They’re moving their lightly armored vehicles away from our missile barrage,” one of the nobles said.
Okatar looked up from the screen. It was light enough now to see the valley floor deariy. The Komani warriors were halfway down the hills, halfway to the valley floor. But his attack was not interesting Okatar as much as the Terrans’ moves toward the rear.
“Why are they pulling their troops away from the fighting? Do they expect to face my warriors with their armored vehicles atone, without infantry support?”
“The Terrans have no stomach for facing our warriors man to man,” said a noble. “They are too cowardly to fight, except from within an armored vehicle.”
Okatar nodded, but his face was still frowning in puzzlement
At his slot in the control center, Vorgens watched the viewscreen before him, his high forehead puckered into worried wrinkles.
Someone slid into the empty seat next to him. Vorgens looked up. It was die exec.
The older officer smiled, “Reports from Sectors W5 and 6 sound pretty smooth so far. Everything progressing according to plan. Ugtit resistance.”
“Are me engineers ready to go?” Vorgens asked. “That’s the most critical part of the operation.”
“Ready and anxious. As soon as you give the word.”
Vorgens nodded. “Where’s Sergeant Mclntyre?”
“I believe he went out with me other troopers in the vans.”
“Yes, that sounds like him.”
The Star Watchman returned his attention to die viewscreen. It was bright dayBght now, so mat the infrared scanners were no longer necessary. The screen showed the hills before them, widi the glaring, yellow Oran automatically filtered out. Flashes from force beams blazed almost continuously against the energy shield now, and explosions churned up the valley floor. The mammoth dreadnaughts and battle cruisers were weaving back and forth in an intricate, computer-controlled dance that had so far kept the Komani missiles limited to two damaging hits and a half-dozen minor ones. Anti-missiles were picking off a good many incoming missiles, as well. So far the Komani had not used nuclear warheadsProbably they only had a few and were saving them for an emergency, Vorgens thought, or for the moment when the energy screen collapsed.