"What's broken down now?" the guard on duty asked.

"If I knew that, they wouldn't have had to call me back after normal shift. Something about some big wire not being able to access his daily log. Hell, as though anything they write up there is worth retrieving anyway!"

"You'd better watch that mouth of yours, old man. It can get you into trouble."

"Enough trouble that they won't call me at all hours of the night? There is a game between Persephone and Vacca this evening. I had hoped to see it. Fat chance of that now."

"Yeah, the emergency has messed up everyone's schedule," the guard said without sympathy. He checked the work order against his computer screen, and then let Caen through. He barely checkedSands's badge.

When they were well beyond the checkpoint, Sands asked, "How did you get that work order?"

"Off the city computer," Caen replied. "Not difficult when you know what you're about. They will probably send a bona fide maintenance man tomorrow. I wonder what sort of reception he'll get."

They met the other three members of their team at the rendezvous point. It was only the second time Sands had seen the other infiltrators. The first time had been the previous evening when they had gathered to plan the rescue.

Lars set down his toolbox and removed the false bottom to reveal three small rocket pistols and spare clips of ammunition. Caen did the same. When they were all armed, Caen gave his orders in staccato whispers. He finished by saying, "All right, this is where it gets dangerous. Watch yourselves."

The lower six floors and sublevels of Government Tower were open to the public. Everything above that was restricted, with security monitors and alarms covering every avenue of approach.

Caen possessed a city plan far more detailed than anyone could get from the Cloudcroft computer. In studying Government Tower, they had discovered a weak point. Data lines for security monitors were triply redundant and widely separated to prevent all from being cut at the same time. Floor space in Government Tower was at a premium, especially in the building's upper stories. The reason for this was the area taken up by the conduit through which heated hydrogen was pumped to the upper gasbag.

Someone had been sloppy and had run all three security cables from the upper floors through a single wiring closet in the public access area of the building.

Caen's strategy was a simple one. He, Sands, and a team member named Dumas would take the lift to the twelfth floor. The two remaining members would set off an incendiary device in the critical wiring closet a few seconds later. Hopefully, the security monitors on the twelfth floor would go dark just as the lift doors opened.

It took less than a minute for them to plant their bomb and for the two who would remain below to get into a position to cover the lift entrance. Satisfied that his route of retreat was defended, Caen called for the lift. His work order gave him access to the ninth level. However, once inside the car, he inserted a different pass into the data reader. The lift accelerated upward.

A security officer sat behind a desk across from the lift door. He looked alert as the three ersatz repairmen stepped out of the lift and let the doors close behind them.

"This nine?" Caen asked in the same tone he had used on the officer in the lobby.

"No, you've gotten off on the wrong..." The officer blinked as he realized that it was impossible to reach this level without the proper access code. He lunged for an alarm switch and nearly made it. A quiet hissing noise exploded behind Sands's right ear. The guard's expression remained one of surprise as he bounced off the far wall and slumped to the floor. There was a spreading red stain just over his heart.

"Good shooting," Caen whispered as he leapt to the desk. He noticed with satisfaction that the monitors built into the surface of the desk were all blank. "Get him out of sight. Mind that you don't leave a trail of blood."

While Dumas manhandled the body, Caen quickly searched the documents on the desk. He found what he was looking for in the right hand drawer. "They're in Suite 1207. That will be around the corner to your right."They padded quietly to where the corridor turned. Dumas peeked around the corner, and then announced that there were two guards flanking a door halfway down the corridor. He stepped around the corner, raised his rocket pistol, and fired twice in quick succession.

Sands and Caen rushed to the door with the two fallen guards in front of it. It was unlocked. Sands palmed the control that would retract the door into its recess. Almost before it was open, he lunged forward. He was followed by both Caen and Dumas. All three landed on their stomachs with their guns extended before them.

Ten meters distant, Kimber and Halley were seated on a couch. They had been watching an entertainment program. At the sudden noise, both had wrenched their heads around. They stared at their rescuers with wide-eyed astonishment and mouths hanging open.

