CLOSED IN

   Damn! The door closed. And it's locked. We're in one of the interior courts of the new but as yet unoccupied government office building we had entered, looking for the STU. What's going on here? Did they somehow lead us into a trap? Did they let us think they were out here, only to pen us in? Pitch black. Cloud cover. No stars, no moon. Street light doesn't penetrate here. My night vision goggles let me see three identical walls; this one almost certainly looks just like them. A door in the middle of the ground floor, flanked by four pairs of windows to each side. The ground floor high, about 4 meters. The first floor, also four meters; floor-to-ceiling windows, leading out to small balconies. Probably all locked. Above that, four more floors, each about three meters high. Smaller windows. Probably unlocked.
   The architecture of these government buildings is identical. Same height, same number of floors, same width. From above, a square divided into four identical courtyards, separated by walls each containing a central corridor and offices facing to one side or the other (on the perimeter, one set of offices faces the outside; the other sets of offices face the courtyards). At every exterior corner, an elevator; at the beginning of every part of the central cross, a staircase; in the middle, more elevators. Decorations on the exterior walls: geometric patterns; on the courtyard walls, a subtle difference in the brickwork.
   All the doors and ground floor windows are surely locked. I think they're going to wait for morning to appear, then they'll rush out to kill us. Or execute us, as they'll say. Trophies for their followers, a lesson for people who collaborate with us.
   Wonder what's happened to the Damosians who were with us? Mago, Notlink, the others. Good people. Have they found a place to hide? Have they been captured? What will happen to them if they're captured? I've got to find a way out of here. We have to save them, but we have to save ourselves first.
   "Ensign Mgamba, Seso, come here. ...Seso!"
   "I can hardly hear you, Commodore. You're speaking in a very low voice."
   "Shh! Don't speak above a whisper. I don't want the STU to be able to know exactly where we are, but really I think they feel they've got us trapped here. Are we all here? Torquato?"
   "Yes, Gino's here, so are Marcia and Mireille. They're over on the other side, around the corner, trying to see if any of the windows have any give."
   "Get them back here quick. If the STU are just inside, there might be some mischief."
   "No need to go after them, Commodore; here they come."
   "Now that the pentad is all in one place, listen. They've got us closed in. We have to find a way out. I'm going to try climbing up to the second floor right here. I think the windows that high will be unsecured. If I can open the window, you'll see me go in. Don't do a thing until I reappear: I'll have to check the door to the corridor, and the door to the room on the left."
   "How do you know there's a corresponding room on the left? We've never seen this place before."
   "I've been in five or six of these buildings; they're clones of each other. And I don't make mistakes about this kind of thing, once I get the pattern. Now, when I reappear, if everything looks ok, I'll make a call like a gongong. When you hear that, climb up one at a time after me. No noise. Ensign, you come up last. Torquato, MacFloe, then Merteuil will precede you in that order. Got it?"
   "Yes, Commodore."
   Good footholds here next to the door. Bit by bit, not a sound. Good. Up to the balcony level, first floor. Careful. Look to see if danger is lurking. Grips and footholds a bit smaller here. Will Seso be able to manage this? He has big feet, thick boots. Oops, almost slipped. Got to be more careful. Windows open in. Have to force this one a bit. Ugh! hope they didn't hear that inside. Probably not: I guess they're on the ground floor. Still, can't be too careful. Slide over, ease up and in. Thank heaven for these night vision goggles.
   There's the door to the other office. It's unlocked. Door to the corridor, near the staircase. No one in view. I'll check the staircase. All clear. Ah, a rope next to the fire extinguisher. Creep back in, give the gongong call.
   Good. Here comes Gino. I've secured the rope. Lower it down to him. "Shh! Get in and don't move." Gongong for Marcia. Now it's Mireille's turn. OK, now for Seso. Damn! Shh! "Stay there a full minute. Don't move." They heard something when he slipped. A door partly open directly across. A head, scanning, or trying to scan. Let's hope the STU haven't discovered any of these goggles. Door's closed. "Keep still and immobile for another minute." Don't want them to rush out and find us here. I don't think they've had any real training, but maybe someone has an instinct for this sort of thing. Ah, the door's opening up again. Head out, listening. Going back in. Safe for a moment. "OK, come on up."
   Pull up the rope. Dangerous part now: we split up in two groups, reconnoiter. We all have our standard assignments, we've been over this sort of thing a hundred times in our Ranger training on board. Mireille with me, through the other room and out to the corridor, then left; Seso leading Marcia and Gino, directly to the corridor, then right. "We meet at the other staircase. Set weapons to top-level stun."
   "Commodore, you left the window open. Should I close it?"
   "No, Marcia. We won't be here when they see it. With luck, we'll be directly above them, on this level. OK, let's go."

