Gordon R. Dickson - Childe Cycle 05 by The Spirit of Dorsai Page A

headed toward the airpad.
    She was almost late getting there. By the time she had made contact with Lieutenant Estrange and been allowed to the airpad itself, a shuttleboat, bearing the inlaid sunburst emblem of the Exotics, was landed; and Cletus was stepping out on to the pad. A line of vehicles and an armed escort was already waiting for him.
    He was wearing a sidearm, which was taken from him, and led toward the second of the waiting staff cars.
    "I've got to speak to him!" said Amanda fiercely to Estrange. "Weren't you given orders I was to be able to speak to him?"
    "Yes. Please—wait a minute. Wait here."
    The lieutenant went forward and spoke to the colonel in charge of operation. After some little discussion, Estrange came back and got Amanda.
    "If you'll come with me?" He brought her to Cletus, who was already seated in the staff car.
    "Amanda!" Cletus looked out over the edge of the open window of the staff car. "Is everyone all right?"
    "Fine," said Amanda. "I've taken over the post of Mayor from Piers."
    "Good," said Cletus, urgently. His cheerful, lean face was a little thinner than when she had seen it last, marked a little more deeply by lines of tension. "I'm glad it's you. Will you tell everyone they must keep calm about all this? I don't want anyone getting excited and trying to do things. These occupying soldiers have behaved themselves, haven't they?"
    "Oh, yes," said Amanda.
    "Good. I thought they would. I'll leave matters in your hands, then. They're taking me up to Grahame House—to Foralie, I mean. Apparently Dow de-Castries is already there, and I'm sure once I've had a talk with him we can straighten this all out. So all anyone needs to do is just sit tight for a day or two, and everything will be all right. Will you see the district understands that?"
    Out of the corners of her eyes, Amanda could see the almost-wondering contempt growing on the faces of the Coalition officers and men within hearing.
    "Ill take care of it, Cletus."
    "I know you will. Oil-how's Betta?"
    "You'll see her when you get to Foralie," said Amanda. "She's due to have her baby any time now."
    "Good. Good. Tell her I saw her brother David just a few days ago, and he's fine. No—wait. I'll tell her myself, since I'll be seeing her first. Talk to you shortly, Amanda."
    "Yes, Cletus," said Amanda, stepping back from the staff car. The convoy got underway and moved out.
    "And that's this military genius of theirs?" she heard one of the enlisted men muttering to another, as she turned away with Estrange.
    Five minutes later she was on her way past the cordon of sentries enclosing the town and twelve minutes after that, having stopped only to pickup her handgun, she stood beside Ramon, on his skimmer, looking down from cover on the more slowly-moving convoy as it headed in the direction of Foralie.
    "We'll want all the available teams in position around Foralie before they get there," she said. "But when they show up, let them through. We'll want them together with Dew's escort before we hit them."
    "Most of the men in that convoy are sick," said
    Ramon.
    "Yes," said Amanda, half to herself. "But the ones who've been up there with Dow all this time are going to be perfectly healthy. And they're front line troops. If we don't get them in the first few minutes, it's going to cost us—"
    "Maybe not," said Ramon. She looked at him.
    "What do you mean?"
    "I mean, not all of them up at Foralie may be healthy. I haven't had a chance to tell you, but a patrol came up to there early today and stayed for about two hours. They could have switched personnel."
    "Not likely." Amanda frowned. "Dew's their prize package. Why would they take the healthy troops they have protecting him; and replace them with cripples, just to get more of their able-bodied down at town?"
    "They might have some reason we don't know about."

    Amanda shook her head.
    "I don't believe it," she said. "In fact, until I hear positively there's been a change of personnel