He opened his eyes as the light came on, still groggy, but awake enough to recognize the pristine smell of the Medicat. The nurse was a tiny little woman who smiled sweetly and silently before checking the readings on the scanner. "Am I still alive?" he asked.

She smiled again. "Yes. How do you feel?"

"Worse than before I got here, I know that. What happened?"

She laughed sweetly. "You fainted, but you'll be fine."

He smiled obligingly. He'd hear it from Sam and Marcus for sure now. "When's chow?" he asked, realizing only now that he was not on board the Hammerstar. That was okay too. Arion would come to see him, and he could apologize.

"Not till breakfast now. But I can have a snack sent over. What would you like?"

"No, that's all right. I can wait."

"If you change your mind, you can call someone with this button here. If you want something for the pain, you press this button, and it will automatically give it to you - provided it's not too soon. If it's too soon, it will tell you so."

He grunted. "That's a thought," he said, giving the button a push. Nothing seemed to happen. "...How bad is it?" he asked as she went to her tray, now noticing a slight burning in his arm. Apparently the apparatus gave the medicine through the intravenous drip.

"Well, you'll have to ask the doctor for a definite answer, but I'd guess at between four and six weeks before you can go back on duty."

"What about inducement?"

She shook her head. "Probably about one week, but the doctor will recommend against it."

"Why? It's just a bite."

She smiled. "Like I said, you'll have to talk to the doctor for a definite answer. Are you sure you don't want a snack?"

"Yeah. I don't think I'll have any trouble going back to sleep."

"Okay. Let us know if you change your mind."

"So! Not so tough as you thought you were, huh Soren?" taunted Marcus as he and Sam came in shortly after breakfast.

Soren rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored him. "How'd it go with the venat?"

"Fine," said Marcus. "Dropped you off here then rode him straight up."

Soren nodded. "Good. And thanks."

"Yeah, you're welcome," said Marcus indulgently. "It is our job after all, even if you don't want to let us. We figured you'd keel over sooner or later, and then we wouldn't have to fight about it."

Sam was laughing and Soren had to smile. It truly hadn't seemed that bad, but he had seen Fadeys humor injured people in the past. "Did I really look that bad?" he asked curiously, recalling the hesitancy of the people on the carrier.

"Let's put it this way Soren," said Sam, smiling, "you were very pale, and you looked like you were wearing about a liter of your blood on the outside instead of the inside. Other than that..." He grinned.

"Something to do with that piece of spaghetti you had wrapped around your arm, right?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "Same stupid venat too."

"The one we pulled out is the one that got you?" asked Marcus.

"How'd it get stuck under the carrier?"

He looked down, somehow uncomfortable. "We were fighting, and it bit me. I got it off, but I'd had it," he admitted. "I couldn't even land the next blow." He paused, beginning to feel quite certain that he had treated Arion very badly indeed. "It landed plenty, and I was just about out of it. Then Arion stepped in, from I don't know where. It dropped me to fight him, and I'm not really sure what was happening. When I looked up, Arion was keeping it off of me, but he wouldn't really fight either. He just kept talking to it, keeping it off me. I don't know what he said to it, but it finally gave up and went back to the carrier, then got stuck when the landing gear folded."

"Sounds like a good step for Arion," said Marcus.

"I hope so," said Soren. "Is he around?"

Sam shook his head. "He went up with the venat. The Ealdred gave him permission to translate. They put it under for questioning first thing this morning."

"And?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. You'll have to ask Arion."

"Did they say anything up front about when I can get out of here?"

"Probably after lunch. We're here to take you up, but the doctor wants to take one last look at your arm. He'll decide then whether or not you can induce it."

"I think I'd rather not anyway," he said, trusting the nurse's opinion.

It was late afternoon, almost evening, when Soren finally got back to the Arlemagen. Mark met the shuttle and looked Soren over critically as he came out. “Well, you look like you’ll survive,” he said.

Soren chuckled. “Yeah. I hear Arion’s on board.”

Mark nodded. "The Ealdred's been giving him all the time he wants with the venator."

"Is he getting anything worthwhile?"

Mark smiled slightly. "I don't know. He seems deeply fascinated by the whole situation, but he hasn't been talking about it yet, so I didn’t ask. He has to report to the Ealdred, of course, but beyond that, he hasn't said anything. He was about to head for detention again when I left. Said to bring you on over. You interested?"

Soren nodded despite the tightening of his gut. "Let's go."

Detention was a restricted area, accessible from only one restricted corridor. It consisted of several specialized rooms, and it was here that captive venators were taken for questioning. One half of each room was fenced off with dark, britonkian bars. This provided immediate and easy access for talking, and for darting the animal when it needed to be moved or cuffed to rings set in the ceiling. A captive venator had access to a cot. running water, and a commode.

The only entrance to Detention was a security door, which let into a buffer cell, which in turn let into the corridor that led to the actual holding area. Both doors of the buffer cell remained locked at all times. Within the cell sat a Fadey, monitoring the activity and manning the alarm.

