bles you to bend your trigger finger a
slight bit more when drawing so the gun will fire the instant it touches
your hand."

It was without a doubt the most murderous weapon Jason had ever
handled, as well as being the hardest to manage. Working against the
muscle-burning ache of high gravity, he fought to control the devilish
device. It had an infuriating way of vanishing into the holster just as
he was about to pull the trigger. Even worse was the tendency to leap
out before he was quite ready. The gun went to the position where his
hand should be. If the fingers weren't correctly placed, they were
crashed aside. Jason only stopped the practice when his entire hand was
one livid bruise.

Complete mastery would come with time, but he could already understand
why the Pyrrans never removed their guns. It would be like removing a
part of your own body. The movement of gun from holster to hand was too
fast for him to detect. It was certainly faster than the neural current
that shaped the hand into the gun-holding position. For all apparent
purposes it was like having a lightning bolt in your fingertip. Point
the finger and _blamm_, there's the explosion.

* * * * *

Brucco had left Jason to practice alone. When his aching hand could take
no more, he stopped and headed back towards his own quarters. Turning a
corner he had a quick glimpse of a familiar figure going away from him.

"Meta! Wait for a second--I want to talk to you."

She turned impatiently as he shuffled up, going as fast as he could in
the doubled gravity. Everything about her seemed different from the girl
he had known on the ship. Heavy boots came as high as her knees, her
figure was lost in bulky coveralls of some metallic fabric. The trim
waist was bulged out by a belt of canisters. Her very expression was
coldly distant.

"I've missed you," he said. "I hadn't realized you were in this
building." He reached for her hand but she moved it out of his reach.

"What is it you want?" she asked.

"What is it I want!" he echoed with barely concealed anger. "This is
Jason, remember me? We're friends. It _is_ allowed for friends to talk
without 'wanting' anything."

"What happened on the ship has nothing to do with what happens on
Pyrrus." She started forward impatiently as she talked. "I have finished
my reconditioning and must return to work. You'll be staying here in the
sealed buildings so I won't be seeing you."

"W