Her teeth were white and uneven, when she smiled. He liked them. The red of her sullen lips was their own. She wore a short tunic the color of Tokay grapes, and the body under it was long and clean-cut. Her arms and throat had the whiteness of pearl. Marah said quietly, "Contact Zard. Tell him to throw the PA system wide open and say we're taking the ship, now, to get the Kraylens!" * * * * * Stella stood absolutely still. Her grey eyes took on an eerie, remote look, and Campbell shivered slightly. He'd seen telepathy often enough in the System's backwaters, but it never seemed normal. Presently she said, "It's done," and became human again. The green light went out. "Power," she explained. "Besides, we don't need it. Give me your hand, Mister Campbell." He did, with absolutely no aversion. "My friends," he said, "generally call me Roy." She laughed, and they started off, moving with quick sureness in the black, icy darkness. The ship, it seemed, was up on the second level, on the edge of the living quarters. Down here was all the machinery that kept Romany alive--heat, light, water, air, and cooling systems--and a lot of storage hulks. The third tier was a vast hydroponic farm, growing the grain and fruit and vegetables that fed the Romany thousands. Stumbling through pipes and dismantled hulks that smelled of sacking and dried vegetables and oil, Campbell filled in the gaps. The leaders of the rebel element had held a meeting down here, in secret. Marah and the girl had been coming from it when Campbell blundered into them. The decision had been to rescue the Kraylens no matter what happened. They'd known about the Kraylens long before Campbell had. Gypsies trading in Lhi had brought word. Now the Kraylens were a symbol over which two points of view were clashing in deadly earnest. Remembering Tredrick's thin, harsh face, Campbell wondered uneasily how many of them _would_ live to take that ship away. He became aware gradually of a broken, rhythmic tap and clank transmitted along the metal walls. "Hammers," said Stella softly. "Hammers and riveters and welders, fighting rust and age to keep Romany alive. There's no scrap of this world that wasn't discarded as junk, and reclaimed by us." Her voice dropped. "Including the people." Campbell said, "They're scrapping some beautiful things these days." She knew what he meant. She even laughed a little. "I was born on Romany. There are a lot of Earth people who have no place at home." "I know." Campbell remembered his father's farm, with blue cold water over the fields instead of sky. "And Tredrick?" "He was born here, too. But the taint is in him...." She caught her breath in a sudden sharp cry. "Marah! Marah, _it's Zard_!" They stopped. A pulse began to beat under Campbell's jaw. Stella whispered, "He's gone. I felt him call, and now he's gone. He was trying to warn us."