The startled clone dropped the sledge and grabbed Michael’s head with his two hands. Michael felt himself being lifted off the ground. But it didn’t last. The inordinate strength of the clone ebbed, and he toppled over, dragging Michael with him.

It took almost five minutes for the worker clone’s grip around Michael’s head to relax enough for Michael to extract himself. As he got to his feet he shuddered through a wave of nausea at the smell of the fluid leaking out of the two downed clones. It was like a combination of a slaughter house and an auto repair shop.

Michael retrieved the crossbow. He had new respect for the danger the clones represented. He’d been surprised the second clone had attacked him, and he reasoned that they must have been given some blanket order. The episode also underlined the fact that the clones had no trouble with violence, just as Harv had warned.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“Maybe we should have pulled this off after dinner,” Richard said. “I’m starved.”

“This is no time for humor,” Perry said.

“Who’s making a joke?” Richard said.

“This must be them,” Harvey called from the door, where Donald had ordered him to stay as a lookout. “An air taxi has just dropped down outside.”

The group was in the dining room waiting for Arak, Sufa, and the Blacks.

“All right, troops,” Donald said. “This is it. Let’s be prepared.”

Richard picked up one of the Greek swords. After his dunk in the pool he’d dispensed with the armor. Donald removed the clip from the Luger for the twentieth time, checked it, and replaced it. He made sure a cartridge was in the firing chamber.

Arak, Sufa, the Blacks, and four large worker clones swept into the room.

“Okay,” Arak said, slightly out of breath. “Everything is going to be fine, so please just relax.”

According to plan, Harvey pushed the door closed with a resounding thud. Arak ignored the noise. Harvey walked around the periphery of the room. Along with Perry and Richard he stood behind Donald.

“First,” Arak said, “you must understand that you cannot escape. We cannot permit it.”

“Word travels fast,” Donald said. “So Suzanne has already gotten to you.”

“We were informed by the Council of Elders,” Arak said. “We heard from them just after you requested our presence. Now that we are here, we’d like to request that you return to your individual cottages. I repeat: you cannot escape.”

“We shall see,” Donald said. “For the time being, we are going to be giving the orders.”

“That is out of the question,” Arak remarked. Then, turning to the clones, he said, “Restrain them without hurting them, please!”

Obediently the clones surged forward.

Donald brandished the pistol and took several steps back. His coconspirators did the same.

“Don’t come any closer!” Donald commanded.

“I don’t think they know what a gun is,” Perry said nervously.

“They are going to learn quickly,” Donald said. While continuing to back up he raised the gun and aimed at the face of the clone coming directly at him.

“Arak!” Ismael cried. “He’s got a gun. Arak-”

“Stop, please!” Donald ordered the clones.

Having been commanded by an Interterran, the clones ignored Donald and continued closing in on the retreating secondary humans. Donald pulled the Luger’s trigger and it fired with a roar. The slug hit the lead clone in the forehead. He wobbled and then collapsed backward to the floor. A clear viscous fluid flowed out of the wound onto the marble. Curiously his legs continued to move as if he were still advancing.

Arak and Sufa gasped.

Undaunted, the other clones continued to approach. Donald swung the gun around to the one closing on Perry and fired again. The bullet struck the second clone in the temple. He collapsed as well, though his legs, too, continued moving.

“Halt, please,” Arak shouted with a quavering voice to the two remaining clones. The clones obeyed instantly. Arak’s face had gone pale and he was shaking. Meanwhile, the scissoring motion of the legs of the two on the ground slowed, then stopped.

Donald was now holding the pistol with two hands. He swung it around and pointed it at Arak. “That’s better,” he told the terrified Interterran. “Just so we understand one another, you are next.”

“Please,” Sufa cried. “No more violence. Please!”

“We’re happy to oblige,” Donald said without lowering the gun. “Just do as we say, and everything will be cool. Arak, I want you to make a few contacts with your wrist unit, then we’ll be leaving here.”

Suzanne was impressed with the equanimity the elders displayed despite the grave crisis. She, on the other hand, was growing progressively more anxious; the dispatches coming back to the council suggested that her former colleagues were succeeding.

While the council had convened, Suzanne had been offered food and then returned to the colonnaded hall. Like that morning she was again asked to be in the center although on this occasion she’d been supplied with a chair similar in style though smaller than those occupied by the elders. She was facing Ala with the bronze doors at her back.

“The problem seems to be getting worse,” Ala said after listening for a moment to her wrist communicator. Her clear, high-pitched voice was not hurried or harried. “The wayward group along with four human hostages are now approaching Barsama with their intact submersible. Arak is awaiting our orders.”

“I’ve never dealt with such a situation as this in all my lifetimes,” Ponu said. “Four worker clones have been prematurely dispatched. That is disturbing, indeed.”

“You can stop them, can’t you?” Suzanne blurted. She was beginning to find the calmness of the council unnerving. “And you can do it without injuring them, can’t you?”

Ala leaned forward toward Suzanne, ignoring her questions. “There is one issue we must be absolutely sure of,” she said calmly. “We have witnessed that your colleagues have surprisingly little compunction about damaging worker clones. What about humans? Would they really be capable of hurting a human?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Suzanne said. “They are desperate.”

“It is hard to believe they would do such a thing after they have had an opportunity to experience our culture,” Ponu said. “All our other visitors have unerringly adapted to our peaceful ways.”

“Perhaps they would, too, given more of a chance,” Suzanne said. “But at this point they are dangerous to anyone who would thwart them.”

“I’m not sure I believe that,” another elder said. “It’s contrary to our experience, as Ponu mentioned.”

Suzanne felt frustrated to the point of anger. “I can prove the iniquity they are capable of,” she snapped. “They’ve left ample evidence in two of the cottages.”

“And what might that be?” Ala asked as serenely as if she were discussing gardening.

“They have already caused the deaths of two primary humans.”

Suzanne’s words clearly stunned the council. They sat dumbfounded. “Are you sure of this?” Ala asked. For the first time her voice reflected distress.

“I saw the bodies a few hours ago,” Suzanne said. “One was bludgeoned and the other drowned.”

“I’m afraid this tragic news puts the current situation on a different plane,” Ala said.

I should hope so, Suzanne thought to herself.

“I recommend we seal the Barsama vent immediately,” Ponu said.

A murmur of assent filled the chamber.

Ala raised her wrist communicator and spoke briefly then lowered her arm. “It will be done,” she said.

“How long will it take to connect the vent to the earth’s core?” Ponu asked.

“A few hours,” Ala said.

The doors were enormous, about two stories high and nine feet thick. They began to open inward on silent hinges. Arak was directing the activity with his wrist unit. He was in direct contact with Central Information. Donald was standing behind him with the pistol pressed into his back.