"Yes, and through the computer interface of cyborg connection . . ."

"Of course. You'd be able to control those warriors!"

They stood for a moment in silence, staring at the oxygen bubbles forming around the growing creatures and then floating up to the surface. A mail melange.

"But why?" she murmured.

"Power, presumably," said Attila. "Why else? Evanston doesn't want just a world. He wants worlds."

"That was what we saw out there-one of these creatures. It wasn't a pile of different creatures and some machinery. It was a single creature . . . somehow on the loose. That had somehow been killed."

"By the yautja?" "I guess so. That would make sense . . . but who knows?"

Thoughts were twisting and turning inside her head. She wasn't sure what she had expected to find inside this part of the biolab factory . . . but it certainly hadn't been this.

"What now?"

"Are you taking all this in?"

"Yes."

"Sufficient data?"

"Yes."

"Then now we get the h.e.l.l out of here and figure out the next step. Now we-"

Inside the tank the creature's eyes opened.

A bug with eyes!

The head of the thing was a terrible and ungainly amalgam of the banana-insect helmet of a bug and the chromium sheen of complex cyborg implants. But the eyes looked just as sharp and intelligent as any that Machiko had ever seen in a warrior's head.

Despite herself, she jumped.

"d.a.m.n. It's looking at us."

Attila said, "Time to depart, indeed. In fact, I hope it's not too-"

A siren started to sound.

"Late."

"Go! Go!"

They tore away, heading back toward the vault door they had entered. They were just pulling it open when the security men rounded the corner about thirty yards away.

"Halt!"

Yeah, right, thought Machiko. Or you'll shoot.

They didn't halt, of course. They dived through the opening and began running, Machiko hoping against hope that they hadn't been recognized. This would certainly take some explaining . . . . Well, Mr. Evanston . . . I was just looking for the ladies' room ....

They were out into the main section of the biolab and still running when the other troop of security came around the other corner, cutting them off.

They dived behind another tank, not pausing for a moment, but scurrying away like pursued rats in a maze: "Alternative exit?" said Machiko.

"Yes. Follow me." Attila ran down another aisle, the end of which was a door. With absolutely no ceremony or precaution, he banged against that door, pus.h.i.+ng on the latch simultaneously . . . hurling himself into the outside.

Machiko followed.

They were out on permacrete now, in some sort of empty parking lot. Beyond was a perimeter fence, and beyond that a gate yawned open invitingly.

They ran for it.

"Stop," screamed someone from behind them.

"Run ahead of me," said Attila, positioning himself between her and their pursuers. "I can take bullets a lot better than you can."

"Thanks," she puffed.

There were explosions behind them, and the whizzing of fired ammunition to their sides and over their heads.

Something blasted to the left. An incendiary impact nearly tore them off their feet.

"What the h.e.l.l are they shooting at us?" said Machiko.

"Nothing good, I promise you. Hurry, we're almost through the gate."

She put on a burst of speed, her attention fixed on her goal.

Another explosion, immediately behind her.

This time she was lifted off her feet. With a combination of instinct and training, she rolled with it, coming to rest with a minimum of sc.r.a.pes and bounces.

"Come on," she called to Attila. "Let's go-"

"That would be very hard," said Attila, ahead of her.

She looked around.

Attila's headless body lay behind her, front down, back and chest section a burnt mangle, oozing fluid.

Some kind of bazooka sh.e.l.l had hit him, exploded, and now the android was in tatters.

"Til!" she cried. "Til!"

"Quiet! Over here!"

Still in front of her.

She looked toward where the voice originated from, astonished. There, lying in the gutter, upended, was Attila the Hun's head.

Mouth moving.

"Well don't just stand there, Machiko. Pick me up and let's get the h.e.l.l out of here!" She got past her astonishment.

Her reflexes went to work.

She dodged over, picked up the head, tucked it under her arm, and started to run.

Another spray of bullets swept past her.

"Over there-that car. That's our only hope," said Attila.

She raced over. It was a four-wheeler, open.

She hopped in. There was no key, and no time to hot-wire it.

"Stick me up to the ignition," said the head.

Not thinking, just obeying, Machiko did just that.

Something whipped from Attila's head, slotting into the ignition.

The car kicked to life.

"Now go," said Attila. "Go!"

She put the car into gear. Bullets whanged into the side.

She pushed on the accelerator and got the h.e.l.l out of there, Attila's head hanging like a bizarre key chain from the ignition.

She zoomed off into the night, headlights flicking on Off and away, escaping.

But to where? crashed the thought inside her head.

To where?

Chapter 19.

Dawn crept up warily on the horizon.

By its new, thin light Machiko Noguchi cupped her hand and dipped it into the river.

She drank.

The water was cool and sweet.

She'd tasted it early, by the light of two moons, and it had tasted even better then.

She looked up into the sky, as though expecting company at any moment.

Nothing. No thropters or skimmers or any of the other number of airborne vehicles that could be pursuing them.

She sighed and stood up. Her back was stiff, but otherwise the couple hours' rest had been fine. She walked back up to where the four-wheel-drive vehicle was sequestered, in a bowerlike a.s.semblage of riverside and trees.

Here it was neatly hidden from sight . . . but, then, who knew if there were other ways of detecting it? With no other place to go, she headed out to the wilderness.

She couldn't exactly hop on a stars.h.i.+p and race off for the safety of light-years-distant planets. She couldn't barge into the barracks and holler for help from men who didn't really know her from Eve and who were being paid royally for their loyalty. The thought that she should somehow contact Ned Sanchez crossed her mind; however, she nixed it immediately. No way would that work now.

No. She had just one hope.

With what she knew now, there was another chance.

With her added understanding it was a slim possibility but one that she had to take. Oh, she supposed she could have simply allowed herself to be caught.

Evanston most likely would not indulge in simple Death; her talents and abilities were too valuable. No, most likely he'd just do a selective mem-wipe. Of course, some of her personality might get pulled up by the roots in the process, but hey, that was too bad. Make her a little more docile and less likely to poke her nose where it didn't belong.

She went back to the car.

In the pa.s.senger seat was the head.

"How ya doin', short stuff?"

"S'all right."

Attila winked at her.

She remembered her shock and grief at his seeming demise.

However, as interesting and valuable as the android's body was, it would seem that his actual consciousness circuits were in his head, and apparently capable of operation for quite a while on their own batteries. For his part Attila seemed oddly resigned to his new state, merely glad to be still in existence.

"What do you think? Shall we keep going in this thing?"

"If speed is what you want, then we should. However, it would be risky."

"Yeah. They're bound to have copters out looking for us now."

"Not necessarily. Wouldn't that be admitting that there was some secret they were keeping?"

"No. All Evanston has to do is claim we were snoopers for some rival company. I'm sure he's well within legal rights to seek us out and kill us."