xit. "I did
not want to do this, but he forced me to, because he wouldn't listen
to reason. Now I have something else to show you, something that I
hoped it would not be necessary to reveal."

He was saying the first words that came into his head, trying to
keep them distracted as long as possible. He must appear to be only
going across the room, that was the feeling he must generate. There
was even time to stop for a second and straighten his rumpled
clothing and brush the sweat from his eyes. Talking easily, walking
slowly towards the hall that led out of the chamber.

He was halfway there when the spell broke and the rush began. One of
the magter knelt and touched the body, and shouted a single word:

"Dead!"

Brion hadn't waited for the official announcement. At the first
movement of feet, he dived headlong for the shelter of the exit.
There was a spatter of tiny missiles on the wall next to him and he
had a brief glimpse of raised blowguns before the wall intervened.
He went up the dimly lit stairs three at a time.

The pack was just behind him, voiceless and deadly. He could not
gain on them--if anything, they were closing the distance as he
pushed his already tired body to the utmost. There was no subtlety
or trick he could use now, just straightforward flight back the way
he had come. A single slip on the irregular steps and it would be
all over.

There was someone ahead of him. If the woman had waited a few
seconds more he would certainly have been killed; but instead of
slashing at him as he went by the doorway, she made the mistake of
rushing to the center of the stairs, the knife ready to impale him
as he came up. Without slowing, Brion fell onto his hands and easily
dodged under the blow. As he passed he twisted and seized her around
the waist, picking her from the ground.

When her legs lifted from under her the woman screamed--the first
human sound Brion had heard in this human anthill. His pursuers were
just behind him, and he hurled the woman into them with all his
strength. They fell in a tangle, and Brion used the precious seconds
gained to reach the top of the building.

There must have been other stairs and exits, because one of the
magter stood between Brion and the way down out of this trap--armed
and ready to kill him if he tried to pass.

As he ran towards the executioner, Brion flicked on his collar radio
and shouted into it. "I'm in trouble here. Can you--"

The guards in the car