She was barefooted, clad only in a short yellow tunic, but she felt as if she were locked in a steam bath. She'd never get used to Venus, she supposed, to its turkish bath atmosphere, its lush phosphorescent vegetation, its ridiculous mingling of periods, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and the glass age all flourishing together. The Pan-like notes continued to assail her ears from outside the study. She wrinkled her nose, wiped a trickle of sweat from the end. In despair, she flipped on the Newscaster. The features of a plump young man flashed on the screen. "Last night," his voice came through the audio, "the plantation of Councillor Bemmelman was raided by the Renegade. Luckily, he was discovered immediately and the Security Patrol notified. But as usual the Renegade had vanished without a trace." Mia MacIver snapped to attention. It was absurd, she felt with a surge of anger that a man could make fools of the Venusian authorities as the Renegade had done for years. She knew little of Venus. Her life had been spent in boarding schools on Earth. But when she'd received news that her father was dead, murdered by the Renegade, she'd booked passage to Venusport at once, determined to manage the plantation herself. "Here's a special bulletin," the announcer was saying. "The plantation owners are subscribing ten thousand monads to be added to the price already on the Renegade's head. That makes a total of fifty thousand monads for his capture. A punitive expedition is also being organized against his headquarters in the Cloud Mountains." Mia MacIver switched off the Newscaster, stood up. The notes of the pipes drifted into her study, exotic, compelling. She bit her lip, stepped through the window onto the vine roofed patio. "Stop that noise, Cosmo! You're driving me insane!" Cosmo Horn took the Venusian pipes from his mouth, said dryly, "I didn't think I was that bad." He was sprawled in a hammock, looking like a handsome, rather distinguished tramp. "Did you hear the Newscaster, Cosmo?" "No." He shook his head. He had a lean, hawk-like visage, close cropped brown hair, green eyes. "The Renegade was at the Bemmelman plantation last night!" "Sure enough?" Cosmo sat up, put the reeds in his pocket. He was wearing only coat and trousers. The brown triangle of hair on his chest extended in a thin line down his flat belly. "How much did he nick that dealer in flesh for?" "Nothing. They scared him off before he had a chance to take anything. Cosmo, why can't they catch him?" "No one's seen him without his hood. They don't know who he is; they don't know where to look, or what to look for." "On Earth ..." began Mia. "On Earth there wouldn't be a Renegade," interrupted Cosmo dryly. "Earth is unified. It isn't split up into hundreds of independent countries like Venus. They don't have slavery or serfdom or the feudal system on Earth. Men aren't driven into outlawry...."