"What have you done to my girls?" demanded MkDowl ominously. "Tell me, before I kill you." "I've been trying to help them," said Shaan calmly. "I believe it's something they ate for lunch, just before I got here. They're pretty sick. I put them to bed." Alarm appeared on MkDowl's face. Turning his back on the man, Shaan went back into the bedroom. Gun in hand, MkDowl followed him hastily. "Lori! Vali!" cried MkDowl at the sight of his unconscious daughters. Anxiously, he brushed past Shaan. Shaan hit him behind the head with the edge of his palm as he passed. MkDowl pitched forward, and Shaan leaped to catch the gun that arced from his hand. When MkDowl sat up, dazed, a moment later, Shaan had him covered. "Your girls are under suspensene," said Shaan. "I'm not going to hurt any of you. I just want a marsuit and your groundcar." He motioned with the heat-gun and followed MkDowl out of the bedroom. Shaan appropriated the two guns from the radio table, then made MkDowl stand by the living room window, in his line of sight from the marsuit racks in the hall. "You'll never get away, you damn traitor," snapped MkDowl. "I can make a good try," retorted Shaan pleasantly. He checked the supplies of the largest marsuit with one hand, holding the gun on MkDowl with the other. "A groundcar can't outrun planes, but I think I can make the cactus forests of the Hadriacum Lowlands before they spot me. They won't find me there." "You'll never get out of this dome. I can find a way to stop you before you can get that groundcar through the airlock." "We'll see," said Shaan, turning from the rack with the hypo from the third marsuit. "Why are you so bitter against a man you don't know?" "You're a traitor," said MkDowl defiantly. "I just said I believe in a democratic form of government. It hasn't been long since we were all democrats on Mars." "The democratic government was corrupt. You won't find many friends." Shaan knew that was true--both statements. There was no longer any organized democratic movement on Mars. He was completely alone. There was no place for him to go anywhere. He moved toward MkDowl, with the hypo in his hand. MkDowl watched him closely, not moving. It was when Shaan shifted the gun to his left hand and the hypo to his right that MkDowl moved. Shaan had been prepared for a desperate attack. But MkDowl leaped head-first out the window, in a single swift motion. Shaan went after him. MkDowl disappeared around the corner of the house as Shaan jumped through the window. Shaan regretted it, but he would have to blast MkDowl. Even if he could get away, MkDowl would tell the soldiers which way he had gone. As Shaan turned the corner of the house, MkDowl was climbing into the groundcar. Shaan let go with the heat beam, but the groundcar's metal and windshield were strong enough to resist it at that distance. MkDowl's head disappeared beneath the dashboard.