one in the hill camp, with his back too twisted and too
old to be fixed when he finally did come out. Ideas twisted the same
way. Made himself an authority on war. Hah! War on Nyjord--that's
like being an ice-cube specialist in hell. But he knew all about it,
though they never would let him use what he knew. Put granddaddy
Krafft in charge instead."

"But Hys is in charge of an army now?"

"All volunteers, too few of them and too little money. Too little
and too damned late to do any good. I'll tell you we did our best,
but it could never be good enough. And for this we get called
butchers." There was a catch in Telt's voice now, an undercurrent of
emotion he couldn't suppress. "At home they think we like to kill.
Think we're insane. They can't understand we're doing the only thing
that has to be done--"

He broke off as he quickly locked on the brakes and killed the
engine. The line of sand cars had come to a stop. Ahead, just
visible over the dunes, was the summit of a dark tower.

"We walk from here," Telt said, standing and stretching. "We can
take our time, because the other boys go in first, soften things up.
Then you and I head for the sub-cellar for a radiation check and
find you a handsome corpse."

Walking at first, then crawling when the dunes no longer shielded
them, they crept up on the Disan keep. Dark figures moved ahead of
them, stopping only when they reached the crumbling black walls.
They didn't use the ascending ramp, but made their way up the sheer
outside face of the ramparts.

"Line-throwers," Telt whispered. "Anchor themselves when the missile
hits, have some kind of quick-setting goo. Then we go up the
filament with a line-climbing motor. Hys invented them."

"Is that the way you and I are going in?" Brion asked.

"No, we get out of the climbing. I told you we hit this rock once
before. I know the layout inside." He was moving while he talked,
carefully pacing the distance around the base of the tower. "Should
be right about here."

High-pitched keening sliced the air and the top of the magter
building burst into flame. Automatic weapons hammered above them.
Something fell silently through the night and hit heavily on the
ground near them.

"Attack's started," Telt shouted. "We have to get through now,
while all the creepies are fighting it out on top." He pulled
a plate-shaped object from one of his bags and slapped it hard
against the wall. It hung there. He twisted the back of i