225

You try to barge one of the mongols out of the way, but fail to knock the stocky man over. He dives at you and the other guard strikes you across the back of the head with his sabre hilt. By the time you recover you have been bound hand and foot and they are examining your blaster and helmet. Powerless without the helmet, you are aghast to hear, as they carry you to the palace, that they regard you as a witch spirit of the Everlasting Blue Sky and will sew up your mouth and nostrils before killing you, lest your spirit escape to haunt them. You struggle but cannot get free. You have failed and the Space Federation will never be.