DISCLAIMER: see chapter 2.

            I made the jump out of hyperspace ten hours after leaving Dava, and was relieved to see that, while a bounty on me had been posted, no other information besides my birthplace was available to the myriads of hunters who would no doubt be on my tail.

            I sat back in the pilot's chair and considered. I was in the Suvirac system, halfway across the galaxy, a haven for criminals and entrepreneurial businesscreatures of all kinds. Questions were rarely asked on Suvirac, unless they were along the lines of "how much?"

            My Z-95 wouldn't look out of place there, either. Many of the creatures who used Suvirac as a waystation on hunts or smuggling runs or legitimate business ventures flew ships like mine, single-occupancy fast craft designed to elude detection and pursuit. I knew the ID profile override would buy me a little time, but if anyone got close enough to my ship to detect serial numbers, my name would inevitably come up.

            I drew in close to Suvirac and requested clearance to land at the Nar Hedron spaceport. The planet was almost barren, alternately baked by a red sun and frozen by the void of space; what atmosphere there was had mostly bled away in the centuries since its colonization, but enough remained to support life on the surface. The sky was black, lit with stars, as I eased the Z-95 down through the thin atmosphere and came to rest on a cracked landing pad within the force-ring of Nar Hedron.

            Before I left the ship I had a look at the current bounty registrations. I was high on the list, of course; Breyn had apparently put up five hundred thousand credits for my return, and I noticed he'd stipulated that I was to be alive and unharmed. I was touched. His concern was entirely for the amulet, of course. Were I to be disintegrated, it might die with me, and he couldn't have that. The bounty had been posted shortly after they discovered me missing. I wondered who was hunting me.

            Under the helmet my hair was heavy and thick, tied and pinned into knots to keep it from escaping. It was also white. Far too noticeable. I slipped a crysteel knife out of a boot sheath, taking off the helmet, and hacked it off. A pity. I'd been growing it for five or six years, and it reached almost all the way to my knees.

            The waste disposal took care of the heavy braid, leaving only the faint stink of burning hair, and I put the helmet back on and left the ship.

            Inside the Nar Hedron spaceport I found what I was looking for. Offworlders from all reaches of the galaxy came through Nar Hedron; boutiques catering to multiple tastes had sprung up in the spaceport and in the city it served, selling everything from Twi'lek headtail adornments to Shar erotic holovids. Bars spilled their noise and revelry into the streets; pimps of every species lounged in doorways with their merchandise on gilded leashes, undulating their bodies at the passersby. I was more interested in the equipment shops, where for a few credits one could buy thoroughly illegal Blastech rifles and handfuls of thermal detonators capable of destroying half the city, as well as high-tech armor and protection systems. However, I had one other stop to make first.

            In the back alleys of Nar Hedron, horrible little flophouses abounded. Those who were intending to stay longer than a few days generally secured higher-class housing, but I hoped to get off-planet by morning. For a couple of credits I found myself in a tiny cubicle just large enough for a bed, windowless and earth-walled, and I spent a few minutes checking the room for bugs before sitting down on the bed, taking off my helmet, and pulling out the amulet.

            In the dim light it seemed to glow, casting soft shadows on the floor and walls. There was something soothing about holding it in my hand, as if it was giving off waves of comfort and relaxation as well as light. Despite my weariness I began to feel a little more hopeful; I had made it this far, after all, and I might have a chance to deliver the amulet to someone who might use it for less destructive purposes than Breyn had had in mind. I closed my eyes, remembering his words.

            "…the specialized focal powers of the jewel will transform our lowest-powered laser beam into a force capable of destroying small planetoids; finally the Arm of Khi will be equipped for its true calling, bringing the word of Khi to the unsaved, lighting the darkness, freeing the chained. With this amulet we shall build a superlaser more powerful than any existing weapon. We will bring peace and prosperity to the galaxy through this, the Eye of Khi."

            "By destroying?"  He had looked at me as if I had grown another head.

            "By preventing the destruction caused by petty wars and discord. The Eye of Khi will render all weaponry obsolete. There will be no more war once the Eye has opened."

            I had stared at him. The Arm of Khi, the warrior monks who escorted missionaries into new territory, was well known for its ruthless nature. Equipped with a superlaser stronger than the Empire's Death Star weaponry, the Arm would be unstoppable. No one would stand against Khi. No one could survive.

            He had turned to me with brilliant eyes, afire with the conviction that he was right and justified and merciful, and it was all I could do to keep a vague adoring expression on my face as I asked him how long it would take to build his Eye of Khi.

            "The Eye should be fully operational within seven daymonths," he had told me, grinning like a child with a new toy. "We will test it on the moon Tathori."

            "The inhabitants of Tathori will be evacuated?"

            "They have resisted all Davan landings and missionary expeditions. They will serve as a fine example of Khi's strength."

            I stared at the Janus amulet, turning it over and over in my palm. For want of a jewel, the Tathorians—and who knew how many others—would be spared. Breyn's Eye of Khi was specifically designed to work with the amulet; there was not another like it in the galaxy, and the stones from which it was made were no longer mined. The planet that had produced them had been destroyed by a nova. I held in my hand the death of a hundred thousand planets.

            I fastened the chain around my neck and began stripping off the flightsuit. I'd need to change my appearance fairly radically if I was to spend much more time in public, and luckily Nar Hedron was used to this sort of requirement. Pulling a flowing Amaranthine robe from my kitsack, I dressed quickly and pulled a modesty veil over my head, hiding my face and shorn white hair from view. A crysteel knife was strapped to my ankle, and I carried a dart-thrower with a six-shot magazine hidden in my sleeve, ready to shoot neurotoxins with a flick of my wrist. Examining myself in the black faceplate of the helmet, I decided it would do, and ventured out into the dusty alley.

            Nar Hedron's main drag, lined with bars and brothels and overpriced boutiques, was as crowded and chaotic as I had hoped. I ducked into a shop and avoided the leering glance of a Friinian pimp engaged in conversation with the proprietor.

            Bottles of hair dye and cosmetics lined the back wall of the shop; flimsy transparent garments designed to fit a wide range of anatomies hung on racks by the counter. I examined what appeared to be a breast supporter equipped with five voluminous cups, and couldn't help picturing its wearer.

            Most of the cosmetics and dyes were aimed at the thriving prostitution trade, but I managed to find a boring shade of brown haircolour and a series of cosmetic paints to hide the Khi priesthood tattoos at the corners of my eyes. The eyes themselves were going to be a problem, I considered.  Few enough human species had yellow irises; they were not easily forgotten, and I didn't have the credits for an augment job. I sighed and picked up a pair of black scleral lenses. Hopefully I wouldn't have to wear them very much.

            The total came to a ridiculously large sum, but I handed over the credits and hurried back to my rented room. Nobody paid any attention to the thin girl in a long robe scurrying through the crowds; they were all much too concerned about their own agendas. I dyed what was left of my hair a mousy brown and experimented with the skin paints, which covered the tattoos admirably and changed my complexion from almost-white to a reasonable spacetan. With that and the black lenses, I looked like any other youngish offworld trader.

            My hand crept to the amulet lying warm against my chest. I had to get it somewhere safe, had to bring it to someone who would protect it from the kind of use Breyn had planned. I lay down on the narrow bunk and stared at the ceiling, still fingering the blue stones, and tried to think of anyone at all who would be able to keep the amulet safe. I fell asleep still trying.