"It runs stronger than you know," Quos Reggar slashed back bitterly. "He is a legend, a madman who has carved his destiny across the void." He slapped the great _Chonya_ belt that girded him. "Do you think that weakness won this belt? He is built of blood and iron! Even I confess it, though I hate him. But you cannot let yourself think of that now. For he must live, and he must raid, and he must be seen, if we are to break the power of the Federation and open up the void to slaving. Trust me, I know--" Shane said: "I once knew a man who trusted Reggar. They were partners together in their dirty business, and as thick as thieves could get. When my blockade--" "Shut up!" roared Reggar. "When my blockade drove the slavers out of the asteroids, these two were trapped off Juno--" Reggar sprang at Shane--webbed hands clutching, great lobed eyes aflame. But the silver woman, Kyrsis, came between them. Gently, she said, "I'll hear him out, Reggar." Shane smiled thinly. "When I ordered the pair of them to surrender, Reggar, here, came to me secretly, and offered to send me the partner's head if I'd let him--Reggar--go on a promise that he'd never ramp ship in the asteroid belt again. I agreed, and he brought the head." "You _chitza_!" screamed Reggar. With agility amazing for his size, he leaped past the woman called Kyrsis. Shane tried to dodge, but the guards who flanked him seized him. Reggar struck him across the mouth. Shane slumped back. He would have fallen but for the guards. * * * * * Then the woman's voice came--sharp, icecold: "I would not do that again, Reggar, if I were you ... if I wished to live!" And then, to Shane: "Is there more?" Blood trickled from Shane's mouth. He swayed, and a crooked grin twisted his swollen lips. "Only one thing, _Shi_ Kyrsis," he mumbled. "The partner was Tas Reggar--this creature's brother!" "He lies!" snarled Reggar. "He lies in his teeth like the _chitza_ he is! I have no brother--" "Perhaps not--now!" Shane baited. "How could you have? You sent me his head in a sack!" A sound of incoherent fury bubbled in Reggar's throat. The great lobed eyes were flecked with red. Again he sprang at Shane. But again the silver woman came between them. The violet eyes were probing, thoughtful. "The story has a ring to it, Reggar--a twist that somehow fits you." The other's mottled face contorted. The webbed hands clenched into fists. "It is a lie!" he snarled thickly. And then, in a voice that still trembled with repression: "I have no brother. I had none. But even if the tale were true, what difference would it make? We are here, together--" Shane said: "What difference? For one thing, it would let her know whose neck would stretch, whose blood would spurt, if the time again came for you to make a choice. You'd cut her throat and save your own--"