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looked good. He knew that Ollery could evacuate the air from each compartment and his pressure suit had only a two-hour supply. Less, if he was active. Explosive decompression wasn’t likely, though he had no idea just how fast emergency decomp was. He had not sealed his bubble-helmet. He’d wanted to hear whatever was there to be heard. That hiss could be Ollery or Panis cutting through the partition with a weapon, something like a needier.

In the short stretch of corridor between the partitions, he had no place to hide. All compartment hatches sealed when the ship was on alert. Even if he had been able to get into the galley, it offered no concealment. Two steps forward, one back. What would Sassinak have done in his place? Found an access hatch, no doubt, or known something about the ship’s controls that would have let her get out of this trap and ensnare Ollery at the same time. She would certainly have known where every pipe went and what was in it, what each wire and switch was for. Dupaynil could think of nothing.

It was interesting, if you looked at it that way, that Ollery hadn’t tried to contact him on the ship’s intercom. Did he even know Dupaynil was out of the pod? He must. He had normal ship’s scans available in every compartment. Dupaynil’s own sensors showed that the pods he had sealed were still sealed, their occupants safely out of the fight. Two blobs erf light on a tiny screen were the captain and Panis on the bridge, right ; where they should be. Then one of them started down the alternate passage, slowly. He could not tell which it was, but logic said the captain had told Panis to investigate. Logic smirked when Ollery’s voice came over the tatercom only moments later.

“Check every compartment. I want voice report on fnything out of the ordinary.”

“ He could not hear the Jig’s reply. He must be wear-; fag a pressure suit and using its com unit to report. .Didn’t the captain realize that Dupaynil could hear the ^intercom? Or didn’t he care? Meanwhile there was his problem: that emergency partition. Dupaynil de-

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