The man held up his good hand palm out, indicating surrender. He emptied 
his pocket of hard Universal Currency Units and handed them over. And then Bud 
made himself scarce,
because the monitors—almond-size aerostats with eyes, ears, and 
radios—had probably picked up the sound of the explosion and begun 
converging on the area. He saw one hiss by him as he rounded the corner, 
trailing a short whip antenna that caught the light like a hairline crack in 
the atmosphere.