At first there was only the voice, a monotonous murmur in her ears. " Die now—die now—die now —" Evelyn Kane awoke, breathing slowly and painfully. The top of the cubicle was bulging inward on her chest, and it seemed likely that a rib or two was broken. How long ago? Years? Minutes? She had no way of knowing. Her slender right hand found the oxygen valve and turned it. For a long while she lay, hurting and breathing helplessly. The votron had awakened her with its heart-breaking code message, a