Before morning light pierced the shadows of the river canyon, a storm of Dragoon troops swept in and surrounded Norma’s laboratory complex. Jet-powered assault boats roared upstream and penetrated deep into the narrowing canyon. Armed flyers swooped down from above. Gold-armored troops marched forward with heavy equipment and easily broke through fences that had been erected to discourage the curious.

The thirty mercenary guards hired by VenKee saw that they were outnumbered and outgunned ten to one. Tuk Keedair stood inside the compound at the edge of the large hangar and railed at his tiny force to drive back the invaders, but the guards decided that the Tlulaxa man wasn’t paying them enough, nor was he a person for whom they would willingly die. After a few moments of tense standoff, the hired guards threw down their weapons and opened the main gate.

In furious despair, Keedair crumpled to his knees in the graveled work-yard. He knew the potential of Norma Cenva’s work, understood that she had been within days of testing the space-folding prototype vessel. And now they would lose everything.

Norma’s Buddislamic slaves stopped in their tracks to stare at the Dragoon force. Many of the workers showed veiled resentment toward the official Poritrin guard, recalling when the oppressive gold-armored troops had crushed the rebellion led by Bel Moulay almost twenty-seven years earlier.

Emerging from her calculation rooms, Norma stared at the flurry of unexpected military craft, armed flyers, and marching soldiers. Then a hover platform cruised over the smashed fences, carrying a satisfied-looking Tio Holtzman at its helm.

When the Savant disembarked at the warehouse doorway, he confronted Norma. “By order of Lord Bludd, I have come to inspect these facilities. We have reason to suspect that you may be performing unauthorized development based on research done under my auspices.”

Norma blinked at him, not comprehending. “I have always done my own work, Savant. You never showed any interest in it before.”

“Perhaps I have reason to change my mind. Lord Bludd has instructed me to confiscate everything I find here and inspect it for possible violations of your contractual limitations.”

“But you cannot do that.”

Rolling his hazel-colored eyes, Holtzman indicated the overwhelming force of Dragoon soldiers that had swarmed into the complex and secured the buildings. “The data suggest otherwise.”

He strode past her into the experimental hangar and came to an abrupt halt, staring in disbelief at the large, laughably old cargo ship surrounded by workers on platforms. “This? This is your big project?”

Marching forward for a closer look, the Savant climbed a temporary metal stairway on the side of the ship. At the rear of the vessel, he stood at a high railing and peered down into one of two open engine compartments. “You have stolen my seminal work, Norma.” He poked his head into the mechanics. “Explain to me how this apparatus uses my Holtzman Effect to fold space.”

Intimidated and reluctant, she followed him while the Dragoon guards remained below. “That… would be difficult, Savant Holtzman. You have admitted that you do not understand the fundamental field equations yourself. How is it a misdeed for me to develop something you do not understand?”

“Do not misquote me! Of course I understand it!”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Oh? Then explain the Holtzman Effect to me yourself, now.”

His face purpled. “The depths and subtleties of the concept go beyond even you, Norma.”

Gathering her resolve, she said, “VenKee will challenge this action. Your intrusion here is in violation of our agreement and of the laws of Poritrin. Tuk Keedair will file a formal complaint. All of this work belongs to his company.”

Holtzman made a rude, dismissive gesture. “We’ll see about that. The

Tlulaxa’s visa has been revoked. And you, Norma, are no longer a welcome guest on Poritrin. After you have finished detailing everything for me, the Dragoon guards will escort you back to Starda. We’ll arrange a spacecraft to take you away.” He paused and smiled. “The cost of your passage will be billed to VenKee Enterprises, of course.”

With his Dragoons looking on, Holtzman spent half the morning examining piles of blueprints and a shelf full of electronic notepads. Occasionally he asked her questions, most of which she refused to answer. Finally he announced, “I am confiscating these notes to study them further.” When she objected, he wagged a finger in her face. “You’re lucky I don’t have you thrown in prison instead of just exiling you from Poritrin. I can always speak to Lord Bludd.”

Norma had never hated this man before, had always assumed she and Holtzman had interests in common. She could not believe her own eyes as she watched the Savant sifting through her research with all the finesse of a rubble-clearing machine.

WHILE HOLTZMAN’S APPRENTICES ransacked her laboratories and removed important documents, Norma and Keedair were hauled off by Dragoons, to separate holding quarters in Starda City. The accommodations were comfortable— not prison cells, at least— but she felt like a caged animal.

Norma was not allowed to speak to her Tlulaxa associate at all, but she did have the freedom to send transmittals off-planet… since none of them could arrive soon enough to make any difference. Even with the most optimistic estimates, months would pass before the slow spaceships could bring any answers.

Still, for three days, Norma wrote out desperate messages, imploring Aurelius Venport for help, dispatching them on every outbound ship. She had no idea which vessels might encounter the powerful merchant first, but she needed his assistance desperately. She needed to have him here.

Norma felt very alone.

Slaves brought her a fine meal, but she had no appetite for it. Nothing could diminish her anger toward Tio Holtzman, her former friend and mentor. She had never experienced such unjust treatment, not even from her disapproving mother. After everything she had done to boost the Savant’s status and reputation, now he showed her no gratitude whatsoever. He had used her, taken advantage of her creative genius.

Worst of all, she doubted he would ever be able to reproduce her work, and it would all be wasted. The space-folding project could not be allowed to fade into complete obscurity!

