"We have to be careful how we approach," said their guide. "The forest has eyes, don't yah know. There's only one entrance from this side, and it's well guarded. Yer lucky you found ol' Fence, or you'd've been shot afore you reached the gates."

"If there's only one way in, you can be sure there's cannibals nearby," said Edwards to his crew. "You'll never make it with me in tow. Leave me here, and get inside. Save yourselves and save the Reliant."

"We're not leaving you here, Captain," Wendy insisted, letting go of Riggs's arm. He swayed on his feet momentarily before steadying himself. "Everybody take an arm or leg. We'll carry him in."

"Miss Nation, I must protest--" Edwards began as he felt them lift him. They ran as quickly as they could toward the entrance to the city, with the old man leading the way so no one would shoot at them. Riggs brought up the rear, wobbling but managing to keep up.

A shout from behind confirmed their worst fears. The cannibals did not want their prey to enter the city gates. War cries pierced their ears, and they redoubled their efforts to reach their destination as the cannibals started throwing spears. One of them pierced right through Captain Edwards's midsection and came out the other end. Everyone dropped him and continued to run.

Riggs, sensing Wendy's mood, grabbed her arm and dragged her with. She resisted momentarily, but realizing that she was in mortal danger, she turned away from the Captain and ran with all her might towards the city.

Wendy was crying hysterically when the gates swung open. Riggs threw an arm around her shoulders as he guided her inside. Then a wave of nausea overtook him, and he stepped away from her, just in case. They were all out of breath and stood there, just breathing, as the gates slammed in the faces of their pursuers.

A large group of thugs blocked their path. One of them stepped forward menacingly. "Here, now, give us all the food you gathered or we'll pitch you back out to play with your friends."

"What!" gasped Savant, raising her gun menacingly.

"Don't," Segal warned her. "You'll make them mad."

"Everybody calm down," said Banks when he saw that Riggs was too busy vomiting to say anything. "It's going to be all right."

"Leave them alone, Menal," said another man who was standing above them on a ledge. "They're no scavengers. They aren't from the Folly at all, by the look of them."

"No, we're not," Riggs confirmed as he swayed heavily. Wendy helped him to sit down, then curled herself against his side and sat with him, wiping at her tears.

"You're welcome in this city," he said. "I am Kabal Fierce. My men will see to it that you get anything you want during your stay here."

"Thank you," Riggs said. "Hopefully, we won't be troubling you for long."

"We shall see," he said, and then jumped down from his perch, landing on his feet with catlike grace. "But for now, I'll find a place for all of you to rest up. Right this way."

Riggs nodded and Wendy helped him back up.

"Corporal Savant, radio the Reliant and let Dan know what's been going on down here," Riggs said as they walked. "Establish a routine of half-hour reports to him."

"Will do, sir," Savant gasped. "Just as soon as I can breathe again."

Soon, each of them were led to rooms where they could rest and have something to eat. Most of them took private rooms, but Riggs and Wendy shared one.

"They're going to eat the Captain," Wendy wailed as she and Riggs sat down in one of the chairs in their newly acquired room. "I wish we could have done something about it."

"It's just a body now," Riggs said, taking her into his arms. "The Captain isn't in there any more, you know. He's still with us, and he's routing for us all the way. So, we're not going to disappoint him. First thing tomorrow, we're going to find that OGU and get out of here."

Wendy sniffed, wiped her eyes, and realized she felt better. At about the same time, she also realized that Riggs didn't. He was looking decidedly green around the gills, and was trying to locate something to hurl in.

"Are you okay?" she asked, alarmed. She pushed a button that looked likely, and a panel opened to reveal the toilet facilities. Riggs gratefully made use of them.

"I think that medicine's definitely kicking in," he announced when he was finished. He was sick off and on for the rest of the night.

In the morning, they all gathered in a hall for breakfast. Fence had filled Kabal in about their situation, and Kabal had instructed him to help them in any way he could. In return, he asked that they inform the outside world of their presence here, and have supplies sent to them.

"Okay, old man, where do we go from here?" Riggs asked.

"The computer alone knows the location of the air-makers in this city," he said. "But if I help you, I wanna get outta this Folly. You folks take me to Omega 17. I've had enough of this place. I've lived every day of my life in fear of death. I don't wanna do it anymore."

"It's a deal," said Savant enthusiastically. "Now, which way are the computers?"

The walk through the outer city was quite a learning experience. They travelled from one level to another, avoiding some of the more aggressive neighborhoods in favor of the quieter ones. Most of the people were weaving baskets from jungle grass, or crafting other useful goods. Some of them occupied themselves by baking bread or pastries in large, community ovens. The children played in any way they desired, and were rarely chastised if they were rougher with one another than necessary.

It took well over an hour to make their way to the computer housing facility. This building was by far the most massive structure in the Folly. Most of the immense walls were covered with information storage units, and Corporal Savant could only imagine how much data they held. Her eyes were lit up like a couple of stars about to go supernova.

Riggs and Wendy smiled at each other over her candor. Then Wendy sat down at one terminal while Savant sat at the other. Although her profession was journalism, Wendy was just as capable as Savant when it came to using a computer, so the two were evenly matched for their speed and searching skills.

The search revealed that the ten levels of the Folly's outer walls spanned the entire sphere. These levels encased the massive inner core, which at one time had been used to raise cattle, grow vegetables and grains, and also held various entertainment centers like the one where they had come across Fence.

There were supposedly twelve major cities, and each had once been named after an astrological sign. This particular city was identified by the computer as Scorpio. Wendy grinned at this irony, for that sign was ruled by Mars, the warrior god, and this city was about as warlike as it could get.

"Wait, I think I've found something, " Savant announced. "Looks like we'll need to go to sector C-7. There's a map of it in here somewhere, but I haven't been able to locate the file."

"Got it," Wendy announced, and called it up on her screen.

"Great, "said Savant. "Now, there's only one thing left to do. I'm going to set this computer to upload as much of its information to the Reliant as possible. We can examine it all at our leisure, if we ever get the chance."

The old man looked at the map, shaking his head. "That's in the forbidden zone," he said. "Ol' Fence ain't never gone to the forbidden zone."

"Forbidden zone?" Riggs queried.

"No one's allowed in there but the Nobility. You'd have to get permission just to approach to get permission," he said. "Maybe you should see if there's another one somewhere else."

"Not in this part of the Folly," Savant said. "I already checked."

"It ain't gonna be too easy gettin' there, either," Fence said. "We'll hafta go through the worst section of the city--unless you'd rather go outside."

"With those cannibals? Are you kidding?" Savant said. "We'll take our chances in here."

"There's worse things than death," he grumbled. "But if you wanna go that way, who is ol' Fence to complain? But first we better go to the armory, and get suited up. You can't go through the inner city without plenty of weapons."

Savant began to wonder if she should change her mind. Nobody else looked like they had an opinion either way. Riggs signaled for everyone to follow the old man to the armory, and they filed quickly out.