Sands rolled to his feet and rushed across the apartment. As quick as he was, Kimber managed to meet him halfway. He swept her into his arms as she threw her arms around his neck.

"What's the matter, didn't you think I would come?" he asked after she had rained anxious kisses all over his face. Glancing at a still surprised Halley over Kimber's shoulder, he said, "Hello, copilot, ready to get out of here?"

"My God, Lars! You scared us half to death."

"Look," Caen snapped, "I'm in favor of reunions, but not just now. Let's get moving. They'll figure out what we're up to any moment."

"Come on," Sands said, disentangling himself from Kimber. "We've got to get back down to the public areas before they get the security system working again."

"But we can't go!" Kimber sputtered.

"What do you mean?" he demanded.

"Dalishaar has offered to end the war and share the energy screen with us. He wants you and Halley to testify against Mikal Blount."

"You've made a deal with Dalishaar? Impossible!"

"Why?"

"Because he can't be trusted. Come on, we will get you to safety and then talk to the first councilor from a position of strength. If he catches us now, we're as good as..."

Sands did not have a chance to finish his statement. At that moment, a giant hand wrenched the floor from beneath his feet. An instant later, the wall came apart in front of him, hurling him across the room in a shower of partition plastic. Then a sound like a million claps of Saturnian thunder engulfed him and tried to crush him in its grip.

Chapter 34: Missed Opportunities.

Envon Crawford paced the catwalk above the flagship's bridge. At one end of his circuit was a viewport that looked out into the Saturnian night. Each time Crawford reached that point, he paused to gaze atanother giant airship in the middle distance. In sunlight, the ship had looked like a long extinct whale, with its accompanying flock of lesser vessels a school of porpoises cavorting around it. At night, it was merely a ghostly figure illuminated by softly glowing archlight.

Strike Force Redemption's planners did not expect serious opposition for at least another twenty hours.

Crawford had intended to take advantage of that estimate to catch up on his sleep. All thought of rest had been ended with the receipt of a flash message from Arvin Taggart. Almy Breck, the Alliance spy, had contacted Taggart on Titan, telling him that Kelt Dalishaar wanted to parlay. She had intimated that Crawford would be allowed to speak to Kimber if he accepted the communication.

"He's late!" Crawford muttered as he paced past where Admiral Vishnu was leaning on the catwalk railing and gazing at the big tactical display on the far bulkhead.

"As I told you two hours ago," the admiral said, "this message may merely have been a tactical ruse."

"To what purpose?"

"Maybe they want us to lose sleep over it. More than one battle has been lost because the commander was too tired to think clearly."

Crawford shook his head. "Then they would have kept us talking the whole night through. Not calling doesn't make any sense."

The two men lapsed into silence while Crawford stared morosely at the chronometer. He wondered what his daughter was doing now and instantly regretted it. The thought unleashed a series of mental images that, if allowed to continue, would reduce him to a useless rage within seconds.

He resumed his pacing. When another ten minutes passed with no signal, Vishnu informed Crawford that he was returning to his cabin to await news.

"I'll stay here."

"You're sure? They will relay the call if it comes through."

The factor shook his head.

"Suit yourself."

Crawford watched Vishnu out of sight, and then turned to the tactical display. Nothing had changed.

Strike Force Redemption continued its steady westward advance as though it was the only fleet on Saturn.

Larson Sands lay where he had landed. The dust that swirled around him was so thick he could barely see. He lay on his back and coughed up bits of plastic while the mighty thunderclap reverberated in his ears. He lay stunned for a dozen seconds before climbing to his feet. His heartbeat pounded in his temples as he searched frantically for Kimber. He nearly missed her. All that showed was a single foot sticking out from beneath a pile of rubble. He scrambled to clear the debris and gave thanks that cloud cities were built as lightly as practical.

"Are you all right?"

Kimber coughed and sat up. She was white with dust. "I think so. What the hell happened?""An explosion."

He helped Kimber to her feet before resuming his search. He found Caen and Halley crumpled together.

