stones with intense radioactivity, and they levered them into the back of the truck by rope and stick. The men were dosed, inevitably, but not seriously. Soli looked on, concerned and not quite approving. Var privately agreed with her. This was dangerous work, to no apparent purpose-and it consumed time far better spent in fleeing the searching Ch'in forces.
Then they dumped- larger rocks and dirt into the main body of the truck, to serve as a shield between the cab and the radiation. When Var pronounced the cab clean, they poured their remaining fuel-the last of several big cans the truck carried as a standard precaution, since fuel stations were far between-into the tank and set off for the pass.
'Now comes the rough part,' the Master said, as they ground up the winding approach. 'The garrison has geiger counters, and we can be sure they're thoroughly leary of radiation. In fact, this is known as a hardship post, because of that danger. There's a rapid turnover in personnel to prevent low-grade illness from peripheral radiation, too.'
The Master had obviously done more than just think about that pass. He had studied it, probably reading books on the subject. Var wondered how a gladiator would get hold of books. But no amount of study could get them past.
'Those men will shy away from radiation automatically, and go into blind terror if trapped in it,' the Master said.
'Who wouldn't?' Soli inquired. 'It's a horrible death. I bit my tongue three times just watching you play with those stones.'
Var remembered the Master's own experience with radiation, in the American badlands, and marveled that he was not more leary of it himself. But he was beginning to see some method in this cargo. They carried a truckload of terror...
'We can use this to drive them off,' the Master said. 'They won't even shoot, because that could blast radioactive fragments all over the station. They'll retreat with alacrity. They'll have to.'
'But why should they fear it-in a shielded truck?' Varasked.
'It won't stay in the truck. We'll bring it inside.'
Var felt a shock of horror he knew the others shared. 'Carry it? Without the poles?'
'Two people can do the job. And hold the pass for hours afterward. So two can escape, and reach the wilds and later the coast, and-'
'No!' Var and Soli cried together.
'I did mention fifty per cent casualties,' the Nameless One replied. 'Perhaps you youngsters have become softened by ivilized life. Have you any illusions what it would mean to fall into the hands of Ch'in's men now? We shall surely do so if we do not escape this region promptly. Already the dogs must have been unleashed-and those hounds are not gentle either. Sol and I have met a few in our business.' -
Var knew he was right. The gladiators were better equipped to face reality and to take the prospect of torture and death in stride. They had to get through the pass, and they could not do so by bluff. They were known now, and their crime was known, and these soldiers were tough and disciplined. No appeal would move them, no ruse confound them, no empty threat cow them. Nothing short of artillery would dislodge them . . . except radiation.
'Who escapes?' Soli asked in a small voice.
'You do,' the Master said brusquely. 'And one to guard you.'
'Who?' Soli asked again.
'One close to you. One you' trust. One you love.' A pause, then: 'Not me.'
That left two to choose from, Var saw. Himself and Sol. He understood what was necessary. 'Her father.'
'Sol,' the Master said quickly.
Sol, being voiceless, did not say anything.
So it was decided. Var felt cold all through, knowing he was going to die, and not swiftly. His skin would warn him of radiation, but could not protect him otherwise. He survived it by avoiding it, where others received fatal dosages unawares. If he touched one of those stones-Yet there was a morbid satisfaction in it too. He had never asked for more than the right to live and die beside the Master. Now he would do so. And
