Okatar nodded curtly. “They will buy time for us, while we sew up the trap again. The Terrans must not \ escape, no matter what the price. That is my command!” s
As he sat in the control center, watching the progress of the seesaw battle over his armored vehicles, Vorgens felt a cold, hard knot forming in his stomach. He had taken the responsibility of command, and now the anxiety and tension of that burden were making themselves felt. “What time is it?” he asked. “Almost noon,” the exec replied. “It’s not going too well, is it?”
“We’re holding our own.”
“But we’ve got to disengage from this attack. We can’t retreat, or try to support me troopers up in the hills, while the Komani are on top of us,”
The exec rubbed his jaw for a moment. “Listen,” he said, “each vehicle has a complement of armored flying suits. Why don’t we form a reserve brigade and throw them at the Komani? Maybe we could clear them off.”
Vorgens nodded. “It’s worth a try.”
As the exec began rattling off the orders to form a flying reserve brigade, Vorgens suddenly felt the strength ebbing out of him. His head began to throb, it was an effort to raise his arm and rub his forehead, even his vision seemed to be going blurry.
Energy capsule, he said to himself, as he rumbled with his tunic pocket. Need another booster.
He puued the two remaining pills from the pocket and tared at them in the palm of his hand for a blank momentThen he realized a noncom was at his elbow with a cup of water.
‘Thank you,” Vorgens mumbled, and he took one of the capsules.