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felt her heartbeat increase, and took
a breath, seeking her center.
    "No," she said.
    "Very well. Your sister said that I might
find you unreasonable." He came forward, walking heavy, his hand
coming up almost casually, swinging toward her--
    If your opponent engages,
end it as quickly as possible , Shadow
coached her.
    She moved her head to one side, grabbed his
wrist, and twisted, letting his own momentum hurl him into the
bar.
    "Oof!" Certainly the move surprised him, but
it neither incapacitated him nor opened the way for her to flee.
Indeed, he seemed to bounce forward from his encounter with the
hard edge and his strike this time was meant to do harm.
    Ceola ducked, shifted her center to her left
foot and brought her right leg up between his legs.
    Elby howled and crumbled to the floor. Ceola
leapt over him and ran, whipping 'round the end of the bar and
heading for the front door, meaning to scream the proctors to her
rescue.

    The door opened when she was two steps
short, and Jas Per stepped in, pocketing his key. Unable to stop,
Ceola crashed into him, her nose against his chest.
    Strong arms gripped her, holding her upright
until she regained her balance, releasing her the instant she had
done so.
    Jas Per looked over her head toward the bar
from which groans still emanated.
    "We must--call the proctors," Ceola
gasped.
    Jas Per spared her a quizzical glance, as if
she had spoken in some language he did not comprehend, and strode
to the bar. He stepped behind it, bent--and the groans were
abruptly silenced.
    Ceola started forward--and relaxed as Jas
Per hove into sight, Elby held over one shoulder like a
particularly irritating sack of sand.
    "What should I do with him, mistress?" he
asked.
    "Take him to the proctors," she said. "He
attacked me. I will go myself--"
    "No need," Jas Per interrupted. He put his
hand on the counter and took it away, a gleam remained against the
wood when he did. "This was in his shirt pocket. Looks like the key
to our back door to me."
    "So it is," she said unsteadily. "Jas
Per--"
    "I'll handle it," he said, interrupting
again, which for Jas Per was an event of epic proportions. He moved
'round the bar, seeming to mind Elby's weight not at all. "You'll
be all right?"
    She considered, surprised at how very well
she did feel. Endorphins, she thought, but so what? She smiled up
at Jas Per.
    "I will be all right," she assured him.
"Hurry back."
    He grinned. "Yes, mistress," he said, and
moved past her, out the door, and into the street.
    The signal for Night Port sounded as the
door swung shut behind him.
    *
    It was, as she had expected, a bill of sale
for The Friendly Glass, building, furnishings and clientèle, made
out to one Clarence O'Berin. The buy-out was . . . a significant
sum, to her eye, but no such riches as might keep Min in idle
luxury for much more than a few Standards.
    That being so, still it must be assumed that
her sister knew what she was about, for there was her signature on
the last page, and a blank line, awaiting Ceola's.
    There being as yet a lack of custom, despite
the changing of the Port, Ceola unracked a glass and poured two
fingers of the red into it. She flipped back to the first page and
read the terms again, sipping. The wine was so dry it puckered the
mouth, sharpening the sense of taste. Alas, it did not perform a
similar service for her mind, which refused to focus on the
question of what she was to do now. She did not think that Min
would wish to be paid over time.
    And, she thought--and it was surely the
wine's genius this time--was she even certain that it was Min's
wish to sell? It had, after all, been Elby who had brought the
paper. Could he not have coerced Min as easily as he had--
    The street door opened. Ceola glanced up as
Hantem entered and moved slowly down to her usual place. Quietly,
she slipped the contract into her sleeve, put her glass below the
counter and took a deep breath.
    *
    It was well into Night Port and Jas Per long
since returned,