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TUE PORT&039;S LIGHTS brightened evenly as the twilight deepened At no time did the over-all illumination vary from that to be expected of a somewhat subdued late afternoon At Port 9, as at the other yacht ports of Upper City, it was daylight throughout Florina&039;s rotation The brightness row unusually pronounced under the midday sun, but that was the only deviation

Markis Genro could tell that the day proper had passed only because, in passing into the port, he had left the colored night lights of the City behind hi sky but theyfor day

Genro paused just inside the antic horseshoe with its three dozen hangars and five take-off pits It was part of him, as it was part of any experienced yachtsarette, violet in color and tipped with the filmiest touch of silvery kyrt, and put it to his lips He cupped his palreenish life as he inhaled It burned slowly and left no ash An emerald smoke filtered out his nostrils

He murmured, "Business as usual!"

Acostu above one tunic button to indicate that he was a member of the com any appearance of hurry

"Ah, Genro! And why not business as usual?"

"Hello, Doty I only thought that with all this fuht boy to close the ports Thank Sark it hasn&039;t"

The committeeman sobered "You know, it may corinned "How can you tell the latest from the next-to-the-latest?"

"Well, have you heard that it&039;s definite now about the native? The killer?"

"You ht him? I hadn&039;t heard that"

"No, they haven&039;t caught him But they know he&039;s not in Lower City!"

"No? Where is he then?"

"Why, in Upper City Here"

"Go on" Genro&039;s eyes widened, then narrowed in disbelief "No, really," said the committeeman, a little hurt, "I have it for a fact The patrollers are swooping up and down Kyrt Highway They&039;ve got City Park surrounded and they&039;re using Central Arena as a co-ordination point This is all authentic"

"Well, ared ships "I haven&039;t been at g for two months, I think Are there any new ships in the place?"

"No Well, yes, there&039;s Hjordesse&039;s Flame Arrow"

Genro shook his head "I&039;ve seen that It&039;s all chro else I hate to think I&039;ll have to end by designingCo it I&039;m tired of these late models They&039;re too automatic With their auto the sport"

"You know, I&039;ve heard others say the sareed the coood condition on the market, I&039;ll let you know"

"Thanks Mind if I wander about the place?"

"Of course not Go ahead" The corinned, waved, trotted away

Genrofroar, appraising its contents shrewdly

At Hangar 26 he displayed a heightened interest He looked over the low barrier and said, "Squire?"

The call was one of polite inquiry, but after a pause of several ain, a little more peremptorily, a little less politely

The Squire who e, he was not in yachting costume Secondly, he needed a shave, and his rather repellent-looking skullcap was yanked down in a most unfashionable manner It seemed to cover half his face Lastly, his attitude was one of peculiarly suspicious overcaution

Cenro said, "I&039;m Markis Genro Is this your craft, sir?"

"Yes, it is" The words were slow and tense

Genro disregarded that He tilted his head back and looked over the yacht&039;s lines carefully He rearette froh in the air It had not yet reached the high point of its arc when, with a little flash, it vanished

Genro said, "I wonder if you&039;din?" The other hesitated, then stepped aside Genro entered

He said, "What kind of motor does the craft carry, sir?"

"Why do you ask?"

Genro was tall, skin and eyes were dark, hair crisp and cut short He topped the other by half a head, and his smile shohite, evenly spaced teeth He said, "To be very frank, I&039;m in the market for a new ship"

"You mean you&039;re interested in this one?"

"I don&039;t know Soht But anyway, I wonder if you&039;d ines?"

The Squire stood there silently

Genro&039;s voice grew a trifle colder "As you please, of course" He turned away

The Squire said, "I ht sell" He fumbled in his pockets "Here&039;s the license!"

Genro looked at each side with a quick, experienced glance He handed it back "You&039;re Deamone?"

The Squire nodded "You can come in if you wish"

Genro looked briefly at the large port-chronohtly even in the daylight illu of the second hour after sunset

"Thank you Won&039;t you lead the way?"

The Squire ruain and held out a booklet of key slivers "After you, sir"

Genro took the booklet He leafed through the slivers, looking at the small code marks for the "ship stamp" The other man made no attempt to help him

Finally he said, "This one, I suppose?"

He walked up the short ramp to the air-lock balcony and considered the fine seaht of the lock carefully "I don&039;t see-- Oh, here it is," and he stepped to the other side of the lock

Slowly, noiselessly, the lock yawned and Genro ht went on automatically as the door closed behind them The inner door opened and as they stepped into the ship proper white lights ffickered on over all the length of the ship

Myrlyn Terens had no choice He no longer re as "choice" had existed For three long, wretched hours, now, he had re and helpless to do anything else It had led to nothing till now He did not see that it could lead to anything but capture

And then this fellow had come with an eye to the ship To deal with him at all was madness He could not possibly maintain his imposture at such close quarters But then he could not possibly remain where he was, either

At least within the ship there e that that had not occurred to him before

There was

Terens said, "It&039;s close to dinnerti?"

The other had scarcely looked over his shoulder "Why, later, perhaps Thank you"

Terens did not urge him He let him roam the ship and applied himself thankfully to the potted meat and cellulitewrapped fruit He drank thirstily There was a shower across the

corridor from the kitchen He locked its door and bathed It was a pleasure to be able to reht skullcap, at least temporarily He even found a shallow closet fro

He was far more master of himself when Genro returned

Genro said, "Say, would you mind if I tried to fly this ship?"

"I have no objection Can you handle this model?" asked Terens with an excellent imitation of nonchalance

"I think so," said the other with a little sularthe control tower and there&039;s a take-off pit available Here&039;s my yachtsman&039;s license if you&039;d like to see it before I take over"

Terens gave it as cursory a glance as Genro had given his "The controls are yours," he said

The ship rolled out of the hangar like an air-borne whale,the smooth-packed clay of the field by three inches

Terens watched Genro handling the controls with finger-tip precision The ship was a live thing under his touch The small replica of the field that was upon the visiplate shifted and changed with each tiny motion of every contact

The ship came to a halt, pinpointed at the lip of a take-off pit The diaressively towards the ship&039;s prow and it began tipping upward Terens was mercifully unaware of this as the pilot rooravity Majestically, the ship&039;s rear flanges fitted into the appropriate grooves of the pit It stood upright, pointing to the sky

The duralite cover of the take-off pit slipped into its recess, revealing the neutralized lining, a hundred yards deep, that received the first energy thrusts of the hyperatornic e of information with the control tower Finally, "Ten seconds to take-off," he said