One of them kicked his weapon away.

They stood over him for a malevolent, gloating second. Then six strong
arms flashed down, again and again, mercilessly. Pain and blood,
screaming agony, punctuated by the awful thudding of solid clubs
hitting fragile flesh and bone, over and over again, endlessly.

Everything went blank.

* * * * *

Leoh opened his eyes and saw Hector bending over him.

"Are you all right, sir?"

"I ... I think so."

"The controls all hit the danger mark at once. You were ... well, sir,
you were screaming."

"I don't doubt it," Leoh said.

They walked, with Leoh leaning on Hector's arm, from the dueling
machine booth to the office.

"That was ... an experience." Leoh said, easing himself onto the
couch.

"What happened? What did Odal do? What made Dulaq go into shock? How
does--"

The old man silenced Hector with a wave of his hand, "One question at
a time, please."

Leoh leaned back on the deep couch and told Hector every detail of
both parts of the duel.

"Six Odals," Hector muttered soberly, leaning back against the
doorframe. "Six against one."

"That's what he did. It's easy to see how a man expecting a polite,
formal duel can be completely shattered by the viciousness of such an
attack. And the machine amplifies every impulse, every sensation."

"But how does he do it?" Hector asked, his voice suddenly loud and
demanding.

"I've been asking myself the same question. We've checked over the
dueling machine time and again. There is no possible way for Odal to
plug in five helpers ... unless--"

"Unless?"

Leoh hesitated, seemingly debating with himself. Finally he nodded his
head sharply, and answered. "Unless Odal is a telepath."

"Telepath? But--"

"I know it sounds farfetched. But there have been well-documented
cases of telepathy for centuries throughout the Commonwealth."

Hector frowned. "Sure, everybody's heard about it ... natural
telepaths ... but they're so unpredictable ... I don't see how--"

Leoh leaned forward on the couch and clasped his hands in front of his
chin. "The Terran races have never developed telepathy, or any of the
extrasensory talents. They never had to, not with tri-di
communications and superlight starships. But perhaps the Kerak people
are different--"

Hector shook his head. "If they had uh, telepathic abilities, they
would be using them everywhere. Don't you think?"

"Probably so. But only Odal has