«Did you know more about the cellars of Kaldak?» said Blade. «Or did being the father of Bairam's future bride inspire you again?»

«A family can always use more honor fairly gained,» said Saorm. He grinned. «As for the other question-does it matter now?»

It was on the tip of Blade's tongue to tell Saorm that if he'd spoken out earlier and admitted to his knowledge of Kaldak's store of Oltec, he might have saved his chief's daughter a gruesome ordeal. He decided to hold his peace. No one in Kaldak except her father and Bairam knew the details of Kareena's captivity, and Blade wanted to keep it that way. Also, Saorm had done his best according to his own standards. That «best» had not been really too bad, either in Gilmarg or here in Kaldak.

The Kaldakans found many things they knew how to use, and more things they thought they knew how to use, such as the hand grenades. There'd been several fatal accidents, and plenty of croakers to proclaim that this was what came of meddling with the Law. When Blade studied what the Kaldakans were doing with machinery and weapons they barely understood, he was surprised they hadn't wiped out a good part of their city.

They'd even discovered the waldoes and their command center. Fortunately Peython and Sidas prevented any dangerous experiments here. «Other Oltec weapons kill only those close to them if they go wrong,» said Sidas. «These steel men could walk through Kaldak, killing everyone they found. They could do us more harm than the Doimari!»

At the party Blade drank a toast to Peython, Sidas, and their common sense. In fact he drank quite a number of toasts, but still managed to get to bed early. There was more work facing him than he liked to think about. He suspected that he'd be up at dawn tomorrow, and for many days after that.

Blade was right.

Part of his work was minor details, like teaching the Kaldakans not to hang grenades by their rings. Most of this detail he quickly delegated to Bairam, Sidas, or Kareena. With the help of a cane Kareena got around well enough, and keeping busy kept her mind off her memories of Doimar.

Another part of Blade's work was training Kaldak's infantry. They would need new tactics, now that they were heavily equipped with Oltec themselves and facing an enemy even better equipped. They had to be taught how to concentrate the fire of their own rifles, scatter to avoid the Doimaran mortars, and take cover to avoid the lasers of the waldoes. With Peython's help Blade picked fifty of the brightest leaders of the Kaldakan infantry and put them through a weeklong crash course in tactics. During that week Blade got hardly any sleep at all.

The results he got would still have made a Home Dimension company commander have a stroke. The Kaldakans' casualties were going to be appalling. However, they were tough, enthusiastic, and knew they were going to be fighting for their lives and the future of their city. They might just be able to take those casualties and go on fighting. Blade hoped so. There wasn't much else he could hope to do with the Kaldakan infantry in the time available.

Blade had better luck with the waldoes. The first thing he did was find out how many of Kaldak's waldoes and control chairs were still working. That meant another week of getting to bed at midnight and getting up at dawn. Fortunately he was able to teach a few Kaldakans how to make the tests, although in a «monkey see, monkey do» fashion. With their help he soon knew there were about a hundred working waldoes and at least fifty control chairs which might last out a battle.

Using the waldoes was not hard to learn. It wasn't so easy that Blade could hope to teach it to fifty Kaldakans in the few weeks or at most months he had left. Even if the Doimari didn't attack by then, he himself would probably be snatched back to Home Dimension.

Not for the first time, Blade wished he had some control over the time of his return to Home Dimension. Lord Leighton would howl at the idea, since he didn't like the idea of guinea pigs with a will of their own. Even J might have doubts, fearing Blade would run unnecessary risks to finish some minor task.

Blade wouldn't admit either point. He was a man, not a guinea pig, and he trusted his own judgment of how many risks he should run. He absolutely did not like the idea of being completely at somebody's whim when he had important work to do. So far unexpected returns from Dimension X hadn't done worse than embarrass him. A few times they'd actually saved his life. Sooner or later things would work out differently. He'd be snatched home with something vital left undone. If he had to go home now before he'd taught Kaldak how to use the waldoes, the city might still go down in defeat. At best thousands of people would die who might have otherwise lived.

Unfortunately Blade was nearly helpless. Lord Leighton and J were both in Home Dimension, and they'd probably turn a deaf ear to his arguments even after he got home. All he could do now was make sure that he left behind enough knowledge of the waldoes to give the Kaldakans a fighting chance.

Blade explained his plan to Peython over a dinner of roast fish and plenty of beer.

«I'll set all of the waldoes and all of the chairs on a single group of frequencies-«he began.

«A single what?» asked the chief.

Blade stopped to quickly explain radio. Peython took in the explanation with only a few questions. «So any chair can send the Voice to any waldo,» he said. «And any waldo can send back what it hears and sees to the man in any chair?»

«Yes. A man can climb into any of the chairs and control any or all of the waldoes, without having to waste time finding the correct frequency. This way all of the waldoes can be controlled by one man if necessary. He will have to make all of them do the same thing, of course-«

«That is much better than having none of them do anything,» said Peython.

«Very true. In fact, I plan to have only three or four other people in control chairs at the same time, each controlling waldoes of their own.»

«No more?»

«I can teach only three or four people how to fight and also how to teach others. Kaldak will be better off with three or four people who know everything than with thirty or forty who know only a little.» Peython nodded.

When the Doimari advanced, Blade and his trained operators would march Kaldak's waldoes out to a hiding place close to the chosen battlefield. That would have to be within fifty miles of Kaldak, because there was no hope of getting any sort of radio relay.

«What if the Doimari have such a 'relay,' as you call it?»

Blade knew the Doimari probably did have the relay system now, thanks to his discovery of the Hovercraft, but that couldn't be helped. «As fast as possible we attack the machine carrying the Voice and destroy it.»

«And if the Doimari do not march until they have many Voice relays?» said Peython. From someone other than Peython this persistent question might have annoyed Blade. As it was, it implied that Peython wanted to learn for himself most of what Blade wanted to teach. So Blade didn't mind explaining anything Peython wanted explained.

«That will take until next year. I do not think they will wait that long. If they do not know of our new Oltec, they will think we are still weak and helpless. If they do know of it, they will also know they must strike soon, before we can learn to use what we have discovered. They have nothing at all to gain by waiting. Also, I think the quarrel between the Seekers and the infantry will keep them from stopping to think clearly about almost anything.»

«I hope we will not have such a quarrel between those who love Oltec and those who love the Law in Kaldak,» said Peython. He poured himself more beer and grinned. «However, I have thought of ways to make sure that those who love the Law can do no harm to us in the war. After that, we shall see.» He drank, then poured some more beer for Blade.