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and to El Man s left, with Ian right behind him. Their charge split the
defenders within into two groups and also carried them farther back into
obscurity a movement which the Dorsai, by common silent consent, improved on
for the purpose of further separating the enemy. Donal found himself pushing
back four men. Abandoning three of these to Ian behind him under the simple
common-sense precept that you fight best when you fight only one man at a
time, he dove in almost at the level of his opponent s knees, tackled him, and
they went down and rolled over together, Donal taking advantage of the
opportunity to break the other soldier s back in the process.
He continued his roll and came up, pivoting and instinctively side-stepping.
A dark body flung past him but that instinct spoken of before warned him that
it was El Man, flinging himself clear across the room to aid the general
confusion. Donal reversed his field and went back the way from which El Man
had come. He came up against an opponent plunging forward with a knife held
low, slipped the knife, chopped at the man s neck with the calloused edge of
his hand but missed a clean killing stroke and only broke the man s collar
bone. Leaving that opponent however in the interests of keeping on the move,
Donal spun off to the right, cornered another man against the wall and crushed
this one s windpipe with a stiff-fingered jab. Rebounding from the wall and
spinning back into the center of the room, his ears told him that El Man was
finishing off one opponent and Ian was engaged with the remaining two. Going
to help him, Donal caught one of Ian s men from behind and paralyzed him with
a kidney punch. Ian, surprisingly enough, was still engaged with the remaining
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enemy. Donal went forward and found out why. Ian had caught himself another
Dorsai.
Donal closed with both men and they went down in a two-on-one pin, the
opponent in a stretcher that held him helpless between Donal and his uncle.
Shai Dorsai! gasped Donal. Surrender!
Who to? grunted the other.
Donal and Ian Graeme, said Ian. Foralie.
Honored, said the strange Dorsai. Heard of you. Hord Vlaminck, Snelbrich
Canton. All right then, let me up. My right arm s broken, anyway.
Donal and Ian let go and assisted Vlaminck to his feet. El Man had finished
off what else remained, and now came up to them.
Hord Vlaminck Coruna El Man, said Donal.
Honored, saidElMan.
Honor s mine, replied Vlaminck. I m your prisoner, gentlemen. Want my
parole?
I d appreciate it, said Donal. We ve got work to do here yet. What kind of
contract are you under?
Straight duty. No loyalty clause. Why?
Any reason why I can t hire you on a prisoner s basis? asked Donal.
Not from this job. Vlaminck sounded disgusted. I ve been sold twice on the
open market because of a typo in my last contract. Besides, he added, as I
say, I ve heard of you.
You re hired, then. We re looking for the man you re guarding here. Can you
tell us where we ll find him?
Follow me, said Vlaminck; and led the way back through the darkness; and
opened a door. They stepped through into a short corridor that led them up a
ramp and to another door.
Locked, said Vlaminck. The alarm s gone off. He looked at them. Further
than this he could not in honor go, even on a hired prisoner s basis.
Burn it down, said Donal. He and Ian and El Man opened up on the door,
which glowed stubbornly to a white heat, but finally melted. Ian threw a
concussion bolt at it and knocked it open.
Within, a large man with a black hood over his head was crouched against the
far wall of the room, a miner s heavy-duty ion gun in his hand pointing a
little unsteadily at them and shifting from one to the other.
Don t be a fool, said Ian. We are all Dorsai.
The gun sagged in the hand of the hooded man. A choked, bitter exclamation
came from behind the mask.
Come on, Donal gestured him out. He dropped the gun and came, shoulders
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bowed. They headed back through the house.
The fire fight in the hall was still going on as they retraced their
footsteps; but died out as they reached the center hall. Two of the five men
they had left behind there were able to navigate on their own power and
another one could make it back to the ship with assistance. The other two were
dead. They returned swiftly to the terrace, through the garden, and back into
the tunnel, picking up the rest of their complement as they went. Fifteen
minutes later, they were all aboard and the N4J was falling into deep space.
In the lounge, Donal was standing before the hooded man, who sat slumped on a
float.
Gentlemen, said Donal, take a look at William s social technician.
Ian and El Man, who were present, looked sharply over at Donal not so much at
the words as at the tone in which he had said them. He had spoken in a voice
that was, for him, unexpectedly bitter.
Here s the man who sowed the whirlwind the civilized worlds are reaping at
this moment, went on Donal. He stretched out his hand to the black hood. The
man shrank from him, but Donal caught the hood and jerked it off. A slow
exhalation of breath slipped out between Donal s lips.
So you sold out, he said.
The man before them was ArDell Montor.
Commander In Chief II
ArDell looked back at him out of a white face, but with eyes that did not
bend before Donal s bleak glance.
I had to have work, he said. I was killing myself. I don t apologize.
Was that all the reason? asked Donal, ironically.
At that, ArDell s face did turn aside.
No he said. Donal said nothing. It was her, ArDell whispered. He
promised me her.
Her! The note in Donal s voice made the other two Dorsai take an
instinctive step toward him. But Donal held himself without moving, under
control. Anea?
She might have taken pity on me ArDell whispered to the floor of the
lounge. You don t understand ... living close to her all those years ... and
I was so miserable, and she ... I couldn t help loving her
No, said Donal. Slowly, the sudden lightning of his tension leaked out of
him. You couldn t help it. He turned away. You fool, he said, with his
back to ArDell. Didn t you know him well enough to know when he was lying to
you? He had her in mind for himself.
William? Nor ArDell was suddenly on his feet. Not him with her! It can t be
... such a thing!
It won t, said Donal, wearily. But not because it depends on people like
you to stop him. He turned back to face ArDell. Lock him up, will you,
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captain. El Man s hard hand closed on ArDell s shoulder and turned him toward
the entrance to the lounge. Oh ... and captain
Sir? said El Man, turning to face him.
We rendezvous with all units under Fleet Commander Lludrow as soon as
possible.
Yes, sir. El Man half-pushed, half-carried ArDell Montor out of the room;
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