People crowded in from all sides, and I was separated from my friends. I backed away slowly.

I could see Tsang and Xato, they both pulled their rayguns and blasted up at the ceiling, sending down a rain of pebbled and dust. The people screamed and confusion swept through the crowd.

I fought my way up the steps, once I reached the top I turned to look back for my friends through the billowing dust.

Xato called out “Go, Cylas! Don't worry about us!”

It killed me to leave them in that seething swarm of raging humanity, but I ran off towards the port.

I was able to find a side stair that lead to the utility rooms for the port. I had my helmet secured again, so none of the workers questioned my presence.

Through a labyrinth of connecting sheds, machine rooms, and hangars, I made my way out to the main are of the port. Just then I saw a group rolling a small sized rocket out from a repair hangar and it looked like a likely enough means of escape.

Adopting an official sounding tone, I called out “Hold it right there! I need to inspect that craft.”

“What do you mean?” one of the mechanics asked. “What's a palace guard doing here giving orders?”

“Yazo Dor has empowered us to extend our search to this port. Now everyone back away or you may be under arrest.”

I wasted no time in activating the engines.

The lead mechanic burst through the door swing a wrench “Get away from there! You can only be Renford, no palace guard would do this-”

I shot up from my seat and hit him in the mouth. He recovered enough to rain a few blows down on me, but I ducked low and rushed him back to the door. He snatched off my helmet and made to brain me with it, but I knocked him again in the jaw.

I had just enough time to open the door and drop him out, as the engines had begun to pick up launch speed.

Securing the hatch, I rushed back to the controls and pulled sharply up.

Below me the port shrank, and the lake under it. Small police rockets rushed upwards too. No, it hadn't taken them long to discover where I was.

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I had barely reached the upper atmosphere when I began to work the gravity controls. The first lever broke me from the bonds of Selenium, the great globe rushing away, then another pulled me way from the star's bonds.

The third lever I did not need to engage, for Ardon's star system was nearby, so I could still reach this with relative each, even while under the gravity of galactic center.

Of course, the heavens are trackless, and it would take a better sailor than me to navigate them by sight, but our rockets had compass-like devices to indicate position, and the charts aboard were able to help me steer my way to that star.

I could not help but marvel at the series of events that had sent me here. A few days ago I had never flown high in space, had never traveled at those dizzying speeds, and had never for the life of me been accused of murder! In some way I had to save my Gnaro and clear my name, and it looked like I was going to have to do it without help.

The readouts for space coordinates showed that Ardon was near, and soon I could see it growing before me.

I switched off the gravity control and came under the influence of the planet's pull.

Once I had breached the atmosphere the view became very much like it had during my captivity. From the book, I understood in which hemisphere to find the black mountain. Of course, the planet had many, but this one happened to be the largest.

By the time I came within sight of the mountain, it chanced to be later in Ardon's day than it had been on my first visit. The yellow sky darkened and took on a greenish twinge near the setting sun.

In fear, I realized I did not know just where the rocket port was, nor how I would get from place to place, as I had lost consciousness three times since first seeing the mountain.

I brought the craft down low among the hills and did my best to avoid detection.

Around a bend I saw the port and doubled back, putting in and landing at a narrow canyon out of sight of the place. All of the guard's uniform I removed, going about now in my normal Selenium style dress, which bears a striking resemblance to that worn by the Indians of the wild west of my own time. I brought along the raygun and floating belt.

Employing the belt, I was able to rapidly scale the rock wall of the canyon and drift under the jagged rim nearer to the Satellite Lords' rocket port. A number of ships were in evidence and even at this range I could discern the shapes of many soldiers.

I set back down on the ground and walked quietly nearer on padded leggings.

I peaked up over the brow of a large flat rock and looked out at the men on the rocket field, beyond them was the monstrous toothed passageway that lead inside the mountain. To enter without being detected would be a challenge to say the least!

From behind me I heard a slight sound, as if some gravel had been disturbed, and a grunting sound.

Before I could turn around, powerful arms encircled me, some heavily built warrior crushing me like a great clamp!

I drew my knife, but his hand crushed down on my wrist.

A voice laughed evilly in my ear “So, Renford! You return!”