They climbed to their feet without Lars's assistance. The team leader was bleeding from a scalp wound, while Halley was ashen. Sands suspected his own complexion was a lot paler than normal. He cast about for Dumas, but found no sign. He asked Caen if he had seen the marksman.

"Blown out the window," the team leader reported. "If I hadn't collided with Miss Trevanon, I would have gone with him."

"Any idea what happened?"

Caen looked upward. The ceiling above their heads was smashed as though by a giant's fist. It sagged dangerously and a trickle of water was beginning to find its way through the cracks.

"I'd say someone just blew the top off Government Tower!"

"One of our teams?"

Caen shook his head. "It's too early, and besides, I don't think we planned anything like this."

"Could it have been intramural?"

"You mean one Alliance faction against another? It's one hell of a poor time to have a falling out."

"Dalishaar!" Kimber exclaimed.

"What about him?"

"He must have been in his office when the blast hit!"

"Assassination attempt?"

"Why not? He was talking peace. Maybe the Navy found out and tried to kill him."

"I would say they succeeded," Sands replied as he looked upward. "The destruction on the upper floors must be damned near total."

"Look!" Halley said. She had edged close to the gaping hole through which Dumas had plunged. The interior light reflected dully from a sheet of plastic where only empty air should have been. It was as though someone had draped the tower in a plastic tent. It took Halley a moment to realize what she was looking at. "They've torn open the habitat barrier!"

Even as she shouted, Sands felt his throat begin to constrict.

The giant gasbags that provide cloud cities with lift are devoid of oxygen. With Cloudcroft's habitat barrier in tatters, there was no longer anything keeping the city's breathing mixture from mixing with the heated hydrogen in the gasbag. Life giving oxygen was diffusing upward into the vast volume of hydrogen. All over Cloudcroft, alarms were warning the populace to either don breathing masks or seek the shelter of sealed compartments.

"We've got to find breathing gear, and fast!"

"Where?" Kimber asked."I saw an emergency locker in the hallway across from the lift," Caen responded. "Come on, before we all pass out from anoxia."

They left the apartment at a dead run. Lars had his gun out, scanning the hallways for opposition. No one appeared. They were all starting to pant as they reached the emergency locker with its ubiquitous red sign. Sands slammed his shoulder into the frangible cover and felt it shatter into a thousand pieces. He quickly passed out the breathers he found inside. They lost no time fitting the plastic cups over their noses and slipping the oxygen generators onto their belts. It was with considerable relief that Sands felt the burning in his sinuses that told him oxygen was flowing.

"That was close!" Kimber said, her voice muffled by the mask.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Caen ordered.

"Lift?"

He shook his head violently. "Stairs."

Sands opened the doorway to the emergency stairs, tripping an alarm as he did so. They paid it no attention. After the tower had been rocked by explosion, there must be alarms going off everywhere.

They took the steps four at a time, slowing only to operate the security gates on each landing. They saw no one until they reached the third floor landing. Sands nearly stumbled as he rounded a turn and came upon two corpses.

"What's going on?" he asked Caen.

The team leader looked at the dead and shook his head. "These two weren't overcome by hydrogen.

They have been shot. They must have been killed as they opened that door."

The door in question was the one Sands had planned to use to exit the stairwell.

"Trigger happy guards?"

"Or someone who wants to make sure no one comes out of here alive."

"Want to try it?"

Caen shook his head. "Let's try another level."

"Right."

Caen took the lead. At each level, he halted long enough to listen. Each time he reported the sound of gunfire. Someone was fighting a pitched battle around Government Tower. They continued to the bottom of the stairwell two levels below the main deck. Caen listened for sounds once more and heard nothing.

He signaled for Sands to position himself opposite the doorway.

"Just like up above," he whispered. "You dive through first and I'll follow."

"Right."

Caen threw the door wide and Sands dived through. There were two men in civilian dress beyond. The rifles they carried were military issue. They were a moment late in bringing their weapons to bear. Sands shot one and Caen the other. Both fell without a sound.