Slowly, slowly Jarl turned from the scanner, with its clustered, crawling pinpoints. A seeping emptiness was rising in him—an ugly, hollow feeling he'd never felt before.
Wassreck still stood in the same spot as before. But now, his right hand was at waist-level.
It held a blaster.
In a voice not even remotely resembling his own, Jarl asked, "What do you mean?"
Wassreck's eyes were burning coals. His gaunt face seemed even thinner than before.
He said: "I mean the outlaw worlds must die!"
Jarl nodded slowly. "I guessed that would be it."
"Don't you see, Jarl—?" Sais cried, coming to him. "The raiders will never lose their idiot dreams of freedom! Always, everywhere, they'll make trouble! It would be madness to leave them with Ceresta and their fleet. The Federation planets know what it means to bow before a ruler—"
Wordless, Jarl looked down at her.