"That's an interesting story, Hosato."

The Ravensteel security chief's tone matched his indolent sprawl in the office chair.

Hosato's alarm and annoyance with the situation grewSomething was wrongHe had realized that when their arrival at Ravensteel was met by armed guards, guards who had not lowered their weapons when Hosato announced who he was and his affiliation with Ravensteel.

"That's my report," he corrected"If you'll get in touch with one of the executives in charge of this mis-sion, I'll be glad to repeat it for him."

"I've already contacted those parties." The man smiled"They've delegated full authority in this mat-ter to me."

Hosato was suddenly aware again of the armed guard standing behind his chair"Very well, then," he said with forced casualness"What else do you want to know?"

The man, Gedge, leaned forward and rested his el-bows on his desk"You could start by explaining what it is you want from Ravensteel."

Hosato was stunned by the statement"I. I don't understand," he managed at last.

"Oh, come now, Hosato." Gedge winked know-ingly"What are you after, reallyMore money?"

Hosato reminded himself again of the guard and held his temper in check.

"Actually," he said levelly, "I had the ridiculous idea Ravensteel might be interested in helpingIt would be in their best interest, you know."

Gedge's gaze never wavered, and neither did his smile.

"Ravensteel is interested only in pleasing its cus-tomers and its stockholders," he recited.

"All of whom are human," Hosato supplied'.'Per-haps I didn't make myself clearThe robots are kill-ing all humans-women, children, everybodyI don't see any reason why Ravensteel would be exempted, unless."

A thought suddenly occurred to himThis man was far too unruffled and sure of himself.

"unless Ravensteel is controlling them," he fin-ished thoughtfully.

Gedge dropped his eyes and chuckled to himself.

"Hosato," he said, reestablishing eye contact, "you're really quite amusingNow, tell me, what are we supposed to be controlling them to do?"

Hosato's anger flashed'Tve been telling you!" he snarled"To-"

"-run amok and kill people," Gedge interrupted'That's right, I keep forgetting."

His eyes hardened, and he half-rose from his desk as he glared at Hosato"I keep forgetting because it isn't trueMcCrae Enterprises is functioning today as normally as it was yesterday and the day before."

"What?" Hosato exclaimed.

"That's right, HosatoWe checked your story, ri-diculous as it wasMcCrae is taking orders, making shipments, and conducting tours just like they always have."

"But that's impossible!"

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Gedge smiled"At the very least, it makes a rather substantial contra-diction to your story."

"Wait a minute," Hosato began excitedly"It's the robotsIt's got to beHas anyone human from Mc-Crae been in contact with the outside world since yesterday?"

"As a matter of fact, we triedWould you like to see the tapes?"

Gedge keyed a reference number into his desk-robot and swiveled the viewscreen so Hosato could watchThe very human features of a uniformed Mc-Crae security guard blinked into view.

"Security," the face said briskly.

"Gedge from Ravensteel here," came Gedge's voice"Let me talk with Sasha."

"She is unavailable," the guard responded"May I be of a.s.sistance?"

"Perhaps," Gedge's voice continued smoothly"One of our ore scouts malfunctioned and got away from usThe last time we saw it, it was headed your wayWe'd like permission to cross over onto your property and reclaim it."

"Under no circ.u.mstances are Ravensteel personnel allowed on McCrae property," the guard recited"We will conduct a search of our own and notify you of the results."

"I want to talk to Sasha," Gedge insisted stub-bornly"She'd let us-"

"She is on a priority mission at this time," the guard interrupted"Until her return, I am in temporary commandMcCrae rules are very specific on the point of trespa.s.sersWe will conduct our own search, and if any Ravensteel personnel are found on McCrae property, they will be fired on as saboteurs."

The screen blinked out as the guard broke the con-nection.

"That doesn't prove anything," Hosato insisted"You know as well as I do, transmissions and dis-plays can be phonied electronicallyh.e.l.l, Suzi could do that!"

"WhoOh, yes, your robotWell, I don't know much about thatYour people were always better than us at radios and transistors and stuff like that."

The casual dismissal in his voice gave more impact to the racial slur than would have been gained with sarcasm.

"But what it comes down to, Hosato, is, I don't be-lieve your c.o.c.k-and-bull storyMore importantly, nei-ther does the executive boardWe think you sold out to McCrae."

A tiny spark of fear replaced Hosato's angerHe began to wonder if he would be alive at the end of his meeting.

"How am I supposed to have sold out?" he asked quietly.

"You're good, HosatoI'll admit thatA specialist." Gedge waved a casual hand at Hosato's gear and weapons arrayed on his desk"Did you know that any one of a dozen on my team would have tried your missionFor no extra payNo, you probably wouldn'tYou're the outside specialist they went to instead."

Hosato was about to repeat his question, then held his silence.

"Fifteen thousand with no results guaranteed." Gedge shook his head in mock admiration"I don't mind admitting, Hosato, I'd be willing todo nothing for a lot less than that."

He laughed at his own joke before continuing.

"So there you were, no loyalties to Ravensteel, no career to worry about, nothing to inspire you to finish the mission except more moneyNow, the McCrae security system is tight, maybe the best except for oursThere's no way you could crack that system without risking your life, and with fifteen thousand in your packet, why should you?"

Hosato thought of his family's generations-long rec-ord of successful missions, but kept his silence.

