of you has failed to notice, I'm the only one doing any real work around here. I would appreciate a little quiet and some calm, rational behavior."

Rakken jerked away from her and resumed his pacing.

"All right, Sariana," Gryph said with barely concealed irritation. "We'll try this one more time. Now listen carefully."

Sariana listened carefully but still failed to find the spring on the next try. Her fingers were beginning to shake with the tension she was under.

"Gryph, I just can't find it. Maybe if we try it from a different angle?"

"There is no other angle! I told you, it's just a standard locking device. There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to open it with that pin. You're just not listening!"

"I am listening, you arrogant Shield. This is all your fault. You're not explaining me process properly."

"What am I supposed to do from in here? Draw you a picture?"

There was a beat of silence as Sariana considered that. "Why don't you try?" she asked softly. "I got that image of the little knife clearly enough. Try drawing a picture inside my head, Gryph."

Gryph was silent for a few seconds. "I don't know if I can get anything this detailed across. But I'll try." Sariana closed her eyes and concentrated on being totally receptive to the image appearing in her

head. It was a meticulously detailed picture of the lock in her fingers. She watched a pin being slipped into a hidden slot at an oblique angle. The lock in her mind sprang open.

A few seconds later, so did the lock in her hands.

"I did it," Sariana said with a sense of elation shared by neither of the two men.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Rakken said. "Chassyn can cover us."

"Forget it," Gryph advised as he strode through the door. "You'll never make it. Targyn has traps set at the entrance. I saw them last night."

"What do you mean?" Rakken demanded furiously. "I gave no approval for any traps at the entrance." "They're there. Take my word for it. They're the kind Shields and bandits use and you'll need my help to get past them. There's no point worrying about them now, though."

"Why not?" Rakken was enraged.

"Believe me, we can't get out of here without Targyn knowing. I have to get him before he gets us. It's as simple as that. Where's the crystal ship?"

"Why?" Rakken was suspicious.

"Because that's where I'll find Targyn, you fool." Gryph took a dangerous step toward the other man. "Now where is it?"

Rakken sighed and pointed down the coiridor. "That way. When you come to a branching point in the hall, turn left and then left again. The ship is sitting right where Targyn found it."

Gryph nodded once and turned to Sariana. "I want you to go back to that room where we had dinner. Stay there until I come for you."

"But, Gryph - "

He grasped her shoulders and gave her a slight shake. His eyes were gleaming as he looked down at her. "Do as I say, Shieldmate. I told you once there would be times when you would obey me. This is one of those times. This is Shield business and I know my business. Go."

She didn't try to argue against the implacable command she read in.his face. "Yes, Gryph."

"Move."

She nodded and turned away, clutching her cloak and the pin she had used to open the lock. Rakken

moved quickly to follow her. She stopped a few paces away and glanced back at Gryph. He was looking closely at the open lock.

"Gryph?" she whispered gently.

He didn't glance up from his study of the lock. "What is it, Sariana?" "I love you."

That got his attention. His eyes gleamed in the unnatural corridor lighting. But Sariana didn't wait for a response. She smiled to herself and scurried back down the corridor with Etion Rakken at her heels.

Gryph might not realize it because he had a great deal on his mind at the moment, but he loved her. Sariana was sure of it. One of these days he'd figure it out for himself. He was a little thick at times, but he wasn't stupid.

Gryph waited only long enough to be sure Sariana was obeying his orders. When she and Rakken disappeared he pocketed the lock, then turned and started quickly down the corridor Rakken had indicated. There was no reason to think Rakken had lied. The man's nerve had gone. He was in no condition to lie.

The corridor was a long one, lit with the same internal glow that characterized the rest of the cavern. A long time ago someone or something had excavated and built well. The metal looked almost new and the lighting system seemed strong even though it must have been functioning for centuries.

The significance of Targyn's discovery suddenly hit Gryph. According to the records only ships and weapons and a couple of prisma cutters had been found in the past. There had never been any indication of construction or habitation, and therefore no indication of what the creators of the prisma ships looked like.

But these corridors and rooms offered hints that whatever had set out to boobytrap this sector of the galaxy had a physical body that used such conveniences as benches. The beings also had at least some senses that were similar to those of humans. For example, they needed light in a familiar range of the spectrum to find their way around in the darkness.

But they had learned to do a great deal more with light than humans ever had, Gryph reminded himself as he turned left in the branching corridors. The beings who had built this installation and created the crystal ships had discovered how to turn light into a weapon that could be controlled by the mind.

And Targyn, a strong but mentally unstable Shield, had been living here, studying alien secrets for months.

Gryph slowed as he turned down the last corridor, his senses alert for that tingling awareness that indicated someone was approaching. It was a hunter's talent, not Shield talent he depended on now. Openings were scattered in the corridor walls. If he received sufficient warning of someone's approach, he should be able to duck out of sight for a few crucial minutes.

The warning that finally came was the faint rumble of voices from the other side of a bend in the corridor. Gryph sprinted to get to the safety of an open room. There was no time to slide the metal door shut behind him. The movement would have been obvious.

There also wasn't much point. Gryph decided it was time to start whittling down the odds. Bandit hunting was familiar work. Lock in hand, he waited patiently just inside the chamber as the two men came down tile hall.

The first man who spoke sounded disgruntled and a little scared.

"He's crazy I tell you," the man complained to his companion. "We should have known better man to make a deal with a Shield. All that talk of making our fortunes with prisma was just to get us to work harder for him. I don't think he ever intends to neutralize the stuff. He's going to continue fooling around with that live crystal."