The only other area located down that corridor was the annex, a miniaturization of the Medicat, in case of emergencies. Detention was sound-proofed for "aesthetic reasons," but the small Medicat lounge was always in use by a number of Fadeys if a cage was occupied.

The tight security was solely to protect against escaped venators, the restricted corridor sign warning simply that a pass card was needed. Anybody could get one, but it was rare that someone wanted to. Detention was the domain of the Fadeys, and everyone allowed them their unfavorable task in privacy.

When Sparrow used his pass card, the door slid open and they could easily hear the detention alarm sounding. Wordlessly they broke into a run, the door closing automatically behind them.

They arrived in seconds, the room crowded and chaotic. Soren spotted the venat immediately, unmuzzled and unrestrained, but it was by itself, cringing on the floor by the bars, its eyes wide and dilated with fear. This was only a brief comfort, instantly replaced by a paralyzing horror.

AJ was in the center of three Fadeys with a whipping rod in his hand, shouting as they pulled him back. "Be careful you idiots!" he was shouting. "He's an imposter! Let me go!"

On the floor towards the back was Arion, a wicked cut across his cheek and eyebrow. Two others were already beside him, helping him to sit up, but at AJ's words Chad drew back, grabbing his palmette. Arion tried to lunge away from him but Mischa was in his way, already holding onto him and instinctively restraining him as he tried to escape.

"NO!"

Even above the clamor of the alarm, Soren's voice rang out stridently and everyone froze, but Chad had already hit Arion's shoulder with the tranquilizer. They stared at each other, Chad and Arion, equally shocked, Mischa guiding Arion gently to the floor as he collapsed. Mark was kneeling beside him before Soren could move, taking Arion's hands in his. Soren came forward on legs of lead, but he picked Arion up in his arms like a child.

Everyone moved out of the way except AJ who stood his ground, extending the rod to further block the path.

A startled cry, a flash of light, and the venat was dead, shot by Tony who had nearly stepped on it backing up out of the way.

"It's a Lenisat," said AJ, disregarding the distraction. "An imposter."

"That's not for you to decide," said Soren coldly.

AJ nodded, acquiescing, and lowered the rod. "But it's not to be treated as a member of the family either. It has to be guarded."

"You're elected," said Soren, brushing past him, heading for the emergency annex. The med team was ready and waiting when they came in, already alerted by the detention alarm. "Tranquilizer," explained Soren, laying Arion on the table.

The palmette held enough of some drug or other to render a venat unconscious for several hours, but it wasn't designed for human use, and the dosage was fatally high. Chad handed his palmette to one of the meds who checked the serial number and immediately prepared a stimulant to help counteract the sedative, or the life support that the other two were busily setting up would be pointless.

"God willing, he should be fine," said one, satisfied that he had stabilized. "The life support will keep him going until we get the sedative worked out of him." He began treating the cut on his face.

"Check his back too," said Soren, studying the trace of blood on his hands.

"What happened anyway?" asked the one, (whose name later proved to be Sid), as they rolled him gently to his side, cutting away the shirt to treat his back.

"It's an imposter," said AJ from the doorway.

They stopped working, looking from Arion to AJ, to the others, and back at Arion. "An imposter?"

"So AJ believes," said Soren levelly. "But I'm not ready to kill him on one man's word. What if he's mistaken?"

"He - attacked - me," said AJ distinctly, emphasizing each word. "Because he didn't like what I was doing to his venat."

"The venator was promised safety by the Ealdred and the council," said Mark quietly, off to one side.

This seemed to surprise him somewhat, but it didn't daunt him. "Maybe so. The venat mentioned a promise, but no one said anything like that to me. It also told me some interesting things about him," he continued, jerking his head toward Arion. "And he never brought up any promise. He just yelled a lot and then attacked me. But by all means, carry on. We may learn a great deal from him if he's questioned properly."

Soren was staring at Arion's back which had at least five separate cuts and welts. Impossible, unthinkable, how could it have happened? Mistaken? He had to be, but how could you mistake being attacked? What had the venat said?

Sid began working again. "Well you boys had better take this up with the Ealdred and get it straight. He should be off the life support in about an hour, but it'll be at least four more before he's sensible."

"Thank you Sid," said AJ. "I'll see to it that someone is sent to you to guard him."

He grunted in reply and kept working, cleaning the cuts and applying the inducer.

"Mark," said Soren softly, "stay here with him, will you? I’m going to go with AJ." Mark nodded and Soren took one last look at Arion as they lowered him gently down on his back again, then headed out.

They found the Ealdred already in the conference room with several councilors, Tony, and the three who had held AJ. The Ealdred greeted them with a silent nod and they all took seats. "AJ, I'd like to hear from you first please," said the Ealdred. "How is he?"

"Sid says he should be fine. Off life support in about an hour, waking up in roughly five. I've told him he'll be sent someone to guard."

