"Gone underground," Euraana Fall said. "The only ones who remain are part of the criminal gangs." A native of Naatan, Euraana had the delicate, pale skin and blue veins that were prized by the Mawan. Mawans had two hearts and their blue veins lay close to their skin, a mark of beauty on the planet. Euraana's grief showed in her shimmering gray eyes, but her voice was steady. "Most of the citizens live in the infrastructure tunnels.

Before the Great Purge — what Mawans call the civil war — all of our goods were transported below the city, in tunnels, and airlifted to the surface.

Our computer centers and control links are there, too. It's what made the city so pleasant. For a busy city, we had little traffic."

"Yes, it was a wonderful city to stroll in," Obi-Wan said as the craft neared landing. "Your cafcs and restaurants were always full of talk and music."

"And our parks held the laughter of our children," Euraana agreed, her gaze quietly sweeping over the city. "All gone." She pointed in the distance. "There is the quarter where the crimelord Striker rules. He is known by that name because of the projectile pistols his gang used for their first raid. Strikers are not sophisticated weapons, but they won the battle. Now they are better armed, of course. He is reputed to have the most extensive weapons cache of all the crimelords."

Obi-Wan leaned over to look at the quarter of the city that Euraana had indicated. Garish blue and green glowlights were hung from poles to cast their eerie light on the streets.