Rehna looked ahead again. The valley was broad enough so that Doimar's army was advancing in three columns. The one on the right moved along the valley floor, closest to the steep, wooded hills on the north side. In the middle moved the Fighting Machines, with the Carrying Machine in the middle of them. Most of the hundred Fighting Machines which started from Doimar were still marching as if they could go on to the end of the Land. Rehna hoped they would, even if she wasn't there to see them. The left-hand column followed the crest of the grassy ridge on the south side of the valley.

The Carrying Machine swung to the right so violently that Rehna nearly lost her balance. As it swung back, it narrowly missed one of the Fighting Machines. Through the open hatch Rehna heard curses. The less experienced of the two drivers was at the controls. He was only good enough for level ground, and the valley floor seemed to be getting rougher the farther they went.

Rehna leaned down through the hatch and shouted, «Get clear of the Fighting Machines and stop. Sutro, you'd better take over.»

«Ah, Rehna, he's half-asleep. He can't-«

«Yes, I can. Sorry about this, but Rehna's right. I'd better get us through the valley.»

The second driver cursed again, but obeyed. The machine settled to the ground, and silence fell so suddenly that it was almost frightening. It was only when the Carrying Machine stopped that you realized how noisy it was.

Then the silence was broken by another explosion. Rehna looked back, saw the smoke there was long gone, heard still another explosion, and realized it came from ahead. When she looked toward the north side of the valley, she saw the little puffs of smoke from hand-thrown fire bombs. Here and there through the smoke fire-beams flickered green, going both uphill and down.

«Sutro, quick! Get us to the hill over there!» She waved frantically to the south. «The Kaldakans are attacking. We have to be where we can carry the Voice. Hurry!»

Then she slid down inside the cabin and pulled the hatch shut behind her. Her mouth was dry, and her stomach was so twisted that she was afraid of vomiting. She couldn't do that, not today, when the Seekers were about to prove beyond any doubt that they held the future of Doimar and its Empire in their hands-or rather, the hands of the Fighting Machines marching around her.

Chapter 22

Nungor and Feragga ran up to the Carrying Machine. As usual Nungor had to take two steps to her one to keep up with her. He'd long since stopped worrying about the kind of spectacle he made doing that. He would not let Feragga go alone into this battle if he could help it.

With a boost from Feragga, Nungor scrambled up on the roof of the machine. Wires snagged his feet and he hoped none of them were carrying the Voice. A living wire doing that could kill.

«Get your Fighting Machines back up here!» he shouted down into the hatch. «The enemy is in the trees, if they're anywhere, and the machines can't go in there.»

«They could go up the valley, then get around behind-«began Rehna.

«They won't go out of our sight!» snapped Nungor. «And neither will you. You people stay right here and carry the Voice to the Fighting Machines until I tell you to stop.» He caught himself short of adding the ridiculous threat, «Or I'll have your Carrying Machine destroyed.» That might lose the battle and it would certainly mean open war between the Seekers and the foot soldiers.

«We shall obey, Nungor,» Rehna replied coldly. «But let Feragga give us the same order.»

After Nungor explained the situation, Feragga did so. «This is not the time or place for the Fighting Machines,» she said. «They can hardly see the enemy, let alone strike him. When we know where the rest of the Kaldakans are, then perhaps we can send the Fighting Machines to attack on their own.»

«Do you swear this, Feragga?»

«No, I don't and I won't. The battle has just started. Now forget your Seekers' pride and obey, curse you!»

«Yes, Feragga.» Rehna sounded sullen.

When Feragga climbed down she found Nungor checking his equipment. «I'm going down there and lead the attack. This is the first battle against Kaldak, and I'm not going to let anyone else do the work.»

«Including me?»

«Feragga, I didn't mean-«

«Probably you didn't. Anyway, one of us had better stay with the Fighting Machines and keep watch on the Seekers. I'll do that better than you, and you won't be worrying about me.»

«Feragga, I-«

She bent over and kissed him. «Go with your fortune, Nungor.»

As Nungor ran down the hill, he noticed that much of the work of preparing the attack was already done. The riflemen were already spreading out, giving the enemy a harder target. In the bottom of the valley, the fire-bomb throwers were in place. They would do more to chase the Kaldakans out of the trees than all those damned Fighting Machines! A fire-beam could not jump over the top of a tree and kill a man behind it!

Kareena's leg was hurting as she made her way forward through the trees. Fortunately it wasn't hurting so bad that she had to use her rifle as a cane. She wanted to use the rifle to kill a few more Doimari before her father discovered that she was missing.

From the noise coming through the trees, it would be a while before anyone noticed anything not directly in front of their noses. There were more explosions from the-what did Blade call them? — 'mortars'?-then rifle fire. The Doimari must be trying to kill as many Kaldakans as they could with the mortars before sending their foot soldiers up the hill again. That made sense. Without the mortars the thousand Kaldakans hiding in the trees could probably stay there all day, killing twice their own number of Doimari.

A mortar bomb exploded in the trees overhead, showering splinters of wood and hot metal around Kareena. Two more explosions left someone in the distance screaming in agony. Kareena set her jaw against the sound. However many Kaldakans died here today, it would be fewer than would have died without Blade and his knowledge.

Off to the left a whole company of somebody's soldiers seemed to be firing lasers. She listened but didn't hear the heavier sound of the lasers from the Doimari waldoes. She did hear an ugly crackling of flames and smelled wood smoke.

Wham, bam, crash! It seemed that the sky was falling on the forest and the forest was falling on her. She dove to the ground behind a fallen trunk as branches and hot metal rained down on her again. Something jabbed the back of her good leg like a wasp with a red-hot stinger. She ignored it when she discovered that she was sharing the trunk with someone else, someone she recognized.

«Saorm!»

«Kareena! What are you doing here?»

«I might ask the same question.»

«I asked-«Mortar shells interrupted them, and the smell of smoke grew stronger. They heard someone screaming for help to be moved before the fire got to her.

«I asked first,» Saorm finished.

«The Hovercraft ran out of power cells of the right size. I came up to see how the fighting was going.»

«Your machine should be moving again fairly soon. I came up with supplies. We brought fire-I mean, power cells, of every size.» He rose and cupped a hand to one ear. «I'm going to pull that woman clear of the fire, then go back.»

«Saorm, don't-!» The howl of falling mortar bombs interrupted her. She buried her head in her arms and screamed as explosions crashed all around them. She didn't feel anything herself this time, but she heard someone close by cry out.

When she raised her head again, she saw who it was. Saorm lay slumped over the fallen trunk, blood spurting from the stump of one leg. Kareena pulled off her scarf and started binding it around the stump. Saorm shook his head and opened his mouth. Little bubbles of blood came out, and also hoarse words.