Tom Purdom

“ The other half broke into three-man squads which hunted for a path through the Belderkan squads.
The Belderkans stood up in the grass. There were about fifty of them. They tried to form a line in front of the convoy, but Sabo's men jumping and blocking among them thwarted that maneuver. A leader shouted an order and the Belderkans converged on the convoy, obviously trying to place one or two men so close to each vehicle movement would be impossible.
The Belderkans were as disciplined and agile as Sabo's troops. Men danced and jumped in the tall grass. ”

“ Doctor Warren said. "Wouldn't a club be more humane?"
Two Belderkan trucks were parked behind the line. Technicians came out of them and set up lights which neutralized the lights of the invaders.
A jet screamed into a runway at the far end of the airport. MacFarland watched it taxi to the terminal building. It was the flight the scientists were supposed to leave on. He glanced at his watch. Twenty minutes.
This was where the human imagination met its test. The mind struggled to invent alternatives to violence. There could be no appeal to the enemy's reason. ”

“ The helicopter didn't drop psycho-active gas. Instead, it marked them with its light so that far off the crowd would know where its quarry was. A loudspeaker begged the scientists to remember the humble people of Belderkan.
We taxed the labor of our people to give you luxury. We built you beautiful homes. We gave you women, if you wanted them, and all the laboratory equipment you desired. We gave you old age pensions. Remember the labors of our people!
A line of automobile headlights raced across the plain. MacFarland gave an order. The lights of the convoy jumped on. ”

“ Crawford Bell mumbled.
Men jumped out of the helicopters. MacFarland's driver reversed his engine. The convoy screamed to a halt. The men jumping from the copters hit the ground and threw themselves prostrate. In the tall grass they could be anywhere. The helicopter overhead switched off its light.
Another helicopter landed on their left flank. A dozen Belderkans climbed out and ran toward the scientists. "Don't leave us. Great men that you are, think of our needs." ”

“ The line of enemy cars was long and moving fast. He couldn't go around their rear and they were moving fast enough to head him off and hold him for as long as the crowd needed to surround the convoy.
He switched on his mike. "Sabo, can you break their line?"
"Right. Allenby, attack the cars!"
A personnel carrier, sixty men standing on its deck, charged the enemy vehicles. MacFarland grinned when he heard the bagpipes wail. ”

“ Crawford Bell asked. He spoke with the slow, gentle accents of Tennessee.
"They're turning everybody out. There must be fifty guys stirring everybody up, telling them their country's in danger and they'd better fight. There's a mob coming your way."
MacFarland looked across the plain to the city. He could see thousands of hand lights and a dark shape sprawled across the plain. The sound of the crowd was so faint he decided it was still a couple of miles away. ”

“ It's easy to stand in line and look heroic and patriotic when you know I don't dare run you over with my vehicles. But how brave are you? Are you really willing to suffer for your country? I think the men of Belderkan are cowards. I think you would still be running if we had fought an old fashioned war last night."
He paused and stroked his mustache. Then he gestured and Crawford Bell rolled the instrument forward. It was a pole on a wheeled platform. Four handles stuck out from the pole; above each handle was a set of four dials.
"Do you know what a duel is?" ”

“ You'd better have full stomachs and big bladders if you want to keep me out of that airport."
"A fine speech," the helicopter answered, "but we don't care if you stay or not, aggressor. Only the five doctors count. You're of no importance."
Doctor Umbana raised his fist. "I won't be forced."
"Doctor Umbana," the helicopter said, "no one is forcing you to stay. How can one force a creative mind to work? We only want you to consider what you are doing. We only want you to see how much we are willing to suffer."
The jets of the airliner whined. MacFarland glanced at his watch. ”

“ He didn't like the danger created when heated men from different nations faced each other on the battle field. So far no one had forgotten the discipline of the non-violent fighter, but the old beast still lived in the human psyche. One shove by a Belderkan or a mercenary and the tiger would roar on the plain. ”

“ From Sabo's second personnel carrier, a squad ran to intercept the pleaders before they made it impossible for the scientists to move. The drivers of the threatened cars pulled out of the line. Arms linked, Sabo's men managed to keep the pleaders away from the scientists.
The two cars carrying the scientists parked next to MacFarland. "No wonder you like your work," Lauchstein, the genetic engineer shouted. The other scientists didn't act so enthusiastic.
MacFarland switched on his mike. "Sabo, clear us a path through that gang up ahead. If you work fast, we can still outrun the crowd." ”

“ MacFarland glanced at his watch. Eleven o'clock. "What have you got, Crawford?"
"Psycho gas'll break them up."
"No. Use psycho gas on a crowd like that and they may go berserk. It's been a long time since a human being died in a battle. I'd hate to be the man responsible for ending a winning streak."
Crawford Bell tapped the keys of his computer. His eyes studied the crowd. The night before he had programmed the computer with data on Belderkan culture. ”

“ Lauchstein said. "You can't change human nature."
The bagpipes screamed triumph. Sabo had outmaneuvered the Belderkans. MacFarland's driver switched on the fans and the car leaped between the lines of running men. Outside the double line, Belderkan soldiers ran to block the exit from the human alley. They were too late. When the car shot out the front of the line, the Belderkans were yards behind.
"The crowd's got us blocked," Crawford Bell said. "It took too long."
Sabo's men were climbing onto the decks of their carriers. The crowd stretched between the convoy and the airport. ”

“ He stepped out of the car and walked up to the Belderkan line. "How much do you want? My government'll give thousands to the man that lets us through. We can give you things money can't buy. Our loveliest women. ”

“ According to the UN psychologists who had studied the phenomenon, duelling was a form of therapy for the people of the world, a necessary transition from the days when men had earned their manhood by fighting wars or belonging to groups which could be proud of their warriors. ”

“ Lights out, the convoy crept away from the Institute. MacFarland rode in the lead car with a driver and his chief psych technician, Crawford Bell. Three flat decked personnel carriers, flying the colors of a mercenary band, Sabo's Own Highland Regiment, patrolled their flanks. The scientists rode in the third and fourth cars in the line. ”