As she started down toward the camp, Kai eased the autorifle from his shoulder and held it by the pistol-grip. He worked toward his left, giving himself an angle on Deirdre and another perspective on the camp. He slid down the hill on dead leaves, then came to a stop behind a thick pine. Standing, he looped the sling around his left forearm to steady the rifle.

At the edge of the birch stand, Deirdre waited and watched. As the first sliver of sun came over the top of the ridge, the light ignited the green in the leaves and slowly drew a shadow-curtain back across their campsite. Deirdre gathered up a couple of pieces of wood, then stood and walked into the camp.

He had no warning of the trap waiting for her and no way of spotting it. As she neared the ring of fire-blackened stones in front of the lean-to, her right leg sank to the knee into the ground. The sticks flew as she caught herself on her hands. Kai saw her shoulders hunch as she tried to pull her leg free, then her body jerked and her shoulders eased.

"Calm yourself, Lear," commanded a husky voice from beyond the lean-to's black tarp. "You might as well come in, Jewell. She is stuck fast and I will kill her if you do not give yourself up."

"Stay back, get away!" Deirdre turned as much as she could in Kai's direction. "Don't come in here. Just get away."

"Admirable, Lear, but foolish." Kai saw the red dot from a laser targeting-scope meander along the sand and caress her right thigh. "Her life is in your hands, Jewell. Come in now and I let her live."

Kai stood slowly and walked into the camp. "I'm here."

"Very good. Strip the clip from the autorifle, clear the chamber, and discard it. Do the same with your pistol, please."

Kai complied with the command, but purposely made no move to toss away the survival knife tucked into the top of his right boot. "I've done it. You can come out now."

Kai nearly swallowed his tongue as the Elemental made his appearance. Dropping ten meters straight down from one of the birch trees, he landed solidly on both feet, knees bending to absorb the shock of landing. He wore his long black hair brushed back from his face and the outline of black grease around his eyes made them look sunk back into his skull. His black garb clung to his body like a second skin, covering him from throat to groin. Lacking sleeves or legs, the outfit reminded Kai of the uniforms wrestlers at the New Avalon Military Academy wore in their matches.

He's every bit as big as I imagined from the footprint, and then some!Kai knew the Clanner topped him by a head and a half, and weighed at least twice as much. The man's biceps were thicker than Kai's thighs and his chest could have doubled for a DropShip landing pad. Maybe it would have been better if Truper had shot me.

The Elemental bowed his head in a salute. "So you are the nit causing the uproar with ComStar. How amusing. Our Star Captain warned us about approaching you, but I deduced, after watching you for several days, that luck had more to do with your eluding ComStar than did any skill. I could have bid away my eyes and still found you."

He held up a rectangular black device. "You even let me trick you into thinking I had a gun with this laser sight. We knew this was the sector where you would most likely be lurking, so I had to bid hard to get it. Another one in my unit bid a single bullet, but I beat her by bidding a sight and a knife." Reaching around behind himself, he drew forth a wicked silver dagger and flourished it. "Dig a hole with this, sharpen some sticks with it, and I have you. Hardly worth the effort."

Kai tried to keep his face impassive as his spirit imploded. He looked at the weapons he had discarded and mentally kicked himself. If he had kept talking, I could have....Deirdre looked over at him with an apology on her face, but he shook his head. "This is my fault. I am sorry I failed you. I ..."

"You, Jewell, are the sorriest excuse for a warrior I have seen on this world." The scorn in the Elemental's words cut at Kai. "Taman Malthus thought to make you a bondsman to our Clan, but I think I will merely summon Com Guards to take you to their reeducation camp. You are a perfect example of everything a warrior should not be."

Kai bristled at the insult. "Oh, and a soldier who disobeys his superior officer is better than I am?" Part of him knew any reply was foolish, but two and a half months on the run had worn his sense of restraint quite thin. "Our warriors, as poor as they might seem to you, at least learn how to obey!"

The Elemental's piggish eyes opened wide as Kai's remark hit home. "Our Star Captain may have won himself a Bloodname, but it is tainted. No one would fight for it because of the disgrace of its last owner on Twycross. Taman's lack of judgement in going for a Bloodname with an inferior pedigree is again evident in his caution concerning you. Were you as dangerous as he thinks, your capture would guarantee my nomination in the next Bloodname contest for House Konrad. As it is now, you will be the core of a joke I tell."

He's right, Kai, you are a joke.The voice echoing up from the darkness of Kai's soul sought to suck him down into despair. He is bigger than you, and far deadlier. He is a real warrior. Give in to him. He can protect Deirdre, so give her to him.

Kai's weariness with running and hiding started to conspire with his self-doubt, but something else clicked in him. No, dammit, I have survived too long to be dismissed as a joke.He slid his knife from the boot-sheath. "You want something to laugh about? Perhaps you're ticklish. We can find out."

"Oh, so the slug thinks it has teeth, does it?" The Elemental barked out a laugh. "Yes, you have tickled my funny-bone with that one. Now put your knife away before I am forced to hurt you."

"Do it, do it," Deirdre shouted. "It's over. Don't do anything stupid."

Stupid. Cowardly. You embarrass her, as you embarrass your family and your nation.Kai felt fear rise up and constrict his throat. He shifted the knife to his left hand, then wiped the sweat from his palm on his pant leg. It is true. He will kill me.

"Still game?" The Elemental raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Perhaps this expedition will not have been a waste."

"No!" Deirdre tried to pull her leg free, but cried out in pain and stopped the attempt. "Don't fight him. Surrender. Live."

Kai shot her a brave smile to mask his true feelings. "I don't think letting me live is quite what Demi-Precentor Khalsa has in mind, Deirdre. Remember, I killed two guards, shot up his office, and kidnapped you." He looked up at the Elemental. "As soon as we are done bargaining, I am ready."

"Bargaining?" The Jade Falcon nodded sagely and cast the laser sight aside. "I am Corbin and I will grant you a Warrior's death."

"That gives me great comfort, but it is not quite what I had in mind," Kai said as he shifted the knife to his right hand. "You are much bigger than I, so I demand a concession from you. If I blood you, you will let Doctor Lear go free."

Corbin's quizzical look melted into a grim grin. "Bargained well and done."

"Don't do this! Not for me!" Deirdre shouted.

The Elemental nodded Kai a salute. "To honor you, if you fail, I will make her a bondswoman."

"And I will do everything I can to make sure you don't have to go to that trouble." Kai realized that his bargain and Corbin's response meant his feeble attempt at misdirection had worked and reminded Kai of another battle against the Clans. Adler Malthus, the commander of the Jade Falcon unit making its way through the Great Gash on Twycross, had fallen prey to a similar deception. How odd that history repeats itself. Here I am again facing a superior Clan force, with Dr. Lear's fate depending upon my success.