By now it was almost dark, and he felt a heaviness in the air that told him the storm was close. He came to a ramp leading down to what looked like the mouth of a tunnel and went down into it.

He'd just discovered that the tunnel was barred off by a metal screen, when he heard two sounds. One was the swelling hiss of rain; the other was the unmistakable whine of an engine and the whisper of tires on the street. Blade raced back up the ramp, in time to see one of the six-wheeled trucks roll by. Inside the cab were four figures-one of the android soldiers, two men in blue coveralls, and someone in black with golden hair shining under a green cap. Blade lay flat at the top of the ramp, watching the lights of the truck fade away in the rain.

To his surprise, it stopped no more than a hundred yards down the street. Blade remembered there was an open courtyard with a lawn just about there. Then he dimly saw people climbing out of a cab and flitting about.

At this point the rain started coming down so hard that Blade could no longer see clearly. He smiled, for he'd seen enough. It looked as though some of the people in this city were coming to him, instead of his having to go search them out. He stood up and strode through the rain toward the truck's dim lights.

Chapter 12

Blade was halfway to the lights when they suddenly moved off to the left and out of sight. He crossed the street and used the wall of the building there for cover. He stalked up to the entrance to the courtyard and peered around the edge of the building

The truck was parked at the inner end of the courtyard. The two men in blue coveralls were unloading cylindrical containers from the back platform. The man in the green cap was standing by a small, glossy white door. The soldier android sat in the driver's seat of the truck, its rifle across its knees.

Hard common sense told Blade to pick off the soldier first, from cover. The hope of good relations with the people of this city, or at least information from them, told him otherwise. He compromised by unslinging the rifle and inserting a fresh power cell. Then with the rifle held ready, he stepped out into the courtyard.

The android was the first to spot Blade and the quickest to act. It leaped to the ground, raising its rifle as it did. Blade didn't let the android complete the movement. His own rifle snapped up, and its beam flared white, reflected from the rain and lighting up the whole courtyard. The android was knocked back against the truck, then slumped to the ground. Blade dashed toward the truck, water spraying from under his boots.

The two laborers dropped their loads, turned and ran. As they passed Blade, he saw that their faces had the same mass-produced appearance and waxy sheen as the soldiers'. So the laborers were androids too! Before Blade could learn any more about them, they dashed out of the courtyard and vanished into the rain.

Blade reached the truck as the man in the green cap flattened himself against the white door and fumbled in a pouch at his belt. Blade held his fire. The man's face had high cheekbones, a fair complexion flushed with excitement, and large, dark eyes that looked at Blade without flinching. This was a human being, not an android. Blade didn't fire; he didn't want to chance the effects of the shock rifle on a human system.

Instead, he stepped out from behind the truck and advanced toward the man. The man jerked a metal rod out of the belt pouch and pressed the larger end against the door. Nothing happened. Desperation flashed across his face. He dropped the rod and jerked something like a short-barreled pistol with an oversized cylindrical butt. Blade dove forward and down as the pistol came up to bear on him. Something went whee-whee-whee very rapidly just above his head, and behind him something else went crannnnng!

Then he was rolling, coming up under the man's defenses, ready to use the rifle butt to strike a disabling blow. With astounding speed, the man leaped clear over Blade and aimed an expert kick at his exposed back. Blade twisted aside just in time to take the kick on his hip. If it had struck where it had been aimed, it would have cracked his spine.

Blade bounced to his feet and thrust at the man with his bayonet. The man danced aside as expertly as before and raised his pistol. Blade slammed the barrel of his rifle across the man's wrist and saw the gun drop to the ground. He also saw something else. In all the confusion, the man's cap had fallen off, and his hair had come down. It shimmered like raw gold in the light from the truck's cab. Now that he could see the hair, the full face, the outline of the body under the black coverall, Blade realized he was fighting a woman.

He also realized that she was as determined to kill him as any opponent he'd ever met, and probably a good deal more capable of doing so than most.

The woman jumped backward a good three feet and turned to snatch up the android's rifle. She was diving for it when Blade aimed his own rifle at the fallen weapon and fired. His beam triggered off the power cell. There was a whoooffff, a shower of white sparks, and a cloud of greasy smoke. The rifle flew apart into two blackened pieces.

The woman somersaulted completely over the destroyed rifle like a trained tumbler and came up as though she had steel springs in her legs. Blade raised his rifle to avoid spitting her on the bayonet as she came in. She detected the movement almost the instant it began. Blade took another jarring kick on his thigh but couldn't fend off a flattened hand slashing painfully into his ribs. He realized that, if he weren't going to shoot the woman, he'd better drop the rifle and get both hands free. He let the weapon fall and grabbed for the woman. His hands closed on empty air as she danced back out of reach, aiming a kick at his kneecap as she retreated.

Her timing was a little off. Blade sidestepped completely and clamped one hand on the woman's leg. The material of her coverall was as slick as glass, and she twisted furiously, breaking Blade's grip. She kicked again, driving Blade back as she went over in another somersault and came up again facing him.

At this point Blade decided he'd better not take any more chances with the woman. She didn't seem to be at all interested in any sort of friendly relations with him. She was also one of the fastest and deadliest opponents he'd ever faced in unarmed combat.

This time when the woman came at him, Blade struck first. He kicked out in the same moment she did, catching her off balance, bringing her down. She was on her feet before he could fall on top of her with his two hundred and ten pounds, but not before he was inside her defenses. She brought her knee up into Blade's groin but not hard enough to cripple him. Blade clamped both arms around her and pulled her against him. She tried to butt him under the chin with her head. He grabbed her hair with one hand, pulling her head back far enough to keep her teeth from his throat. Then he jabbed three fingers of the other hand into the pit of her stomach. It was like jabbing a plate of flexible steel, but for a moment she stopped fighting. He was able to get his hands around her neck and apply his thumbs to the great blood vessels there. At last she went limp. Blade lowered her to the ground, made sure she was still breathing, retrieved the rifle, and stood up again. It was a couple of minutes before he caught his breath and felt entirely steady on his legs.

This hadn't been the best way to introduce himself to the human population of this city. However, what was done was done. The next thing to do was get some clothes that might discourage the soldier androids from shooting at him on sight. Of course! What better disguise than the red coveralls and helmet of one of those same androids!