"_Gar_ of the asteroids, high chief of the _Chonyas_," the woman said softly, almost to herself. Her voice held a note that might have been weariness, or pain. "You've traveled far, Earthman ... so far, to have it all end here." * * * * * She moved on, to the stand that flanked Shane's cot, and busied herself at her tray for a moment. Then, straightening, she held a hypodermic injector up to the light. It contained a colorless liquid. Deftly, she set the screw, adjusted the high-pressure gas ampule that would spray the injection straight into the bloodstream without breaking the skin. Shane twisted a fraction further around on the cot. His breathing was careful, measured. Turning, the woman bent over him. She poised the injector, close to his throat. Shane's manacled hands shot up. He caught the woman's wrist; twisted sharply before she could jerk away. She gave a sharp little in-drawn cry of shock and pain and came down hard on her knees, lithe body writhing. The injector fell from her twitching fingers. Shane's heel smashed it into the floor. Already, he was up and off the cot, forcing the woman down onto it. He said tightly: "The first scream breaks your arm, _Malyalara_!" "A _Malya_ does not scream, _Sha_ Shane!" she answered through clenched teeth. She tossed her head as she said it, proud even through the pain, and for the first time the right side of her face came into full view. And along that whole right side, someone had cropped the glistening black hair short, square with the temple, in the ugly, outlawed badge of slavery. For a long moment Shane did not move. Then, slowly, he drew back a fraction and relaxed his grip on the woman's arm. Some of the tightness left the lovely face. She rose in a single smooth, supple movement. No fear showed in her dark eyes, even now. Rather, they probed boldly--eagerly, almost--as if measuring Shane's metal. "What do they call you, _Malyalara_?" he asked. "My name is Talu, _Sha_ Shane." "You wear your hair cropped like a slave's--" "--Because I am a slave." "The Federation banned slavery." * * * * * Bitterness twisted the woman's mouth. The midnight eyes burned with the fierce, blazing anger that had made her people the scourge of the void within the memory of living man. "I tell myself that every day, _Sha_ Shane. But it does not free me." Shane's lips drew thin. "Has it been long?" "About an Earth year. I was of Hidalgo. First, the slavers sent in _theol_-smugglers. They sought out our leaders--" "I know," Shane nodded grimly. "_Theol_ breaks the will. Not even a _Malya_ can fight, with the hunger for it in him." He broke off. "And then, _Malyalara_--?"