As soon as the hole in the floor was big enough, Bartol dropped through it to the level below. There was no one in the room. He smiled grimly to himself as he ran down another corridor. There were only a few human beings in the Palace; all the others were androids. One of those humans was trying to kill him, the others didn't care whether he died or not, so long as his objective was achieved. At the end of the corridor, he came abruptly on two android guards. One of them stopped, then the other. There was a look of confusion on their faces. The first one said: "It is forbidden to have two assassins. And yet, you are human. You--" Bartol burned them both down before they could go any further. He didn't want them spreading the alarm any sooner than necessary. * * * * * He ran on, still listening to the buzzing in his ear. The two dead androids hadn't recognized his face as that of the Autarch, but they'd known there was something wrong. The earpiece was still giving orders. "He's over the Autarch's citadel! That doesn't give us much time. Autarch! Get out of that room! He's burning a hole through the roof!" He was addressing Bartol, of course, but Bartol kept moving. The Commander didn't know that his phony Autarch had already left the citadel. Bartol dodged into a bathroom. No android would be in there--they didn't need to. He burned another hole in the floor, dropped through it into another bathroom. Again he burned through the floor. "Autarch! Get out of that room! Leave the citadel immediately! It's your only chance!" _I knew that several minutes ago_, Bartol thought. He only had seconds now. The assassin blasted his way into the citadel and cut down both the guards. Then he blasted the figure in the gaudy uniform. "That wasn't Bart--uh--the Autarch!" the Commander's voice came. _Damn right it wasn't!_ Bartol thought. He sprinted down a stairway. In the lower sublevels of the Palace, the lighting was widely spaced. Here were the storage levels, and the power supplies. He wanted to stay away from the power rooms; they would be heavily guarded. "Autarch! Where are you! Answer! Where are you! The assassin knows that wasn't you! He's heading downward! Where are you?" _He's getting panicky_, Bartol thought with grim amusement. _He knows I wouldn't dare answer. The assassin can tap these communications._ The assassin, whoever he was, must have weapons of tremendous power to be able to burn his way into the Autarch's citadel so easily. He could move downward from floor to floor a lot more rapidly than Bartol could. Bartol knew exactly where he was going--if only he could get there in time! He ran through the dimly lit halls which were piled high with crates and boxes. At last he came to a wall which looked like any other wall--but Bartol knew it was different. "Autarch!" the ear speaker crackled. "What are you doing down there? Why are you in the storage compartments?"