It took ten minutes to stroll to the residential area where Sands was housed. They weresurprised to find the corridor in front of his apartment section blocked by Titanian police. The police had attracted a crowd of curious onlookers. Sands's heart immediately began to thump in his chest as they pushed their way through the crowd. Kimber identified herself to one of the policemen. They were immediately passed through the police cordon.

Once inside, they were met by Arvin Taggart, the chief of the factor's security services.

"Where the hell have you been?" Taggart demanded when he saw Sands.

"He's been with me, Mr. Taggart," Kimber said with a tinge of frost in her voice.

"Oh, sorry Miss Crawford. I didn't recognize you."

"What's happening?" Sands asked.

"Someone broke into your apartment. Miss Trevanon heard a noise and went to investigate. Whoever it was hit her over the head and escaped."

"Hit Halley? Is she all right?"

"She has a big lump on her skull, but the doctors say she'll heal. They've taken her to the hospital for observation."

"Any idea what they were after?"

Taggart stared at him with a piercing look. "I was hoping that you could tell me."

Chapter 16: Intruder.

Arvin Taggart led the way through groups of policemen wielding unfamiliar instruments and questioning neighbors Sands had never seen. As they reached the corridor where he lived, Sands noticed that the door to Halley's apartment was standing open. Three investigators were clustered around a partially eaten meal atop the small table in front of the entertainment screen. The scene caused Sands's stomach to react the same way it had the day Dane died.

"You're sure Halley's all right?"

"She's fine, Captain," the Titanian security chief said. "I talked to her myself before we sent her off to the hospital."

They crossed the hall to Sands's apartment. A uniformed officer opened the door for them and snapped to attention at Taggart's approach. Inside, drawers had been pulled out and dumped on the floor, furniture slashed open, and table lamps smashed.

"What happened here? It looks as though my apartment's been through the Dardenelles Cyclone!"

Kimber let out with a low whistle. "More like one of the bars down by the spaceport after a Saturday night brawl."

"Did Halley put up this much of a fight?"

"Not according to her. She said it was like this when she arrived.""But why ransack the place?"

"They were obviously searching for something."

"Searching for what?

"You tell me."

"Couldn't it have been a thief?" Kimber asked.

Taggart frowned. "A thief, yes. An ordinary robbery, no!"

"Why not?"

"I'm the one who chose this section to house Captain Sands and Miss Trevanon. I personally arranged with the owner, who happens to be on Saturn now, for the lease of his home to the government. I have made the location of these apartments one of our most closely guarded secrets. You are asking me to accept that a common burglar -- the first in this section in five years -- just happened to stumble onto these quarters? I would as soon believe my wife loves me because I've gotten more handsome over the years."

"But then someone has penetrated security!" Kimber exclaimed.

"Damned right they have, Taggart growled. "They knew he lived here and that he would be out today.

They could have learned that only through my own department. When I find the culprit, he is going to wish he'd never been born."

"Then this was an Alliance agent sent here to kill me," Sands said.

The security man shook his head. "This was no assassination attempt. An assassin would not have ravaged your quarters like this. He would have hidden himself and waited for your return, or more likely, rigged a bomb. If Miss Trevanon surprised an assassin, why isn't she dead? She knows what you know, does she not?"

Sands nodded. "So where does that leave us?"

"As I said before. He was looking for something."

"Maybe we've got the wrong slant on this," Kimber said. "Could we be dealing with a thief who has somehow learned about the treasures you took from Cloudcroft?"

"But all of our booty went down with the ship."

"Maybe he doesn't know that."

Taggart sighed. "We are speculating to no purpose here. We need more facts. Captain Sands, it is obvious you cannot stay here any longer. Pack your gear and we'll see about moving you some place more secure."

"He can stay with me."

Arvin Taggart stared at the factor's daughter for a moment, but said nothing. He had already had a report from the security agents who had accompanied the two lovers to the mine. What Kimber's father would say when he found out the privateer captain had moved in with her, the security chief could not predict.

He was merely glad that particular problem did not fall under his jurisdiction.# Kelt Dalishaar sat behind his desk and glared at Grand Admiral Samorset. They were in his office on the top floor of Government Tower, the one the privateers had ransacked. That fact did nothing to help Dalishaar's mood.

"And your peoplestill think they all perished with their ship?"

"All known facts indicate that to be the case, First Councilor."

Dalishaar let some of the exasperation he was feeling seep into his voice. "How, by the Great Arch, can you say that? Damn it, your trigger happy maniacs shot down three of the four pods without checking to see if they were occupied!"

"The officer responsible for that lapse has been severely disciplined," Samorset replied blandly. Both men knew that disciplined in this case meant that the man had been forced to "walk the plank." Specifically, he had been hoisted over the Glasgow outer railing and dropped into the abyss.

