I fumbled through until I had the key tagged D. I opened the cell with as few clinking noises as possible. "Come on," I said. "We've got to get out of here in a hurry." He slipped out and pushed the door shut behind him. We headed for the stairs and were almost there when I heard somebody coming up. Jimmy must have heard it, too, because he grabbed my arm and pulled me back. We flattened out as best we could. Talk about walking right into it! The policeman looked over at us and said, "What are you doing up here, Robards? Hey, you're not...." I stepped out and brought out one of the pistols. I said, "Easy now. If things go wrong for us, I have nothing to lose by shooting you. If you want to live, play it straight." He apparently believed me, because he put his hands where I could see them and shut up. I herded him into Jimmy's cell and let Jimmy do the honors with the loaded sock. We taped him up and while Jimmy was locking him in, I heard somebody in one of the cells behind me say, "Shut up, there," to somebody else. I turned and said, "Do you want to get shot?" The voice was collected. "No. No trouble here." "Do you want to be let out?" The voice was amused. "I don't think so. Thank you just the same." Jimmy finished and I asked, "Where is your signal? We have to have that." "In the basement with the rest of my gear." The signal was all we took. When we were three blocks away and on a dark side street, I handed Jimmy his gun and ammunition. As he took them, he said, "Tell me something, Mia. Would you really have shot him?" I said. "I couldn't have. I hadn't loaded my gun yet." * * * * * I led him through town following the back ways I'd worked out before. Somebody once said that good luck is no more nor less than careful preparation, and this time I meant to have good luck. I led Jimmy toward the Losel-selling district. Jimmy is short and red-headed with a face that makes him look about four years younger than he is. That's a handicap any time. When you stand out anyway, it's likely to make you a little bit tart. But Jimmy's all right most of the time. He said, "We're in trouble." "That's brilliant." "No," Jimmy said. "They have a scoutship from one of the other Ships. This is going to sound wild, but they intend to use the scout to take over a Ship and then use that to destroy the rest of the Ships. They're going to try. The police are rounding up everybody who is opposed who has any influence and is putting them in jail." "So what?" "Mia, are you mad at me for something?" "What makes you think so?" "You're being bitter about something." "If you must know, it's that crack you made about me being a snob." "That was a month ago." "I still resent it." "Why?" Jimmy asked. "It's true. You think that because you're from a Ship that you're automatically better than any Mud-eater. That makes you a snob." "Well, you're no better," I said.