"Now, here's where I take my hat off to you, Hosato." Gedge smiled"Ninety-nine out of a hun-dred s.p.a.ce b.u.ms would have taken the money and run, but not youYou saw a way to squeeze a few more credits out of the situationYou reveal yourself to McCrae, and offer to use your position with Ravensteel to get a spy through the door-not just a spy, but their own chief of security!"

Hosato forced a smile"I suppose it doesn't make an impression on anyone that she's had her arm blown off."

"That was a nice touch," Gedge admitted"It al-most worked, until I reminded the board that Sasha would probably let you cut off both her legs to get an inside look at Ravensteel security."

"I see," Hosato said thoughtfully.

"So the only question left is, how much did they pay you, or, more important, how much will it cost to get you back on our side?"

Hosato met his eyes and smiledFor a brief mo-ment anger flashed in Gedge's ice- blue eyes; then it was gone.

"You're a bra.s.sy b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" He laughed, shaking his head"I think it's safe to say the board will probably go along with it, especially since you brought them a present."

"How's that?"

"Sasha, of course." Gedge winked again"She was your ace in the hole all alongShe has enough data on McCrae security in her head to keep my team busy for a long timeI don't know how you got her to go along with this, but bringing her with you gives you the leverage you need to change sides againSheer brilliance."

Hosato shrugged modestly and stood up, extending his hand"Well," he said, "I triedIt's good to be working for Ravensteel again."

Gedge ignored his hand"When will you be ready to start?" he asked"As soon as we get the informa-tion out of Sasha, I a.s.sume."

"Actually"-Hosato smiled-"I won't have to wait that longI've gotten most of the data I needJust keep her here and away from McCrae until I'm doneIncidentally"- he shot a glance around the room- "what did you do with the other twoThe kid and the mechanic."

"We're holding them next door." Gedge gestured at the door in the wall"We weren't sure if we should kick 'em off-planet or just kill them."

"Keep 'em," Hosato advised"They'll make good hostages."

"Hey, that's a good idea," Gedge admitted"Say, what is that thing, anyway?"

Hosato had started to pick up his gear from the desk.

"This?" he asked, holding up a six-inch metal rod with a sharp point.

"YeahIs it a poison injector or a climbing spike or what?"

Hosato smiled"Actually, it's much simpler than that," he confided"It works like this."

As he spoke, he released the throwing spike with a sharp snap of his wristThe spike darted across the room and embedded half its length in the forehead of the watching guard.

A surprised look spread across the guard's face; then he crumpled to the floor.

Gedge blinked, then started to turn to Hosato.

An epee was in Hosato's hand, and a gleam of light from the overhead lamp shone from its needle point, hovering inches from Gedge's throat.

"Don't even twitch, Gedge," he said coldly"There aren't many reasons for keeping you alive, and lots for killing youAll I need is an excuse to change my mind."

Gedge swallowed hard but kept his voice level"What. What's your game, Hosato?"

"That's the problem," Hosato retorted"You've got it into your head I'm out to destroy RavensteelWell, that's your prerogativeIt's mine not to go along with it."

Gedge licked his lips nervously"Okay, HosatoPut the sword away and let's talk it out."

"No dealNow we play it my way." He edged over to the fallen guard and retrieved the blaster, shifting the sword to his left hand.

"How many guards on the two next door?" he de-manded.

"Look, Hosato, we can-"

"How many?"

"Two."

Hosato moved sideways until he stood against the wall beside the door into the adjoining room.

"If you're lying, Gedge, you'll be the first to goNow, open the door and call to them."

Gedge hesitated, then moved to the door and opened it.

"We've got a code Delta," he announced casually.

In a flash Hosato was in the doorway, his blaster leveled at the occupants of the next room.

"Freeze!" he snarled.

The two guards, hands on the b.u.t.ts of their blasters, froze in placeRick and James were seated on a sofa against the far wall, apparently unharmedHosato noted with satisfaction they had failed to relieve James of his dress sword-probably didn't consider it a serious weapon.

"All right, toss your blasters into the corner," he in-structed the guards"Easy!"

The guards obeyed with leaden slowness.

"Nice try, Gedge," Hosato commented to his captive as the blasters thudded into the corner"I don't know what a code Delta is, but I had a hunch I wouldn't like itOkay, Rick, get their-"

Gedge kicked the door shut on his arm and rushed him.

Fighting the pain of his pinned arm, Hosato ham-mered at his a.s.sailant with the bell guard of his epeeGedge was inside the length of the sword, negating the use of the point, and he clung to Hosato tenaciously for several precious seconds.

Finally Hosato slammed the heavy pommel against the larger man's temple, and Gedge sagged, his grip looseningWith a heave Hosato shoved the man off him and wrenched the door open.

In the corner, Rick was wrestling with one of the guards, apparently for possession of one of the blast-ersBefore Hosato could call out, the mechanic found the proper leverage and jerked his opponent's head around sharplyThere was an audible crack, and the guard went limp.

The other guard was Hosato hesitated as he focused for the first time on the prostrate form on the floor by his feetThere was a pool of blood slowly spreading from the body.

James was standing shakily nearby, his b.l.o.o.d.y dress sword hanging limply in his hand.

Their eyes met.

"He. he was going to."

"It's all right now, James," Hosato said quietly.

"I. killed him."