carefully. "Can I take this along? To my lab? I'd like to analyze it
more fully."

"Of course. But why?"

"No special reason. Let's go get our coffee." Sherikov headed toward
the door. "You say you expect to capture this man in a day or so?"

"_Kill_ him, not capture him. We've got to eliminate him as a piece of
data. We're assembling the attack formations right now. No slip-ups,
this time. We're in the process of setting up a cross-bombing pattern
to level the entire Albertine range. He must be destroyed, within the
next forty-eight hours."

Sherikov nodded absently. "Of course," he murmured. A preoccupied
expression still remained on his broad features. "I understand
perfectly."

* * * * *

Thomas Cole crouched over the fire he had built, warming his hands. It
was almost morning. The sky was turning violet gray. The mountain air
was crisp and chill. Cole shivered and pulled himself closer to the
fire.

The heat felt good against his hands. _His hands._ He gazed down at
them, glowing yellow-red in the firelight. The nails were black and
chipped. Warts and endless calluses on each finger, and the palms. But
they were good hands; the fingers were long and tapered. He respected
them, although in some ways he didn't understand them.

Cole was deep in thought, meditating over his situation. He had been
in the mountains two nights and a day. The first night had been the
worst. Stumbling and falling, making his way uncertainly up the steep
slopes, through the tangled brush and undergrowth--

But when the sun came up he was safe, deep in the mountains, between
two great peaks. And by the time the sun had set again he had fixed
himself up a shelter and a means of making a fire. Now he had a neat
little box trap, operated by a plaited grass rope and pit, a notched
stake. One rabbit already hung by his hind legs and the trap was
waiting for another.

The sky turned from violet gray to a deep cold gray, a metallic color.
The mountains were silent and empty. Far off some place a bird sang,
its voice echoing across the vast slopes and ravines. Other birds
began to sing. Off to his right something crashed through the brush,
an animal pushing its way along.

Day was coming. His second day. Cole got to his feet and began to
unfasten the rabbit. Time to eat. And then? After that he had no
plans. He knew instinctively that he could keep himself alive
indefinitely with the tools he had retai