son to identify Hunter as the fugitive. Later on, of
course, when the police used electronic trackers, he wouldn't stand a
chance. But before that happened he intended to make a deal with
Werner von Rausch.

At the top of the stairs he found a tower window which afforded a
crow's nest view of the top level. The twelve casinos, bright with
lights, occupied more than half the area. Beyond the resort parkland
was the small, white government building, dignified by its simplicity
among so much ostentation. Beside it was the transparent semi-sphere
housing the top landing of the center-city lifts. A third structure--a
grotesque mechanical monster trapped in the heart of a spider-web of
converging wires--was the power distribution center for the top level.

In back of the government building a high, metal-faced fence knifed
across the level. That fence guarded the forbidden home-ground of the
titans. Hunter could see the silhouette of the cartel castles rising
against the sky, two gigantic masses of stone. The one on the west was
Farren's; the eastern one, Von Rausch's. That much and no more was
common knowledge.

Were the two families, who had fought for so long to control the
empire beyond the stars, on speaking terms here? Did they observe the
social amenities in the same spirit that their companies enforced the
sham peace on earth? In their lonely, lofty isolation, what
amusements did they enjoy? What contributed to the enrichment of the
lives of those fragile beings who possessed the wealth of the galaxy?

Hunter was sure no armed guards patrolled the forbidden paradise.
There was no need for them, for scanners formed a protective grid over
the area. An autojet, attempting a landing from any direction, would
break a beam and instantly become the target for the autoblasters
erected at intervals along the fence. A man attempting to scale the
wall would meet the same lethal charge.

Hunter saw one small gate with an identification screen mounted in
front of it. Obviously the gate would open to the handprint of a Von
Rausch or a Farren. But a stranger would find himself standing in the
line of fire of two blasters, conspicuous over the gate.

The scanners, the blasters, the identification screen--all the
complex, electronic watchdogs--depended solely upon power. Countless
other people, Hunter knew, had realized that. Only mechanically
produced power made the area invulnerable. Anyone could break through
the fence. It h