Part 10 (1/2)

He looked up the hillside at the point where the enemy cavalry was turning the right flank. Given cavalry behind the Tulan line and the battle was lost.

”O.K., boys,” Chessman growled sourly, ”we're in the clutch now.

Hawkins!”

”Yeah,” the pilot said.

”See what you can do. Use what bombs you have including the napalm. Fly as low as you can in the way of scaring their horses.” He added sourly, ”Avoiding scaring ours, if you can.”

”You're the boss,” Hawkins said, and scurried off toward his scout plane.

Joe Chessman growled to the others, ”When I was taking my degree in primitive society and primitive military tactics, I didn't exactly have this in mind. Come on!”

It was the right thing to say. The other Earthmen laughed and took up their equipment, submachine guns, riot guns, a flame thrower, grenades, and followed him up the hill toward the fray.

Chessman said over his shoulder to Reif, ”Khan, you're in the saddle.

You can keep in touch with both Watson and us on the radio.”

Reif hesitated only a moment. ”There is no need for further direction of the battle from this point. A warrior is of more value now than a Khan.

Come my son.” He caught up a double-barreled musket and followed the Earthmen. The ten years old Taller scurried after with a revolver.

Natt Roberts said, ”If we can hold their cavalry for only another half hour, Watson's phalanx will have their infantry pressed up against the pa.s.s they entered by. It took them three days to get through it, they're not going to be able to get out in hours.”

”That's the idea,” Joe Chessman said dourly, ”Let's go.”

VII.

Amschel Mayer was incensed.

”What's got into Buchwald and MacDonald?” he spat.

Jerry Kennedy, attired as was his superior in fur trimmed Genoese robes, signaled one of the servants for a refilling of his gla.s.s and shrugged.

”I suppose it's partly our own fault,” he said lightly. He sipped the wine, made a mental note to buy up the rest of this vintage for his cellars before young Mannerheim or someone else did so.

”Our fault!” Mayer glared.

The old boy was getting decreasingly tolerant as the years went by, Kennedy decided. He said soothingly, ”You sent Peter and Fred over there to speed up local development. Well, that's what they're doing.”

”Are you insane!” Mayer squirmed in his chair. ”Did you read this radiogram? They've squeezed out all my holdings in rubber, the fastest growing industry on the western continent. Why, millions are involved.

Who do they think they are?”

Kennedy put down his gla.s.s and chuckled. ”See here, Amschel, we're developing this planet by encouraging free compet.i.tion. Our contention is that under such a socio-economic system the best men are brought to the lead and benefit all society by the advances they make.”

”So! What has this got to do with MacDonald and Buchwald betraying my interests?”

”Don't you see? Using your own theory, you have been set back by someone more efficiently compet.i.tive. Fred and Peter saw an opening and, in keeping with your instructions, moved in. It's just coincidence that the rubber they took over was your property rather than some Genoese operator's. If you were open to a loss there, then if they hadn't taken over someone else could have. Possibly Baron Leonar or even Russ.”

”That reminds me,” Mayer snapped, ”our Honorable Russ is getting too big for his britches in petroleum. Did you know he's established a laboratory in Amerus? Has a hundred or more chemists working on new products.”