On the high metallic wall across the street was a big sign: VENUS TRANSPORT and a smaller sign which read CONTAMINATION AREA—KEEP OUT! Steve Coran turned away from the window and faced the ISP official across the desk. "From the time you leave this office, you'll be in deadly danger," the official said. "We aren't dealing with sporadic cases of space piracy. This is a well-organized group of saboteurs, pirates and assassins backed by a ring of powerful and unscrupulous men, some of them in high