"Reassuring," said Lily at Harry's side. "I mean that Kul's taken the trouble to mark the spot for us."

"Yeah. But I wish he hadn't made it look so much like a bull's-eye."

The free-hand stripes of paint had not been much affected yet by the creeping neatness and regularity of the Maracandan landscape, so Harry guessed they were probably less than a day old.

Lily burst out with a question. "Are you getting into Bula-boldo's business, Harry?" A moment later she tried to call it back. "None of my business if you do."

Harry, his mind busy with half a dozen other things, didn't answer. He watched as the painted pattern neatly disappeared under the ship's hull. A moment later the precise voice of the autopilot reported that the Witch was safely down, and all onboard equipment was functioning.

Harry nodded at the two Templars, who had been staring at him earnestly, constrained by their own officer's orders to wait for a go signal from the ship's captain. In another second Teagarden and Zhong were both up and out of their chairs.

Now the Witch was reporting in her unemotional voice that conditions outside the hull seemed nominal for unshielded human activity.

"That's what you think," Harry murmured. He was still in his seat.

"Comment not understood." That was about as close as the Witch could ever come to reprimanding her boss.

"Let it pass."

Teagarden and Zhong, gripping their carbines in what Harry supposed was the position currently approved in combat training, and obviously keyed up to hurl themselves into battle, were already standing in front of the hatchway leading to the main airlock. They were practically crouching in their armor, like sprinters on the mark. Now that they were out of the way, Harry climbed out of his combat chair, motioning for Lily to remain in hers.

"You two," he told the Templars on radio, "don't go out till I can join you. First I have to get my armor on. It'll take one minute."

The corporal looked back at Harry and away again, and that was all the response the captain got. The ship was on the ground again, and what its pilot might want no longer counted. The Templars were intent on their own businesslike preparations, and it seemed they might not have heard him.

Standing beside his chair, Harry turned up the volume of his voice. "Hey! You two know anything about breakdown zones?"

His shout got Corporal Teagarden to turn his head. "Just open the hatch for us, Harry, and you stay on the ship. We've been on Maracanda as long as you have." The corporal was crisply giving orders. No more Mr. Silver. No more "captain," now that the ship had landed. The corporal's voice was stern, and sounded ready for an argument.

Lily was shaking her head, but wisely kept her mouth shut. Harry sighed. There was no time for this. Sometimes he wished he had a diplomatic nature. He said to the Templars: "All right. It'll open for you when you give the word. But wait for me before you get aggressive with anything out there."

He thought maybe Private Zhong gave him a slight nod of agreement. They were busy mumbling ritual to each other, running through some final checklist, or engaged in some last, futile effort to communicate with their officers on the other side of the world; Harry wasn't even sure they heard what he was saying to them.

Taking one more look around the control room, he had a word with the Witch, and then stepped down through a hatch in the deck that opened accommodatingly for him just as his foot reached it.

Over his shoulder he told Lily she had better run the checklist once more on the suit she had put on at the beginning of the flight and make sure her helmet was patched in to the copilot's controls. She acknowledged briskly.

Now he was standing, alone, in the small, well-lighted chamber that he thought of as the armory. The Witch had the special suit unpacked and waiting for him, laid out in segments, and in a moment Harry was getting a good start on putting it on over his flight coveralls.

Twenty additional seconds had passed when Harry's ship told him that the Templars were on their way out the main hatch, which the ship tidily remembered to close behind them. At the same time she showed him what was happening on the armory's small wallscreen.

The Witch's smooth voice said: "The Templars have ordered me to pass on to you certain instructions from them. Do you wish to hear these words?"

"Instructions. Telling me what I'm supposed to do." His hands kept working, fastening, sealing seams and joints.

"Affirmative. You are instructed to hold the ship in readiness for - "

"Never mind. Can it. When I catch up with 'em, I'll tell them what they can do with their - What was that?" Harry struggled to his feet, half clad in heavy armor.

It had sounded like the impact of a single round, some kind of small arms fire, whanging off the forcefield shielding of the outer hull.

Harry demanded: "Let me hear outside noises, Witch. Did that one do any damage?"

"Negative." The Witch seemed to take a moment's thought. Then she advised imperturbably: "But there is good evidence of combat in the immediate vicinity." For another moment the out-of-doors in the immediate vicinity seemed quiet, in the usual spooky Maracanda fashion. Then there were a couple more shots, but nothing hit the ship. Whoever was shooting, that one had probably been a stray, intended for some other target.

One ineffective round did not indicate an actual berserker attack, Harry told himself, hurrying to get the remaining components of his suit in place. Harmless sniping with light weapons was not that enemy's stock in trade - unless they were doing it as a trick, which was entirely possible.

More likely, he thought, some goodlife who were truly in love with death had taken a shot at the two combat infantrymen as soon as their suited figures appeared at the top of the landing ramp. But Harry wasn't going to sweat the details, not as long as no one he was concerned about got hurt.

