"OK, you're the guide," said O'Better. He turned toward the tents, and shouted, "Hey, guys, our guide's here!"

The other hunters emerged, looking curiously at the little Zenobian. O'Better turned back to Qual, and said, "It's about time you got here-we've been settin' on our duffs just waitin' for you. Couldn't get squat done without a native guide."

"Oho, this is why you sit," said Qual. The Zenobian peered about the camp, then said, "These are your hunting companions? We should converse so I can determine what part of our planet offers the creatures you desire to kill and eat."

"Oh, I don't know if we'll want to eat any dinos," said L. P. Asho, looking curiously at Qual. "Though I suppose if they were tasty, we might think about it..."

"Not eating?" Qual's mouth opened wide, showing his teeth again. "If not eating, why shooting?"

"Well, we figured we'd mount 'em..."

"Human not talking sense," said Qual, making a noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter. "Mounting much better when alive. Then they still can move..." Austen Tay-Shun scratched his head and changed the subject. "What do they taste like, anyway? What kinds do you folks eat?"

"The small ones, of course," said Qual. "They taste much like the Old Earth bird known as chicken. And they are not known for deciding to try to eat you instead."

"Well, it's the big ones we want, anyway, Qual," said O'Better. "Where would you go if you wanted to find some of them?"

"There are some astonishing specimens at Lhort's Stretch," said Qual. "It is where I would certainly go first."

"Great, that's the place for us then," said L. P. Asho. "How do we get there?" Qual rubbed his chin, pondering. "From my home, I would take the red trackway," he said. "It costs a smacker and a half, but one needn't pay to store the scooting-thing."

"Trackway? I don't get it..." said Asho.

"It is a public conveyance," said Qual, grinning. "One waits at a designated comer, the trackway vehicle comes, and one boards..."

"Ah, it's some kind of damned bus," said 0'Better. Then he stared at Qual, hands on hips. "Wait a minute, Qual. Do you go hunting at this place?"

"Oh, no, all the creatures are protected," said Qual. "It is a place for the young ones and the savants to observe them."

"A zoo," said Asho, disgusted. "Listen, Qual. We want to go someplace where we can shoot the stupid dinos, not just look at 'em. That's what we're here for, and that's what we want."

"Oho, that is distinct," said Qual. "You humans are very strange, but now this makes a certain sense even to me. In fact, you are very near one of the very best places to find some very large creatures."

"Aw right," said Tay-Shun. Then he narrowed his eyes, and asked, "Can we shoot' em?"

"Why, yes, if you have the weapons," said Qual. "But let me see all your trappings, so I can determine whether all is in readiness. If you have a lack, I know a person who can supply it. With any fortune, we shall be stalking large creatures before a matta can hop twice."

"What's a matta?" asked L. P. Asho.

"I dunno, what's a matta wit' you?" said Qual, grinning.

The three hunters stood there scratching their heads until Qual said, "But make haste! The game's afoot." He ducked quickly into the nearest tent, where a loud screech greeted his entrance.

"Oh, hellfire," said Euston 0'Better, as Qual bolted from the tent, dodging a high-heeled shoe thrown at his head. Another just followed, but by then he was out of range. "Guess we should've told Dallas the native was here. You know how spooky she gets ,sometimes."

Qual looked accusingly at the hunters, but simply said, "Perhaps you should bring out your trappings for me to look at here. Is more dangerous inside than I suspected."

"Little feller, you don't know the half of it," said Euston O'Better. His companions nodded, gravely.

"Damn it all," said Lola. She'd been pacing furiously back and forth in the little hotel room on one of Lorelei's back streets, away from the casino district. Ernie, sitting on the bed, swiveled his head back and forth, watching her. She reminded him of a shuttlecraft in a crowded spaceport. Which, unless somebody got a really bright idea, might be the next scene the two of them would be seeing.

She stopped and stared out the window at the distant gleam of neon. "For a short while there, we had the whole game won," she said. "I knew it was too good to be true."

"Too good to be true?" Ernie repeated, stupidly. "Mr. Phule and the other casino bosses were all ready to give us five million spifflers, just to go away and leave' em alone, and you call that too good to be true? We could've lived like kings, anywhere in the Alliance."

"Yeah, and had the mob on us the minute we let down our guard," snarled Lola. "If only the stupid casino publicity; department hadn't sent our picture out to the galactic media. If Mr. V and his boys were ready to murder us before, what do you think they'll be now?"

Ernie shook his head, trying to conjure up an answer that could do justice to the probable wrath of the mob enforcers who'd come to their apartment back on Bu-Tse to remind them of the job he and Lola had left undone on Lorelei-capturing Captain Jester (A.K.A. Willard Phule), and delivering him into the hands of the syndicate. So he and Lola had come back to Lorelei, but the job was still undone. And now...

Whatever answer he'd been about to offer was aborted by the hotel room's door suddenly swinging open.

"Hello, Ernie," said the heavyset man who walked in. There were two other men behind him, who stood barring the door, which until just a moment ago had been soundly locked. While they were simply standing there, there was very little doubt what they were there for-or what they would do if either Ernie or Lola made a wrong move. The man removed his hat and turned to the window. "And Miss Lola A pleasure to see you both here. But enough small talk--I've come to see what progress you've made on your assignment." He paused frowning. "You have made progress, correct?"

"well, yes, of course," said Lola, making an effort to put on a cheerful smile. "As it happens, we were just about to lay down plans for the final phase of our operation here, and since you're here, I'm sure your input would be..."

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT BULLSHITT!" roared Mr. V-for that was who had come to visit them, unannounced and certainly unwanted. He waited for a moment, then continued in a quieter (but no less menacing) tone, "You two have been paid good money, and as far as I can tell you haven't done a damn thing to earn it. Now, that's just not right, is it, boys?"

There was no response from the two men blocking the door behind him, and Mr. V turned to look, a puzzled expression on his face. It wasn't normal for his underlings to forget their lines, especially when he'd prompted them so clearly. They were exactly where he'd stationed them, but their faces had assumed blank expressions, and even as he watched they slumped slowly to the floor. "What the hell...?" said Mr. V.

His answer came from a little man in a black jumpsuit who poked his head around the doorframe. "Mind if I come in?" he said, stepping over the two fallen thugs. Cradled in his right arm was some sort of exotic device-from the look of it, a weapon.

"Who are you?" Mr. V's voice was harsh, but his expression looked anything but confident. His eyes stayed fixed on the weapon in the little man's arms.

"Mostly people call me. Doc," said the man, with a bright smile. "I'm security chief at the Fat Chance Casino. Which may give you some idea of what I'm doing here, not to mention why I just stunned your muscle boys." He patted the weapon he was carrying. "One of the good things about working for the Legion is you get some really nice hardware."

Mr. V and Ernie were both taken aback by this information, but Lola nodded, and said, "You've been keeping us under surveillance, right?"