Terrans are wiped out.”
“No. They’ve promised they’ll loot only the Terrans.” “I suppose the villages that they’ve raided were populated with Terrans.”
Merdon frowned at his father. “That was a misunderstanding. They needed food, and the stupid farmers refused to feed them. Some of the Komani warriors got out of hand, but we’ve made arrangements that will eliminate that sort of thing in the future.”
“Fine. And what will your friend Okatar Kang do when he leams that there are warehouses full of food and an arsenal full of equipment right here in Katan?”
*’l will protect you,” Merdon said, a slight smile stealing across his face.
Clanthas shook his head. “No you won’t. You’ll be deadIf you participate in the coming battle against the Terrans trapped in that valley, you will be killed. Either by the Terrans or the Komani-”
“Father!” “Don’t be naive. You are one of the principal leadersf the rebels. Alive, you are a stubborn, strong-minded, idealistic, capable leader of all the younger idiots of Shinar. You’ve turned against the Terrans. Someday you will rum against the Komani. But dead—then you 11 be a martyr to the antiTerran cause. The Komani can count on your heroic memory to hold all your rebellious friends n line long past the point where you, yourself, would have broken with them,”
“I’m flattered. Father, but you overestimate my importance. The real objective is to free Shinar of the Terrans and their rotten Empire.”
“Free us? And leave the Komani on our backs?”
“They’ll leave, after the Terrans have been driven off.”