They’d gone two-thirds of the way to Spacegate 3 when

Lanyon noticed they were getting some attention. A forbidding

Tellurian walked quickly across the floor toward the office

they’d just left. As Lanyon reached the door of Spacegate 3, he

heard a shout. He threw the door of the Spacegate open and

moved inside out of the way. The released prisoners piled in after

him. Over their shoulders he saw one guard rush from the office

and take aim with a pistol. He pulled Halron through the

doorway into the open air of the Tellurian dusk and fired his

rator. The Tellurian fell and now the final three prisoners, the

Argonians, ran through the door. A bolt of light struck the edge

of the door, and a burst of smoke burned Lanyon’s eyes. He

threw the door closed.

     The Selenian ship, an oval vessel on six spidery legs,

stood steps to the left. Dorendo fiddled with the guidor, and with

painful slowness a door on the ship began to open. Lanyon

peeked through the window of the Spacegate door. Two guards

were tending to their fallen companion. When Lanyon looked

back at the ship, the door opened and a set of stairs descended

from the doorway. When the stairs touched the ground, the

prisoners rushed up them. The Argonian with the weapon knew

enough to crouch alongside the stairway, his weapon aimed at the

door. Lanyon moved toward the stairs, his hand on Jophena’s

shoulder. “Get up those stairs,” he ordered.

     Suddenly, like a clap of thunder, the spacegate door flew

inward off its hinges. Lanyon ducked and felt Jophena’s hand

wrenched out of his as the bouncing door careened along the

floor and glanced off her. He turned and fired his rator through

the open doorway.

     Jophena lay on the ground, eyes closed, a gash in her

forehead spilling blood down her face.