 "Neac, how much further to Olso? If we can judge from past performances, the STU will strike at daybreak. I don't know where exactly Commodore Vasa, Colonel Notlink and their party are."
   "We should be there in less than a half hour, Martin. Your tracking device puts them in the new government building, right in the center of town. When we arrive, we'll have cars and soldiers set up on every street two blocks from the building. The commando forces will be moving in on foot from the periphery."
   "Your penchant for exact geometric symmetry should help us here. Unfortunately, Ogatrac will surely not be right in the thick of things. He seems very good at getting other people to do his bidding."
   "Good leadership principle, you know: delegate. If it weren't for the gravity of the present situation, with your leader and my deputy hoping to capture an important group that has taken over this disused office building, we wouldn't be here either. Does the Commodore frequently go out in the field and do this commando-type work?"
   "She can delegate everything but this kind of activity. We couldn't keep her away from it if we tried. The Militia knew who she was, and they tried to capture and execute her several times. They almost succeeded once or twice, too. That was back in the days when her rank seemed to be better suited to this kind of activity. But it's in her blood, and she's a marvel at it. Still, I have a bad feeling about this time. I think the STU is not only getting to know how to conduct themselves in this kind of situation, but they're also able to procure more and better equipment. And as you know, I am an operative, too. I intend to lead the human party."
   "Let's hope our equipment is better than theirs and that our people can escape without casualties. I see the city looming up ahead. We're closing in on them."

   "Mago, we've lost contact with the Earth people."
   "Yes, I know, but the Commodore is amazingly resourceful, Agir. I'm sure she'll find a way out. Our task is to find Lero and Sagev, who are somewhere in the building, probably on the ground floor. My guess is that they're in the northwest quadrant, on the courtyard side."
   "Why there?"
   "The courtyard, because light will not be visible from the street. They'll probably post a guard on the street side, though. The ground floor, because if necessary they can escape from there; they'd be easily trapped if they were up higher."
   "And why the northwest?"
   "That's where the main road out of town is located. If they had a getaway car, it would be most likely there. That's why I had you 'doctor' every car in the street in that area."
   "Well, what now?"
   "Colonel Notlink, Siriso, Latan, and Algnab should have reached the north staircase. We'll climb down the northwest elevator shaft to the ground floor. With luck, we should be able to emerge undetected and meet them near the suspected hideaway. Now, no more talkng unless it's absolutely necessary. You know what we have to do."
   The door opened as planned. The car seems to be about three stories up. Good. Agir made it to the ladder. Quite a reach to get that door closed. Amazing how much strength I have in this reattached hand, probably more than I had before it was blown off. Down to the second floor now. Two to go. Wish I had some rope. These night vision goggles are a great invention. Good. Agir remembered to dip a bit below. I'll try to reach the door. Oops! Hope no none heard that. Keep quiet for a bit. No sound outside the door. Uh, oh, the elevator's coming down! Quick! we'll drop down a full story! Hope it stops at ground level. No, it's still coming. Thank Oarnn! It stopped at the first basement. Voices. Can't hear what they're saying. We'd better get out of here. This hook should do the trick. Good.
   "Agir, let's go quick!"
   To the north staircase. Wait! Shots! Someone's hit! More shots from another staircase!

 "Sagev! Why did you do that? Now they know where we are!"
   "They've known that all along! We think we have them trapped, but they have us trapped. You heard that noise in the courtyard, Lero, then some noise in the elevator shaft, then the three people in the staircase. I hope one of the ones we got was that Vasa. Hope she's dead."
   "From the glimpse I got of those people, you shot at Damosians. Maybe you got my cousin, Mago, the traitor. That would be worth it. Into this office. It connects to another one, over there. A storeroom with a trapdoor leading to the basement. We'll be safe there for a few minutes till we figure out where to go from here. Maybe Atraps will guess where we are."
   A familiar voice answered, "Or maybe Mago will."
   "Mago! where are you?"
   "Drawing a bead on you, cuz. Fancy you dropping in to have a chat with me. Drop your weapons, both of you."
   "How did you know...?"
   "I said drop them. I mean now!"
   "OK, I'll drop mine, but not before I kill you, you traitor! Take that! Aaaarh! I'm hit! They've got us surrounded!"
   "If you know what's good for you, Sagev, you'll drop your gun now, before it's too late."
   "OK, traitor, you've got me."
   "No, they don't! Take that, Sagev! Now to finish myself off!"
   "Mago, he killed her! then himself!"
   "We'd better get out of here fast before they close in on us. We don't know how many of them there are, but they're shooting to kill!"

