“Good night,'” Vorgens said.
“Good fortune to you. my friend.”
Vorgens watched the old man disappear among the tents, and slowly realized that it was the first time since he had left the Star Watch Academy that someone had called him “friend.”
Inside the tent, he found Mclntyre and Giradaux awake, talking quietly while squatting as far from the entrance—and the guards—as they could.
Vorgens told them what he had learned from Sittas.
“So it seems that we are facing not just the Komani,” he concluded, “but a well-armed and very determined band of rebels, as well.”
“It’s a dirty business,” Mclntyre grumbled. “Fighting these barbarians is bad enough, but half the planet might be up in arms against us.”
Vorgens nodded. “Under any circumstances, it means that the forces holding down the Mobile Force could be wo or even three times larger than Brigadier Aikens believes them to be.”
“We’ve gotta get back to the Force tonight,” Mclntyre said, “and let them know what they’re up against.”
“Right,” Vorgens said.
‘The Sarge and I were talking over our chances of breaking outta here,” Giradaux said-
“And?”
Mclntyre answered, “There’s four guards against the three of us. They’re armed. Gerry was frisked good when they captured him. He’s clean. I managed to sneak a stinger under my belt before they took us.” He pulled out a slim rod. “It won’t kill anybody, but it’ll put him outta commission for a few hours.”
Vorgens grinned. “Good. And I fixed that cast of yours so that it ought to be as hard as plastistee! by now.”