moned
up a smile.

Now that he thought of it, this affair could be turned to profit. After
all, Dar Makun had been diverted from his route and he had lost some of
his train. And caravans had been known to disappear in the vicinity of
turbulent nulls.

All he had to do was deny knowledge of the fate of Dar Makun's caravan
if there were any inquiry. Oh, certainly, he could tell any inquirer,
Dar Makun had arrived. He had stayed overnight and then taken his
departure, saying something about cutting around the null and back to
his normal, northern swing.

He was feeling better now. He turned his attention to the control
crystal and the boat swung about, to make its way back toward the lake.

* * * * *

It took longer than he had thought it would. It was evening of the day
after the death of Dar Makun when Barra turned in his seat and raised
his hand, then waved it in a wide circle.

A quickly directed thought halted his mount and he looked about once
more, at the thick forest.

This clearing was as close to the village of Celdalo as he wanted to
come. The villagers never came into this heavy screen of trees, but
beyond the forest, there might be some who would watch and wonder. He
smiled grimly.

Of course, it didn't make too much difference what slaves might
think--if they could think at all, but there was no reason to leave
unnecessary traces of the day's work.

He swung about in his cushions and looked back at the line of draft
beasts. They were swinging out of line now, to form a semicircle, facing
the trees ahead.

He impressed an order on his mount to stand, then lifted himself out of
the cushioned seat between the armor fins. For a few seconds, he
hovered, looking down at the beast he had been riding.

Yes, he thought, he would do well to raise a few of these creatures.
They were tractable and comfortable to ride. A good many caravan masters
might be persuaded to get rid of their less comfortable mounts in
exchange for one of these, once they had tried a day's march.

One by one, the big saurians came to the forest edge and entered the
clearing, then crouched, to let their drivers swing to the ground. Barra
looked at the lead driver.

"Make your cargo stack over here," he ordered, "at this side of the
clearing. You will wait here for your master."

The man looked confused. A vague, questioning thought came from him. It
wasn't really a coherent thought, but just an imp