"Doctor! Get out of the way!" "No, Ron. You don't know what you're doing—"
The old man was shielding the Ron-body with his own. Ron put the weapon down.
"But why?" he said.
"Because this is no answer! This is the assassin's way—" He turned to the Ron-body, and his voice was shaking. "Listen, Scholar. I want to arbitrate. Will you listen?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Yes!" the doctor said fiercely. "Life or death! Will you listen to my terms?"
The Ron-body shrugged. "All right."
"Very well. Then I want you to spare Ron Carver. I want you to allow me to deliver him into the hands of friends, deliver him alive and safe. In return, I promise that your twelve-year-old body will leave this Earth virtually at once. I will send it to the colony on Mars, where it will stay until adulthood. Will you allow this?"
............