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gifts of theirformer owner Murrah an Rahmyne. To Murrah the two men had
been prizedpossessions whose bodies were to be honed to total killing
machines. Dorjanhad accidentally killed Murrah. Slaves were slaves and
masters were masters.
The first did not kill the latter-even accidentally. Dorjan and Songan
hadfled the galactic rim aboard Misfit-Murrah's private pleasure ship-to
thestar-crammed center of the Milky Way. There, among the worlds and
starshumankind (whose members now bore the self-applied appellation
Galactics)
called the Farther Reaches, they had used Misfit to develop a
successfulfreight trade. With Songan, the captain of Misfit had
discovered an abandonedasteroid colony in the planetless star system
Pascal. A colony they reclaimedand converted into a haven for escaped
slaves just such as they. The samecolony they named HOME (Habitat
Orbiter: Modular Environment). For eightyears they had labored to revamp
HOME, transforming it into a massive ship,
five kloms long and capable of exploring the stars. The colony-spacer
nowawaited Misfit's return to begin its maiden voyage. Financing that
gargantuanconversion had given birth to another shared venture for the
two ex-slaves ofHarb. The creation of The Shadow Walker-master thief
among the settled worldsof humankind. Will with the Wisp, The Demon Cat,
The Invisible 15 One,
The-Thief-Who-Is-Not-There-his names were legend and so were his
exploits. Intruth The Shadow Walker was two people. Songan, whose
intelligence had beenencephaloboosted beyond genius, masterminded each
of The Demon Cat'sescapades. And Dorjan, the adventurer, the man who
actually performed thedaring thefts.* The high resolution image of
spacer Lung T'ou leaped upward onthe green phosphor monitor. Dorjan's
fingers jabbed the console. Misfit's prowrose to follow the pirate
ship's abrupt course change. ' 'MR reads one minuteremaining.'' Yuw was
repeating the figures provided by that marvelouslyengineered necessity
of space travel: SIPACUM (Ship Inboard Processing andComputing Unit
[Modular]). Dorjan inwardly cringed. Another radical
trajectorymodification like the last one and Lung T'ou would be on
Misfit in a manner ofminutes. Move it, Songan. Move it, damn it! Stuck
in this barren star systemfar beyond the Carnadyne Void, trying to
outmaneuver a pirate, was no placefor a thief. Nor would Dorjan have
been here, crippled in unfamiliar space,
were it not for Lizina and Kefira altRusalka. Lizina. The name evoked a
tidal
wave of memories. Lizina-the woman he loved. The woman who now carried
his
unborn child. And Kefira. That woman of the alien Akil race was unique
to theGalactic worlds. She was the only member of her race humankind
hadencountered. Saucer-eyed, furred in white gold, the sensuous Akil
also held aspecial place in Dorjan's heart. Both women had been under
his protection when
HOME was attacked by Ganesa of Resh, mistress of the spacegoing brothel
BeLively. Lizina and Kefira had been kidnapped by the Reshi madam.
Spaceways #5:
Master of Misfit. 16 After searching the Farther Reaches for months,
Dorjanhad caught up with Ganesa at the Barbro Transfer Station two days
ago. Thewoman had revealed that Lizina and Kefira had been sold on the
mining planetsMirjam and Ginneh, respectively. Leaving Ganesa and crew
bound and gagged,
