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.They scatteredquickly in their haste to avoid being run over, and Nav zipped through ,the crowd into no-man's-land,swerving broadside to a stop in front of Jules.Yvette flung her door and yelled, "ICI!"Jules needed no second invitation.With one quick glance to make sure no one was in firing position atthat instant, he vaulted over the tractor and crossed the distance between it and the car so rapidly thatthose people observing it could only blink in astonishment.Yvette slid over on the seat closer to Nav,giving her brother room to climb in beside her.As was the case before, Nav barely waited until Jules wasin before gunning the accelerator to the limit.He spun the car around and headed for a little knot ofguards who had started to regroup after his last pass.The people scattered again as Nav drove throughand left a trail of havoc in his wake.With no reason to linger now, Nav was not about to let anything stop him on his way out of thespaceport.He pushed his vehicle to its top speed of 175 kilometers an hour and was out the main gatebefore any of the guards could reach their own cars and give chase.Garst was furious with himself.I overestimated them this time, he thought.I thought that their being heremeant they'd found out about me.But they hadn't.They were only investigating Sanctuary itself.He was grateful that he had a security chief like Rawling.If she had merely obeyed his orders, the SOTStrio would have gotten completely away, leaving him to look like an idiot while explaining the failure toLady A.Rawling had behaved with commendable speed, too; at the first alarm from the port, she wasable to mobilize nearly all her personnel and get them there on the double.It was solely through herefforts that Helena von Wilmenhorst had been captured intact.The two DesPlainians had escaped, but Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlthat was not Rawling's fault; no one could have presupposed the miraculous intervention of what had tobe a fourth SOTE operative.Rawling had apologized for that, of course, but she assured him that her people were combing the entirecity and that no one could evade her net for long.Garst nodded, knowing just how thorough Rawlingwas.I might as well examine my winnings."Send in the von Wilmenhorst woman," he said aloud.Helena was wheeled into the room.She had been strapped into a chair and, as a further precaution, hadbeen given a mild tranquilizer to keep her from making any serious attempts to escape.But even the drugcould not stifle the expression of shock that registered on her face as she saw him.Her eyebrows archedand she exclaimed "Boche moi" under her breath."Do you recognize me then, Your Grace?" Garst asked, using her formal title to indicate he knew whoshe was."I.I've seen pictures.You're Garst.But.but you're dead.""An exaggerated but convenient rumor.No doubt your DesPlainian friends described my demise insome detail."Helena did not react to that remark, so Garst continued his harangue."Well, it is true that, when I sawthe woman charging at me, I started running.My foot slipped and I fell through the door to the vat ofrecycling chemicals.There is, however, a catwalk for the benefit of the plant's workers that runs aroundthe lip of the tank; I landed on that and ran around to the tank's back exit before anyone came to thedoor to look in.When they couldn't see me, they surmised I had fallen into the chemicals and beendissolved.I saw no profit in disillusioning them.Instead, I left Vesa as quickly as I could and made somecontacts that eventually landed me in charge of the operation here."He walked over to the helpless woman, pulled up a chair and sat down next to her."Now that I've beenso gracious as to tell you some things about myself, perhaps you would care to reciprocate.What areyou doing here?" Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlHelena just glared at him.'"I know you are Duchess Helena von Wilmenhorst, chief administrative assistant to your father theGrand Duke, who is also the Head of SOTS."Helena's eyes widened, but still she said nothing."But there still are so many things I don't know, and I need to know them.Who your friends are, forinstance, and what I may expect from them.But you're not going to tell me, are you?"More silence from the girl strapped in the chair.Garst sighed and stood up."I didn't really think you would.SOTS personnel have a high reputation fornot divulging information willingly, even under torture.It's even said that they are given conditioningagainst most forms of truth drugs.Which leaves me only one alternative.He went to his desk and, out of the top drawer, pulled a hypos prayer filled with a colorless liquid.There was no doubt in Helena's mind what that fluid was: nitrobarb.Under its influence, she would tellGarst anything he wanted to know-and she only had a fifty percent chance of surviving the experience,even if Garst decided to let her live."Don't use that," she said."I'll talk.""A very nice offer, Your Grace-but at this stage of our relationship, not a very trustworthy one.Youwould talk most fluently and most dishonestly, giving me lies that are backed up with just enough truth tomake them believable.I think I'll stick to proven methods."As he approached the bound girt, she struggled to get away, but to no avail.Garst injected the viciousdrug into her arm and within seconds she had passed into the deep coma that was the first step of the Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmldrug's reaction.In another twenty minutes she would return to semiconsciousness and tell him anythingthat was in her mind.Garst settled back patiently to wait, suddenly feeling very confident.He had plenty of time.The three fugitives ditched their stolen car shortly after they'd escaped from the spaceport area andeluded their pursuit.Since all three were from heavy gravity worlds, they were able to run at an equalpace and be far enough away from the car to be safe-for a short while at least.They took refuge in an alley behind a group of stores that were closed for the night.There in theshadows they bent over, panting to recover their breath before deciding what move to make next.Julesin particular was very concerned about this sudden turn of events and what it might mean.He had notquestioned Nav before now because, like Yvette, he knew their main hope lay in running as fast aspossible.But now that they were momentarily out of danger, there were a few things he wanted to know."I want to thank you for saving both our lives, of course," he began, "but I have to know what in theGalaxy you were doing out there.""I don't suppose you'd believe I was just in the neighborhood and saw your light," Nav said, flashing aningenuous smile.Jules did not react, and Nav's smile faded."Khorosho, I'll tell you the truth.I was gettinga little tired of this planet and I wanted to be moving on.Some of my Gypsy heritage, I guess.I wasoutside the spaceport field, trying to decide how best to get in, when all of a sudden everything in thereexploded.I saw the two of you in trouble, and thought I'd help
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