Upon exiting the Presidium office Rafel led the group to the left, which would take them past the zero-grav transport tube portal. When the Matzod troopers who had remained behind guarding the closed portal saw Melanka and the others approaching, they beamed. “Mission accomplished!” one of them said with delight. Officer Davel was flabbergasted when he realized it was the Grandmaster who had been taken into custody. He was also perplexed by the fact that Elyon was not wristcuffed.
Officer Barak returned their smiles and said, “Yeah, everything went according to plan.” Then suddenly he pulled his handheld charged-particle weapon and pointed at Melanka. Everyone froze in complete astonishment; everyone except Officer Rafel who took a sonic-blaster from the holster hidden under his coat. He
