They entered the brightly lit throne room. It was slightly smaller, with six columns along the curved walls with windows. A glowing throne of solid red crystal stood against the far wall. Ruler Dugo was sitting on the throne, men and a woman stood on the right and left sides and talked about something with the ruler, for a minute they were distracted, noticing the people who entered the hall, but then continued the conversation.

The hunter led Sam to the center of the hall and forced him to kneel down with a kick on the knee. He ordered Sam to bow his head, but he didn’t obey. Then the hunter with a sharp spear rested on the base of the skull and forced Sam to bend his neck. Bending over, Sem saw his reflection in the polished cold stone floor of the hall. In this position, he stood for several minutes. Ruler Dugo did not pay attention to the prisoner, only when he finished talking with the people standing at the throne, he gave a sign to the hunter, who allowed Sam to raise his head and look at the ruler.

Dugo was tall with a stony, thin face disfigured by two deep scars from forehead to cheekbone. The long nose was crooked from a fracture, and instead of the left eye there was an old yellow prosthetic eye. Dugo wore a cylindrical gold crown with a tapered top on his head. On the front of the crown there is an image of some kind of animal with a large gem in the center. On the shoulders of the ruler there is a large collar made of gold plates with inscriptions. A cape embroidered with gold under the collar.

  “Judging by the tattoo, you're a Titarian warrior.  I heard Titar in ruins. You must have been a child when this happened. Don't be surprised, we get news from the big world every year. I hope you will tell us something interesting!”

Sam didn't say anything, he just looked at Dugo with a tired look. The silence in the hall was broken by Dugo's voice. “I will tell you about us. My great-grandfather is a pilgrim. He assembled a team and flew here to restore the homeland of the ancestors of Grotar. With minimal resources, restored the city. He returned people to a normal life. Only he could not tell anyone about the planet, since it is impossible to get out of here alive. You are sent here as thieves, secretly.”

Dugo's last words sounded like an accusation. Sam turned and looked at Dr. Heng, who stood and studied the patterns on the ceiling and did not pay attention to Sam. Dugo followed the prisoner's gaze and looked at the doctor as well. Heng noticing Dugo's gaze, bowed his head respectfully and smiled.

  “I know a little bit of history. It’s not difficult to calculate when your great-grandfather flew here. In the 60s, the death rate from DNA abnormalities was the highest, he flew here for medicine. We also came here for medicine. What is my fault?”

The grin disappeared from Dugo's face as he squeezed the armrests of the throne with such force that veins appeared on his hands. He had not expected such an answer. The people standing in the hall began to whisper. Sam wanted to say something more, but Dugo didn't like the subject the captive brought up.

Dugo began to speak like a judge reading a sentence. “Every year at the same time, immortality hunters arrive and find death here! Not for the sake of medicine for the inhabitants of the galaxy you are sent here. Company Athauda knows there are people on the planet. We have been hidden from the big world for more than a hundred years. According to your laws, this is a serious crime. Security, take him to the vault.”

A rumble rose in the throne room, and Sam was escorted out of the throne room to cheers. The hunter led him into a dark corridor. There was an elevator at the end of the corridor. They took the elevator for several minutes. The elevator door opened and Sam entered a long, well-lit corridor. The hunter ordered Sam to stop and wait. A few minutes later, the door opened and Dugo stepped out of the elevator, accompanied by two hunters. Dugo's face was not so stone, he ordered Sam to follow him.

Sam immediately determined who he was dealing with, Dugo's ancestors were tall Ortalians, unlike the inhabitants of the grotar, the Ortalians were not purebred pilgrims. Sam did not believe in Dugo's legend about his ancestors.

  “I know that you destroyed the nest of darkness.” Dugo began to speak. “ If we had such weapons, it would be much safer to live here. We found two members of your team. Tell me how your armor works. If you help us, you will live.”

Sam was a little surprised, quickly realized who they could find and what kind of weapon they had in their hands, Sam decided to avoid answering about the weapon, and pretended to believe Dugo's story. “How can I trust you if you haven't untied my hands. How many people flew here in a hundred years? They came to you in peace, but you killed them. Where did you get so much anger?”

  “Wrong answer!”  Dugo shook his head in annoyance. He even envied Sam's resilience.

The corridor ended with an entrance to a poorly lit hangar. Inside the hangar there were a lot of different equipment, some boxes, rusty barrels, some of the equipment was hidden under tents. The wind was blowing in the hangar, the huge gates on the left side were open. A few meters from the entrance, in a lighted place, there was a pole on which Sam's armor hung.

Dugo walked over to the armor and patted the shoulder plate with his palm and said. - We have several models of modern weapons, but no one has come here with such weapons!

Dugo again looked inquiringly at Sam. He didn’t answer, looked away. Sam understood that his fate was a foregone conclusion.

