Sria bent closer and looked at the stenciled lettering. A voice, not
Pandit's, said:
"I thought it would be you two.... No, don't move!"
A big muscular figure silhouetted against the starlight, and a smaller,
puny, thin-legged figure. Raj Shiva and his co-pilot.
"A hundred credits each, Handus," Raj Shiva said as he ran down the
ramp. "Can you keep the girl from getting away?"
Handus rushed down at his heels.
Pandit met Raj Shiva at the foot of the ramp. Pandit was a big man by
Ophiuchan standards, but Raj Shiva was bigger. "Run, Sria!" Pandit
cried, and met the giant with his knife.
Raj Shiva parried the blow with his forearm, then his big hands moved
swiftly and the knife clattered to the floor. Sria ran for the ramp, her
bare feet padding swiftly against the stone floor. Handus was waiting
for her at the foot of the ramp in an awkward crouch. She had a glimpse
of Raj Shiva and Pandit straining together, then Handus struck her with
his balled fist. It was a puny blow, but Sria staggered back, her jaw
numb. Laughing shrilly, Handus leaped at her. She was shoved back,
tripped over something, and fell. For a moment all the lights blinked
out inside her head.
Inside--no! Raj Shiva and Pandit stumbled about the room, struck
something, there was a loud popping sound, a tinkling, and the lights in
the storage room went out.
"Where is she?" Handus called. "I can't find her!"
She heard him groping about, heard the others struggling together. She
got to her feet and stood perfectly still, waiting for anything. She
wished she had a weapon--something--she was only a woman--