turning slowly from side to side. At one point he seemed to be staring
directly at Boris, who held his breath and lay as still as the rock
beside him. But finally the shufta straightened up and gave a hand
signal to those out of sight behind him. Then he came on down the trail
at a trot. When he had covered fifty metres the rest of the party began
to appear, keeping their intervals as precisely as beads on a string. It
would not be possible to enfilade this line even with an RPD from a
prepared position.
'Good!' Boris approved. 'These are crack troops. Mek must have
hand-picked them.' He watched them through the lens, examining the
features of each man as he came into view, searching for Mek Nimmur.
There were seven of them spread out down the trail now, but still no
sign of their leader. The man on the point drew level with Boris's
position and then went on past him. A pair of flankers passed directly
beneath where he lay, rustling softly by in the scrub not more than a
dozen paces from him. He lay like a stone and let them go. The rest of
them passed his position, well spaced and moving swiftly. For some
minutes after the last of them had gone, the gorge seemed deserted and
devoid of all human presence. Then there was another stealthy movement
out there.
'The rear guard,' Boris grunted softly. 'Mek is keeping the woman at the
rear. His new plaything.'He is taking great care of her.'
He slipped the safety-catch on the rifle gently, making certain that no
alien metallic sound fell on the heated and hushed air.
'Now let them come,' he breathed. 'I will take Mek first. Nothing fancy,
no head shots. Squarely in the centre of the chest. The woman will
freeze when he goes down.
She does not have the reflexes of a warrior. She will give me a second
unhurried shot. At this range there will be no question of a miss. Right
between those pretty little black tits of hers.' He became sexually
charged by the image of blood and violent death set opposite Tessay's
loveliness and grace. 'I might even have a chance to get one of the
others. But I can't bank on that. These men are good.
More likely that they will dive into cover before I have even had time
to kill the woman.'
He watched the faces of the rear guard as, one at a time, carefully
spaced, they came into view. Each time he felt his heart trip with
disappointment. In the end there were three of them on the path, moving
past him at a steady, businesslike jog-trot. But no sign of Mek and the
woman. The rear guard disappeared down the path, and the small sounds of
their progress dwindled into silence. Boris lay alone on the ledge, his
heart thumping and the sour taste of disappointment in the back of his
throat.
'Where are they?' he thought bitterly. 'Where the hell is MeV And the
obvious answer to his own question occurred to him immediately. They had
taken a different trail. Mek had used this patrol as a decoy to lure him
away.
He lay quietly for a measured five minutes by his wristwatch, just in
case there might be more men coming up the trail. His mind was racing.