  “When you were sent here, you didn’t ask questions, right? I can see it in you eyes. Not many managed to reach the dark star. Great-grandfather bequeathed to us to destroy all those who came for nemurges. Beetles should not leave this place.”

  “I don’t understand why you are following the cruel behest of your ancestor. If the medicine comes to those who need it, what's wrong with that?” Sam asked, bewildered.

  “I have no desire to discuss this with you. Will you tell me about the armor or not?”

Somewhere under the ceiling of the hangar in the dark, Suely was watching the conversation. She slowly and carefully descended the boxes.

  “You cannot use these weapons. That's all I can say.” Sam answered.

One of the hunters took out a sword and began to raise his hand to chop off Sam's head, but suddenly an unpleasant crunch was heard behind the hunter's back. The hunter turned around, he fell on his back and fell silent. The remaining two hunters were alert. Suely slowly came out of the darkness with a bloody sword in her hands.

  “Are you alive!” Sam was sincerely delighted. He was glad to see her, no matter what the circumstances were.

  “I saved his life and by law he is mine!” Suely shouted threateningly at the hunters.

  “You came here in vain!”  One of them answered.

  “The damned has no rights!” Another hissed angrily.

Dugo backed away. Hunters with raised swords went to Suely. Sam turned his back and Suely cut the rope at his wrist. Freeing himself, Sam ran to the armor and pulled it off the pole. One of the hunters wanted to hit Sam, but Suely appeared on his way and parried the blow with a sword. A fight ensued. The hunters were clumsy due to their bulky armor. They managed to slash through Suely a couple of times trying to pierce the shaggy suit, but the small black harnesses from which the suit was made reliably protected from chopping blows. The hunters were losing to Suely in a duel.

Suely did not want to kill the hunters, she deftly avoided blows and ordered them to get out. But the hunters did not want to retreat and tried to push her away from Sam. Suely understood their intentions and in two sharp strokes dealt both fatal blows. The hunters fell, spilling blood on the floor.

Dugo managed to escape. Sam donned his armor and removed his empty-magazine shoulder automatic cannons. Suely brought Sam's weapon with her. Sam was so delighted with Suely that he tried to hug her, but, noticing the sharp spikes on her suit, decided not to. Suely took off her ghost mask, one of the hunters still managed to injure her. The mask was cut in half, and there was a small bleeding scar on Suely's cheek, the blood slowly trickling down her cheek, forming drops, falling from the chin.

Sam examined her wound. “ You're in luck, the mask saved you from serious injury, this scratch will heal quickly.”

Suely smiled.

The silence of the hangar was broken by the sound of boots and Dugo's shout. “Kill them!”

 Deafening shots rang out, and hot metal whizzed over Sam and Suely's heads. They crouched down and hid behind the equipment in the hangar. Suely took the pistol from the dead hunter and returned fire. Three hunters were injured from her shooting, the rest began to run more cautiously from box to box, approaching Suely.

 Meanwhile, Sam activated the weapon, there was not a lot of ammunition, there was very little fuel in the mini-reactor. Then Sam connected the weapon to the armor through the adapter and said “Now I will show you how my weapon works!”

 Suely was running out of ammunition and the hunters, standing up to their full height, began to come closer.

  “Sam, shoot already!” She shouted.

 Sam fired the accelerator, the weapon hummed, the sound grew louder and thinner began to cover his ears. Sam stood up to his full height and screaming. “This is how it works!” He pulled the trigger. A bright beam flashed and disappeared into the steel structure of the hangar above the heads of the shooting hunters. For a moment nothing happened, but then a transparent bubble of a shock wave of air inflated from the ceiling, which filled the hangar with frantic speed. The explosion died down. Suely and Sam were knocked down by the shockwave and thrown several meters deep into the hangar. The Hunters and Dugo, knocked down, flew back into the corridor. A shattered steel structure collapsed to the hangar floor, cutting off the entrance. A small fire broke out, several boxes and an awning were on fire.

 Suely jumped to her feet and ran to the blocked entrance. Sam stood up and whistled in surprise.

  “Savage!”  Suely shouted at him. “ Why did you kill them?  You could have hurt them, but not killed them!”

  “They wanted to kill us!“ Sam was indignant. “You said to shoot, so I shot!”

 Suely nervously walked back and forth in front of the blockage, listening. After a while, swearing was heard on the other side. The hunters were injured, but alive. Dugo also got it, he broke his leg with a piece of iron, he swore heart-rendingly and ordered to find the fugitives at all costs and make a stuffed animal out of them.

 Sam went up to Suely and, pointing a finger at chest, said. "You still say I'm a savage!"

 Smirking, Sam went to the hangar gates, ripping off the awnings from the equipment on the way.