dy, then, I'll boost the power."

Kelly took position behind the man, resting her hands on his shoulders.
She closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them. "All right,
I'm ready."

Ryan nodded, then concentrated on Medart again, increasing his spell's
pressure against those defenses. As he'd predicted, the Prince
convulsed almost immediately, the restraints the only things that kept
him from breaking bones. At last, though, his defenses collapsed and
Ryan released the pressure, maintaining only the truth-compulsion. A
few questions verified his identity and universe of origin, then Ryan
got to the key points. "You say you gave Last Gift to warriors of
Clans Vader and Lewies. Describe the circumstances."

"They were prisoners aboard my ship, in sickbay because they were dying
of something we didn't understand and couldn't cure. I was able to
work it out and save most of the rest, but those two were beyond help,
and I wasn't about to make them suffer if I could help it. I guessed
you had some form of euthanasia or aided suicide the other Sandemans
couldn't provide in enemy hands, so I told them I'd handle it if that
was what they wanted. It was, so I did. They died quickly, and as
painlessly as I could manage. Then we gave them star-burial, the best
we could do in space."

"And how did you get the saber?"

"That was later, on Mjolnir, for the conference that brought the
Sandeman worlds into the Empire. I got into a TreasureTunnels game
that included Clan-chief Wylie of Vader, along with a few others,
Sandeman and Imperial. But I didn't have an appropriate character, so
Wylie loaned me one of his, the Black Jedi Kynan Ardais. He explained
the game saber, then handed me a real one and let me try it out. When
I went to return it, he told me it was mine, a thanks-gift from the
warrior Leigh."

Ryan wanted to continue that line, but he'd promised to restrict his
questioning to what was required to prove James' claims--and the
subject James had told him he should ask about. "Tell me of the
Ravagers."

"They're inter-universal raiders. They aren't life as we usually
understand the term; some scientists believe they aren't really life at
all. From time to time, at unpredictable intervals, they erupt into a
random universe and--if that universe doesn't have a technological and
population level near the Empire's--devastate it and proceed to
another. But no Empire-level civilization is attacked mor