Hart activated her transceiver. “Tessien. He’s in a dark helo moving south along the waterfront toward us. He’s all yours.”

The flight was short, barely a hedge hop, but that suited Sam fine. Less time to get cold feet, The copter swept in low over the United Oil perimeter fence and settled down softly in an open space near the wharf. There were no challenges, no alarms, no gunfire. Enterich’s informants must have been right about Haesslich accepting delivery privately, It did fit the pattern of the Dragon wanting as few witnesses as possible. Even a circumstantial connection had been enough for him to order the murder of Hanae and Sam.

As soon as the craft’s rotors slowed, Sam slipped into his long coat, hefted the case over one shoulder, and climbed out. Walking clear of the copter, he set his burden down and gazed around him. The area seemed deserted. Haesslich, in either Human or Dragon form, was nowhere in sight.

He waited. Behind him, the blades of the helicopter stopped turning, but the distant sound of a jet far overhead made him look up. Moving against the stars was a dark shape heading in from the Sound. As it drew nearer, he made out along, sinuous body slung between a pair of large wings and knew it for a dracoform.

It was just offshore when Sam realized this could not be Haesslich. It was no Western Dragon, but a feathered serpent. A taloned hind limb unfolded down from its tucked position as the serpent swept toward him.

Suddenly, the serpent checked its approach and veered higher. Sam saw why as a dark shape, bulkier than the serpent, rose on great membranous wings. Even in the low light, Sam had no doubt that this second creature was a Western Dragon. It cut across the path of the first.

A hiss, a roar, the crash of massive bodies colliding, and they were past each other, a flurry of feathers tumbling in the wind of their passage. The serpent’s flight became erratic, its wings beating Irregularly. The Western Dragon banked wide and returned in a stooping dive. This time, Sam saw the talons score bloody furrows in the other’s flank. The serpent screamed its agony and twisted, trying to avoid the jaws snapping at him.

As those jaws closed on the serpent’s neck, the weakened beast responded by wrapping its own body around the Western Dragon. Both began to plummet from the sky. Ten meters from the ground, the Western Dragon broke free of the serpent’s coils, wings beating furiously to stay in the air. The mortally wounded serpent continued its descent, then struck the concrete wharf with an earthshaking crash.

The other pounced on it, tearing with claws and ripping with jaws. “Hart!” the serpent cried out plaintively, just before the Western Dragon tore out its throat.

The victor raised his head, tongue slithering out to lick his muzzle clean. When a tentative pawing amused no response from the serpent, the beast turned its back on the corpse and marched toward Sam.

“Haesslich,” Sam said.

“Good evening, manling.”

Pinned under the beast’s fearsome stare, Sam began to wonder what had possessed him to attempt this. A Dragon was unpredictable, at least to Human logic. How could he expect it to yield to any pressure he might try to apply? “Why did you kill Tessien? I thought it was on your payroll.”

Contempt swelled around Sam. “It was, but I have no use for those who fail me. I have less for those who lie to me, as it did when first reporting your demise. It will, however, make a good meal.”

“It made a mistake, so you killed it? And now you’re going to eat it?”

“Of course. Its associate will meet a similar fate when she arrives with my delivery.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

“But you can’t stop it, manling.” The Dragon’s amusement rolled across Sam. “I thought you might be trouble when we first met, but such has not been the case. Your poking and prying into my business has been totally ineffectual I need never have been concerned.”

Sam hated this arrogant beast, and wanted desperately to humble him. What Haesslich had done, what he planned to do, were wrong, but the Dragon seemed not to know it. Sam no longer had any doubts about what he must do. Tonight, the menace of Haesslich would be stopped.

“You should be concerned,” he said. “I know that your operation at the arcology was set up without the approval or knowledge of your bosses at United Oil. They won’t help you now. It’s not in their interest to protect a murderer who uses their assets for his own purposes. Once the evidence becomes public, UniOil will be glad to see you get the full penalty under the law. Your arrogance seems to have no limit, Dragon, but people are not toys for your amusement nor will you get away with committing murder.

“I came here tonight to offer you a chance to surrender. Give yourself up to the police and stop the bloodshed. You might earn the court’s mercy. But even if you don’t turn yourself in voluntarily, you’ll still be brought to trial.”

“Unlikely,” Haesslich responded, his amusement growing.

Exactly the answer Sam had expected. What he hadn’t anticipated was the undertone in the Dragon’s emotional broadcast. Hunger. His knees felt weak; he hadn’t thought about being eaten. He felt his resolve waver, then he remembered Hanae and Begay. They were good people whose lives had been cut short at the whim of this beast. He knew very little about the others who had been killed that night in the Tir, but it still added up to too many deaths at Haessuch’s orders. Tonight would be the end. Sam straightened to his full height, craning his neck to stare into the face of the Dragon. Haesslich’s fangs glittered in the moonlight.

“Are you going to kill me now?” Sam asked, with a calm that surprised him. “I won’t make much of a meal, but you’ll choke on it.”

Sam felt a peculiar vibration in the Dragon’s emotional tone. He decided it must be the Dragon’s laughter.

“Your death is no longer necessary. I will have what I want when Hart brings it to me tonight. You and your threats have become meaningless. but your bluff amuses me.”

“You’re wrong, Dragon. Your plan isn’t concluded tonight, it’s exposed.” Sam flicked the replay switch. “Watch.”

A ghostly image of the scene at Landing Pad 23 lit up the wall of a nearby structure. The Federated Boeing Commuter bearing Aztechnology markings was just landing.

Hart had felt Tessien’s death. Hearing it call her name had chilled her to the bone, telling her it had never betrayed her, that her suspicions had been misplaced. Tears streaming from her eyes, she stood staring while Haesslich talked to Verner. She listened in shocked silence as the long-range pickup relayed every word. She shivered when Haesslich pronounced her death sentence.

“Looks like you’re out of work, chummer,” Greerson said, revealing that he had not really believed Hart’s story about working for Crenshaw. The implications of Hart’s failed duplicity seemed unimportant right now. Greerson crouched at her feet, assembling a sniper rifle. “But I’ve still got a contract on the kid. Don’t suppose you’d like to put one on the wizworm? That launcher’ll do him as easy as a helo. Once Verner’s down, I’ll be glad to open negotiations.”