Bone shattered beneath flesh as his face contorted in pain. He tried to cry out, but the only sound his ruined vocal cords could produce was a soft gurgle. He crumbled to the floor at her feet.

Propping himself up on one elbow, he looked into Susan's eyes. His gaze sent a cold shiver up her spine; it held a seething hatred greater than anything she had ever before seen.

Then he fingered the pendant hanging about his neck, and silently disappeared.

A fog of unreality descended over Susan's thoughts, and a tingling sensation began just behind her eyes. She felt suddenly dizzy.

She stepped around the spot where her assailant had lain only an instant before and staggered into the room beyond. Dripping water across the carpet, she went to the chair before the small wooden desk and sat as the tingling behind her eyes became a full-blown headache. With a sharp shake of her head she tried to clear the pain, but it did no good. The headache merely intensified.

Closing her eyes, she held her head in her hands and attempted to collect her thoughts. The headache, the dizziness, that feeling of unreality-she knew they had not been brought on by the dark man's attack. She could deal with violence. Since Aldebaran, nearly ten years ago, Admiral Renford had used her for myriad security assignments. Her superbly developed fighting ability and the power in her prosthetics made her a natural for such work, as did her ability to somehow detect coming danger, although she had never told the Admiral about that. On a number of occasions she had acted as temporary bodyguard for heads-of-state, and had often accompanied the Admiral and his family while they vacationed Earth-side. There were also her uncountable assignments as a diplomatic courier, transporting sensitive documents and various sealed packages. Many of these tasks had required violent action.