up too. Kendall's hand shot out, enclosing the squat man's gun hand in a vice-like grip. Miller started to yell, but his antagonist's fist smashed into his mouth before he could say anything. Miller dropped to the floor.

Kendall picked up the gun, shoved it into his pocket, and threw the little man easily over his shoulder. Then he headed for the French windows that opened onto the balcony.

The police copter was landing on the roof as Kendall dropped from the balcony and sprinted silently across the lawn. He ran to the garage, opened the door to one of the Secretary's cars, and dumped Miller in the back seat. It was but the work of a moment to short through the starting switch. The hum of the turboelectric engine was completely drowned out by the whirring of the copter blades above.

Without turning on the headlights, Kendall rolled the car out into the street and drove toward an aircab stand. He was several blocks from the Secretary's house before he turned on the headlights.

He parked the Secretary's car in a darkened alley a block away from the aircab office. As he drew back the handbrake, he heard Miller groan faintly in the back.

"Quiet, friend," he said soothingly, and tapped him lightly on the head with the butt of the gun. Rapidly he went through the fat little man's pockets, tossing out cards of all different sorts before finding what he was looking for. Sure enough, there was his ID booklet.

The picture was starting to take shape now, with everything falling into place except the answer to the big question: Why?

Why was the Secretary so anxious to see Stone out of the way? What was the whole business about? He didn't know.

He pocketed the ID booklet. It wouldn't help him now, not with the police after him for breaking away from the spaceport, and maybe a kidnapping charge on top of that.

Glancing at Miller to make sure he'd be out for a while to come, Stone got out of the car and walked the block to the aircab office. It was easy to rent one of them. All he had to do was show the bored clerk his ID booklet, and sign for the cab.

"Remember," the clerk cautioned, "you can't take off inside the city limits. You'll have to drive outside Mojave first."

"I know," Kendall said as he shoved the bills across the counter. "Thanks."

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