"Yes of course. But this is so sensitive that I'm going to have to send someone here. Tony, does your schedule permit you to go now?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Who is with him now?”

“Mark.”

Ealdred Tovi nodded. “He may stay, but no one is to go in there except those of us here, and the three meds who first treated him. No one else. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Thank you. Go now, and not a word to anyone. AJ, if you please, tell us what happened."

"As you know, I went in to question the venator. Sir, is it true that you promised it safety?"

"Yes."

"Then I must apologize. I wasn't aware of that, and I didn't drug it. I felt that had been tried already, and that it had been ineffectual. I was not gentle, sir. It was uncooperative at first, but when it realized I wasn't there to play games, it began to give me some real information. Aditi is due to be hit tomorrow, though he didn't seem to know what area. Hlafden may or may not be hit sometime next week.

"I asked it why it hadn't told Arion any of this, and all it did was apologize. So I asked it what they found to talk about for such a long time. It began talking about your promise, but I didn't believe it. That was a new one." He paused, looking at the Ealdred with curiosity, but he said nothing so AJ continued.

"When I pressed it, it began talking about how Arion was going to take it to a mountain. It referred to him as Pratlataach, a Venatese title name. This Pratlataach was going to take it to a mountain and set it free."

"What about its foot?" asked the Ealdred. "Where would it go on a broken foot?"

"I don't know. I was busy trying to get straight how Arion was this Pratlataach, and that he was going to free it. I had some difficulty with some of the words, but it definitely thought he was something special. Sir, it respected him the way I respect you. What else could he be but an imposter?”

The Ealdred didn’t answer, so AJ went on, “About that time, he came in. Arion did. He was upset about what I was doing, but, well, by then I was so angry that I certainly wasn't going to stop for him. So he attacked me. I threw him off and beat him back with the rod." He paused, sighing. "I hate admitting it, but I guess it's pretty hard now to deny that I was out of control." He shook his head. "I didn't want him getting up again.

"Then the alarm went off and everyone came pouring in. They pulled me off, but all I could think was how they didn't know, so I yelled at them. Told them what he was. Chad hit him with the palmette, and Soren carried him to the annex. That's about it."

"Thank you AJ. Soren, do you have anything to add?"

"A question, sir."

"Yes?"

"That venator was promised safety by you. What was AJ doing in there, beating it with a rod?"

The Ealdred sighed. "A misunderstanding. We were aware that Arion spent a great deal of time talking with it, but he gave back very little. I sent AJ in to question it, but my instructions were obviously inadequate. Fated perhaps."

"Fate doesn't erase the promise, sir. I'm sorry, but my promise was also given. Those promises were broken, and now Arion's in the annex on life support because he tried to uphold those promises."

The Ealdred sighed again. "I can't change what has already happened, Soren. Make arrangements to take the body down and leave it on the mountain. That's the best I can do. As for Arion, broken promises don't excuse the severity of what he did, nor does it change what we already know." Soren swallowed, knowing he was referring to the blood tests. "AJ," he went on, "did the venator explain how he meant to set it free, or where it meant to go?"

"No, sir. I wasn't able to finish. It took longer than I expected because it kept talking in circles and insisted on using words I told it I didn't know. The only thing it made clear was that it referred to Arion as Pratlataach, and that he would ensure the venat's freedom on the mountain."

"Sir," broke in Soren. "You have to ask Arion himself. We can't just take this venat's word. What if it's lying? If it sold out its own, what's to stop it from lying, from giving AJ something, anything, just to make him back off?"

"That imposter attacked me, Soren. I know how hard this must be for you, and I’m sorry. But he attacked me. Arion would never have attacked me!"

Soren shook his head. "I'm not blaming you, AJ. Anyone else probably would have done the same. I'm not blaming you. But what if it was lying? They took Arion and they tore him up, and then they tore him down. What do we really know about what they did to him? And they can hear our broadcasts. They must know what he's been going through. That's why that venat looked to him for help. Ealdred, please, we can't just turn our backs on him!"

The Ealdred gazed at him and his stomach tightened. "It was Arion, was it not, that persuaded you not to kill this venat?"

"Yes, sir. It was also Arion that stopped it from killing me."

"Yes, I heard about that. At the time, I was quite impressed. It gave me great hope, and it was because of this that I allowed him to come up and talk to it." He paused, considering. "You still believe he is Arion, and not an imposter. Even though he attacked AJ."

"With all respect, I'd like to hear Arion's side of the story."

He nodded. "Perhaps you at least have some notion of how truly sensitive this matter is. Please, all of you, consider how this will affect the family at large, and do not mention a word to anyone. Do not discuss it even among yourselves lest you be overheard. Soren, I intend to be there when he first wakes up. The drug will still be much too strong for any careful lying. You can hear his side of the story then. You are all dismissed."

"Sir, may I go stay with him?"

"Yes. Go ahead. I'll tell Tony you're coming."

"Thank you, sir."