He was very aware that everyone was watching. It was possible that Elmo was right. Maybe he couldn't kill a noncom. Maybe his programming wouldn't let him, or maybe he didn't have it in him.
"Two."
Elmo slowly turned away. He faced the others.
"I've heard enough of this crap. Start moving back down the tunnel."
Hark didn't bother to count three. He touched the firing stud and blasted Elmo. As the MEW bucked in his hands, there was a sense of complete unreality. The overman staggered forward and fell. His body was all but cut in half. The others were staring at him openmouthed. Hark rounded on them with a snarl.
"Get into that cavern and help the others. Dacker, you're in charge."
"Me?"
Hark knew that he was near the end of his rope. "Just do what I say, damn it!"
Dacker recognized the desperation in his tone. "Okay, okay." He waved the troopers ahead. "Let's get in there and see what we can do."
Hark waited until the others had moved up the tunnel, then he knelt down beside Elmo's body. He took off his helmet, placed it on the ground, and reached out for Elmo's, the noncom model with the command-channel link. He stopped; he didn't want to touch the dead man's helmet. He closed his eyes, fumbled for the facemask, and ripped it loose. He opened his eyes again and took a firm grip on the helmet. At first it resisted. He tugged harder and twisted. It slid off the head. There was blood coming from Elmo's mouth. The dead face looked tired and old. The spell was broken. Whatever hold Elmo might have had on him was gone. The overman was just another body. Hark placed the helmet on his own head, checked the twenty's position on the projected schematic, and opened the command channel.
"Twenty at coordinates 435-623-678, we have run into a large force of chibas around a main energy interface. We need reinforcements urgently."
"Relaying."
The brain voice was replaced in the helmet by that of Rance. "Elmo, what's going on?" "This isn't Elmo, this is Hark." "Where's Elmo?" "He's dead." "How bad is it?"
"It's bad. Half the squad is pinned down in the cavern that houses this big plasma unit, and the other half is trying to get them out. If we don't get help, we're going to be overrun."
"How did this situation come about?"
"Dyrkin went in ahead, and then the chibas hit. Elmo wanted to pull back. The twenty was split in two."
"And now Elmo's dead?"
"Right."
Hark was certain that Rance had guessed what had happened. The question was, What was he going to do? What happened to a trooper who killed a noncom? Rance gave no clue. The topman was all business.
"Try and hold on. Help's coming."
Hark ran back to the cavern entrance. There were chibas everywhere. The troopers had formed into two defensive positions which they were managing to hold despite the overwhelming odds. Dyrkin was no longer out on his own. Renchett was beside him. Between them, they were laying down a withering fire. Somewhere along the line, Renchett had lost his MEW, but he was doing just as well with a chiba handweapon.
"Rance is bringing reinforcements."
"About time."
At that moment, Tabor tried a shot at an advancing chiba, but he stuck his head out too far. Instantly, his helmet exploded and he died without a sound..
They had to hold for another seven minutes before Rance turned up with a reserve twenty. Three more men were killed in those final minutes. Then the fresh troops poured into the cabin, and the tables were turned. The chibas fell back under concerted fire. The survivors fought a brief rearguard action and then fled into the tunnels. The fresh twenty seemed inclined to go after the chibas, but Rance restrained them.
"The other groups will catch up with them."
The remnants of Elmo's twenty climbed out of their makeshift cover. They seemed dazed and uncertain, as if they could hardly believe that it was over. There were just six of them left. Dyrkin and Renchett, Hark, Helot and Kov, and a recruit called Tain. The men gathered around the base of the power stack.
"What do we do about this thing?"
"Are we supposed to blow it?"
Rance shook his head. "Not a chance. If we messed with this baby, it'd vaporize half the valley. We'll get sappers in here to shut it down slow and easy."
Hie looked around the group of survivors, spotted Hark, and beckoned to him. "I want to talk to you."
Hark walked over to where the topman was standing. He was too tired to be afraid. Whatever was going to happen would happen.
Rance pointed to his helmet. "Is that Elmo's?"
Hark nodded. "I didn't take it off after I used the command channel."
"Troopers aren't supposed to use command channels except in the most dire emergency."
Hark looked him straight in the face. "It seemed pretty dire at the time. We were losing the whole twenty."
"So Where's Elmo?"
"He's back down the tunnel."
"Let's go take a look."
Rance turned on his redscope and started down the tunnel. Hark followed. Without a word, Dyrkin and Renchett fell into step behind them. Rance glanced back,
"So the whole gang's coming, too?"
"Just want to see what happened to Elmo," Dyrkin said.
The overman was sprawled facedown where Hark had left him. Rance took his time inspecting the body. "Shot in the back."
Dyrkin shrugged. "It happens." His voice was studiedly neutral.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say that those burns came from an MEW set on blast."
Renchett hefted his chiba weapon. "It's hard to tell for sure."
Rance glanced at Hark. "You have anything to add?" "Nothing. I found Elmo dead and used his helmet."
"And what were you doing back here if all the fighting was in the cavern?"
"I was looking for Elmo."
Dyrkin stepped in. "I sent him back. To look for Elmo. We needed to get word through."
"So what was Elmo doing back here?"
"Who knows with Elmo? He'd gotten pretty strange."
Rance walked slowly around the body as if a different angle would give him some new insight.
"A rerun of the helmet conversations during the engagement might give us a clearer understanding of what went on."
Hark knew that he was dead. Even if the conversation between him and Elmo hadn't already been noted by the command brain, it would certainly come out on any rerun. He wondered if he simply ought to confess.
"It's a pity that we can't do that."
What was Rance talking about?
"The conversation couldn't be datastored. There was too much static from the interface."
"There was?"
"We'll just have to assume that Elmo died a hero, won't we?" He gave Hark a long, hard look. "We all want to be heroes, don't we?"
Fourteen
"I hope you know what you're doing, Rance. There's chaos going down all over. If this ain't on the up and up, we could all be shot out of hand. There's headhunters all over the embarkation sites," the gunsaucer pilot said.
"Field police always show up when the fighting's over."
"That's as may be, but they still have weapons and the authority to carry out summary executions."
"I told you when we took off. I'm going to the nearest embarkation point to smooth the evacuation of my combat group."
"You're only a topman, Rance. You really think you've got that kind of clout?" "We'll find out, won't we?" "I guess we will."
"All I know is that I'm not going to be stranded on this ball of mud."
"And what about these other guys? How do we explain them?"
"They're my best longtimers. I need them with me." The gunsaucer pilot shook his head. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"So do I."
The big trap had been sprung. Word had come through the command channel immediately after the tunnel clearing had been completed. What everyone on JD4-1A had feared all through the long and grinding campaign was now coming to pass. The Yal were returning in force. Five huge enemy battleships had appeared out of jumpspace and were heading for the planet. They would be in operational range within a matter of planetary days. The Anah cluster, which had been majestically orbiting the planet for so long, was already powering up to jump for safety. It would be touch and go as to whether the now heavily outgunned complex of ships could get clear in time. On the ground, there was a sense of scarcely controlled panic. Those who were able to make it to the cluster in time would be safe, but there would be no waiting around. The ones who couldn't be evacuated would simply be left behind. Nobody knew what the Yal would do with a whole army of prisoners, but there were few who didn't fear the worst.