"How did you escape?" He moved closer, springbow was cocked taut. "My--my cell door. For some reason it failed to shut properly, and I--I--" "That is a likely story indeed, pretty one! Escapes are not made from this prison quite so easily! You come along with me ... come on!" His command ended in a sharp yell of surprise. The springbow clattered from his grasp as the corridor suddenly rocked crazily, and Deanne felt herself thrown bodily against the exit panel! It slid back at her touch, and she was through it, and then thrown headlong as a second tremor wrenched her from her feet. The whole world seemed to be disintegrating around her. She found strength somehow and ran again, trying vainly to keep her balance, to keep the pitching corridor floor beneath her feet. And then running toward her--God, another guard-- No! No, it was no guard! _And it couldn't be--_ He caught her, held her without a word. "B-Haaq! B-Haaq--how--" "Majtech B-Haaq to you from now on! Just on my way to your cell to take you back where you belong! And that upstart Kane! Only this might save me the trouble--" He hauled her roughly after him into the open rampway which dipped gently into the wide parking yards. The ramp trembled, bucked beneath them but she somehow kept from falling. "I--I thought you--Kane--" "Thought he killed me, did you? He came close enough, and he'll pay for it! Come along...." They crossed the yards at a half run. B-Haaq was hauling her up on the fin-step, and then the outer lock was opening, and they were inside. The small space craft rocked sickeningly on its mounts. B-Haaq barked to his waiting pilot. "Up-ship, you fool! Do you want us wrecked before we're even underway?" The grim faced labortech punched his studs almost before Deanne had secured herself in an ackseat, and then with a dangerous overload of power, the tender jumped free of the shuddering planetoid. "B-Haaq--for the love of Pluto, what's happening--" "Haven't you learned yet what it's like when a Geejay breaks down? Sol III has been taking this for over an hour. Fortunately for you planetary imbalance doesn't affect all bodies in a system simultaneously, or that piece of rock back there would be rubble by now...." "Is there a Project AA underway yet?" "Of course there is. The Flagship received a warp-beam ESR from Sol III, and of course we dispatched a crew to take care of those nuisances immediately. One of our duties, after all...." The girl unbuckled her ackseat straps and sat up straight. "You mean they had to _call_?" "What do you expect, that we keep a constant watch on all these backwater planets--" "According to Regulations--" "A lot you know of Regulations, young woman! Do you realize what the charge against you is? And that the lives of two men were risked to bring you back in one piece?" "All I know is that this system's Geejay was serviced only eleven Periods ago, and was supposed to be good for at least--"