Bulaboldo and his people, Harry thought, would be too smart to try anything like that with armored soldiers, but then, thinking over the recent behavior of Dietrich and Redpath, he was not so sure.

"Witch, can you patch me into the Templars' radio?"

Probably the ship had been anticipating that order, for accomplishing it took only a moment. But when Harry tried to talk to the pair of warriors, the only response was an answering yell, sternly admonishing him in effect to be a good civilian and hold the ship in readiness for their return.

When he tried to repeat a warning, he realized they had tuned him out.

"Shall I attempt to force a communication?" Harry's ship asked him. If Zhong and Teagarden were somewhere near the ship, the Witch could probably make their helmets vibrate.

"No, let it go."

He hated to think what kind of a mess was probably developing out there. But Harry wasn't going to stick his nose outside the airlock until he was as buttoned into his armor as he could get.

Getting the suit on and checked out had probably taken him less than a full minute. He wasn't sure, but he thought he might have set some kind of personal record.

The moment the last fastening of his heavy suit had sealed itself shut, Harry scrambled back up into the control room, moving lightly and swiftly on fully powered limbs.

"Sounds like the shooting's started up again," Lily remarked. Her knuckles were white, gripping the arms of the copilot's chair, but she didn't sound anywhere near terrified, and that was good.

"Doesn't sound like the kind we have to worry about," Harry assured her. "Must be only a few crazy people." Even as he moved he was checking out his alphatrigger carbine. The weapon was in satisfactory condition, fully charged from the fusion lamps of the Witch's main drive. Harry kept it loaded for berserker, and one force packet from its muzzle ought to hit hard enough to stop a runaway groundcar in its treadmarks.

With the Witch obediently bringing in outside sounds, Harry could hear some yells, then a staccato burst of gunfire.

"Ship, see if you can get me some kind of connection with Bulaboldo. You know who I mean?"

"Order understood."

It took only another moment, but the connection turned out poor, audio only, with quite a bit of static. No doubt the smugglers had been concentrating on hiding even their electronic presence from the berserkers.

Harry said: "I'm back! Anybody home? Are you people all right?"

In reply he got one shadowy glimpse of Bulaboldo's face, and a vaguely reassuring answer. A couple of words, sounding choked with some kind of emotion.

Crossing the control room in half-adjusted armor, Harry tried once more to force through a radio signal, a last caution, a plea to wait, to his two temporary shipmates.

All he got in return was a few curt words about avoiding unnecessary radio activity. That was followed by terse orders directing him to stay on the ship and hold it ready for liftoff.

"Have you got that, Silver?" Teagarden must have been practicing his command presence since he made corporal.

Harry didn't bother to reply.

He made the last few adjustments on his way back to the main hatch, during one stretch hopping on one foot for a few steps.

He detoured by two steps, to stop just beside the copilot's seat, where he rested the fingers of one armored gauntlet gently on Lily's arm. "You going to be all right? Yeah, sure you are."

Her eyes were luminous inside her statglass helmet. There was fear in them, of course, but along with the fear was something else, something personal, that Harry didn't want to see just now, let alone think about.

Lily said: "I could come out with you." She made it sound like something she really wanted to do.

"Definitely not. What I need you to do is stay here and run the ship - if and when something needs to be done. The autopilot recorded our route in here, and it'll be the only route to get the ship out. So rely on the Witch if and when the time comes for a retreat."

"Not without you!"

"I hope not. But if more machines than you can handle turn up from somewhere, I don't think that's likely."

"They'd better not. Dammit all to hell, Harry, you take care of yourself! Let the Templars do all the brave deeds. That's what they get paid for."

Once more Lily sounded as if she really meant what she was saying, and the tone of her voice made Harry turn back just as he was starting away. He asked: "You know how to use the thought-ware to hook yourself into the ship's armament?"

Lily shook her helmeted head. "Told you once before, no gunnery training."

"Hook yourself in, anyway, as best you can. It's simple enough, and maybe not too dangerous. Then, if berserkers come in sight, use everything the Witch has got."

"Well, I won't be digging out your secret weapon. We used up the last c-plus round a while back, as I recall."

"So we did." Harry put a finger very gently under her chin, lifted slightly, trying for emphasis. "Whatever else happens, don't let them take the ship!"

"Order understood."

Approaching the inner airlock door, Harry reminded himself that he would have to be particularly careful when he got out-side. The bad machines were not the only danger here; anyone who strayed into a breakdown zone with heavy armor on would be a dead duck. With all its powered components paralyzed, the suit would turn very quickly into a death trap. Just moving the heavy limbs would be next to impossible for the occupant, but he wouldn't have long to worry about that, as his breathing would be cut off, too.

The Witch was able to pirate signals for him during his fast passage through the airlock. Communication between the two Templars was meant to be scrambled, but thanks to his own ship's efforts, Harry heard scraps clearly.

"One tin man in sight," the private was barking to the corporal.

Tin man, by all the howling gods! They'd made real contact with the enemy. Harry felt his throat start to constrict. He wanted to bark orders at the two kids, but then he thought it was too late for that, they wouldn't listen anyway, and he'd better not distract them.

