Inexplicably, however, Roamer broke out of her shock-state and, giving vent to an anguished screech of protest, hurled herself between Kasdeya and the instrument panel. He pushed her away and grasped the controls, but she returned in a frenzy and tore at his hands so viciously that her nails cut strips of skin from his wrists. “Don’t take the ship away!” She was nearly crying with the intensity of her emotion. “Get out of it, you crazy chicken!” Kasdeya threw her bodily aside and secured his place at the panel. The next instant she was back upon him, but this time even more purposefully. A single, unexpected blow with the side of her delicate hand toppled him unconscious on to the deck. Gadreel had watched the Chaos Weapon swinging toward them with hypnotic fascination. The rumpus behind him, however, caused him to turn, and he immediately leaped to the position from which Kasdeya had fallen. “What are you doing, chicken? Trying to get us killed?” His pose was that of an habitual fighter and he turned on her, fully prepared to counter any manner of attack.