   "Siriso, can you hear me? Siriso!"
   "Latan. My arm. It's numb."
   "You've been shot. I've managed to stop your blood from flowing. We have to get you off this landing. Can you move? Siriso, can you move? Damn! She's unconscious."
   "The poor thing is unconscious. You'll be unconscious, too, Latan. Permanently unconscious. Like Algnab. Say your prayers, if you evil-lovers know what praying is. You're history now."
   "Oriac! Algnab's your uncle. How can you be so cruel? Have you no respect for your relatives, for the dead and the wounded?"
   "Respect? Respect for the evil-lovers of Damos, the enemies of Schad? I'll show you the respect I have. Here you are Siriso: I'll deliver you from your pain. Ah, ha ha ha ha!"
   A bullet aimed at the wounded Siriso struck Latan in the chest. She had flung herself over the body of her wounded companion.
   "A hero! Bravo, Latan! Now it's really your turn. Ready?"
   Latan, bleeding abundantly, could not answer. A shot rang out, striking Oriac. It was Mago! Oriac fell, holding on to her right arm, sobbing convulsively, screaming in pain.
   Without a word, Mago and Agir removed the weapon from Oriac's hand, picked up the other weapons, and went out the door to the first room they found open. But what they saw was not designed to make them feel better. Atraps, with a half-dozen others, had Christina, Mireille, and Seso in chains. Colonel Notlink, his head wrapped in a bandage, was tied to a chair. The others were dead or wounded, in the corridors, like Latan, Sisiro and Algnab. They turned around: more STUers. They were caught! They dropped their weapons.
   "We heard some shots outside, Mago. Anyone we know? Ha ha ha ha!"
   Atraps's demonic laughter sent a chill down Mago's spine. Agir, on her first mission, was terrified, but somehow was managing to hide her emotions.
   "Actually, just a few corpses. Sisiro shot at us, thinking we were cowardly terrorists."
   "One more snide remark like that and you're history, Mago. In fact, there's no reason you're not history right now. And get over there. You'll have the supreme pleasure of seeing Notlink and Vasa die with a bullet in their brains. Too bad. The Government could have used people like that a bit longer."
   "Why don't you just kill us and get it over with?"
   "Because I want to see each and every one of you squirm as we kill the evil from beyond the moon and the allies of evil, Notlink. Let's see, suppose we start by rank? Rank has its privilege. Ha ha ha ha! Is a Colonel higher in rank than a Commodore?"
   "No, I'll be first to go."
   "Christina! No!"
   "Shut up, sergeant. You'll be the last to go. Hope you enjoy seeing blood spurting out of bodies and people writhing in agony."
   "You're beastly! How can you do this? Kill us, if you hate us so much, but spare your own people, at least."
   "Oh, aren't we being noble? Princess Christina, the gentle soul who saved the lives of repulsive enemies of Schad and traitors to Oarnn. Your minutes are numbered, Commo-dore. Get down on your knees."
   "Well, it's been a pleasant 320 or so years. I've crossed the galaxy and discovered intelligent life far away. Thank goodness some of you are like Agir, Mago, and Colonel Notlink,  sensitive and kind people trying to keep the rule of law on their planet. Ugh!"
   An angry Atraps kicked Christina in the face. Blood began to drip from her mouth. Because her hands were tied behind her back, she stanched the flow of bood by rubbing it onto her shoulders.
   "Enough! No more preaching for you! Snaelro, put your pistol five centimeters from her right temple. Heh, heh! Take a quick look at the blood, the impure blood dripping from the corners of her mouth. Now get ready to..."
   Blam! In a flash, or more precisely, in ten flashes, Atraps and his cohorts were hit by deadly red bolts. All of them fell to the floor, lifeless.
   "I told the High Commissioner we were closing in on them. Didn't mean to come in at the last second. Are all of you all right?"
   "Martin! You're a lifesaver! How's everyone else?"
   "Some of the people are wounded, one or two seriously. Some are dead. And I see we have to take care of you and the Colonel."
   "Lieutenant Mago saved a couple of our people. But so many have died!" Agir said, as she began to cry. "They shot their own relatives in cold blood, at point-blank range. I didn't think the Kolok could be so cruel and heartless."
   "There's something about religious fanaticism that brings out the worst in people," said Christina, trying to comfort her. "How many people killed in the name of their gods?"
   "We've seen it on Earth and the other planets. Otherwise sane people do terrible things to each other. Our job then and now is to face it, this insane evil, and contain it."
   "Contain it? How do you do that, Martin?" asked Neac, who entered at just this point.
   "Contain it. A great idea, Martin!" shouted Christina, suddenly exuberant. "Contain it! Close in on them, then close them in!"

