Downbelow in their situation up on station.”
Other humans had stood up. Emilio sat down with Miliko, and all across the
gathering they began to settle back again, to sit, and to wait.
And after a long time there was the distant hail of a loudspeaker.
“There are humans here,” the metallic voice thundered across the plain. “We are
from the carrier Africa. Will the one in charge please come forward and identify
himself.”
“Don’t,” Miliko begged him when he shifted to get up. “They could shoot.”
“They could shoot if I don’t go talk to them. Right into this crowd. They’ve got
us.”
“Emilio Konstantin there? I have news for him.”
“We know your news,” he muttered, and when Miliko started to get up he held her
arms. “Miliko—I’m going to ask something of you.”
“No.”
“Stay here. I’m going to go; that’s what they’ll want—the base working again.
I’m going to leave those that won’t fare well under Porey; most of us. I need
you here, in charge of them.”
“An excuse.”
“No. And yes. To run this. To fight a war if it comes to that. To stay with the
hisa and warn them and keep foreigners off this world. Who else could I trust to
do that? Who else will the hisa understand as they do you and me? The other
staff?” He shook his head, stared into her dark eyes. “There’s a way to fight.
As the hisa do. And I’m going back, if that’s what they ask. Do you think I want
to leave you? But who else is there to do it? Do it for me.”
“I understand you,” she said hoarsely. He stood up. She did, and hugged and
kissed him for such a long moment that he found it harder than it had been
before to leave. But she let go then. He took his gun from his pocket, gave it
to her. He could hear the noise of the loudspeaker again. They were being
hailed, message repeated. “Staff!” he shouted out across the gathering. “Shout
it across. I want some volunteers.”
The cry went out. They came, wading through from the farthest edge of the
gathering, from one base command and the next, and main base. It took time. The
troops who had advanced within hail on the other side waited, for surely they
could see the movement, and time and force were on their side.
He had his staffers turn their backs to that direction and crowd close,
reckoning that they might have scopes on them. Hisa in the vicinity looked up,
round-eyed and interested.
“They want bodies,” he said softly. “And the sabotage fixed. That’s all they can
be here for. Strong backs. Supply list taken care of. Perhaps all that interests
them is main base, because they can’t use the others. I don’t think we can ask Q
to go back and take more of what we took from Porey before we walked out. It’s a
question of time, of holding out, of having men enough so we can stop some move
against Downbelow—or maybe just of living. You understand me. It’s my guess they
want their ships provisioned and they want station supplied; and while they get
that—we save something. We wait for things to sort themselves out on-station,
and we save what we can. I want the biggest men from each unit, the strongest
constitutions, those who can do most and take most and hold their tempers… field
labor, not knowing what else. Maybe impressment. We don’t know. Need about sixty
men from each base, about all they can take with them, I’ll reckon.”
“You going?”
He nodded. There were reluctant nods in turn from Jones and other staffers.
“I’ll go,” Ito said; all the other base officers had volunteered. He shook his
head at her. “Not in this,” he said. “Women all stay here under Miliko’s
command. All. No argument. Fan out and pass the word. About sixty volunteers
from each base. Hurry about it. They won’t wait forever out there.”
They dispersed, running.
“Konstantin,” the metallic voice said again. He looked that way, made out the
armored figures far across the seated gathering. Reckoned that they did have a