While she waited for a ship to transport her to Rossakin exile, Norma had time to consider matters that had never concerned her before. Previously, her work had been all-consuming, and she’d hardly paid attention to anything else. Now she wished she had not been so politically naïve.

All the respect she thought she had earned over decades of dedicated service had been snuffed out like an ember ground beneath a boot heel. Lord Bludd and all of Poritrin— even most of the League— believed that Holtzman himself had been responsible for all of her accomplishments, and that she had been no more than a “minor lab assistant.” Banking on his established reputation, Holtzman had the unwavering support of Lord Bludd. Norma had never had time for politics or currying favor.

Now Norma found herself caught in a realm she did not understand.

Desperately, she worried about how upset Aurelius would be and how much money she had cost him because of this debacle. She had let him down.

AFTER REMOVING ALL technical documents from the laboratory offices and taking them to his own blufftop headquarters, Savant Holtzman generously permitted Norma to return and pick up whatever keepsakes she could find. “A final gesture of courtesy,” the gray-bearded scientist said with a sniff as they stepped off the hover platform and entered the hangar. “But you can take only what you can carry.”

She extended her small arms. “Only what I can carry? I see.”

For a tiny woman, not physically strong or attractive, Norma Cenva had quite a list of accomplishments. While she could not resist the demand that she leave Poritrin, Norma could use the superior power of her intellect to give Holtzman a little surprise as her parting gift for all he had done for her. And to her.

“Don’t complain,” he said. “I am not required to allow this.”

Earlier, she had been forbidden to remove any plans, calculations, or electronic notepads. That had not concerned her, though, since she had always possessed an excellent memory, and was able to retain comprehensive details in her mind.

Inside the hangar, the old-model cargo ship still stood on its drydock platform, much too large for a few Dragoon thugs to haul away. The cavernous structure was silent, without the usual hum of activity. Her teams of slaves had been sent to their barracks, awaiting further orders; many had already been reassigned to other crews, but a hundred or so remained to help with the dismantling operations. Her staff workers had all fled. Tools, common diagnostic devices, and construction equipment lay about in disarray.

Norma’s calculation offices were a shambles. Every cabinet and drawer had been opened and ransacked. Furniture was overturned. Black scorch marks showed where Dragoons had attempted to burn through the rock walls of the grotto in search of secret compartments and passageways. Norma stared with a sense of loss, emptiness, and dismay.

“No one took any of your personal things,” Holtzman was quick to say, as if he had a conscience. He led her to a metal box— distressingly small— that contained some of her memorabilia. “That soostone is valuable, but I told the guards to leave it alone.”

Norma looked at him in disbelief, appalled that he seemed to expect her appreciation for this. Instead, she rummaged through the box and took out the silky-smooth, exotic soostone, along with one of the dried Bludd roses she had pressed between two thin sheets of clearplaz.

According to myth, the soostone had an ability to focus and enhance telepathic powers, but Norma had never found this one to be anything more than a pretty gem. Unlike her mother, Norma had none of the innate mental skills of a Sorceress of Rossak. It would take more than a bauble, however expensive, to bring them to life.

Nonetheless she considered the soostone precious because Aurelius had given it to her. Why hadn’t she agreed to marry him that night? If she had accepted his proposal, he might have remained behind with her… and then none of this would have happened. She heaved a sigh of regret.

“That is everything,” Holtzman said, impatient now. “We have been through your office meticulously.”

“Yes… I can see that.” She picked up the memento box and set it on a worktable. It seemed so light, so tiny. “Am I permitted to keep some of my supplies? VenKee paid for them.”

“Fine, fine. But hurry up. Your chartered ship is due to depart this afternoon, and I have no intention of keeping the captain waiting.” He gestured to the clutter and debris. “Anything you can carry. Lord Bludd has instructed us not to help you in any manner, I am sorry to say.”

Struggling with the weight, she dragged over a holographic projector and its case full of accessories. She continued gathering objects together, including a calculation panel and two cartons of sealed, unused electronic notepads. As the pile mounted, Holtzman and the Dragoon guards exchanged amused glances.

Next she removed several modules from a stack of spare parts in the corner. Kneeling on the rock floor, she began snapping them together. She had counted on Holtzman’s ignorance, and he had not let her down. A wide, flat platform took shape in front of her, as the men stood by and watched.

She installed a red activator pack, then switched it on. Humming in sequence, the entire assembly rose gently off the floor. With a satisfied smile, Norma turned to the Savant and said, “One of the new commercial-model suspensor platforms VenKee Enterprises is bringing to market next month.” Noting Holtzman’s surprise and annoyance, she added, “I invented it.”

Norma guided the platform over to the tall stack of heavy possessions— meaningless objects, mostly, with the exception of the soostone and rose… but that wasn’t the point. Quickly, she loaded them onto the suspensor pallet.

“I’m ready to go now,” Norma finally announced. The suspensor platform, filled with her things, floated behind her, following like a loyal pet.

When one of the Dragoon guards grinned at Holtzman’s expense, the fiery inventor snapped, “Let her have this little trick. At least it will be her last.”

Soon they would take her to Starda Spaceport and escort her away from Poritrin. Though she had lived most of her life here, and for years had given everything in service to Tio Holtzman, she never expected to return.

As Norma departed with the loaded suspensor platform, she looked back at the giant prototype ship she had modified, and knew this was probably the last time she would ever see it. She had finished her work, and after another month of tests, should have been ready to demonstrate it for Aurelius in triumph. She had come so close to proving that his faith in her was not misplaced….

But what would he think of her now?