The dead flesh yielded before the pressure like a loose sack of small fragments and there was the faint crackling of trapped air forced into the surrounding tissues. "His larynx's been crushed. "
There was silence from those around him. "Does anyone here know," he asked, "was Artur acquainted with any of the martial arts? I'm talking about those for bare-handed fighting."
The silence continued another moment. "No," said Onete, "I don't believe he did." "No blow from the edge of a hand did that," said Old Man's voice behind Hal. "It could have been done by a kick, a very skillful kick, but it's unlikely. The blow of a fist, perhaps, though even Artur would have to be lucky as well as powerful to strike that spot with enough force."
Hal squatted back on his heels, staring down at the nearest body. "There's no good reason they'd kill two of their own that way," he said, half to himself. He raised his voice slightly. "We'll need to cover them up again so that the graves look undisturbed. "
He got to his feet and watched as the shadowy figures around him became busy, pushing the loose dirt back into its original place. When it was done, they started out once more through the forest with its root-cluttered, rock-strewn ground all but invisible under their feet.
It was not long, though, before those in the lead halted, and the line of people bumped each into the person ahead of him or her, and stopped. Onete came back to Hal. "This is about a hundred meters from the soldiers' camp," she said. "Thank you," he answered. "All right, here's the place where we'll leave all of you except the six of us who are bow-and-dart people and the other six night foragers Onete picked out as being able to move most quietly. I want one forager attached to each of us who've got bows, to get us to the edge of the illuminated area of the camp as quietly as possible. According to Missy and Hadnah's count, there're sixteen of the soldiers, counting Liu and the Urk. Calas, I'm sorry you've got to be one of those to stay behind, but you can't shoot and you can't move as well as the people we're taking."
"It's all right," said Calas, his voice low and hoarse from the black wall of bodies that now stood clumped around him. "More than anything I want to see Cee and Artur free. Just one thing - if we hear noises from the camp that sound like they've woken up and may be taking you, can the rest of us rush the camp, and try to help?"
Hal hesitated. "You'd be smarter, all of you, to head back for the boulder and the ledge." he said. "If they get their hands on six of you, anyway, they're going to be able to make at least one show them the way up to the ledge," said Calas. "Yes," said Hal. "All right, if you're sure they're all awake and trying to take us prisoner or whatever, come along. You can rush the camp. But you'll probably just be giving them that many more prisoners, or dead bodies." "That's all I want to hear," said Calas.
The small forward group moved off. They were close enough to see some glimmers of light through the trees ahead when Onete stopped them for the second time. "About another twenty-five meters,- she told Hal, "and you'll be just outside the clearing. They were foolish to put their lights up high that way. It means that direct illumination stops, for all practical purposes, at the edge of the area cleared. Reflection off ground and tree trunks will throw light farther back, but the eyes of those on guard aren't likely to pick up what it illuminates. Their sight is going to be adjusted to the brightness of the area under the camp lights. It's so stupid to do things that way! Maybe there's a trap to it, somewhere?" "I doubt it," said Hal. "I don't think they're really expecting us, or anything on the order of a try to rescue the prisoners. Those two men awake there, from what Calas tells me about the officers, are probably just part of Liu's spit-and-polish attitude. The rule book says post guards in situations like this, so he posts guards." "Do you want your bow-people spread around the camp now?" Onete asked. "I can have the foragers position them." "Not spread around," said Hal. "Old Man stays with me and I'd like you yourself to take the two of us down close to the hutments. Luke and the three other bow-people, take them over to where the soldiers are sleeping on the ground. Old Man and I will take out the two men on watch duty, and - Luke?" "Right here," said Luke's voice from the darkness. "The minute," Hal said, "you and the other bow-armed people see the two on guard drop, start shooting into the soldiers in the sleeping, sacks. Old Man and I will be going after Liu and the Urk. Meanwhile, Onete, I want you to do what I asked you to do up on the ledge. Use that knife you're carrying to cut loose Cee and Artur. Then whistle in the other foragers with the stretcher to put Artur on it and start carrying him out of here.
He paused and looked around at them, so that his voice would carry to each. "Remember," he said, "what I told you when I briefed you before we left the ledge. Once things start happening, each of you ignore everything going on around you and just do what you came here to do. This is to free Cee and Artur, get Artur on the stretcher and carried out. Onete, it'll be up to you to try to get Cee to understand we're not going to hurt him the way the soldiers did. She probably won't trust us at first sight, any more than she trusted them.
Onete nodded. "I'lI do exactly that, " she said. " Don't worry about my part of it, just concentrate on your own."
Hal smiled at her, though he knew the smile would be hidden in the darkness, but perhaps it would color the tone of his voice enough for her to pick it up. "I know you will. And we will." he said. "Let's go now.
Onete, go around to everyone, pass the word to anyone who didn't hear or understand me completely, just now. Then come back and guide Old Man and me to our proper positions."
She did, and a few moments later saw the three of them ghosting like morning fog around the outskirts of the camp to the far end where the hutments stood and the table at which all the enlisted men had eaten. It was now occupied only by the two on duty. These two, deprived of their bottle, were seated at one end of the table and had found themselves entertainment in the form of some kind of gambling that involved dice. All their attention was on the movement of the small, dotted cubes.
Beyond them and close by, Artur lay silent and motionless under the blanket they had thrown over him. Farther off, Cee still sat cross-legged at the foot of her tree. She was wide awake, but her gaze was finally off the hutment that held Liu. Instead it was focused as plainly on Onete, Hal and Old Man, as if it was broad daylight and she could see them clearly, in their movement around the camp. "Can she see us, do you think?" Hal whispered as softly as he could and still be heard by Onete. "Hears us, more likely," whispered Onete in answer. "It's all right as long as one of those two soldiers doesn't take a look at her and get interested in what there could be out in the dark here to make her watch it," said Hal.
They stopped. Onete faced Cee squarely and shook her head deliberately, waving one hand past her face and deliberately turning her own gaze away from the little girl.
Whether Cee could not actually see them, or chose to ignore Onete's signal to stop watching them, was impossible to tell, but in any case, her gaze remained brightly following the three of them. Hal shrugged. They moved on. "This will do," he whispered, finally, when they reached a point which put them at about the same distance from hutments and the two soldiers on watch. "Old Man?"
Hal had already taken his bow from his back and was stringing it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Old Man doing the same. They each took a shaft from the quivers at their belts and a dart from a loop of one of the bandoleer-belts that Luke and his helpers had made for them.
In silence, together, they screwed the darts on to the ends of the arrow shafts. Old Man smiled, and - holding bow and arrow with one hand - held up the fingers of his other with the thumb and middle finger only a couple of inches apart to indicate the very short distance they had to shoot.