"And the fifth pod?"

"Admiral Blount believes the fifth pod malfunctioned. That would not be unusual for a ship of that age and condition. The pirates could hardly have had the resources to maintain it properly."

"Your people found no one aboard the one pod they inspected?"

"No, sir."

"Was there any sign of its having been recently occupied?"

"We inspected the Number Three pod, First Councilor. It jettisons the mid fuselage crew area of an air shark. Since the ship was in battle at the time, it is not surprising to find it unoccupied. After all, the crew would have been at their battle stations from the time they left the Glasgow landing bay."

"And what of the Crawford woman? Wouldn't she have been in one of the staterooms?"

"She must have been in one of the other compartments."

"She also might not have been aboard."

"Shewas onboard," Samorset replied calmly. "We rounded up everyone in the landing bay at the time the pirate launched. They were subjected to the usual interrogation techniques -- chemical, physical pain, direct brain stimulus."

"And?"

"We have several witnesses who say that she entered the ship with two other crewmembers. She herself was seen to close the hatch. My interrogation officers estimate the reliability of the information to be higher than 90 percent."

"What do these witnesses say about how many crew were aboard?"

"The information is not as reliable on that matter, sir. The crew boarded at different times. Some joined while the ship was in the storage bay. At least three, including Miss Crawford, arrived after the ship had been transferred to the landing bay. However, we estimate a 65 percent probability that all of them were aboard when they launched.""All right, Admiral. I will accept your analysis for the moment. Now then, what of the pacification?"

"It goes swiftly, sir. There have been fewer acts of disobedience than expected."

"That usually means they are planning something," Dalishaar replied. In his younger days, he had taken part in the pacification of two cities that were now some of the most loyal in the Alliance. The experience had not been a pleasant one. It had been largely due to that background that he'd become an Accretionist.

"My people have been instructed to be especially vigilant until we can move the Glasgow Cluster here to the North Temperate Belt."

"See that they are! Any additional examples of incompetence will be punished severely."

"Understood, sir. Is there anything else?"

"I want you to report status to me daily."

"Will a report at First Dusk be acceptable?"

"It will have to do. That is all, Admiral Samorset. You may return to your duties."

The admiral rose, snapped to attention, saluted, and spun on his heel. He had reached the door before the First Councilor called after him, "One more thing!"

"Sir?"

"If Kimberly Crawford perished with these pirates, why is her father still negotiating with us?"

"I don't understand," Samorset replied. For the first time, Dalishaar thought he saw hesitation on that craggy face.

"We kidnapped his daughter, lost her to pirates, and then shot her out of the sky. Yet, her father, who I am told loves her dearly, has reopened negotiations. He has agreed to supply us with metal and we are now negotiating a price. Curious wouldn't you say?"

"Most curious, First Councilor."

"Good afternoon to you, Admiral. Please make sure your people do not over process those reports.

Sometimes they seem to be boiled down to nothing."

"Yes, sir. I'll see to it."

No sooner had the door closed than another opened. This door led to a short hallway off which the First Councilor's private conference room and lavatory were located. It was also the back way into Dalishaar's office. The man who entered was short, balding, and possessed a political shrewdness unmatched anywhere in the Northern Alliance.

"You heard?" Dalishaar asked Pierre Lamarque, his administrative assistant.

Lamarque nodded as he took the still warm visitor's chair.

"What do you think?""He's lying," Lamarque replied. "He knows that ship was practically empty when it bolted for the blue.

The Navy interrogation teams got that out of the Scots within a few hours of setting up shop. My spies tell me Admiral Blount has been tearing Glasgow apart looking for the fugitives ever since."

"He thinks the Scots are hiding them?"

"Apparently so."

"Why would they do such a thing?"

"On the surface, it doesn't make sense. That is why I find the situation so intriguing. The Glasgow hierarchy seems intent on protecting people it has no need to protect and our Navy is lying about it. This is a Gordian knot I will relish cutting through."

"Don't take too long," Dalishaar warned. "The Militarists are growing stronger with each council meeting.

If we don't figure out what they are up to, we may both find ourselves out of a job."

"I have my people working on it," Lamarque assured him. "It's only a matter of time."

"What news from Titan?"

"Our agent there has confirmed the sighting report through a third party informant."

"Is this informant reliable?"

Lamarque shrugged. "Who can ever tell? The informant is one of the factor's personal cooks. He claims to have seen Kimber Crawford at a private dinner. She was in the company of two strangers and there was a lot of toasting going on."

"Strangers?"

"One is described as a man about thirty. Another is a woman."

"One of the privateers was a woman!"