Cooms said, "The commodore told us he intended to let only around half
of the Seventh Star's security force in on the Hlat deal. The other
half was supposed to have been dumped out of one of the subspace
section's locks early today, without benefit of suits. We had no
reason to disbelieve him. Velladon naturally would want to cut down
the number of men who got in on the split with him to as many as he
actually needed. But if he's been thinking about eliminating us from
the game, those other men may still be alive and armed."
Quillan grunted. "I see. You know, that could explain something that
looked a little odd to me."
"What was that?" Cooms asked.
Quillan said, "After they discovered down there that two of their
guards were missing and decided the Hlat must have been on their
level, I tried to get hold of the commodore again. Ryter told me
Velladon won't be available for a while, that he's outside in the
Star, taking care of something there. I wondered what could be
important enough to get Velladon to leave the Executive Block at
present, but--"
"Brother, I'm way ahead of you!" Cooms said. His expression hardened.
"That doesn't look good. But at least he can't bring in reinforcements
without tipping us off. We've got our own guards down with theirs at
the entrance."
Quillan gave him a glance, then nodded at the wall beyond them.
"That's a portal over there, Marras. How many of them on this level?"
"Three or four. Why? The outportals have been plugged, man! Sealed
off. Fluel checked them over when we moved in."
"Sure they're sealed." Quillan stood up, went to the portal, stood
looking at the panel beside it a moment, then pressed on it here and
there, and removed it. "Come over here, friend. I suppose portal
work's been out of your line. I'll show you how fast a thing like that
can get unplugged!" He slid a pocketbook-sized tool kit out of his
belt, snapped it open. About a minute later, the lifeless VACANT sign
above the portal flickered twice, then acquired a steady white glow.
"Portal in operation," Quillan announced. "I'll seal it off again now.
But that should give you the idea."
Cooms' tongue flicked over his lips. "Could somebody portal through to
this level from the Star while the exits are sealed here?"
"If the mechanisms have been set for that purpose, the portals can be
opened again at any time from the Star side. The Duke's an engineer of
sorts, isn't he? Let him check on it. He should have been thinking of
the point himself, as far as that goes. Anyway, Velladon can bring in
as many men as he likes to his own level without using the main
entrance." He considered. "I didn't see anything to indicate that he's
started doing it--"
Marras Cooms shrugged irritably. "That means nothing! It would be easy
enough to keep half a hundred men hidden away on any of the lower
levels."
"I suppose that's right. Well, if the commodore intends to play rough,
you should have some warning anyway."
"What kind of warning?"
"There's Kinmarten and that Hlat-talking gadget, for example," Quillan
pointed out. "Velladon would want both of those in his possession and
out of the way where they can't get hurt before he starts any
shooting."
Cooms looked at him a few seconds. "Ryter," he said then, "sent half a
dozen men up here for Kinmarten just after you got back! Velladon's
supposed to deliver the Hlats' attendants to Yaco, so I let them have
Kinmarten." He paused. "They asked for the Hlat-talker, too."