In dead silence Qohey and Foster squared off, touched their sword points to the floor in some kind of salute ... and Qohey's slicer whipped up in a vicious cut. Foster leaned aside, just far enough, then countered with a flick that made Qohey jump back. I let out a long breath and tried swallowing. Qohey's blade flashed, cutting at Foster's head. Foster hardly moved. Almost effortlessly, it seemed, he interposed his heavy weapon between the attacking steel and himself. Clash, clang! Qohey hacked and chopped ... and Foster played with him. Then Foster's arm flashed out and there was blood on Qohey's wrist. A gasp went up from the crowd. Now Foster took a step forward, struck ... and faltered! In an instant Qohey was on him and the two men were locked, chest to chest. For a moment Foster held, then Qohey's weight told, and Foster reeled back. He tried to bring up the sword, seemed to struggle, then Qohey lashed out again. Foster twisted, took the blow awkwardly just above the hand guard, stumbled ... and fell. Qohey leaped to him, raised the sword-- I hauled mine half way out of its sheath and pushed forward. "Let the man be put away from my sight," rumbled Qohey. He lowered his immense sword, turned, pushed aside a flunky who had bustled up with a wad of bandages. As he strode from the room a swarm of bodyguards fanned out between the crowd and Foster. I could see him clumsily struggling to rise, then I was shoved back, still craning for a glimpse. There was something wrong here; Foster had acted like a man suddenly half-paralyzed. Had Qohey doped him in some way? The cordon stopped pushing. I tugged at the arm of the bodyguard beside me. "What's to be the fate of the man?" I asked. "They're gonna immure him." "You mean wall him up?" "Yeah. Just a peep hole to pass chow in every day ... so's he don't starve, see?" "How long--?" "He'll last; don't worry. After the Change, Owner Qohey's got a newman--" "Shut up," another bruiser said. * * * * * The crowd was slowly thinning. The bodyguards were relaxing, standing in pairs talking. Two servants moved about where the fight had taken place, making mystical motions in the air above the floor. I edged forward, watching them. They seemed to be plucking imaginary flowers. I moved even farther forward to take a closer look, then saw a tiny glint.... A servant hurried across, made gestures. I pushed him aside, groped ... and my fingers encountered a delicate filament of wire. I pulled it in, swept up more. The servants had stopped and stood watching me, muttering. The whole area of the combat was covered with the invisible wires, looping up in coils two feet high.