A cab turned the corner. "Feel them center on us?" Parr said, drawing down his shield as tightly as he could.
Kal, tense-faced, nodded.
Parr stared fascinated as the cab screeched to a halt.
Then Parr felt a wave of sickness and uncertainty; he reached out for Kal's elbow. "Wait!" he cried.
But already, below, Bertie jerked into explosive action.
He shot three times. The male Oholo pitched forward to the gutter.
Bertie's gun exploded once more, but the muzzle was aimed into the air. He crumpled slowly, and the gun clinked to the sidewalk from nerveless fingers.
"He got one," Kal said in satisfaction. "The other one must be quicker 'n hell."
Parr let out a tired sigh.
"That's that," Kal said. "... I'll be damned, a female Oholo! She won't dare to try two of us alone."