Shalev. Eric shook his head. He had heard that name before. Then he remembered. The man who had killed Cliff said they had come from Shalev. Half-baffled, half-fascinated, Eric turned his arm, looking for some kind of clasp, but there was nothing. The watchband was uniformly the same all the way around. He put all four fingers of his right hand under the watch’s face and pulled strongly. A sharp, intermittent buzzing caused him to jump. WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! flashed on and off the face. Then the letters flowed again, only this time they were not yellow, but blood red. THE WRIST COMPUTER CANNOT BE REMOVED. UNDUE PRESSURE ON THE BAND HAS TRIGGERED THIS ALARM. PLEASE RELEASE PRESSURE IMMEDIATELY TO AVOID AUTOMATIC PUNISHMENT MODE. The letters winked off, then almost instantly began again. WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!…

Suddenly, as he stared at the flashing thing on his wrist, Eric felt the frustration inside him boil over, and the sharp buzz only infuriated him further. With a yank that dug the band into his flesh, he put his fingers under the band and tried to tear it off his wrist. A sharp gasp exploded from his lips as his left arm suddenly went rigid with pain. His muscles knotted into iron-hard balls of agony, and his arm jerked violently. With a cry of pain he grabbed at his arm. Instantly the agony stopped, and his arm dropped limply into his lap.

Stunned, Eric stared at the innocent-looking little box on his wrist, his chest rising and falling rapidly. THE PUNISHMENT MODE IN YOUR WRIST COMPUTER WAS TRIGGERED BY UNWARRANTED PRESSURE ON THE BAND. TO AVOID FURTHER ELECTRICAL SHOCK, DO NOT PULL THE BAND. The bright red letters repeated the message, then blinked off, and Eric was left staring at the numerals, 9:20, and a tiny “A.M.” in the upper corner.

Madeline Lloyd let out her breath slowly. Judy, their bus driver and guide, a young woman majoring in child development at the University of Shalev, was right. The city was beautiful. No, Madeline amended. It was stunning. Images she had long ago decided would never be seen again in her lifetime were assaulting her senses on every side.

A farm woman all her life, she was still a little dazed by it all. The three-day journey in the trucks had been exhausting, but after they had finally arrived, they were fed a delicious meal, taken to modern quarters, and allowed to shower and then sleep in comfortable beds. As they had on the trip here, the orangeuniformed men continued to closely guard all males fifteen and over and keep them separated from the women and the children, but they promised that the separation would be maintained only one more day, and then the people would be reunited.

At least some will be reunited. Madeline bit her lip and forced her mind away from Karl and the wrenching pain in her heart.