_Where is it?_

_Stay where you are. You are out of their line of sight_.

_What is it?_

_A small skimmer. It came in quickly from the north. It has slowed. Now it is hovering above the street of your recent activities_.

_Oh God!_

_It is descending_.

Malacar checked the chrono on his left wrist and suppressed a groan. He patted at the bulges of various weapons that he bore.

_It has landed_.

He waited.

After a time, _Two men have emerged from the vehicle. They appear to have been its only occupants. A watchman is coming to meet them_.

_Where did he come from? Not the building?_

_No. From the opposite street. It is as if he had been waiting for them. They are talking now. Now the watchman is shrugging his shoulders_.

Malacar felt the pounding of his heart and sought to control his breathing, so as not to hyperventilate himself in the unusual atmosphere of Blanchen. He inhaled more mist from his aerosol. He started then, as two transports cut the sky in rapid succession--one headed toward the southeast, one west.

_The two men are reentering their vehicle_.

_What of the watchman?_

_He is just standing there--watching_.

He counted twenty-three heartbeats.

_Now the vehicle is beginning to rise, very slowly. Now it is drifting toward the face of the building_.

Though the night was chill, Malacar felt perspiration across his high, dark brow. He brushed it away with the edge of his forefinger.

_They are hovering. Now there is some activity. I cannot determine what it is. it is too dark-- There! Now it is light. They have replaced the globe you damaged. Now they are rising again. The watchman is waving. They are heading back in the direction from which they came_.

Malacar's great frame shook. He laughed.