"My father's laboratory," she explained. "Here we synthesize foods for the animals, and try with all our ingenuity to provide an approximate environment for them."
Her voice brought Ferris back to the present. "It won't work," he said. "Security squads will never wait for a warrant. Even if they do, what good is half an hour? They'll break down your gate and swarm through here like hunting bees."
Teucrete laughed scornfully. "Afraid, gamma-man?"
"If I were I wouldn't be here. But only a fool refuses to recognize danger."
"Relax," she advised. "They will break in, true. But there may be a little difficulty finding their way among the cages. It is a maze, as you saw. And the animals will give them some trouble. I am not forgetting the tracker, but the moondogs and wireflies can confuse anything that operates on electronics. All we need is a slight delaying action. We can count on that."
"There is another exit?" asked Pao Chung eagerly.
Her laugh crystallized in tinkling fragments, like showering shards of glass. "Another exit, yes. The way my father goes when he hunts. If you have the nerve to take it! But compose yourself, Pao Chung. You will need supplies of food, water, air, special clothing. And ... there is a price."
Hesitantly, unhappily, Pao Chung inquired the price.
"The way is dangerous," she said rapidly. "You might not come back. And I must see that my father is protected. Give me an order on your bank or lawyer for all the evidence you have against him; for whatever crimes or stupidities he may have committed."
"How do you know such an order will be honored?" Pao Chung muttered speculatively. "Once I am free--"
The girl tossed her head till the bell of ebony hair swung dangerously. "It had better be honored," she warned crisply. "For there is only one way back ... if you ever come back. And I can control it. I don't think you will like your surroundings well enough to remain there indefinitely."
Pao Chung bowed to the inevitable. Angel chuckled moodily, and Bat Ferris faced Teucrete with admiration on his pleasantly ugly features.
"Well done," he praised. "Is there a price for me?"
"No price to a man who likes animals. I sensed that in you as we passed the cages."
Impulsively, the girl leaned toward Ferris and forced her lips violently on his. "That is for luck, gamma-man. On the house, but the next one might cost you dearly. Watch yourself."