"He thinks he can."

"The man's insane," Gryph reminded him.

Rakken drummed his hands on the table. "I see. To be truthful, you relieve my mind somewhat. The last thing I want to do is blow up half the continent. I was almost sure Targyn couldn't manage to control the prisma he found, but one has to be cautious."

Gryph said nothing, but he caught a quick, questioning glance from Sariana. She was remembering the theoretical possibilities Gryph had mentioned to her when he had told her why the missing prisma cutter had become Shield business. Just because a theory had never been tested didn't mean it wasn't valid. There was little comfort in telling oneself that the theory might possibly be wrong.

"I only need Targyn to neutralize the material of the crystal ship we've found," Rakken was saying calmly. "Once (hat's done I understand the prisma will be in a usable state. Is that correct?"

"Essentially," said Gryph. "Who found the ship? Targyn?"

Rakken nodded. "He spent two years prospecting for it in this gorge after he faked his own death at the hands of the bandits. But when he found it, he discovered what every other prospector discovers. He needed money to excavate his claim. The ship, you see, was buried inside this cliff."

"So he went looking for a banker. Preferably one who could keep his mouth shut," Sariana said with an understanding nod. "He thought you fit the bill because you were an easterner and not likely to gossip about the find to the locals."

Gryph shot her a sidelong glance. "He also knew there wasn't much chance any western banker would help him. A westerner would know immediately that what he was doing was illegal and incredibly dangerous. Any local banker would have contacted a respectable Shield clan and told them what was happening."

"But you saw the financial potential, right, Etion?" Sariana asked with what Gryph considered far too much professional admiration. The businesswoman in her was intrigued by what Rakken had done. Easterners had a definite problem when it came to putting financial matters into perspective.

Rakken was nodding genially over Sariana's comment. "I saw the financial potential at once, my dear." "She's not your dear," Gryph said. "She's my wife."

Rakken raised his eyebrows at Sariana. "Not according to the laws of the eastern provinces, right Sariana?"

She carefully avoided looking at either man while she helped herself to more stew. "No, not according to the laws of the east More stew, Gryph?" she asked brightly.

He paid no attention to the question which he sensed had been asked in order to sidetrack him. Sariana was trying to avoid violence at the dinner table. 'It was, no doubt, an ancient female custom.

"I have a few questions I'd like answered," Gryph said.

"By all means."

"Where did you get the hired help?"

"You mean Miscroft and the others? Oh, they're acquaintances ofTargyn's," Rakken explained casually.

"Bandits he recruited?"

Rakken poured himself a little more wine. "I believe so. According to him the frontier bandits have always had a bad deal here. They are descended from the noble crew of The Serendipity, it seems."

"That's the same noble crew that mutinied right after the crash," Gryph advised him. "They killed a lot of people before they were driven off. They've been living on the frontiers ever since."

"Some would say they aren't much different than the Shields," Rakken murmured. "A bunch of outcasts who are barely surviving on the frontiers."

Genuine rage washed through Gryph at the insult. He controlled it with a fierce dose of willpower. "Shields are not outcasts and you damn well know it, Rakken. We are an honorable class. If you choose to do business with bandits and rogues, however, you had better watch your back."

"I always watch my back," Rakken told him. "I learned that lesson a long time ago. Before I came to the western continent. I don't need you to teach me that fundamental tactic."

Gryph studied him for a moment aod then let the matter drop. "It was you who arranged to have the cutter stolen?"

Rakken relaxed slightly, pouring more wine for himself. "Targyn informed me we would need one to

cut open the ship and whittle the prisma into manageable sizes."

"You're talking about a ship that's been neutralized. My guess is Targyn wants to try cutting into a live ship to see if he can manipulate the weapons individually. That's suicide, Rakken."

"I realize the time has come to get rid of Targyn. But until I found another Shield, I needed him." "Wait a minute," Sariana said sharply. "This matter of the cutter interests me, Etion. You knew the

Avylyns had one, didn't you? You asked me about it on a couple of occasions."

"I was aware of it, yes."

Gryph frowned as he realized the direction in which Sar-iana's astute reasoning powers were leading her. "Forget it, Sariana. We've got more important things to discuss."

She paid him no attention. She was scowling furiously at Rakken. "You used me, didn't you? You used the information I gave you to set up the theft of the cutter."

"I'll admit that having you in the Avylyn household was convenient," Rakken admitted without any show of remorse. "Don't look so upset, Sariana. It was just business."

Sariana inclined her head proudly. "I see. Business."

Gryph sensed her burning anger and deliberately tried to project a command to control herself. He knew he had been successful when she glanced at him, annoyed, and then went back to her meal.

"Who ordered my informant killed back in Serendipity?" Gryph demanded softly. Rakken made a careless motion with his left hand. "We learned that Brinton had gotten too close to

the truth. Targyn said we had to get rid of him. He gave the orders to the same two men who had already secured the cutter."

"And then you sent those two men after Sariana."

Rakken leaned forward, folding his elbows on the low table. "By then I realized Sariana had not only hired herself a Shield, she had, under local law, managed to get herself married to him. Targyn explained to me just what that meant. I knew by then that I was eventually going to have to get rid of Targyn. You seemed the obvious candidate to replace him."

"You figured you could use Sariana to control me," Gryph concluded.

Rakken smiled slightly. "She proved difficult to nab. The first try in Serendipity failed miserably. One of Tar-gyn's men died and the other nearly drowned in wine."