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captain responded.
"Not what I mean. In fact, their telepath right now is explainin' my meaning
before I can say this to you. They can't get the Mizlaplanians unless we let
diem. Even that metal horror they have with them can be melted into scrap if
we get our sights on it. They can keep us off for a while, but we've half
again their power reserves. So they all sit in the rain just like us and
glower at each other until Hell freezes, or they run out of power or get
desperate, or they take off and live to fight another day."
Tris Lankur nodded. "What about it, Mycohl? Twenty minutes to get off that
hilltop and make your way on. You've got the lead now; whatever's ahead is
yours first, for all the good it'll do you. Then the Mizlaplanians move up and
get the same margin. Then we're going to move in. Any moves against us, in the
rear, now or in the future, and we'll intervene on the side of the other one.
It's not perfect, but at least it may get us all out of the rain."
There was silence for a moment, and Jimmy said, "Their telepaths are
explainin'
to them how it can be verified. I don't like it, but, all things considered,
it gets us moving."
The Mizlaplanians, and most particularly Gun Roh Chin, were all for the idea.
Suddenly, Chin looked around. "Where is Morok?"
"Here," came the voice of the Lord High Inquisitor of the Arm of the Gods.
"I've fallen halfway down. I'm afraid I've twisted, perhaps broken, something
in my left leg or foot."
"We will come and get you, My Lord!" Krisha called to him. "I am certain that
the Exchange people will allow it!"
"No!" he responded. "At this point I am a burden to the
Arm, and we do not know what is ahead. You must leave me here on my own until
I
can find a way to repair my leg and become mobile. Otherwise, caring for me
will surely cause the rest of you to die."
"But, Holy One, we cannot leave you here!" she argued. "Particularly not here.
Besides, right now I am blocking them from even knowing that you are there. If
I
leave, the Exchange telepath will find you."
' 'This will not be the first time I was left behind, nor the first time I
have had that problem," he told her. "I do have certain Talents of my own to
cover such problems as you suggest You might be surprised. I might well be
able to catch up with you later. Now it is my command that you go as soon as
you are told you can safely do so. Krisha, I pass the sword of the Arm to you
until such time as I can reclaim it. You cannot refuse me."
And she could not, for obedience was one of the cardinal provisions of
ordination in the faith. Tearfully, she responded, "Very well, Holy Father. I
obey."
' 'All right, we agree,'' Josef sent back to the Exchange team. "But we want
an hour's start It's slippery and dangerous up here and the best ways are
flooded."
Tris Lankur sighed. Another long period in the mud. "All right One hour."
"Ah! Team Two passes Team One in the Quintara Marathon!" Jimmy McCray said
cynically. "They take a one-hour lead over Team Two, and who knows how long
over
Team Three, in dead last, as usual."
"It's a hell of a race, McCray," Modra sighed. "We don't even know where the
finish line is or if mere is a finish line, short of death."
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"Oh, it's simple," the telepath replied. "This is a race where third place
might be the place to be, since, obviously, whoever is left alive at the end
wins."
Up top, Tobrush caught the term and the holographic image it aroused in the
mind of Stryke and the Durquist. ' Quintara,'' he said.
"Huh? What's that you said?" Josef asked, irritated at having to abandon a
perfect trap.
"The demons. That's what they call them. The leader is half
Terran and half machine. Apparently he directly tapped the records from the
place, even though almost all had been destroyed. The last words his
counterpart said back in the first station before the demon ripped it apart
was 'The
Quintara they still run!'"
"What a bunch of bullshit!" Kalia snapped. "We ought'a just take out the
Mizzles and take the rest on and be done with it. We'll have to do it sooner
or later."
"Later is better in this case," Josef responded. "Besides, I am leader here.
Your place is not to question but to obey."
"Yeah? Well, Your Leadership, you already led us into this hole and almost got
us all killed. Maybe you ain't cut out for leadin' this kind of thing."
He turned quickly and faced her, eyes blazing, unavoidable. "Do you want me to
enforce my leadership?" he asked in a dangerous tone of voice.
She felt the hypno power seeping into her mind, closing off control. "No, no.
I'll go. Don't be so damned touchy!"
"I believe we should take full advantage of the hour," Desreth put in. "This
does us no good here, now."
"I agree," Tobrush put in. "Did your alternate route indicate any idea of
where the next station might be?"
"No, but if they are equidistant, than we have a good day and a half s journey
yet."
Josef shook his head. "Uh-huh. And we don't even know this time if we're going
in the right direction."
Well under an hour later, Krisha was able to say, "They're gone. Out of my
range, anyway, which means out of shooting range as well."
"Why don't we just get going again?" Manya asked, irritated not only at
letting the hated ones pass them but also not a little put off by Morok
handing the leadership role to Krisha, of all people, instead of her. She,
too, had to obey, but there was nothing in the vows about liking it, or
preventing criticism.
"We will wait the full period," Krisha responded, knowing how Manya felt and
feeling sorry for her that she did. This was the last thing the telepath
wanted, either, and she would have gladly surrendered authority to Manya if
she could.
Captain Chin, of course, could not lead, not being under the vows, but, like
Morok, she intended to defer to his own experience and wisdom where possible.'
'Even if it wouldn't be a good idea to show the Exchange people we keep our
word, which it is, I want to give Morok all the time I can shield him to find
a place where he will not be detected."
So it's "Morok" already, Manya thought sourly. How quickly the mantle of
leadership passes. She knew that Krisha could read her mind, but she didn't
care
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While they passed the time, Krisha, under some questioning from Chin,
explained her newfound attitudes and the reasons for them. He was impressed,
and understood her. He wondered, though, if she could keep refusing
temptations. For all her rebelliousness, she'd led, overall, a very sheltered
life. This was, in fact, her first journey outside the well-regulated Empire
in which she'd been born, and her first encounter with enemy aliens outside
her own turf.
Still, Morok had believed, and trusted her, and Morok was no fool. He wouldn't
even bet against the old fellow catching them somehow, although it was
difficult to see how.
"It's time," he told them. "Move up carefully that's still slippery and
exposed as well. We've also got to remember that we're the outnumbered ones
now, and the
Corithian is undetectable except by instruments and then only with luck. I
wouldn't put it past them to leave the thing somewhere along the route to
snare us."
"Their leader might," Krisha acknowledged, "but that girl I don't know if any
of them can completely control her. She's so sick inside, so full of hate, and
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