When she awoke it was three hours later and, she bad a digusting headache. She was still lying on the floor of her room, where she'd fallen. The man in the black cloak was gone. Useless to call security on this now; the man was long gone. With a groan she pulled herself onto the bed, tore off her clothes, and staggered into the bathroom for aspirin and water.

Later she went to bed, but not before checking the door and sliding the deadbolt across at the top. The lock was plainly not to be trusted.

Finally she removed a small traveling handgun, a chopped-down Faud .32-caliber quikpump automatic. It was small and light and reassuring when she placed it under her pillow.

This was Wexel, she reflected. This was going to be the toughest job she had ever bad.

CHAPTER TEN.

CAROLINE REESE HAD AN ASTONISHING DAY. The anlyzer had timed up at her office at ten.

She'd had it running by eleven and was getting gas-chroma data by lunch. All afternoon she worked at matchups while looking through the mineral balances and amino-acid counts.

It was bizarre stuff. The DNA was so short as to make her think it was artificial, the product of a gene lab. There was ubiquitin, thus continuing the universality of that useful little protein. Ubiquitin played many roles in nucleated cells, and its basic structure had remained the same to an extraordinary degree. For example, between human and yeast ubiquitin there were only three different amino acids. Between human ubiquitin and the ubiquitin of the alien creature there were also three different amino acids.

Ubiquitin continued to live up to its name.

Some of the other proteins were very unusual, however, with no match in the terrestrial biolog or the laowon biolog. A further check showed no match within the more limited ancient Wexel biolog, either.

A further check of corporate biologs registered with the ITAA showed no matchups with known artificial lifeforms, either.

Dead ends everywhere, and that left her wondering.

On the cellular level there were hundreds of peculiarities, am she sensed that the analysis there would take a considerable length of time.

There were many different types of cell; the creature wa profoundly complex despite its straight little strip of DNA. Bu all the cells, nucleated or not, were equipped with a protein in their outer layer that could expand to close all cellular pore watertight. With a single protein shift the cell became a kind a spore, able to survive extreme conditions.

At the back of Carolines mind something twitched reflexively. She felt an odd premonition, and she tried to track it down in her mind, but it led to nothing and after a while she pushed it out of her thoughts.

It was alien life, no doubt about that, but beyond that it was hard to say what it was. Sparce was intelligent life, space-traveling intelligent life, then it represented a colossal find. For apart from the laowon, no such lifeforms had been discovered yet in the galactic search. All other evolved life was restricted to the planet of its birth.

Of course, there was the Starhammer, and the evidence of the ancient war a billion years ago. But those lifeforms were long since extinct, no more than an exotic quirk of history.

She began a series of molecular imagings, looking for connectivin proteins. She was sitting in her chair, twiddling a pencil and looking out the window and across the quadrangle to the University Tower. The carnelian creeper that grew up the gray stone was catching the long flat evening rays like an array a small bronze mirrors.

The clock struck the quarter hour.

There was something at the back of her mind, something that she was trying to recall.

And then she had it and breathed an ancient name: "Saskatch, Planet Saskatch."

The planet destroyed two thousand years before in the No canicus sector. A human world devoured entirely by a deadly alien lifeform.

Caroline stared at the screen.

Could this find be related to that?

She summoned up an ITAA biolog listing from the central data bank. After the ID check she fed in her protein analyses and asked for match ups from the biolog of known alien life.

The ubiquitin match should come soon, so she waited for a reply and spun her chair back to the max-screen and went on with microscopic molecule imaging.

The ITAA check seemed to be taking longer than she thought normal, and she looked up at the clock impatiently and noticed two things.

It was already five o'clock in the afternoon, and Count Geezl Karvur was standing by the door to her office.

She started up with the shock and knocked over a pile of modules on her side desk.

"What are you doing here?"

With his usual arrogance the man swept in and seated himself in her office. He was wearing full evening wear, black silk tuxedo, purple bow tie. His features were contorted into a weird smile.

"I'm afraid I just couldn't stand the wait any longer. So I thought it through and I decided it would be a great time to go to Cowdray-Kara and see about some business affairs. While I was here I could visit you and find out what you've discovered."

For some reason her heart was pounding. She didn't want Count Karvur in her office. She didn't want him anywhere near her life at all.

How had he got past Security? Her breath was only slowly coming back.

"Well, you're too early to find out much," she croaked.

"We've got about two hundred proteins mapped and lots more to do. But I still don't understand why you're here. Why aren't you at the dig as you said you'd be?"

He chuckled without amusement. "The diggings will keep, and I would not trust the phone lines. It will be better this way."

"Better?" she groped.

"Yes, much better. Now what have you found out?" He was leaning forward, with his hands on her desk. The debonair patina was gone; his eyes were hard.

She swallowed. What if the ITAA biolog analysis came in at this point?

"About all I can say we've found out for sure is that this definitely did not originate on Wexel. With the one proviso that it might have done, if it represents an earlier, extinct evolution path. Perhaps something obliterated by comet strike in the distant past"

"Those are Karavian sandstones, a mere eighty million years old. Wexel lifeforms were already evolved; I know because I investigated all these things. I wanted to know how this could be."

