• Hall hunkered down next to the lock and started fiddling with the electronics. Adanis looked around at Raphael who had pulled out both his pistols and was looking ready.
    “Shouldn’t we knock first?” he asked. “I mean, it’s a bit rude if we don’t.”
    Hall looked up at with an exasperated expression.
    “Ok.” He said, and pressed the button. “Knock knock!”
    The hinges of the door blew off as the lock sparked and shattered. Raphael kicked rest of the door open and rushed into the room, shouting. Adanis ran in, just in time to see a large man, dressed only in a vest, a sandy pair of trousers and a brown trench coat. He was holding a waitress in one hand and the other was reaching for a weapon.
    “Drop it.” Warned Hall. “I won’t say it again.”
    The waitress screamed and ran for the door. She was halfway there when she keeled over onto the carpet, fast asleep.
    The man stopped moving. The dark brown eyes swept the three of them from behind their curtain of brown hair. His stubble-covered face was hard set and muscular, but fairly plain. The figure beneath was large and powerful, but looked as though it had already sustained major injuries. He looked like the kind of man who’d learnt to live on his gut instinct and could think on his feet.
    Adanis realised with a shock that the man could only be in his early twenties, though his hardwearing life had left him looking far older.
    “Who the Hell are you?” he said slowly.
    “We need your help.” Adanis explained, “We’ve heard you know a place to get replacement ship parts.”
    “Oh, clearly.” Said the man sarcastically, “Anyone bursting in and waving weapons in your face, clearly has come to ask for your help.”
    “We thought you might fight back.” Hall replied lamely. “We need your help getting off this planet.”
    David’s eyes fixed on Raphael. “And what can I help you with, Amon?”
    Raphael’ gaze swept across him for a moment. “I’m Raphael. We need a way of breaking into a high security building undetected. The Spire to be precise.” He said eventually, “Also we need a place to stay out of sight for a while.”
    David put his head on one side. “Raphael? Sounds like something outta the angel’s phonebook. Ok, ok I might know someone who could get you the parts.”
    “How long till we can get them?” Hall said, going over to the door and closing it.
    “A few days max.” David said, relaxing slightly. “Incidentally, has anyone else noticed that there’s a waitress lying on the floor?”
    Adanis looked down at the recumbent figure. “What should we do with her?” He bent down and lifted her onto the bed.
    Raphael lowered his weapon still looking at David. “She’ll wake up in a few hours, just leave her.” He said, moving over to a chair. “How are we going to get back into the Spire’s docks? Since the lockdown security’s been airtight.”
    David rubbed the stubble on his chin thoughtfully, “Well, getting into the market’s not going to be hard. But getting into the dock’s different; we’ll need visas for that.” He looked into the distance, “How badly do you need the parts?”
    They turned to Hall, “Not too badly, he admitted, “The only thing we really need is a power coupling for the shield generator and a few capacitors for the turret.”
    “What’s the payment?” he enquired. “Only I’m not getting anything till I get paid.”
    “We have sufficient credit to pay for your services and parts.” Hall said, not looking at him, “Why? What else would you want?”
    David looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well,” he said grinning, “I could use some transport.”
    “Where? The question snapped out like a whip. Raphael was staring hard at David, as if trying to see a hidden picture. David returned it unblinkingly.
    “Oh, probably Wardenhaze.” He said calmly crossing his arms, “Why?”
    “It’s a bit suspicious that you want to leave now.” Said Raphael accusingly. “What’s the rush?”
    David looked into the distance for a second. “Because I’m not blind and can guess what’s coming.” He looked at Raphael, “Something is on your trail, and I’m not hanging around to find out what.”
    “What makes you think that?” Raphael’ voice was low again, but it carried a hint of distrust. David’s eyes glazed as he continued looking into the distance. When he finally spoke, his voice had lost its usual cocky sarcasm. “Where ever you travel, you keep going, because if you stop, you’ll see the destruction you left in your wake.”
    They all paused for several seconds. Then Hall spoke in a slow and steady voice.
    “I think we’d better start planning. Otherwise we’ll never get off this planet.
    Adanis closed his eyes as the conversation resumed. He reached out idly with his mind, practising the technique Raphael had taught him.
    He felt the slow groggy mind of the maid in her slumber. He sensed the minds of the waiters and guests around him; their minds were like fireworks in the dark around him. He caught snatches of their thoughts, like conversations in his head. Then he felt something he’d never felt before. A mind, quite at ease, but the thoughts were plain and simple. Adanis frowned as he extended his consciousness towards it. Suddenly he heard the conversation clearly. Someone was thinking clearly in their head, almost like a monologue.
    “If I twist again I could get above 18, but I need below a 6, otherwise I’m bust. But if I manage it I’ve got the hand advantage, because I’ll have 5 cards. I’m sure I could use my skifter to-”
    Adanis blinked. Someone was playing a card game in there head to shield their thoughts. No matter how he searched, there was no opening in their thought stream. He mentally pushed against the wall of thought, to no avail. He moved back, focused all his thoughts into a point and plunged at the wall. He bounced off, not leaving a crack. He opened his eyes and stared across the room. David was looking at him with a meaningful look in his eye.
    “Why-” He began.
    “Drop it.” Dave said shortly. He turned back to Hall. “I need to make some calls. You can crash out here until we make it into the spire.” He got up and walked out of the room. They could hear him walking up and down outside.
    “What was that about?” Hall looking hard at Adanis