I set out for the rocket just as the sun sank over the mountains. Korton went with me part of the way, both of us wearing night-visors to see through the shadows.

“You know,” Korton told me. “Some people back in the city would prefer to have Bowen return and be their leader, thinking to break the chain of leadership would be chaos.”

“What do you think?” I asked him.

“I think the heredity doesn't matter, especially considering the fact that Bowen is an insane murderer.”

“Then I guess we don't have any quarrel.”

“My country is still officially at war with yours. Perhaps when we do choose a new leader that will change. Who knows? It's hard to reverse a policy we've clung to for so long.”

I shook his hand “Korton, if even half of the men of your country are as fine and decent as you are, I think there won't be anything to worry about.”

We parted ways and I started down the slope through darkening woods towards the lights of the rocketship.

I moved towards the back of the ship, in search of the place I'd escaped from before. With aid of the night-visor I found the breach easily and climbed into the rusty old bowels of the rocket again. Pule's body no longer lay where he'd died during my failed escape, so perhaps things weren't all idle pleasures around there.

In the large chamber, I found the escape pods again and checked over the machinery. Most of them were rusted shut, and in a few more the test didn't show that any electrical power coursed through them at all. Of the two that checked out I entered the one marked as number 4 and tested the instruments. All instruments indicated it would fly, so my plan might not have been a loss after all.

A pair of hands groped at my helmet and I spun around.

Xato stood before me with a frightening smile on his face “Well, what have we here, captain? Why are you hiding from the party?”

“Xato...”

“Hydron, silly, I'm Hydron...”

He appeared drunk, so I took a chance. I shuffled him around quickly onto one of the seats and bound him, hog-tyied him with his own breach-cloth. “I'm sorry, Xato. I have to keep you here until I can get the others free.”

“Rathdrum, you fool!” he hissed. “Are your jealous of my favor with Radon?”

I had to gag him too.

As I moved through the plush corridors towards the ballroom at the center, I heard the din of music and many voices raised in laughter. I climbed up a ladder to the second level and found a hall that led around to the back of the decking in the spherical room.

Once in the room I crawled low to the carpeted deck, out of sight of the revelers on the lower level. The control panel on the back of the Event Record Transmitter blinked before me.

The names of the players in the historical atrocities showed on the viewing screen, along with the red lit-up name “Lord Radon”. An arrow pointed at his name, indicating the special status. I found the toggle-switch that would shift the status to another name, and I still saw the listing “Cylas Renford – Captain Rathdrum”.

Working quickly, I pulled the wire leads from the machine and connected them to my helmet. I made the change, taking away Lord Bowen's freedom. I sneaked a look over the side of the machine and saw him sitting on the throne, laughing maniacally, fully lost in his chosen roll as Lord Radon.

A noise came from nearby and I turned to see three drunken revelers emerging from a door and coming towards me. The machine informed me they were captains of the guard.

I found myself hopelessly wishing they would turn and go outside.

No sooner had I wished it than did they do exactly that!

Korton had said that the use of the machine was intuitive, and he was more right than I might have suspected.

I focused on Baron Nycen and Captain Ion and changed the record so that they would find their way to escape pod number 4 where their stupor would keep them immobile for an hour at least.

On the viewing screen I found there was also a way to eject the players from the drama, and even a timer for doing so. I imagined this was so an idle viewer could play a historical person without getting sucked in for the entire record. I gave ten minutes to everyone except for Bowen, to him I gave one hour, which was the same timer I set for the small bomb I wedged inside the machine.

For a moment as I strolled back down the hall I felt a sense of satisfaction on a job well done.

A heavy iron door slammed behind me and I spun around to see Lord Bowen holding a huge sword in his hand.

“Bowen?” I asked, completely confused as to how he'd detected me.

“Captain Rathdrum, did you think I would never find out?”

“Excuse me?”

“Did you think you could take my wife without me noticing? Without my permission?” He swatted the sword out and chopped at a pipe, which I noticed had already been chopped long ago, probably by the real Lord Radon.

The machine still had hold of him, but that couldn't stop the lifeline of Lord Radon. My helmet only sent the thoughts when the wires were connected.

Bowen lunged forward suddenly, arcing the blade high over his head and at me.

I jumped backwards and saw the sword cut into the floor. Bowen had trouble pulling the sword back up, it was too heavy for him, so I walked up to him.

His fist swung up into my jaw and I staggered back.

“Did you think I was stupid, Captain?”

I rolled to my feet and spat out some blood “I wish I knew as much of this captain as you do, Bowen.”

“He would hardly be in a position to vouch for you.”

I backed away, puzzled.

Bowen continued “She said that, did she?”

I moved around behind him and he continued to speak to the invisible figure he took for Captain Rathdrum.

“Quite a retort from someone as dull-minded as you.” he said, slashing at the air in front of him.

Although it was hardly the fair thing to do, I punched him in the jaw and knocked him to the deck. While he was down and I took the sword away and found my raygun on his belt, which I took back.

I checked my watch and saw that the ten minutes were almost up. I never knew which were hostages and which were Bowen's willing disciples and this was no time to find out.

I ran back to the engine room and climbed into the number 4 escape pod.

Just as I got to the pilot's seat, a raygun pushed up against the back of my neck.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Were you going somewhere?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

I turned my head enough to see one of the silver-armored men, one of the half-castes from Rothrock. “I see you are awake.”

“Just in time, it seems. What have you done, Renford?”

“Look, Lord Bowen's reign of terror was bound to end sometime. Why not let it be now? He was never going to rule the world, he couldn't even rule his own country.”

He forced me to back out of the pod, past my sleeping friends. “That's a matter of opinion. Now, tell me just what you did so I can stop it.”

“So you liked playing that game? You want to go back to being somebody who'd been dead for thousands of years and very well deserved to be?”

“Don't be stupid, everyone enjoys it. Life is to be enjoyed to the fullest, and they knew how to live back then.”

A funny feeling came over me and I saw a change come over the man who held the gun on me as well.

“Oh my God,” I muttered. “Someone reset the machine!”

I could feel Captain Rathdrum trying to take over again, but I was over a hundred yards from the device, so my will still mostly remained.

The man with the gun looked stunned, the character taking over.

I grabbed ahold of his weapon and he struggled.

Rays shot up into the machinery above us, dumping smoke and oil-spray. I shook loose of him, but the gun cam up again and I kicked at it. He still had the weapon in his grip and I had to close with him once again. In a burst of terrible strength, he knocked me back against the metal panel.

The raygun sprang into my hand and I blew my assailant back across the room.

Fires began to bloom from around the room.

A door flew open on a high deck and Bowen burst in, shouting “Renford!”

I shouted “I don't have time for you, Bowen.”

I climbed into the escape pod and sealed the hatch. The small craft roared to life, and the hatch shattered as the charge blew it out into the trees.

The escape pod started and I guided it sharply upward to avoid the old growth that grew up all around.

I circled over the old rocket and watched the smoke billow out from the back. I looked over the controls to see if it had ray weapons.

Tsang opened his eyes in the seat beside mine and said “Rathdrum?”

“Oh no,” I found a button on the panel and pushed it.

Rays blasted out from the nose of our craft and punctured the center of the ship, the room with the device.

An explosion destroyed a piece of the hull, joining the roaring fires eating the rear.

I turned to Tsang who shook his head and winced “Cylas? Is that you? You wouldn't believe the headache I have.”

I smiled “I think I might.”

As I turned the escape pod away I could see crowds of men running from the flaming ship, finally free of Bowen's machine.

We turned West and headed back towards home.