There must have been a geological fault in the cliff, which had finally fractured under the hammering from the explosions. It was a more thorough destruction of the Seekers than Blade had planned or even wanted, but now it didn't matter if Detcharn were dead or not. Most of the Seekers and their laboratories were gone, their power in Doimar was smashed, and their city's technology would surely fall behind Kaldak's.

Considering how the stones were flying, it was time to get out of here. Also, by now the Doimari in their main city must have learned of the attack on the rocket base, and would have sent out lifters to apprehend the raiders. «Follow me,» said Blade. «We're heading straight for the city of Doimar.» They all stared and he explained. «That's the last direction they'll expect us to go. By the time we get to the city, all the lifters will be on their way out here or to the border. Then we'll go to ground beyond Doimar and cross the border at night.»

They obviously thought he was crazy, but then he was Voros the Wise, who'd led them to victory and vengeance over the Doimari. Also, if they thought he was crazy, the Doimari would probably think the same.

Blade hoped he was guessing right. He also hoped that Feragga wouldn't take a hand in guiding the search for the raiders. She just might; now that Blade had carried out her plans for stopping Detcharn. After all, Blade was primarily helping the Kaldakans, her age-old enemies, and even though Feragga said she wanted peace, she certainly wouldn't hesitate to apprehend the raiders in order to make examples of them. This would be just like Feragga, and it could just mean the end to Blade, for she was the one person in Doimar who knew how his mind really worked.

Chapter 25

Baliza was walking along a sandy beach by the ocean. She'd never seen the ocean, but somehow she knew that the blue water stretching to the horizon was just that. A powerfully built man was walking beside her. He looked somewhat like Voros, but she knew that this was her father, the Sky Master Blade.

Either he was a giant, or she'd shrunk. She'd just realized that neither was the case, that she was a little girl again, when she heard the waves starting to whisper her name.

«Baliza, Baliza.»

«Go away.»

«Baliza!» This was no wave, but a human voice. She turned to ask her father what to do, but he was no longer there. Then the beach and the ocean faded away, and she felt the blankets of her bed in Doimar over her. Someone was shaking her.

«Baliza?»

It was Kandro. «What is it?» she muttered, still half-asleep and more than half-angry at being awakened from a dream she thought might have answered so many questions.

«Something's happened. Something big. I think there's been an army mutiny. Soldiers are all over the place.»

«Lifters, too?»

«Yes. Whole balloon trains, too, heading for the border.»

Baliza snapped wide-awake in a moment. She also cursed under her breath. It would be just her luck, to have Voros-she still could not call him «her father» — stage his raid on the rocket base now. She couldn't think of anything else which could be causing this kind of uproar and troop movements.

She would have a few words for her stepfather, Sidas, when she got back to Kaldak-if she got back. He'd refused to time her carrying off Feragga with the raid. He'd said that would endanger the secrecy of both projects. He'd even refused to let her inform the three Intelligence people who were helping her in Doimar. Again, the excuse was secrecy. What they didn't know, they couldn't be tortured into telling.

She'd swallowed it then, because she'd had no choice. Now, getting to Feragga would be a lot more difficult. Everyone would be on the alert, and the two agents who were supposed to steal a lifter might run into trouble. Even Feragga's two guards might be suspicious enough to put up a fight.

On the other hand, it was now all the more important to try for Feragga. Her enemies might take advantage of the confusion to try killing her. Baliza knew the old woman deserved a better fate than being shot down by the hired killers of a slimy madman like Detcharn.

She sprang out of bed, and Kandro blinked. She'd forgotten that she was sleeping naked. She giggled. She'd really have to go to bed with the poor little fellow, so he'd get used to her skin. But why did the idea of any man in her bed except Monitor Bekror suddenly seem odd, almost unpleasant?

Time to worry about that later. She pulled on her clothes every which way, then reluctantly tidied them. The neighborhood where her inn lay was rather poor and shabby, but Feragga lived in a richer quarter. She and Kandro shouldn't look as if they had spent the night sleeping in the streets.

When she knew her clothes were in order and her weapons were concealed, she threw a final look around the room to see if she'd left any clues behind. She saw none, and led Kandro down the stairs two at a time.

Feragga's building was too far for them to run all the way, as much as Baliza was tempted to do so. She fought down the urge. They'd get there exhausted, even if they didn't attract too much notice on the way. So they walked briskly, and Baliza watched the sky overhead and the streets around them on the way.

Certainly Voros's raid or something just as big must have happened. Every soldier she saw was moving as fast as she was, and most ordinary Doimari were staying inside or at least out of the soldiers' way. Lifters were also going overhead in swarms. Even though Baliza knew that Doimar had more lifters than Kaldak, she still hadn't expected to see so many. She thanked the Laws that she'd ordered the two lifter-thieves to steal a citizen's machine. All the soldiers' lifters would now be closely guarded.

They reached the street of Feragga's building, and Kandro grabbed her arm. «Look. Our people must be there already.» A lifter was just settling down on Feragga's roof.

Baliza squinted into the sun, then shook her head. «Not unless they got away with a soldiers' lifter. That one's got army markings on it. Come on!» They had to be in the building and out of sight from the roof before the soldiers in that lifter started getting out. After that-well, she would see. This wasn't a «Do it or don't come back alive» mission-Sidas didn't give that kind of orders. But she had her pride in doing the impossible and making it look easy. Sidas said that was another thing she seemed to have got from her father.

They charged into the building and headed up the stairs. Three flights up, and one to go, they heard the ominous crackle of lasers. At the foot of the last flight of stairs they heard a scream. It sounded like a man's scream, thank the Lords! Then two bodies crashed down the stairs, locked together in a death-grapple. One was a Doimari soldier, the other, one of Feragga's guards.

The two Kaldakans looked at each other, then up the stairs. Things seemed clear. Baliza wished briefly for a grenade, then decided she wouldn't have dared throw it, not without knowing where Feragga was.

Lasers crackled again as they ran up the stairs. Baliza was the first to reach the top floor. As she stepped into the open two soldiers stepped out of a door across the hall. She shot one and he fell against his comrade, spoiling the man's aim. Before he could shoot again, Baliza kicked him in the stomach, then smashed him across the back of the neck with both hands as he doubled up.

From where she stood, Baliza now had a clear view down the hall to the open roof and the door of the lifter. The hall was smoke-filled and smelled of burned human flesh, but the lifter's pilot also had a clear view of her. He fired a solid-shot at her, and succeeded in hitting Kandro as he stepped out into the hall.

Kandro shot back as he fell. He'd won prizes for pistol shooting, and now proved the prizes had gone to the right man. The pilot flew out of his chair, headless. Baliza shot the man who tried to pull him away from the controls.