he asked.

Halder growled amiably, "What do you think? Let's grab a cab and get
going." Nobody had come out of the tube exit behind her.

Kilby nodded understandingly; she had remembered not to look back. She
was talking volubly about some imaginary adventure as they started down
the terrace stairs towards a line of aircabs, playing her part,
high-piled golden hairdo bobbing about. A greater contrast to the
slender, quiet, gray-eyed girl, brown hair falling softly to her
shoulders, with whom Halder had talked not more than twenty minutes ago
would have been difficult to devise. The disguises might have been good
enough, he thought, to permit them to remain undetected in Draise
itself.

But the plan didn't call for that. There were too many things at stake.

Kilby slipped into the cab ahead of him without a break in her chatter.

Her voice stopped abruptly as Halder closed the cab door behind him,
activating the vehicle's one-way vision shield. Kilby was leaning across
the front seat beside the driver, turning off the comm box. She
straightened, dropped down into the back seat beside Halder, biting her
lip. The driver's head sagged sideways as if he had fallen asleep; then
he slid slowly down on the seat and vanished from Halder's sight.

"Got him instantly, eh?" Halder asked, switching on the passenger
controls.

"Hm-m-m!" Kilby opened her purse, slipped the little gun which had been
in the palm of her left hand into it, reached out and gripped Halder's
hand for an instant. "You drive, Halder," she said. "I'm so nervous I
could scream! I'm scared cold! What happened?"

* * * * *

Halder lifted the cab out from the terrace, swung it skywards. "We were
right in wondering about Dr. Atteo," he said. "Half an hour ago, he
attempted to go through our home in our absence. We'll have to assume
he's a Federation agent. The entry trap knocked him out, but the fat's
probably in the fire now. The Federation may not have been ready to make
an arrest yet, but after this there'll be no hesitation. We'll have to
move fast if we intend to keep ahead of Atteo's colleagues."

Kilby drew in an unsteady breath. "You warned Rane and Santin?"

Halder nodded. "I sent the alert signal to their apartment ComWeb in the
capital. Under the circumstances, I didn't think a person-to-person call
would be advisable. They'll have time to pack and get out to the ranch
before we arrive. We'll give them the detail