And of course, a lot of recalibrating will have to be done. Time-consuming butrelatively straightforward."

"Ixil can help with that," I told him, closing the rest of my board down tostandby. No point leaving it active; we weren't going anywhere for a while.

"That can wait," Nicabar said. "You said you'd tell me later how we wereshrugging off those ion beams. Well, it's later."

I grimaced. But he was right. It was time I clued the rest of them in on justwhat it was we were sitting on here. "It is indeed," I acknowledged, keyingthe intercom for all-ship. "Everyone, get your stuff shut down and then assemblein the dayroom. I've got a little story to tell you."

THEY SAT IN silence, looking slightly sandbagged for the most part, while Igavethem the whole thing.

Most of it, anyway. I left out Tera's true identity and inside-person status, and the fact that Cameron—Alexander Borodin, rather—had been a secret passengerfor the first part of our trip. I also glossed over the part Tera had playedin the various incidents that had had me tied up in mental knots for most of thattime. The latter part didn't take much glossing, actually, given that Ixil andI were the only ones who'd known about most of them anyway.

I also left Jones's death out of the picture, leaving it as an impliedaccident.

Confronting a group of suspects with the knowledge that one of them is akiller might be an effective way to spark a guilty reaction, but at the moment myforemost interest was getting the Icarus to Earth, and for that I needed fullcooperation from all of them. Time enough to sort out Jones's murder if andwhen we made it that far.

While the rest were busy looking flabbergasted, Tera was equally busy glaringat me in menacing silence, from which I gathered she thought I should havecleared this grand revelation with her before I let everyone else in on the bigsecret.

I could sympathize with that attitude; but if I had consulted her she wouldprobably have forbidden me to do so. Then I would have had to go directlyagainst her wishes, which would have left her madder at me than she wasalready.

To say they were stunned would have been an understatement. To say they were suspicious and unbelieving, however, would have been right on the money. "Youmust think we're idiots, McKell," Shawn snorted when I'd finished. "Mysteriousalien technology? Oh, come on."

"And with the whole of the Patth race panting down our necks to get at it,"

Everett added, shaking his head. "Really, McKell, you should have had time tocome up with something better than this one."

"I expected this reaction," I said, looking over at Ixil. "You have thenecessary?"

Silently, he produced the connector tool he'd brought from the mechanics room.

Just as silently, he crossed to the back of the dayroom and removed one of theinner hull plates.

One by one, they went down into the 'tweenhull area to experience the aliengravitational field for themselves. Some took longer than others; but by thetime they came up they were all convinced.

They were also, to a man, scared right down to their socks.

"This is crazy," Everett said, hunched over a tall whiskey sour. Alcoholicdrinks of one sort or another had somehow been the beverage of choice for eachof them as he came out of the 'tweenhull area. "Crazy. This is a job forprofessionals, not a bunch of loose spacers picked off the Meima streets."

"Believe me, I'd like nothing better than to have a squad of EarthGuardMarines on this instead of us," I agreed wholeheartedly. "But they're not here. Weare."

"I presume you realize that if the Patth get their hands on us we're dead,"

Nicabar pointed out darkly, peering into his own drink. "Not a chance in theworld they'd let us go. Not with what we know about this ship."

"And what do we know about it?" Shawn countered, his fingertips tappingnervously on the table. "Seriously, what do we know? McKell says he thinksit's an alien stardrive. So what makes him the big expert?"

"No, he may be right," Chort said before I could reply. "Early Craeanstardrives used a very similar dual-sphere design, with an open resonance chamber as oneof them. Though much smaller, of course."

"Yeah, but did they work?" Shawn asked. "I never heard of any design likethat."

"Which means it can't possibly have been of any use," Tera murmured. "Not ifyounever heard of it."

Shawn turned a glare toward her. "Double-sphere designs work just fine,"

Nicabar put in, the firm authority in his tone cutting short any further argument.

"The only reason they're not used is that the Mobius-strip arrangement is morestable."

"Terrific," Shawn said with a sniff. "An unstable stardrive. Just what weneed.

Just what the Spiral needs."

"It's not unstable that way," Nicabar insisted, starting to sound annoyed.

"The theory shows that oscillations can form in the upper harmonics under high- stress conditions, that's all."

Shawn snorted. "Sure, but if—"

"Look, if you two want to discuss stardrive theory, go do it on your owntime,"

Tera cut him off acidly. "What I want to know is how we're going to getthroughthis gauntlet and to Earth."

"Why Earth?" Shawn demanded. Clearly, he was intent on alienating everybodyaboard today. I wondered uneasily if we were getting low on his medicineagain.

"Just because the majority of us are human?"

"Speaking as one who is not," Ixil interjected calmly, "I would say thatBorodin's ownership of the device should adequately define our finaldestination and cargo disposition."

"What ownership?" Shawn countered. "He dug it out of a desert on someoneelse's planet. What gives him any more rights than the Ihmisits who already livethere?"

"Basic Commonwealth law regarding salvage and extraindigenous archaeologicalrecovery, that's what," Tera told him stiffly. "The guidelines clearly putBorodin and his people in possession. That one's not even arguable."

"Well, well," Shawn sneered. "And when did you become our resident legalauthority?"

"We're drifting from the point," I spoke up quickly. I had no doubt Tera couldquote him the relevant laws line for line, and I had no intention of lettingShawn goad her into a display of such unreasonable expertise. "Tera's rightabout Borodin's claim," I went on. "But at the same time she's wrong about thefunctionality of this stardrive—"

"This alleged stardrive," Shawn insisted.

"This alleged stardrive," I corrected, "being none of our concern. In point offact, this hunk of metal may be all that stands between us getting to Earth orwinding up in the bottom of a very deep Patth pit somewhere."

For a couple of heartbeats they all just stared at me. Everett got it first, as I could tell by the distance his jaw dropped toward the floor. "You aren'tsaying—you're not suggesting—?"

"I think it's our best chance," I said. "The Patth know perfectly well howfast the Icarus can travel—it's not like stardrive speed ranges are any secret.

Theyalso don't want any more people than necessary knowing about this little huntof theirs, which means they're probably timing their bribes and governmentalpressurings to hit the systems just ahead of where we're flying at any giventime."

"I see where you're going," Nicabar said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Ifwe can get ahead of that wave front, we might have a chance of landing andrefueling before anyone in the area even knows what a hot ticket we are."

"Right," I said. "We may still run into a random Patth advance scout or two, but that'll be a whole lot easier to deal with than taking on an entire customsand military establishment."

"What about the underworld characters they've been bribing?" Everett asked.

"Even if the Patth themselves aren't talking, they're bound to be spreadingthe word about us."