Hector sat in the dueling machine in Acquatainia and concentrated on his job. A drawerfiil of papers, tapes, and holograms was in the other booth. Hector was going to transport it to a dueling machine on the other side of the planet. This would he the first long-distance jump.
It wasn’t easy to concentrate. Geri was waiting for him outside. Leoh had been working him all day. A stray thought of Odal crossed his mind: / wonder what he’s up to now? Is he working on teleportation too?
He felt a brief tingling sensation, like a mild electric shock.
“Funny,” he muttered-
Puzzled, he removed the neurocontacts from his head and body, got up, and opened the booth door.
The technicians at the control desk gaped at him. It took Hector a full five seconds to realize that they were wearing Kerak uniforms. A pair of guards, looking equally startled, reached for their side arms as soon as they recognized the Star Watch emblem on Hector’s coverallsHe had time to say, “Oh-oh,” before the guards shot him down.
On Acquatainia, Leoh was shaking his head unhappily as he inspected the pile of materials that Hector was supposed to teleport.
“Nothing,” he muttered. “It didn’t work at all,” His puzzled musing was shattered by Geri’s scream. Looking up, he saw her cowering against the control desk, screaming in uncontrolled hysteria. Framed in the doorway of the farther booth stood the tall, lithe figure of Odal.
‘This is absolutely fantastic,” said Sir Harold Spencer.
Leoh nodded agreement. The old scientist was at his desk in the office behind the dueling machine chamber. Spencer seemed to be on a star ship, from the looks of the austere, metal-walled cabin that was visible behind his tri-di image.