Hagen was firing again when the woman, smiling wider, pointed her device at him and he also fell.

The second of the Urth people raised his hand, pointing at Mari, who was watching him with the same determined expression but had not moved.

Alain, wishing not for the first time that he had married a woman with less stubbornness and more caution, had his spell ready. Whatever self-protection the Urth people used stopped anything from going through it. But his heat spells did not travel from place to place. He created them above his hand, then sent them to appear wherever he could see. They were in one place, and then another.

He focused on the hand of the man pointing his device at Mari. He could not directly harm that hand, but he could put his heat on the device.

The air above Alain's hand suddenly glowed with heat. An instant later the same intense heat was around the device pointed at Mari.

The Urth man shouted in pain. His device was glowing hot, parts of it melting, sparks and smoke flying from it. He went to his knees, trying to free the object from his badly scorched hand.

The woman turned a startled look on Alain, but he had already prepared a second spell. She staggered back with a scream, her device and her hand also burnt and useless.

It had taken only a few of what Mari called 'seconds.' Alain, trying to mask the weariness caused by using two such spells within a very short time, relaxed his Mage powers completely, making no preparations for another spell.

Talese Groveen stared at the other Urth people, then at Alain. Shaking herself out of her surprise, she focused on Alain. Her fingers moved before her, but whatever she belatedly sought to do instead provoked a grimace of frustration.

Alain heard commands called from the wall. The rifles there were now pointed at the three people from Urth.

Mari finally moved, but only to cross her arms as she gave Talese Groveen a warning look. "That's only a sample of what we can do to defend ourselves. If these men and women were harmed," Mari said, nodding toward the police before her, "I will be very upset. If any are dead, you will be guilty of ordering murder and will be held accountable."

"They were only rendered unconscious," Talese Groveen said, trembling with anger. "But you…you have attacked and seriously injured two of my crew!"

"Self-defense," Mari said. "Protection of individuals. We are willing to overlook your unprovoked aggression as long as these men and women were not harmed and such actions are not repeated." She pointed to Alain, who was keeping his expression Mage-blank and Mage-menacing. "Anything he can see can be dealt with." Mari looked toward the smaller flier, then up at the large ship on the cliffs above. "Anything."

"You would not dare. An attack on our ship—"