The boy led them through the back halls of priest-country. They came to another set of lifts, and Gabriel said, “I don’t know if we can all fit in one.”
“Three of us will take the next one,” said a cadet. ‘Two and Ennis, just in case we’re late. We should leave the admin; he can’t hurt us now.”
Tal nodded. They’d come a long way through the corridors; how far did they have to travel now? The first lift came and they entered it. Tal heard Ennis say to his captors, “I told you how to open the cells.”
“We didn’t contract for that information,” came the soft answer. “But I thank you for the gift.”
The lift doors closed. Tal drew his pistol and rested it gently against Gabriel’s skull.
The doors opened onto a Transport bay. Tal removed the pistol. He pushed Gabriel out into the bay. “Follow the others,” he said. The Graykey were already running toward the ship.
Another lifted opened and the rest of their party joined in the run, dragging Ennis with them. The Transport area seemed deserted by Opal personnel; smoke arose from some of the equipment. Evidently the diversion group had been busy.
One of that group ran to him now, a boy with a short nose and freckles just like Keylinn’s. He said, “We’re missing Tommy.”
“Everyone else here?”
“Yes,” said the boy.
Tal visualized making his explanations to the Dean, then turned and went toward the exit. “We’ve just spiked the lifts,” called the boy after him, “but they’ll overrule it in a few minutes!”
He found Tommy only a short way down the hall, through the exit doors. Tal would have liked to kill him. The ugly, shuttered face looked toward him as he approached. “Wait,” he said, and because Tal had dealt with Graykey he waited.
They were just before a comer at a junction of routes. The sound of pounding feet echoed through the hall. “Security,” said Tommy.
Tal waited. He heard more footsteps, this time behind him, and he turned. It was Gabriel. “What the hell are you going here?”
The boy looked as confused about the answer as anyone. Tommy glanced at him. “Just keep quiet.”
A few seconds later two City Guards appeared at the far end. Two more came behind them, and then two more. All carried light-rifles. They reached the middle of the hall and hesitated. One man was talking to the others; they heard him say, “There was an explosion on the Green side. Maybe we should take the other route.” Tommy took hold of Gabriel’s arm and pulled him close. In his ear he said softly, “Call them.”
Gabriel looked horrified. His lips moved, but the words were almost inaudible. “They’ll kill me.”
“You’re wearing Opal slave colors,” came Tommy’s voice, his mouth against the boy’s ear. “They don’t see you as a threat. Scream and beg for help. Say you saw us pass, say we took you prisoner, just scream and point this way.”
The boy still hesitated. Tal said softly, “Do you have the faintest hope of surviving if we don’t get out of the City?” Gabriel wet his lips with his tongue. “Call them,” whispered Tal.
Gabriel stepped out into the corridor. He waved his arms, looking every bit as pathetic as he felt. Shouts came from the City Guards. “Help!” yelled Gabriel. “Help me! Sirs! They’re over there, they’re over there!” And he pointed frantically toward the bay entrance.
The shouts brought more men. The corridor filled with uniforms and light-rifles. When as many were there as Tommy deemed necessary, he said, “Curtain up.”
And the lower half of the corridor burst into flames and screams. “One battalion down,” said Tommy. “It’ll take them a little while to send out another unit.”
“Shall we go now?” asked Tal.
Tommy grinned and spit out a piece of gum, and they ran through the doors. Gabriel came after, sparing a single look back with a faintly vicious smile.
Behind them came a smell of roasting flesh.
Tal and the Graykey ran into the ship and Tal took the pilot’s seat at once to begin take-off procedures. Gabriel tried to follow them in, but Spider moved to block the end of the ramp. “Hold on there, friend, where do you think you’re going?”
Gabriel said, “I’m coming with you.”
“The hell you are. Get down off the ramp.”
The boy paled. “I have to—” he began, and realized that Spider was holding a gun. He peered over Spider’s shoulder into the dim interior, where he could just see the shape of the Outsider commander. He threw a glance at the wall behind him to check the lift levels, which were lighting nicely—the Graykey sabotage had been overruled, Security was on its way. Sweat broke out on his face.
Spider brought up the gun. “Look, friend, I’ve never shot an unarmed man before, but if you continue to be irritating—”
Gabriel burst out, “Sir! Commander! Sir Terrorist!” Tal glanced up briefly from the controls. “Let him in, Spider, I told him he could come.”
Spider shrugged and stepped out of the way.
The hatch was closed and Tal cut them from the dock. He connected the computer-pilot to the traffic net and told it to open the bay. They took off.
Spider came up beside Tal at the controls. “Can I start to relax now?” he asked.
“No. I assume they’ll try to shoot us.”
“Christ! What are we doing about that?”
“Do you mind?” asked Tal, pausing over the computer entry. “I’m doing it now.”
Spider muttered and withdrew. A moment later Tal said, ‘There. Let’s see how bright they are.”
His tone suggested it was no contest. Spider came forward to check the traffic monitor, where he saw a dozen points representing ships in and about the Opal. “We’re not close to anything,” he remarked. ‘They’ve got a clear field to target us.”
Tal did not reply. On the monitor there was a brief flare on one of the blips. When it
