nel in charge of his ship's Marine forces would
expire, a company or more of power-armored Marines would land to pull
him out and take prisoners, then--if necessary, which he hoped it
wouldn't be--his ship would destroy the base and any of its personnel
who chose not to surrender.

"We'll see," Lord Robert said, smiling. "In the meantime, I think your
capture is cause for celebration."

His people evidently agreed; not long after he left, they began party
preparations, bringing out folding tables and loading them with food
and drink--mostly drink. Their festive mood didn't extend to the young
Ranger, though; Tarlac found himself the object of curses, gloating,
and comments about what most would like to do with the ranking Imperial
officer who was so totally in their power.

Tarlac ignored curses and threats alike, since there was nothing he
could do for the moment, and since he was convinced that nothing
serious would be done to him, whatever was threatened. He'd never
heard of anyone deliberately injuring or killing a Ranger, which wasn't
surprising; the punishment was death, with no reduction of sentence or
mitigating circumstances allowed. He didn't notice--and wouldn't have
cared--that his disregard of their threats made the rebels more
determined to break through the reserve that was so much a part of him
that he never noticed it.

As dusk turned into night and the campfire was lit, the party got both
loud and violent enough that he couldn't disregard it any longer.
Eventually, one of the rebels brought out an animal whip, suggesting it
might be fun to see if they could get some amusement out of the damned
Imperial.

* * * * *

Somehow, Dave Scanlon thought, being held prisoner by a bunch of rebels
just wasn't what it was cracked up to be. He wasn't even locked up,
and his guard had won every one of their chess games so far! Oh, the
rebels themselves seemed to be having a good enough time--it sounded
like a fun party--but he was bored. Then he heard something odd, and
looked around. "Hey, Theo, what was that?"

His guard moved a knight before replying. "Check. What was what?"

Dave scowled at him, waiting for the sound to come again. "That," he
said when it did. "It sounded like a scream."

The guard listened for a moment, then frowned as the sound came yet
again. "Bad news, if it's what I think." Dave shivered at his
expression as he went on. "Don't do anything s