The shock of that revelation almost made Johnathan forget his pain. He was silent for a minute, then said slowly, “You had no right to pull my body out of the pits. I demand that you let me die.”
“If that’s the way you want it; it makes no difference to me. But a dead artifact is just as good as a live one as far as the Umpire is concerned, so you needn’t think it would spoil my plans. Would you care to reconsider that demand?”
Johnathan glared stonily at him.
“Your death would accomplish nothing, you know. At least if I keep you in the medchest, you’ll live to see your Tillie again.”
“Don’t ever call her that!”
“Why not?”
“Because she doesn’t like it.”
Jusser mulled that over with amusement. “We’ll see,” he said. “By the way, we’re about thirteen hours from Huntworld. I’ve got all
