oot moved toward him. Case bobbed his head up and down briefly,
much as Engels had done, and kept walking. The guard hesitated, stepped
out of his way. He was through the cordon and going up through the
entrance.

Then the yelling came from behind him. They had caught on.

* * * * *

One leap took Case through the doorway. Over his head, a pellet burst.
They were shooting now. Somewhere in the building, a warning whistle cut
loose.

He ran down a long corridor, saw figures pop out of a room ahead. But
there was a corridor running crossways. Case skidded, made a fast turn
and pounded along that one. Plenty of shouting now. It sounded like he
had an army after him.

These halls were too long. He was a dead pigeon if he didn't find a
place to hide soon. There were plenty of doors, but he didn't know which
one to try. Then a series of the deadly pellets broke around him and
made up his mind. The next door was the one.

It opened into a big room filled with electrical equipment. Case barged
around something that looked like a big transformer, and headed for a
door at the other end. The door swung toward him, disclosing a mass of
men.

His gun was in his hand now and spitting death. But there were too many.
Their corpses blocked the doorway. He couldn't get around them.

Something heavy cracked against the base of his skull and knocked him to
his knees. Half dazed, he turned and tried to fire and was buried
beneath an avalanche of charging men. The gun was knocked out of his
hand.

"Hey!" A startled voice came through the roaring in Case Damon's ears.
"Hey! This guy is white!"

Rough hands twisted his arms behind Case and other hands hauled him to
his feet. He shook his head to clear it and found himself facing Pete
Engels. There was instant recognition.

"Case Damon. Well, I'll be! I told Yuna to warn those guards, but I
didn't really think you'd make it."

"I didn't, did I?" Case said bitterly.

"What is it?" A voice said from behind Engels. "What is going on?"

That was in Earth English, but with a heavy accent. The voice belonged
to an orange skinned man who came through as the guards parted. This was
someone of importance, Case realized. His metallic suit gleamed with the
lustre of spun gold, and it filled his big body as though it had been
moulded to it.

"Meet Case Damon," Engels said with mock ceremony. "Damon, this is Yuna,
ruler of Kanato and soon to be half ruler o