"Then we can rule out completely any idea that it is from Wexel."

"As I suspected all along," mummured Karvur. "It's too old and complex for Wexel."

"Certainly it's complex. The cells were designed like safes, or puzzles, or a mixture of both." She shrugged. "I'm going to check the ITAA biolog of known alien life. If it isn't in that, then we've really got ourselves something."

Karvur's eyes glittered. That feral glitter disturbed Caroline; she was beginning to be seriously frightened. The count seemed capable of anything, even irrational violence. And what protection did she have? There was nothing in the office, and Security seemed to have let the count through without a murmur.

How the hell had he got in here?

And then the door opened a second time and Soille Benuki walked in, and Caroline was never more glad to see her.

"Soille!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "I'll be ready in just a minute."

Karvur glared at her.

Caroline switched down her computer screen and left the machine to complete the ITAA biolog interface on its own without screen display. As the screen dimmed she moved quickly, gathering up a bag and a set of printouts.

Karvur was on the point of saying something, but she stopped him with a cool smile.

"I'm sorry, Count, but I have an appointment, and we'll be late if I don't leave right away."

Caroline gave thanks for the fact that Soille was very quick on the uptake. Soille sensed a wrongness in the room. She kept her mouth shut.

"Reese, I don't know what you're playing at," Karvur muttered.

"Count, you must leave now. I've got to go. Look, the next time you drop in give me a call, give me time to make arrangements."

Karvur rose to his feet, growled "Enough of this!" and stalked from the room.

Soille's eyes followed him and then snapped back to Caroline. "What was all that about?" she asked.

"We've got to get out of here," Caroline muttered, "I need a drink. Come on."

Outside she went down the back way, through the chemistry department. She suddenly felt sure that Karvur would be outside the main entrance waiting to follow her. She could imagine the man stalking her through the city. He was probably armed- some virtually silent handgun, or perhaps a knife.

She very definitely did not want to see Count Karvur ever again in person.

They ducked into the Woodbeam, an ancient student pub, and took a dark booth in a far corner. They ordered coffee from the single, bored waiter.

Young men with long hair and skintight costumes were playing the ancient game of darts while drinking weak beer. Their shouts and chatter dominated the room.

"All right, Caroline, now you have to come clean. Tell me what the hell is going on."

Soille would not take a brush-off this time. Caroline knew she had to concoct some kind of story.

What she was doing was unethical. She should have reported the find to the geology section. She should have prevented Karvur's rough and ready excavation of the site. The list of things she should have done but hadn't was too long to even contemplate. If Gottschalk ever got hold of this, he would destroy her career on the spot.

And Soille was not the best keeper of secrets in the Department of Life Sciences, either. This would be difficult.

"Look, Soille, I've got myself into a rather tight spot. You're going to have to keep a secret, or else you'll probably get me arrested."

Soille's eyes bulged. "I knew I lived in interesting times," she murmured. "What is it, Caroline?"

"I think I may have found an alien form of life, completely unknown. That's what I'm analyzing for right now."

"ITAA biolog check?"

Oh, Soille, always so quick on the uptake. "Yes, of course."

"Well, if they don't have it, nobody does. Although you could contact the laowon."

"Expensive call, and I already checked the published laowon biolog, that covers both Laogolden and Ratan. I'd have to get clearance from the university. They'd want to know why."

"And you want to keep it secret."

"I have to, Soille, I have to until l know. It's the only way to keep control of it. And besides, it's not just me."

"Ah, that explains the ugly man in your office. Who is he, and what does he have to do with this?"

"Well, I can't go into that. But he's an aristo from the south."

"Oh, where? Someplace awful I'll bet. Luc, or-yeah, I bet he's from Patash-Do."

Caroline was unsettled by Soille's deadly accuracy. "It doesn't matter where he's from," she blustered.

"He is involved in this and I think he's somewhat unstable."

"Somewhat unstable? What does that mean?"

"I don't know, Soille, I just have to be careful. That man worries me."

"If he's an aristo from Pat-Do then you might have reason to be careful. They're a violent breed, everyone knows that."

"So, tell me more about this form of life. What is it? Animal, vegetable? Old Wexel? Don't tell me you've found something that evolved in the reducing atmosphere?"

"Look, Soille, you cannot tell anyone about this. Not until I'm ready, you understand?"

"When's 'ready' going to be?"

"I don't know yet, a few weeks maybe. I have to get a lot of paperwork set up."

"What? You're gonna write the book first?"

Soille was so deadly quick. "I've got to save my ass, Soille.

Gottschalk will want to fry me alive when I release this. I need to be sure I can survive his attack."

"So you come out with the book, get the media attention here, and look strong for the university regents. Why fire a new red-hot? So they'll tell Gottschalk to calm down and give you whatever you want."

Caroline nodded. "Well, something like that. I hope."

Soille was smiling. "Well, it sounds great, Caroline, except for one thing."

"What's in it for Soille?" said Caroline.

She laughed. "Why not? Don't I deserve a little something after I got you your analyzer and saved you from that awful man?"

"Yes, Soille," said Caroline, "of course. I'll give you a coauthor credit if you like, anything that'll keep your mouth shut about this until it's published."