“Into the prisoners’ cells, all of you,” Odal commanded.
“You’ll die for this!” Kor screamed.
Odal jabbed him in the ribs with the pistol. “Everyone dies sooner or later. Do you want to do it here and now?”
Kor went white. Trembling, he marched out of the chamber and toward the cell block.
There were guards on duty at the cells. One of them Odal recognized as a member of Romis’ followers. They locked up the rest, then hurried back upstairs toward Kor’s office.
“You take this pistol.” Odal ^aid to the guard as they hurried up a flight of stone steps. “If we see anyone, tell them you’re taking us to be questioned by the Minister.”
The guard nodded. Hector tucked his pistol out of sight inside his coveralls.
“We’ve only got a few minutes before someone discovers Kor in the cells,” Odal said to Hector. “We must reach Romis and get out of here.”
Twice they were stopped by guards along the corridors, but both times were permitted to pass. Kor’s outer office was empty; it was still too early for his staff to have shown up.
The guard used Kor’s desktop communicator to reach Romis, his fingers shaking slightly at the thought of exposing himself to the Minister’s personal equipment.
Romis’ face, still sleepy-looking, took shape on the desk-top viewscreen. His eyes widened when he recognized Odal.
“What? …”
Hector stepped into view. “I escaped from your ship,” he explained swiftly, “but got caught by Kor when I tried to get to the dueling machine here. Odal jumped back from Acquatainia. We’ve got Kor locked up temporarily. If you’re going to move against Kanus, this is the morning for it. You’ve only got a few minutes to act.”