One knot of men was clustered around a dismantled heavy beamgun. The Shinarians were learning how to put it back together. Another group was tinkering with field communications helmetsClose by the troop carrier. a young captain was lecturing the village elders on modern theories of defense in depth against flying Komani attacks. Farther off, near the edge of the meadow, a platoon of youngsters was peppering a grove of trees with small arms fire.
This had been the first day, the first experiment in the joint Terran-Shinarian defense system that Aikens and
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Vorgens had worked out. The Star Watchman smiled to himself. Both sides had been somewhat wary at the beginning, early in the morning, but now they seemed immersed in the problem. The Shinarians appeared especially impressed with the idea that they could defend themselves; no Terran had ever granted them that much before.
A communications tech popped his head up from, the open hatch beside Vorgens.
“Message for you, sir.”
•’What is it?”
“From the main body of the Force, sirOne of the natives was looking for you—that girl, the one that was with the priest.”
“Altai?”
“The exec spoke with her a few minutes ago. She seemed very agitated, he said, and was coming over here to see you. She’s flying on a Komani vehicle, sir.”
Vorgens nodded absent-mindedly. What was wrong with Altai? Suddenly the tech’s last words made an impression on him:
“Alert everyone in the area that a single Komani flyer will be coming in. I don’t want anyone firing at it … especially those eager recruits down by the woods.”