At first, all eyes were centered on Naomi, and no one observed my approach from the rear of the hall. And I don't believe Naomi herself could see me with the lights focussed on her face, though obviously she knew of my arrival. She was a short, shapely sixteen-year-old, full of gestures and animation. She wore her brown hair in bangs, her features forming an attractive oval, her dark eyes flashing with self-assurance. Her clothes were a green version of my own leotards, only tighter. But as usual, claw marks marred her appearance, and it seemed to me even from a distance that she had lost the use of her left eye.
"Today, we want to welcome back one of our former leaders," Naomi continued, "a girl who has just returned from the Matrix Center, and is once again ready to do battle for the glory of our gang. This great Callisto had the misfortune to be killed in a fight with private detectives during that costly, but on the whole successful, raid on the ration warehouse on Eros. I refer, of course, to our own immortal Vera ... whom I believe is ..." (here Naomi peered out into the darker recesses of the hall) "... among us right now."
Another cheer went up, and everybody looked about in various directions until a spotlight finally caught my deliberate striding figure working its way towards the platform.
"Because this is sort of an unusual situation," said Naomi in cool candor, "one that doesn't seem to be covered by any of our bylaws, it appears that Vera will have to start at the bottom again as a new recruit. Because, you see, for all practical purposes, she's a new person altogether."
An angry flush shot through my body.
"However," Naomi added patronizingly, "we're all sure that Vera's abilities will be recognized quite soon, even as a recruit, and that she will rapidly rise to a new position of leadership within our organization."
"More rapidly than you can imagine!" I shouted at the top of my voice. Unaided by an amplifier it must have sounded feeble even to the front ranks. But in the same instant I wound up on one foot and cracked my whip resoundingly in her direction, and there was no mistaking this defiant gesture.
A roar of excitement arose from the gang. For a moment there was confusion on the dais as Naomi and her aides consulted. The clamor grew louder. "Duel! Duel!" echoed through the hall. I knew this wasn't a case of loyalty to me; everyone was eager to watch a nice bloody fight, any moment of the day or night.
Putting on my steel claws, I advanced to the edge of the chasm, opposite the leader's platform. Here the seven-eighths Earth gravity we artificially maintained in our hideout began to fade. The ravine itself was subject only to Callisto's feeble attraction. Twenty-five feet away, Naomi came out of the huddle and signalled for silence. While the clamor was subsiding I saw Jeanette jump off the dais onto one of the lower plateaus and disappear in one of the tunnels. I poised myself for the leap.