"I am a gamma-man," Ferris told him.
"That doesn't frighten me, youngster. So am I. Or was. Do you know the
name Djevos Barian?"
Ferris blinked. "But Barian was hunted down and killed, his remains
positively identified."
Khaljean smiled. "As Pao Chung said, I am good at faked evidence. I
always had a skill with synthetics. A man thing I created lived long
enough to be slaughtered in my place, and I had constructed him well,
even to duplicating my fingerprints and brain patterns. Officially I am
dead. But ten years ago Pao Chung found out about me. He has bled me
systematically ever since. Until now."
"Shall I kill him for you?" asked Angel, with malicious joy in the
thought. "Now that you have access to his evidence, his life can be
only a menace to you."
Khaljean frowned. "I don't believe in killing. But sometimes Pao Chung
has tempted me. No, let him live."
"So you are Barian?" said Ferris admiringly.
"Was Barian. I have become Khaljean. The real one was a small-time
operator, dealing chiefly in dead animals. I was with him when he
died. We were much alike in appearance. With plastic surgery, I became
Khaljean. And I have made the name famous. You must be one of the seven
recent escapees from the reservation. We will have much to talk about
later."
"Not later," insisted Ferris. "Now. Where does this maze lead?"
Khaljean humored him. "Nowhere or anywhere. It's a dimensional short
cut that can take you to any place in the solar universe, or even a
few odd places in adjacent or parallel spacetime continuums. Is there
somewhere you want to go?"