“Piter, too, is dead.” “Piter?” “Piter.” The Baron reactivated the doorfield, blanked it against all energy penetration. “You finally tired of him, eh?” Rabban asked. His voice fell flat and lifeless in the energy-blanketed room. “I will say a thing to you just this once,” the Baron rumbled. “You insinuate that I obliterated Piter as one obliterates a trifle.” He snapped fat fingers. “Just like that, eh? I am not so stupid, Nephew. I will take it unkindly if ever again you suggest by word or action that I am so stupid.”