   All the wounded survived. Among the STU personnel in the building, everyone died except Oriac. Sisiro, Latan and Notlink among the Damosians, and Christina and Mgamba among the humans were wounded. Algnab had been killed by Oriac; Gino Torquato and Marcia MacFloe were killed in action, the first human deaths in this struggle. Their ashes were brought on board Constellation to be presented to their families.
   "I don't know what trials lie before us, Chief," mused Christina at the burial services for the fallen Kolok, "but I do know that those people will be avenged, all five of them, and all the victims of the terrorist bombings. But we must not act in anger. We must keep calm, plan carefully. Martin suggested the broad outlines of a strategy. Let's get our staffs together to see how we can make it work."

   "Look at these headlines in the newspapers! Every day more senseless murders!

Five allies killed, four wounded in Olso government building. Fourteen STU members killed, one wounded now in prison.

Bomb explodes in crowded mall; 40 feared dead, hundreds injured.

School explosion rocks small town. Teachers, children all dead, 250 in all.

Every day a new atrocity. What force have we unleashed? How can we atone for the sins of our coreligionists?"
   "Nilreb, you must not feel guilt for the crimes of Ogatrac and his followers."
   "My dear Madstop, we are responsible, or more exactly, I am responsible. Do you remember that day when I proposed that we not only tolerate the formation of the STU, but also actively support them? The Schadite Tactical Units! We allowed the sacred name of Schad to be associated with murder! It was I who made the proposal. It is I who must accept blame for all that has transpired and for all that will transpire."
   "I cannot agree with you; we are all guilty, all of us who voted in favor of your motion, which seemed to be a decent compromise at the time. Who could have imagined how far Ogatrac would want to carry his anger?"
   "He has chosen to respond to my call for a truce by insulting all who would agree with me. Read this arrogant answer."
   "Nilreb, he wants to continue the violence, to carry it in what he is calling apostate Schadite temples!"
   "Madstop, my friend, as High Bishop of the Schadite sect, I have written a letter to be sent to all the temples, all the congregations. As you will see, I ask them all to support a truce, and to try to find a solution to this crisis that has shaken Kolok society. I have reason to believe that the government will accept our offer. But what if Ogatrac remains adamant? Do we continue to support his cause with money, prayers, and words?"
   "What alternatives do we have? We pledged our lives to this struggle?"
   "We pledged our lives, but not those of our people, even if they agreed with us. The humans perhaps deserve no better than what they have received. And yet they continue to struggle alongside our own brave fighters. What are we to make of them? Perhaps we have misread the words of Schad. Perhaps they are not evil incarnate. I think we have one alternative: exile. There are parts of the planet that could support life, but that have been set aside as preserves. Perhaps we could arrange to withdraw there with our followers, and start anew. But we cannot do anything until we acknowledge our guilt. Could we persuade the government to let us live, cordonned off, perhaps among the ruins of Ksnim and its area."
   "Our people and our leaders must ponder your words, Linreb. We can only pray that the madness of Ogatrac will isolate him from ever more Schadites, and make the STU an abomination among us. Ogatrac is closing himself in, within himself, closing himself off from his advisors and his friends. And yet we cannot ignore the fact that he has fired up the imaginations of thousands."
   "My friend, I must let you in on a secret: I am going to speak with High Commissioner Ylro tomorrow, in Olso. We are both going incognito. Only you know this from me; only Deputy High Commissioner Amil knows it from him. Pray for us, and wish us well."
   "What a risk you are taking! What if somehow someone knows of this meeting? What would ensue?"
   "What a risk we would take if we were too timid to seek a remedy for the evil that is abroad in the land! an evil for which we must bear the responsibility! My friend, if we, if something should befall us, you must carry on."
   "If something should befall you? I see by your visage what you mean. Nilreb, you can count on me."

   "Tomorrow at noon, Wocsom? At the Triumph Restaurant in Olso?"
   "Yes, Ogatrac. I have wired the High Bishop's office for sound, and have heard his conversation with Bishop Madstop. They want to seek a compromise, perhaps go into exile."
   "Exile? They'll get exile. Permanent exile. I myself shall set the explosives. Tell no one. You will hear from me tomorrow  night, on the usual channel."
   "Ogatrac, will we be able to bring our people out of the enclosure in which they find themselves?"
   "Wocsom, I will lead my people out of captivity. We will prevail! And we will be free!"