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.The only cost would be live-trapping some vrasti or maybe sheraised them in the basement.A fine deal for the t'Tant, and one that their daylight selves would easilyfind agreeable.In the morning, both the sunlight streaming in the windows andthe' bright electric lights in the house would make it safe for her to showthem out, quite possibly through the trapdoor in the second-story ceiling.It all made sense much later, but right then I stood stock-still for a longmoment, dumbfounded, not moving until the nearest of the t'Tant was withininches of my face, its claws outstretched.I ducked down, under the desk, pulling my shoulder-bag with me.One of thet'Tant landed behind the desk and began clawing at the shoulderbag, trying toget at me.Most of the damage was to my bag, but as the t'Tant slashed it toribbons, spilling the contents over the floor, one of its claws drew a longgouge down my left arm, ripping my tunic.I kicked at the t'Tant, and felt wingbones crunch as I knocked it away, butPage 39 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthat didn't make things any better: a fresh t'Tant took its place.There was no way out.The t'Tant could easily keep this up until morning, andmorning was hours away.Icouldn't hold them off for long.My fingers scrabbled on the ground, looking for some weapon, something,anything that would buy me a few more seconds of life.They fell on a concussior; I snatched it up.Kicking at the t'Tant, I tried tofind another, but the rest of the contents of my bag were too widelyscattered.I could see two other concussiors on the floor, but if Itried to reach out and take them, all three t'Tant would be able to get at me.Blood ran down my arm and onto the concussior.Maybe, just maybe, it wouldshock them, stun them just long enough for me to get at the other concussiors,and perhaps the bar.One steel bar against threet'Tant wasn't much of a chance, but it was my only chance.I thumbed the concussior and flicked it out into the room, squeezing myselffarther back into the recess, fighting to keep the t'Tant's claws away from myface.Whomp!The concussior went off, deafeningly loud, the light so bright it leakedaround the eyeseals of my goggles.They flared into a bright red as their circuits overloaded.Everything went black; the goggles were dead.Blindly, I kicked at the t'Tant.It fell away limply.That was strange.I yanked the goggles off my face.The three t'Tant spread their wings in the dying light of the concussior,chirruping merrily, ignoring the flames licking at the base of the curtainsbehind them, I didn't take the time to think it through.I dived out of theprotection of the desk, scooped up my last two concussiors, thumbed and threwone, then ran out of the room, my ears already ringing so loudly I didn't hearthe sound of its ignition as it flashed behind me.It was the light, of course; the bright light of the concussior had awakenedthe t'Tants' plant brains, which were much more interested in tastywavelengths than tasty me.I crept back through the dark night, my eyes on the sky, the brooch heavy inmy sleeve.I'd managed to beat Elren Mac Cormier's security system, and whileI'd lost my pack, I'd gotten what I came for.I could sell the brooch toBenno.Without it as evidence, Elren wouldn't dare approach van Ingstrand, nomatter how angry she was.She would know that old Amos would kill her forfirst having, then losing it.Safe.For the first time since I'd been idiot enough to steal the damn thing,and even more of a fool to turn it over to Carlos One-Hand, I was safe.I felt very clever, all the way home.The floor of the tunnel was littered with slivers of stone.Someone hadtriggered one of our boobytraps.I dialed my flash down to low, until I could barely see in its dim glow.Normally, I wouldn't have worried about it.All that meant was that someonehad tripped one of our warning traps; likely, whoever it was had run off.But, combined with everything else, it was better to play it cautiously
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