"A hundred and seventy-five, Your Majesty--but the anti-agathics are still working fine; I have the same physical abilities I did when I started them at eighteen." "Understood. All right, Ranger; you were on full duty, and you obviously know more about them than we do, so I can't reasonably order you to stay away, however dangerous a situation I believe you're going into." "It is dangerous, Your Majesty--I don't have any illusions about that. I fought them before I brought them into our Empire, and they scared the stuffing out of me then. These have an extra century and a quarter of development, a hell of a lot bigger civilization, and magic, so they scare me even worse. But the only chance I see for your Empire is going in, so I have to do it." He paused. "I was brought here with no chance to inform Alpha Prime's Emperor Kennard. If I'm able to return, I can explain things myself; if I can't, for whatever reason, I'd appreciate it if you'd notify my Sovereign of the circumstances." "I'll see to it, Ranger. Is there anything else?" "Just one thing, if I can indulge my curiosity." The Emperor chuckled. "A weakness you know I share. Go ahead." "In my universe, you have limited precognition. Do you foresee the kind of solution we'd both like as a result of bringing me here?" "I foresee a chance of it," the Emperor said slowly. "Not a good chance, but without the summoning, there would be no chance." Medart nodded. "You had to do it, then. Thank you, sir." "Thank you, Ranger Medart. The ship and crew you want will meet you as soon as possible--and in the meantime, I'd recommend you not study magic. You don't want our version limiting you if you are able to get any help from the Sandemans." "Yes, sir. I'll concentrate on recording everything I can remember about them, then." * * * * * Medart watched the lifecraft heading back for Imperial space. His volunteer crew had given him a good ride to near-Sandeman space, and had been reluctant to leave him to face them alone, but they'd finally obeyed his orders and left. Once the lifecraft was out of sensor range, Medart switched on all the courier ship's external lights, activated the locator beacon, and set course for the center of the Sandeman sphere. The Sandemans at home had become familiar with Rangers, but the ones here still weren't, so he'd done as he had for the Mjolnir Conference: traded his military title and uniform for his civilian title and appropriate clothes, which meant a lot more to them. The Sandemans here were as alert, quick to respond, and curious as the ones at home; less than an hour later, he was challenged. A dark-skinned face with light blond hair and pale grey eyes appeared on his comscreen. "You are intruding, Imperial. Identify yourself and give us a reason not to blast you out of existence."