liquid filled his eyes as flames burned a path from knee to hip.

Leith landed hard, her head snapping back against the unyielding ground. White dots sprang before her eyes. She thought she lost consciousness for a moment and dreamed the primal scream of a wild animal in the distance. When she opened her eyes, a flowing black ma.s.s obliterated the sky. She blinked and focused. Birds. A flock of birds moved across the sky in a rough V-formation. When they pa.s.sed over, she rolled to her side and groaned. Her hips ached and her head pounded incessantly. She felt along her scalp and found the b.u.mp, as big and smooth as a Zi jewel.

Bruised and battered from the jarring ride on the Commander's shoulder and their fall, she dragged herself to her feet, every muscle in her body aching. She shaded her eyes against the glare of the afternoon sun. The lifecraft was gone. Steve really had left them stranded on this empty planet. She heard the Commander take a heavy, limping step behind her and whirled to face him.

"You! Why didn't you say something, anything?" she screamed at him. "Why didn't you threaten him? Or promise to shower him with a thousand Zi jewels? Anything, anything to buy us some time until we could find a way out."

She didn't care how awful he looked, standing on one leg, the other bent at an odd angle. She refused to allow the expression of pain on his face to move her.

"Why don't you answer me? I'l tell you why!" She flew at him and beat on his chest as she had the side of the lifecraft, emphasizing each word. "Because-you-have-no-excuse-"

His hands moved in tandem with hers until he caught her wrists and raised her arms in the air. Her eyes flooded with tears, making her angrier.

"You just stood there, all big and inscrutable, and didn't say a d.a.m.n word!" Tears blinding her, she b.u.t.ted up against him, struggling to pull her hands free from his unbreakable grip. "Not a d.a.m.n word!"

She slammed into him one more time, and they toppled over, crashing to the ground. She landed on top of him, and his face twisted in agony. His crested brow furrowed, his eyes squeezed shut, and his mouth drew tight, but his grip never lessened. She couldn't pull free, so she threw her body to one side. He rolled with her, and once again she found herself pinned beneath his long, heavy body, his hands holding hers above her head.

Her chest heaved with each breath, from the exertion, from his weight, from the tears that dampened her cheeks. With each breath she drew she smelled him, that unfamiliar alien scent that made her body react in a most peculiar way.

"Let me go!" she demanded hoa.r.s.ely.

"Will you-ssstop fighting me?"

"Yes. No! I don't know. Let me go and we'l find out."

His head sank to her chest, his crest resting on her shoulder. His breath came in sharp gasps, intermittent moans escaping his throat. His hands trembled against hers. Her panic had overridden everything else, but now she realized what had happened.

"You're hurt!"

"Sssss, sa'aloh-"

"I mean, you're really hurt."

"If you do not ssstop fighting me, I will not have the ssstrength to fend you off."

"Well, why didn't you say something? How am I supposed to know when you just stand there and don't say anything?"

"I...ssscreamed when we fell-"

"Oh. I hit my head. I thought I'd pa.s.sed out and dreamed the sound."

"I think I have torn a mussscle in my knee."

"You can let me go now, Commander. I promise I won't fight you any more."

He released her hands and slid away. Slowly, he raised his head, his crest deeply furrowed. Shifting away from her, he fell back and held the knee at an angle. He gasped for air and closed his eyes.

Leith sat up and waited for the pounding in her head to subside. She noticed the slant of the sunlight, a thinner light than Earth's Sol emitted. It was early evening as near as she could reckon. The air stirred around her, a breeze from the mountains. It was cool, almost chilly. The Commander shivered.

"I'm going to see if I can find the flightpack Steve left us. Maybe there's a medkit in it."

Ignoring the headache, she stood and scanned the area for the flightpack. She prayed Steve had been in a generous mood when he packed it and left them something useful. The tall gra.s.s swayed in the quickening breeze, and her eyes moved back and forth. She didn't see any matte black against the straw-colored gra.s.s.

She made her way to the patch of flattened gra.s.s where the lifecraft had landed and turned toward the Commander. She replayed the scene in her mind and saw Steve throw it down. Slowly, she walked the general area, pushing the tall gra.s.s aside with each step.

She found the bag by tripping over it. She slung it over her shoulder and as she hurried back to the Commander, she noticed the shadows were longer and the air had definitely grown chillier.

"I found it," she announced and let it slide to the ground. She sank to her knees and ripped it open. "Here are the protein packs-only six. They won't last long."

"They will keep usss alive until we find food."

"If we find food. What we find may not be edible."

"But we will eat-even if it killsss usss."

Leith nodded and dug deeper in the bag. She pulled out a flat plastic case, as square and thick as her palm. "Steve has a rotten sense of humor. MDVs. Micro disc vids. There won't be intelligent life on this planet for a million years, let alone electricity."

She drew her arm back to throw it as far as she could in the sea of gra.s.s.

"No!" the Commander said sharply. "We will dessstroy it later. We mussst leave a.s.ss little trace a.s.ss posssible of ourssselvesss and our technology on thisss planet."

They were on the verge of death, and it could come in any shape, form, or fashion at any moment, and he was worried about what local archaeologists might find a few million years from now. But he was serious. Too serious. His slitted amber eyes stared at her unblinking, and his mouth was a thin, straight slash. She lowered her arm and dropped the vid case in the bag.

