In politics, my dear sir, the _appearance_ of a man
means much more than his substance. As a coward, I would soon be out
of office. But perhaps, as the winner of a duel against the invincible
Odal ... or even as a martyr ... I may accomplish something useful."

Leoh said nothing.

Massan continued, "I put off the duel for a week, hoping that in that
time you might discover Odal's secret. I dare not postpone the duel
any longer; as it is, the political situation may collapse about our
heads at any moment."

"I'll take this machine apart and rebuild it again, molecule by
molecule," Leoh promised.

As Massan's image faded from the screen, Leoh turned to Hector. "We
have one week to save his life."

"And avert a war, maybe," Hector added.

"Yes." Leoh leaned back in his chair and stared off into infinity.

Hector shuffled his feet, rubbed his nose, whistled a few bars of
off-key tunes, and finally blurted, "How can you take apart the
dueling machine?"

"Hm-m-m?" Leoh snapped out of his reverie.

"How can you take apart the dueling machine?" Hector repeated. "Looks
like a big job to do in a week."

"Yes, it is. But, my boy, perhaps we ... the two of us ... can do it."

Hector scratched his head. "Well, uh, sir ... I'm not very ... that
is, my mechanical aptitude scores at the Academy--"

Leoh smiled at him. "No need for mechanical aptitude, my boy. You were
trained to fight, weren't you? We can do the job mentally."

VIII

It was the strangest week of their lives.

Leoh's plan was straightforward: to test the dueling machine, push it
to the limits of its performance, by actually operating it--by
fighting duels.

They started off easily enough, tentatively probing and flexing their
mental muscles. Leoh had used the dueling machine himself many times
in the past, but only in tests of the machines' routine performance.
Never in actual combat against another human being. To Hector, of
course, the machine was a totally new and different experience.

The Acquatainian staff plunged into the project without question,
providing Leoh with invaluable help in monitoring and analyzing the
duels.

At first, Leoh and Hector did nothing more than play hide-and-seek,
with one of them picking an environment and the other trying to find
his opponent in it. They wandered through jungles and cities, over
glaciers and interplanetary voids, seeking each other--without ever
leaving the booths of the dueling machine.

The