omes, we've got to hold them back."

Read thought of the green beret he had stuffed in his pocket that
morning. He stuck it on his head and cocked it. He didn't need
plain clothes anymore and he wanted to wear at least a part of
his uniform.

Bullets had completely shattered the wall in front of him. He
stared through the murk, across the broken glass. He was Corporal
Harry Read, UN Inspector Corps--a very special man. If he didn't
do a good job here, he wasn't the man he claimed to be. This
might be the only real test he would ever face.

* * * * *

He heard a shout in rapid French. He turned to his right. Men in
red loincloths ran zigzagging toward the station. They carried
light automatic rifles. Half of them wore gas masks.

"Shoot the masks," he yelled. "Aim for the masks."

The machine gun kicked and chattered on his shoulder. He picked a
target and squeezed off a burst. Tensely, he hunted for another
mask. Three grenades arced through the air and yellow gas spread
across the battlefield. The attackers ran through it. A few yards
beyond the gas, some of them turned and ran for their own lines.
In a moment only half a dozen masked men still advanced. The
inspectors fired a long, noisy volley. When they stopped only
four attackers remained on their feet. And they were running for
cover.

The attackers had come straight up a road that led from the Game
Preserve to the station. They had not expected any resistance.
The UN men had already taken over the station, chased out the
passengers and technicians and taken up defense positions; they
had met the Belderkans with a dozen grenades and sent them
scurrying for cover. The fight so far had been vicious but
disorganized. But the Belderkans had a few hundred men and knew
they had wrecked the transmitter controls.

The first direct attack had been repulsed. They could attack many
more times and continue to spray the building with bullets. They
could also try to go around the hill and attack the station from
above; if they did, the inspectors had a good view of the hill
and should see them going up.

The inspectors had taken up good defensive positions. In spite of
their losses, they still had enough firepower to cover the area
surrounding the station.

Read surveyed his sector of fire. About two hundred yards to his
left, he saw the top of a small ditch. Using the ditch for cover,
the Belderkans could sneak to the top of the hi