“There they are, sir,” said the Marine pilot as they flew over Merdon’s forces.
Mclntyre, sitting in the gunner’s seat, grunted. “Not much of a force t’ tackle th’ whole Komani camp.”
Vorgens and Altai looked through the plastic bubble window as the pilot banked. Several hundred young men and girls were gathered on the grassy field below. Some were in trucks and small groundcars, most were afoot. They had plenty of small arms, but practically no heavy equipment. At the head of the loosely organized column was a light Terran armored groundcar.
“We captured that in the first battle at the university,” Altai explained. “It is Merdon’s prize possession.”
“Put us down in front of the armored car,” Vorgens told the pilot.
The aircar settled down swiftly, on screaming jets. As it touched the grass with its landing wheels, the armored car pulled up and stopped. The rest of the Shinarians slowly began to gather around, as Vorgens and Altai stepped down from the aircar, and Merdon, Tarat and Romal got out of the armored vehicle.
“We meet again,” Vorgens said.
“What are you doing here?” asked Merdon.
“I want to talk with you.”
“The time for talking is finished. Get out of our way. We have work to do.”
They stood face to face—the young, slim foreigner in his Star Watch uniform, and the equally young, slightly bigger native. They were nearly the same height, and almost the same complexion. From a distance, where you could not see the difference in clothing, they might seem to be brothers.
‘Tour mission can wait a few minutes, can’t it?” Vorgens insisted”What I have to say is vitally important to all of us, including your father.”