At the advocate's words Rommie grasped Dylan's arm so tightly that in other circumstances he would have gasped in pain, but at the moment he was too concerned about the welfare of his foster daughter to notice a minor thing like pain.

"Is she all right?" exclaimed Rommie. "Was any one hurt?"

"Other than a bad scare your foster daughter is fine," reassured Balasan. "Apparently she was at the stables with one of your friends, a Doctor Jackson, when the attempt took place. Fortunately she and her escort were able to fight off their attackers until help arrived. They're both safe at your home and the constable is with them. Doctor Jackson sustained some minor injuries but nothing serious."

"Did they recognize their attackers?" asked Dylan massaging his severely bruised arm.

"My secretary didn't have that information. I am assuming that the three of you will want to return home immediately. My driver will take you back to Cape Breton in my gravcar. You should be home in a matter of hours."

Balasan was as good as his word. The gravcar's driver, showing a fine disregard for local speed and altitude regulations, made the trip back from Valdor to Cape Breton in just over four hours. Rommie had called home before she, Dylan, and Beka began their return trip, but despite the reassurances Trance had given her over the advocate's phone, that both Andy and Dr Jackson were fine, that the town's constable and his deputies were taking turns staying with them, and that she, Harper, and Evie were fully capable of handling anything that should arise, Rommie spent the entire time in a state Dylan had never recalled seeing her in before, a sort of semi hysteria.

When they arrived at their house it was full dark. Balasan's driver informed Dylan, Rommie and Beka having rushed into the house as soon as the car had landed, that he would take a room at the local boarding house for the night and would return to Valdor in the morning, and that he would stop by the cottage before leaving to see if they had any messages for him to take back to his employer.

When Dylan entered the house he saw Rommie and Andy hugging each other, tears running down Rommie's cheeks. Trance was fussing over Dr Jackson who was sporting a monumental black eye. Beka was talking to Sam who this time, unlike his previous visit, was carrying a handgun in a shoulder holster. Harper and Evie were nowhere to be seen, but he heard their voices coming from out of the kitchen.

"I did just what you taught me to do, Uncle Dylan," exclaimed Andy, who by this time had extracted herself from her foster mother's embrace seemingly none the worse from the attempted kidnapping "When the man grabbed my wrist, I twisted against his thumb to break his grip then I stomped on his instep and started screaming 'Fire'. I remember you telling me that people were more likely to come running when you called that then if you called out for help. You should have seen Uncle Daniel. He was so brave. He took on the other two men all by himself."

"He wasn't being brave, he was being foolish," interrupted Trance. "He's too old to engage in fights with two men half his age." She turned her attention back to her lover. "I told you that you should let either me or Evie accompany you, but you insisted that you could take care of escorting Andy back from the stables by yourself. And look what happened. If those men hadn't run away when people started responding to Andy's cries she would be gone and you'd be injured, or worse."

"But I did handle the situation," Dr Jackson, began to object but stopped when he saw the look on Trance' face, fire flashing in her eyes.

The town constable ceased his conversation with Beka and walked to an unoccupied portion of the room, motioning for Dylan to join him as he did so. "I warned you this might happen, Admiral." he said. "It's fortunate that the friends your daughter had been riding with were still in the area and were able to bring help. It's unfortunate that their attackers weren't captured, but it's even more fortunate that no one was hurt. One of those would be kidnappers dropped a handgun." He changed the subject slightly. "We'll do fingerprint and DNA tests on the weapon of course, and send our results to the O.P.S for comparison against their database, but you can bet that they'll tell us that they have no matches in their database.

"Admiral, it seems to me that who ever planned this snatch didn't want any inconvenient witnesses. Doctor Jackson told me that the individual who dropped the gun didn't just lose it from his holster. He had it out and was getting ready to use it on your friend when he knocked it from his hand. Your daughter and your friend were lucky this time, but the next time they might not be."

"I know that Sam," answered Dylan. "They undoubtedly had been watching us for several days and took advantage of the fact that Rommie and I were gone, knowing that Doctor Jackson wouldn't realize that they weren't townspeople. But what do you suggest we do?" he asked, the frustration and anger evident in his voice. "Rommie and I will probably have to make several more trips to Valdor. Do you expect us to convert the cottage into a fortress, keep Andy home at all times, and never leave the cottage except in armed groups?" He clinched his right fist and slammed it into the palm of his left hand several times.."

"I know that Sam," answered Dylan. "They undoubtedly had been watching us for several days and took advantage of the fact that Rommie and I were gone, knowing that Doctor Jackson wouldn't realize that they weren't townspeople. But what do you suggest we do?" he asked, the frustration and anger evident in his voice. "Rommie and I will probably have to make several more trips to Valdor. Do you expect us to convert the cottage into a fortress, keep Andy home at all times, and never leave the cottage except in armed groups?" He clinched his right fist and slammed it into the palm of his left hand several times.

A hint of a smile passed across the police officer's face. "That's one solution, Admiral, and it would certainly make my life easier. I'm busy enough with all the news monkeys coming in and sticking their noses into this business, but I think a better solution is at hand."

"Well a squad or two of Lancers would be nice to have on hand, Sam, but I don't see any arriving," snapped Dylan sounding even more frustrated than before.

This time the smile on the police officer's face was more than just a hint of a smile. "Actually, Admiral, you will." He paused for a moment to enjoy the look of astonishment on Dylan's face before continuing. "I received a phone call from the High Guard com station this afternoon. Your Commander Heiyu has been busy. The system maintenance ship Provider will be arriving in a couple of days on it's regularly scheduled supply run. There'll be two squads of Lancers aboard on temporary detached duty to act as your body guards and staff. The Ell Tee who contacted me says that they're under the command of your old Sergeant Major."