"Then the slave ships came. What else?" Again Talu's ripe lips took on the bitter twist. "They came by the score--whole fleets of them, blasting and killing and hunting us down. The Federation had taken our proton batteries and our fighting ship away, and _theol_ had broken the men who should have led us. So they stripped Hidalgo bare: every man, every woman, every child--" Shane's fingers dug into the slave girl's arms. "But where did they send you?" he demanded fiercely. "Who wants slaves in a solar system where power is broadcast free to all planets? What use is there for labor?" "I do not know." "My _Chonyas_ have been raided, too. But why?" Shane clenched his fists. "Why raid for slaves, when machines can handle any task? Where do they take them? Are they here, in this place?" Talu shook her head. "No, not here. This is only a ramping-spot--some small moon the slavers have taken over. But I have seen a woman here, a silver woman--Kyrsis, they name her." A momentary tremor rippled through the _Malyalara_. "She is evil ... more evil than words can tell. They say that she is the agent for those who buy. But where she comes from, why her people seek slaves--that I do not know." "And who serves her? Who is the raider, the _starbo_ whose wolf-pack gathers in the slaves?" "His name is Reggar, Quos Reggar--" "_Quos Reggar!_" Shane spat the name as if it were an epithet. "Slaver, smuggler, scum!" He twisted violently against his shackles, blue eyes blazing. "I should have known! I drove him out of the asteroids once--" "--And he remembers, _Sha_ Shane," Talu said softly. "He remembers, and he hates you, and he swears the day will come when you shall pray for death. He has gathered up the scum of the spaceways, the dregs of the void--" "You mean, he captured me only for vengeance?" Shane broke in. "He dragged me here just to kill me--?" * * * * * Talu shook her head. "No, _Sha_ Shane. There is more than vengeance. He has plans for using you, great plans. But that is all I know." "But how did he capture me? How did he bring me here?" A haunted, haggard shadow flickered across Shane's face. He raised his manacled hands and held his head between them. "I was on a mission, an ... important ... mission, traveling through space. There was no sign of trouble. And then, all at once, the void went mad. It was a nightmare; I can't remember what happened--" He broke off, shaking his head as if to clear away the fog of memory. Then his hands fell, and his eyes met the girl's once more. "The next thing I knew, I was coming out of it on the ramp, with dirt in my mouth and a _Pervod_ at my throat. And I still don't know how I got here." "It was a projector, they say. A Paulsini projector, focussed on your ship. They captured your minds with it--yours, and all your crews'." Shane stared at her incredulously. "A Paulsini that can reach out into space and take over a ship--? You're mad as a _ban_!"