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Even General Hokotan, the Headquarters Staff man, who had been transferred temporarily to the Fleet Force to keep an eye on both MacMaine and Tallis, was enthusiastically pounding MacMaine's shoulder. No one aboard was supposed to know that Hokotan was a Headquarters officer, but MacMaine had spotted the spy rather easily.
The planet as a whole might have more energy reserve than the fleet, but no individual defense point did. The problem was to avoid being hit by the rest of the defense points while one single point was bearing the brunt of the fleet's attack. It wasn't without danger, but it could be done. And for a job like that, MacMaine's special abilities weren't needed.
This was the touchiest part of MacMaine's plan, the weakest link in the whole chain of action. For a space of perhaps a minute, the disguised Kerothi general would have to stand so close to the young captain that the crudity of his makeup job would be detectable. He had to keep that handkerchief over his face, and yet do it in such a way that it would seem natural.
"All ready for take-off, captain? Everything checked out? Ammunition? Energy packs all filled to capacity? All the crew aboard? Full rations and stores stowed away?" The captain kept his eyes on MacMaine's face as he answered "Yes, sir; yes, sir; yes, sir," to the rapid fire of questions.
But, externally, a Kerothi would need only a touch of plastic surgery and some makeup to pass as an Earthman in a stage play. Close up, of course, the job would be much more difficult as difficult as a Negro trying to disguise himself as a Swede or vice versa. But Tallis was "I would have a word," Tallis said, shattering MacMaine's carefully neutral train of thought.
Help me " Then he saw the gun in MacMaine's hand and stopped. It was the last thing he saw before MacMaine shot him neatly between the eyes. Loopat, only half conscious, never even knew he was in danger, and the blast that drilled through his brain prevented him from ever knowing anything again in this life. Like a man in a dream, MacMaine went on to Hokotan's cabin, his weapon at the ready.
He checked the time carefully, because there's no point in devising a strategy if the battle is too far gone to use it by the time you've figured it out. Then he went ahead and read the rest of the report. Earth had lost the outpost. And, worse, MacMaine's strategy would have won the battle if it had been used. He fed it through his small office computer to make sure. The odds were good.
"Before we even know they are anywhere around, they are blasting us with everything they've got! Not even the strategic genius of General MacMaine can help us if we have no time to plot strategy!" The Kerothi had been avoiding MacMaine's eyes, but now, at the mention of his name, they all looked at him as if their collective gaze had been drawn to him by some unknown attractive force.
Hokotan enjoyed making such remarks to MacMaine's face, knowing that since MacMaine was technically a Kerothi he couldn't show any emotion when the enemy was insulted. MacMaine showed none. "Got them all, eh?" he said. "All but a few who scattered into the hills and forests. But not many of them had the guts to leave the security of their cities, even though we were occupying them."
It was a wonder that any of them had any moral fiber left. "But none of those who had any strength agreed to work with us," Tallis went on. "With one exception. You." "Am I weak, then?" MacMaine asked. General Tallis shook his head in a peculiarly humanlike gesture. "No. No, you are not. And that is what has made us pause for three years." His grass-green eyes looked candidly into MacMaine's own.
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