As soon as the lock's outer door sighed open, Harry spotted first one dead human body and then another, both unarmored and now lying unattended, within a few meters of the ship. They had been two young men. Light weapons lay beside them.

There was some satisfaction in the fact that Harry could recognize the nearest corpse as one of the goodlife who'd been shooting at him before his flight to the west. Enthusiastic goodlife, come face to face at last with the god they worshiped.

More Templar chirpings came through on radio. The enthusiastic tone of their voices frightened Harry. Having blown away a couple of stupid fanatic humans, no great trick for armored infantry, the newly minted soldiers doubtless felt themselves world-beating conquerors.

Tin man in sight . Gods of all space.

If giving the Templars orders wasn't going to work, if that would only start an argument, then maybe, Harry thought, he should try asking. That was what the reasonable people that he knew often recommended.

As Harry moved quickly down the landing ramp, he got his ship to hook him into Templar radio, and tried. "Will you people wait for me? I want to be on hand when you get killed." Even as he spoke, he knew that wasn't exactly the right way to put it. He also knew their berserker opponent might well be listening in, but that could not be helped.

Almost before Harry could set foot on Maracandan soil, another oversized figure came practically leaping out at him, darting around the bulk of the ship from its far side. It was a shape that Harry had been more or less expecting to encounter, but even so he came near blasting it.

Bulaboldo was encased in his own version of heavy armor and evidently beside himself with joy, because the vessel that he thought of as his ship had actually come in. Kul had a carbine slung on his back, but both arms were full of something else, a sack so heavy that it made the big man wobble as he ran, despite his powered suit. In passing Harry noted that Kul's armor seemed to be of excellent quality. The smuggler's suit, of a practical camouflage coloring that changed subtly as you looked at it, showed no visible signs of wear or damage.

Harry got the impression that the bulky one had almost given up hope, though Bulaboldo wasn't going to admit it. In his excitement he could barely restrain himself from pounding Harry on his armored back.

Kul's voice came smoothly through the open communication beam as he wrestled his bag of grit into a handier position and started for the ship's entry ramp. "I knew you could do it, old sod! I had no doubt at all - but time for felicitations later. We must begin our loading."

Harry glared at him. "Take shelter aboard if you like, but leave that bag of shit outside. And don't even think of trying to touch any controls on board. My copilot's in command."

"Of course, dear lad! Whatever you say." Instantly Bulaboldo turned away from the ramp, and the bag slid from his shoulder to hit the ground.

The smuggler had yielded with suspicious willingness, but there wasn't time to fret about that now. Harry demanded: "Which way did the Templars go?"

Kul raised a heavy arm to point in the direction where he had once told Harry a cave lay hidden. "Your two saints in suits have followed that path, whether to death or glory I'm not sure. Likely both. Either way, they're out of sight. Listen, Harry, if you could only consider allowing us to load at least a few samples, we could decide later - "

Lil's voice reached him from inside the ship. "Harry, can I give you any support from in here?"

"Not yet. But keep your eyes open."

Kul's eyebrows had gone up behind his faceplate. "Ah, there is in truth a copilot. So, the lady came back with you! Must say I wasn't expecting her. And the husband?"

Harry was staring down the path the Templars must have followed. There would be no use trying to move his ship in that direction; the chart had clearly shown the ground-hugging channels of free zone were too narrow. Harry pointed that way, toward the small, steep-sided hills standing north of Bulaboldo's claim. "Where's that cave you were talking about? Just over there?"

"Yes, dear lad. And I believe one berserker also, a nasty sentry type. But you should leave the dirty work to the Templars, old darling. They enjoy such things. That's what they're for!"

"What else is over that way? What've you seen?"

Kul went on to hurriedly explain that on his earlier scouting expeditions he had gone just far enough in that direction to catch a glimpse of the cave entrance and spot some traces of human pres-ence on the ground. After that, all the smugglers had stayed prudently away. Someone was working over there, and whether their project was legitimate or illegitimate, it was certain that they would not welcome visitors.

The smuggler seemed to be thinking that as soon as Harry got what he considered his duty out of his system, the sooner they could lift off. And Harry's absence would allow time for some loading.

In the meantime, Bulaboldo must have given some kind of signal, for several of his remaining helpers, daring to appear without special armor, came into view, staggering as they walked, bearing sacks of grit. At Kul's crisp orders they dropped their burdens on the ground, where they could be quickly loaded on the ship as soon as Harry gave approval.

But Harry wasn't listening. Stubby carbine cradled in his right arm, he was loping away from the smugglers, hoping to catch up with the two gung-ho Templar training graduates before they met disaster. At the moment Teagarden and Zhong were not having much to say, not even to each other.

Despite the heavy armor's bulk, a man could run a lot faster with its help than without it. The path took Harry around the corner of a sharply geometric cliff, out of sight of the ship. Lily would not be able to offer him any support, even if he trusted her to work the weapons.