t work against superior force, and an
ambush set unwittingly by Jadiver.

Then Jadiver saw them. They moved as a unit--Burlingame, Emily and two
others. They smashed through the guests with a formation that had the
flying wedge as a remote ancestor. Burlingame was leading it, tangle gun
in hand. The guests were thrown back and a policeman went down.

[Illustration]

It was hard to fire into the mob through which Burlingame and his crew
were bulling. In that respect, the tangle gun was not selective. It
seized on any motion.

They couldn't make it, but Jadiver hoped for them. They were at the edge
of the crowd. Between them and freedom was a thin cordon of police.
Beyond the police was a planted area where jungle vines and shrubs,
considerably taller than a man, grew dense. Just past that area were two
exits leading to the street.

From the balcony, Jadiver could see it clearly. If they could reach the
exits, they had a chance for flight.

They broke through the cordon. They shouldn't have, for superior trained
men were opposing them. But it was another kind of training that
Burlingame was using and with it he split the police. The group plunged
into the jungle shrubs and emerged on the other side. The police on the
floor couldn't see them, the planted area screened off the view. They
were almost safe.

The exits opened before they could reach them--more police. Burlingame
went down, a cloud around his face, weaving wire shapes that tightened
on his throat. The other two stumbled as police fired at their feet.

* * * * *

Emily alone was not hit. She was close and moving too fast. She escaped
the tangle guns, but ran directly into the arms of a burly officer. He
laughed and grabbed her as if she were a robot. She bit him.

He swore at her and swiftly looked around. The guests couldn't see. He
hit her solidly in the middle. She gasped for breath. He took out his
tangle gun and fired into her mouth.

Jadiver sicklily knew he had been wrong about the tangle gun; it could
kill if the person who used it had sufficient experience and brutality.

Emily would never have to lose that beautiful face and figure. She could
keep it until she died, which wouldn't be long. Nobody could stop the
peristaltic motion of the digestive system, voluntarily or otherwise, or
of the lungs in trying to breathe.

Burlingame wouldn't know. Policemen were cooperative, and it would be
listed as an accide