it to a branch.
That left him perhaps ten feet of loose cable. He tied a slipknot loop in the end, draped it out of sight across two branches, then climbed back to his first quick-release, the one holding the springy branch taut. A gentle pull released it, and there was a soft twanging sound as the rest of the cable took up the tension.
For a moment he crouched there in the upper branches, tracing the cable with his eyes, making sure he'd gotten everything exactly as he'd planned. From the bent springy branch, through the edge of the Argus tree to the puff-top tree. Looped around a third-level branch there, back to the Argus tree, quick-release knot at the lowest branches, the rest in a slipknotted loop.
Perfect.
Leaping once more to the puff-top, he retrieved the control cable and returned one last time to the Argus tree. Moving down the trunk, he set himself on the far side from his approaching opponents, hiding in a thick clump of leaves.
And everything was now ready. Everything, that was, except for the one unknown still in the equation. The question of whether the commander and his men would behave as expected.
There was no way for him to know. No way even for him to guess, really, at least not with any certainty. Human reflexes he understood; human eyesight, too, and hearing and stamina and strength.
But in many ways, human ways of thinking were still foreign to him. Their ways of thinking, and their behavior, and their basic fundamental reactions.
And if he had guessed wrong, all his effort would have been for nothing.
Still, he'd gone this far. He might as well see it through. Besides, Jack surely understood his own species; and hadn't Jack agreed that these people didn't act like true soldiers?
Peering around the side of the trunk, he could see the approaching group as they moved cautiously through the trees toward him. There were five in all: four patrol soldiers plus the one who didn't step as cautiously as his companions.
Like the others, the latter's face was obscured by the half-helmet he was wearing to support his night-vision equipment. From his build, though, Draycos could see that it wasn't Sergeant Grisko.
Pity. After Grisko's part in the betrayal and attack on the transport, he would rather have liked to deal with that one personally.
The group was nearly to the sentry cage now. Keeping his movements small, Draycos dug his claws delicately into the meshed steel lines inside the control cable and gently tugged.
There was no reaction from the Edgemen. Draycos tugged again, this time risking a quick look over at the half-hidden sensor. It was moving, all right, turning slowly back and forth.
Still no response. Draycos tried again, beginning to think unkind thoughts about his opponents' competence. He could see the faint reflection glinting from the sensor's face. Why couldn't they?
And then, just as he was wondering whether he should give up the effort, one of the soldiers spotted it. He snapped his arm up, his fingers rapidly tracing out hand signals Grisko had never bothered to teach Jack and his fellow recruits.
The four patrol soldiers responded with all the smooth efficiency of professionals. Without fuss or hesitation, they drifted to both sides as they continued forward, moving to flank whoever it was watching them from beneath the bush.
The fifth man did not join them. Instead, he eased into the sentry cage and stopped, watching nervously from behind the Argus tree.
Draycos felt his jaws crack in an ironic smile. So he and Jack had been right. A true warrior line commander would have gone with his men into danger, taking the same risks they did so that he could issue prompt and reasonable orders if it became necessary.
Instead, this commander was hiding from the danger. Sending his men into the unknown was all right, but he wasn't willing to even get his own scales dusty.
As a warrior, Draycos could feel only contempt for such behavior. But as the man's opponent, he could feel an equally strong satisfaction.
Because in his effort to protect himself, the commander now stood directly behind the very tree Draycos was clinging to.
Exactly where Draycos wanted him. The control cable had served its purpose. Laying it aside, Draycos got a good grip with his left forepaw on the slip-knotted loop of sensor cable. Beside him was the quick-release knot that held the whole thing in place. Carefully, he eased the tip of his tail into the release loop.
The patrol soldiers were closing on the sensor now. Draycos waited; and abruptly, one of them snorted. 'Cute,' he murmured. 'It's one of our own Argus eyes, sir. No one there.' 'But I saw it moving,' one of the others insisted. 'So did I,' the first confirmed, hefting his gun as he looked around. 'And the slapstick Barkin spotted on the scan is here, too. Probably bait. Like I said, someone's being cute.' 'Trace the cable,' the commander ordered in a hoarse whisper. 'Find him.'
'Yes, sir,' the first soldier said, moving toward the Argus eye as the others fanned out toward the surrounding trees.
The commander hesitated another moment. Then, cautiously, he slipped out from behind the Argus tree. Either getting his courage back, or else simply unwilling to get too far away from the protection of his men and their weapons. Circling the trunk, he started toward them.
And in that fraction of a second, as he passed beneath Draycos, the K'da warrior struck.
Releasing his rear claws, he dropped to the same level as the commander's head before grabbing hold of the tree again.
With his right forepaw he slashed the chin strap holding the man's helmet in place, and in the same motion flicked the helmet up and off his head.
Reflexively, the commander grabbed for the helmet as it spun away into the night. Draycos was ready with the loop, dropping it over his head and arms and giving it a quick tug to tighten the slipknot around his ribs. At the same time, he slammed his right paw against the side of the commander's head behind his ear, a spot that experience had showed was a good place to knock out a human without too much risk of serious damage.
And even as the commander sagged unconscious in the loop of cable, Draycos flicked the quick-release with his tail and dropped to the ground.
The quiet of the night was abruptly shattered. As the cable tension was suddenly released, the springy tree branch off to Draycos's right snapped back to its original position. It slapped and scattered all the other branches in its way as it moved, sending a small shower of leaves fluttering to the ground.
The unconscious commander, tied to the other end of the cable, went the other