"And I'l be sure to die someplace where my bones won't fossilize and change the course of history," she muttered under her breath. She rummaged some more. "Great. A mess kit for two. I'm sure Steve meant to tease us, but it'l be so much tastier boiling those toxic roots and sauteing those poisonous mushrooms and washing it down with water so full of deadly bacteria we can watch 'em swim."

The Commander tilted his head to one side. "You are being sssarca.s.sstic."

"How can you tell?" Then she regretted the quip because he looked so-so naively somber. "I'm sorry, but I've honed my skills on Steve. He was always so easy to get, it was embarra.s.sing at times. But I can stop if it's annoying you. Actually, I'm annoying myself!"

"No, I find human sssarca.s.ssm fa.s.sscinating."

"Don't the Zi do sarcasm?"

"To insssult, not to amussse. Then, of courssse, the one insssulted mussst retaliate, to protect the honor of hisss uh'mir-hisss clan."

"And how would he do that?"

"A duel in the desert."

"Oh. Do you get to slap his face with your glove?"

"What, sa'aloh?"

"Nothing. An ancient Earth custom. The nineteenth century was famous for its duels at dawn."

"Ss'h. It takesss place at-what do you call it? Yesss, high noon. The hottessst time of the day. It isss a tessst of endurance."

"Is it to the death?"

"Of courssse, sa'aloh. Ssso you can sssee, sssarca.s.ssm isss not a frequent occurrence."

"Remind me not to insult you sarcastically."

She pulled out a small carton next, saw what it was, and shoved it to the bottom. Steve really did have a rotten sense of humor. Tampons.

"What isss that?"

"Nothing." They were useful for now, but what would she do next month? With any luck, she wouldn't survive that long. "Oh, a laserlight!"

The cylindrical tube fit snugly in her hand. She aimed it at a tuft of gra.s.s and pushed the b.u.t.ton. Nothing. She popped off the end but it was empty.

"Isss it not crysssium powered?" he asked stiffly.

"It was, but Steve thoughtfully removed the battery."

The laserlight was the most controversial use of crysium of all. A nifty little gadget, it could start a fire, dry out clothing, cut through most anything, and lead you through the darkness. A DNA detection field around the laser beam prevented one from cutting off one's finger or foot or accidentally decapitating a loved one. The field would recognize human and numerous other species, but she didn't know about Zi. She explained to the Commander that he had to be exceptionally careful around it.

The crysium battery would last indefinitely with daily use. As advertised, the housing would wear out before the battery. Crysium was found only on Crux, but with the sanctions against the non-allied planet, its import had been halted indefinitely. Pre-sanctioned crysium was legal, and the manufacturer of the laserlight claimed their product only used legal crysium batteries. Laserlights were relatively cheap, considering how long the speck of crysium would last. Leith had one, but conscious of the controversy, refused to use it. It was- "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She jumped to her feet and s.n.a.t.c.hed off her jacket. "How could I be so stupid? Do you realize what this is? A survival jacket. I've had it for three years, but never actually had to use it to survive."

She spread the jacket, lining up. Without its protection, she shivered in the chilly breeze. She glanced at the Commander who, as usual, remained stoically silent. He watched her, but his eyes blinked slowly, sleepily. He was reptilian, after all. Didn't reptiles slow down when the weather cooled? Didn't they go into hibernation if it got cold enough? They'd have to find shelter and build a fire soon or she'd lose the Commander to his natural instincts.

"We'l look at all this fun stuff later." She pulled at several magnostrips, opening secret pockets, and examined the contents before she found what she wanted. "Here it is. The medkit. And here's a laserlight that works. I apologize, Commander, but this little baby will probably save our lives. Oh, good, a solar film!"

She opened the medkit and found the elastic bandage. "This will help your knee."

The Commander nodded and blinked slowly. His eyeslits were dilated and gla.s.sy. She shook out the solar film. Folded, it was no larger than the palm of her hand, but when undone it was large enough to wrap around two people. She doubled the silky silver material and draped it over his head and shoulders. His fingers shook as he grasped the edges together.

She pulled on her jacket and fastened the magnostrips.

The sun was sinking rapidly in the west. The west? She'd try a compa.s.s later to find out if that phrase had any meaning here. Now, she approached the Commander's leg.

"Does it hurt now?"

"Only...when...I...move."

"I'm going to pull up your trouser leg and wrap this bandage around it. The support should help."

He nodded again. Slowly.

She pulled the cuff of the woolen material out of his boot and carefully pushed it up above his knee. His leg was the same tawny-umber blend, but otherwise was no different from a human leg. The calf muscles were taut and well defined.

Occasionally, her fingers brushed his scaled skin. She was surprised to find it soft like rich, expensive leather. She shivered but not from the chilling breeze.

His knee was puffy, swollen.

"Tell me if it's too tight. I don't want to cut off the circulation, but I need to get it tight enough to support it."

The bandage was, supposedly, flesh-colored-light beige. As she wound it around his knee, she wondered if Zi bandages were tawny-umber. If Zi females wore face powder, what color would it be? If their children-no, younglings had crayons, what color was Flesh in a box of one-twenty-eight?

"Is it too tight?"