shuddered.
“This is the man you saw in Arcade?” asked Bracker.
“Yes.” She nodded. “Logan 3. He’s famous. Everyone knows him. Before he began using…the drug…I was happy to be there, proud to dance for him.”
“She’s jealous,” Logan snapped to the others in the room. He swung his eyes to hers, glaring. “Because I was with another woman. That’s why you’re doing this. Tell them the truth. Admit it!”
“No—I can’t lie for you, Logan. Don’t ask me to lie!” And she lowered her eyes, seemingly on the verge of tears.
A class act, thought Logan. Fast class all the way.
Bracker walked close to her. “The woman he was with,” prompted the tall officer. “Tell us her name.” He smiled thinly. “For the record.”
“Jessica 6,” said Phedra softly.
“Right.” Bracker nodded. His voice hardened: “Bring her in.”
And Jessica was suddenly there in the room with Logan, looking stunned and shaken. Bracker led her to a holdchair and she sat down, a glazed expression on her face.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “Why am There?”
“Tell her why, Logan.” Bracker smiled. “She shared the fun at Arcade. Now she’s sharing this. Tell her why she’s here.”
“It’s Phedra,” said Logan bitterly. “She’s been lying, trying to — “
“That’s the woman! That’s her!” said Phedra, overriding his words, pointing at Jessica. “She was there with him.”
“And was she also using DD-15?”
“Yes.” Phedra nodded. “She was taking it…passing it around to the others. The two of them they’re both guilty!”
“You lie!” snapped Logan.
“No use bluffing,” said the tall officer. “We not only have the disc we took from you but we ran a chemlab test on Jessica’s hands. Traces of DD-15 under the nails, in the skin pores. No doubt of it.”
Logan tried to stand, but the chair held him. His face was pale with anger. “That’s not true! Your test is wrong!”
Was Bracker himself in on this? Logan wondered. Was he lying, too? Logan looked at Jessica, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes; she stared ahead in shock.
Bracker swung toward the wall, spoke to the voice-cylinder glowing there: “This case is conclusive. We found a disc on Logan 3, and we have lab confirmation on the woman. Plus eyewitness testimony. Verdict?”
A moment of tense silence.
Then the voice-cylinder said calmly: “Execute them.”
----
THE KILLING GROUND
Once, long ago, the country surrounding and encompassing East Africa’s great Serengeti Plain swarmed with life. Here, in lazy heat, lion and leopard prowled; the hooves of roan antelope and reedbuck trail-marked the rolling grassland; massive elephants trumpeted the sky. Through which the gold-breasted starling and hawk eagle flew; kudu and zebra and gazelle galloped with wildebeest and giraffe; hippos ruled the rivers, while buffalo and bush pig shared the wide savannas; here, too, flourished the horned rhino, the swift impala, the hyena and wild dog.
But now, in this time of Sandman and runner, it was no longer the heartland of life.
The Serengeti was sterile. The great herds were gone; the rivers ran to thin trickles under the high African sun; the brute roar of the king lion was stilled forever.
It was a place of death.
Logan was not prepared for the sentence levied upon him by the computer—that he and Jessica be transported to the Serengeti and left there, on the wide, raw plain, to be hunted by Masai tribesmen and executed by them under official citystate statutes.
On his Earth, condemned criminals were sent to Hell—that vast, deadly ice-shelf stretching between Baffin Bay and the Bering Sea—but here the killing ground was the Serengeti, an area equally as severe and from which escape was equally impossible.
A sealed mazecar whisked them under the Indian Ocean to Mombasa. There they were put into a second car, which arrowed west, into Tanzania—to the platform at Ngorongoro. Another vehicle transfer,
“This is the man you saw in Arcade?” asked Bracker.
“Yes.” She nodded. “Logan 3. He’s famous. Everyone knows him. Before he began using…the drug…I was happy to be there, proud to dance for him.”
“She’s jealous,” Logan snapped to the others in the room. He swung his eyes to hers, glaring. “Because I was with another woman. That’s why you’re doing this. Tell them the truth. Admit it!”
“No—I can’t lie for you, Logan. Don’t ask me to lie!” And she lowered her eyes, seemingly on the verge of tears.
A class act, thought Logan. Fast class all the way.
Bracker walked close to her. “The woman he was with,” prompted the tall officer. “Tell us her name.” He smiled thinly. “For the record.”
“Jessica 6,” said Phedra softly.
“Right.” Bracker nodded. His voice hardened: “Bring her in.”
And Jessica was suddenly there in the room with Logan, looking stunned and shaken. Bracker led her to a holdchair and she sat down, a glazed expression on her face.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “Why am There?”
“Tell her why, Logan.” Bracker smiled. “She shared the fun at Arcade. Now she’s sharing this. Tell her why she’s here.”
“It’s Phedra,” said Logan bitterly. “She’s been lying, trying to — “
“That’s the woman! That’s her!” said Phedra, overriding his words, pointing at Jessica. “She was there with him.”
“And was she also using DD-15?”
“Yes.” Phedra nodded. “She was taking it…passing it around to the others. The two of them they’re both guilty!”
“You lie!” snapped Logan.
“No use bluffing,” said the tall officer. “We not only have the disc we took from you but we ran a chemlab test on Jessica’s hands. Traces of DD-15 under the nails, in the skin pores. No doubt of it.”
Logan tried to stand, but the chair held him. His face was pale with anger. “That’s not true! Your test is wrong!”
Was Bracker himself in on this? Logan wondered. Was he lying, too? Logan looked at Jessica, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes; she stared ahead in shock.
Bracker swung toward the wall, spoke to the voice-cylinder glowing there: “This case is conclusive. We found a disc on Logan 3, and we have lab confirmation on the woman. Plus eyewitness testimony. Verdict?”
A moment of tense silence.
Then the voice-cylinder said calmly: “Execute them.”
----
THE KILLING GROUND
Once, long ago, the country surrounding and encompassing East Africa’s great Serengeti Plain swarmed with life. Here, in lazy heat, lion and leopard prowled; the hooves of roan antelope and reedbuck trail-marked the rolling grassland; massive elephants trumpeted the sky. Through which the gold-breasted starling and hawk eagle flew; kudu and zebra and gazelle galloped with wildebeest and giraffe; hippos ruled the rivers, while buffalo and bush pig shared the wide savannas; here, too, flourished the horned rhino, the swift impala, the hyena and wild dog.
But now, in this time of Sandman and runner, it was no longer the heartland of life.
The Serengeti was sterile. The great herds were gone; the rivers ran to thin trickles under the high African sun; the brute roar of the king lion was stilled forever.
It was a place of death.
Logan was not prepared for the sentence levied upon him by the computer—that he and Jessica be transported to the Serengeti and left there, on the wide, raw plain, to be hunted by Masai tribesmen and executed by them under official citystate statutes.
On his Earth, condemned criminals were sent to Hell—that vast, deadly ice-shelf stretching between Baffin Bay and the Bering Sea—but here the killing ground was the Serengeti, an area equally as severe and from which escape was equally impossible.
A sealed mazecar whisked them under the Indian Ocean to Mombasa. There they were put into a second car, which arrowed west, into Tanzania—to the platform at Ngorongoro. Another vehicle transfer,
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