in a minute. Sit down, Dasinger. Manual course corrections
coming up...." She slid into the pilot seat, moved her hands out over
the controls, and appeared to forget about him.

Dasinger settled into a chair to her left, lit a cigarette, smoked and
watched her, glancing occasionally at the screens. She was jockeying the
Mooncat deftly in and out of the fringes of a gravitic stress knot,
presently brought it into the clear, slapped over a direction lever and
slid the palm of her right hand along a row of speed control buttons
depressing them in turn.

* * * * *

"Nice piece of piloting," Dasinger observed.

Duomart lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug. "That's my job." Her face
remained serious. "Are you wondering why I edged us through that thing
instead of going around it?"

"Uh-huh, a little," Dasinger admitted.

"It knocked half an hour off the time it should take us to get to your
planet," she said. "That is, if you'll still want to go there. We're
being followed, you see."

"By whom?"

"They call her the Spy. After the Mooncat she's the fastest job in the
Fleet. She's got guns, and her normal complement is twenty armed men."

"The idea being to have us lead them to what we're after, and then take
it away from us?" Dasinger asked.

"That's right. I'm not supposed to know about it. You know what a Gray
Fleet is?"

Dasinger nodded. "An Independent that's turned criminal."

"Yes. Willata's Fleet was a legitimate outfit up to four years ago. Then
Liu Taunus and Calat and their gang took over. That happened to be the
two Fleet bosses you slapped handcuffs on, Dasinger. We're a Gray Fleet
now. So I had some plans of my own for this trip. If I can get to some
other I-Fleet or to the Hub, I might be able to do something about
Taunus. After we were down on the planet, I was going to steal the
Mooncat and take off by myself."

"Why are you telling me?"

Miss Mines colored a little. "Well, you gave me the gun," she said. "And
you clobbered Taunus, and got me out of that hypno thing ... I mean, I'd
have to be pretty much of a jerk to ditch you now, wouldn't I? Anyway,
now that I've told you, you won't be going back to Willata's Fleet,
whatever you do. I'll still get to the Hub." She paused. "So what do you
want to do now? Beat it until the coast's clear, or make a quick try for
your loot before the Spy gets there?"

"How far is she behind us?" Dasinger asked.

Duomart said, "