The results he got would still have made a Home Dimension company commander have a stroke. The Kaldakans' casualties were going to be appalling. However, they were tough, enthusiastic, and knew they were going to be fighting for their lives and the future of their city. They might just be able to take those casualties and go on fighting. Blade hoped so. There wasn't much else he could hope to do with the Kaldakan infantry in the time available.
Blade had better luck with the waldoes. The first thing he did was find out how many of Kaldak's waldoes and control chairs were still working. That meant another week of getting to bed at midnight and getting up at dawn. Fortunately he was able to teach a few Kaldakans how to make the tests, although in a «monkey see, monkey do» fashion. With their help he soon knew there were about a hundred working waldoes and at least fifty control chairs which might last out a battle.
Using the waldoes was not hard to learn. It wasn't so easy that Blade could hope to teach it to fifty Kaldakans in the few weeks or at most months he had left. Even if the Doimari didn't attack by then, he himself would probably be snatched back to Home Dimension.
Not for the first time, Blade wished he had some control over the time of his return to Home Dimension. Lord Leighton would howl at the idea, since he didn't like the idea of guinea pigs with a will of their own. Even J might have doubts, fearing Blade would run unnecessary risks to finish some minor task.
Blade wouldn't admit either point. He was a man, not a guinea pig, and he trusted his own judgment of how many risks he should run. He absolutely did not like the idea of being completely at somebody's whim when he had important work to do. So far unexpected returns from Dimension X hadn't done worse than embarrass him. A few times they'd actually saved his life. Sooner or later things would work out differently. He'd be snatched home with something vital left undone. If he had to go home now before he'd taught Kaldak how to use the waldoes, the city might still go down in defeat. At best thousands of people would die who might have otherwise lived.
Unfortunately Blade was nearly helpless. Lord Leighton and J were both in Home Dimension, and they'd probably turn a deaf ear to his arguments even after he got home. All he could do now was make sure that he left behind enough knowledge of the waldoes to give the Kaldakans a fighting chance.
Blade explained his plan to Peython over a dinner of roast fish and plenty of beer.
«I'll set all of the waldoes and all of the chairs on a single group of frequencies-«he began.
«A single what?» asked the chief.
Blade stopped to quickly explain radio. Peython took in the explanation with only a few questions. «So any chair can send the Voice to any waldo,» he said. «And any waldo can send back what it hears and sees to the man in any chair?»
«Yes. A man can climb into any of the chairs and control any or all of the waldoes, without having to waste time finding the correct frequency. This way all of the waldoes can be controlled by one man if necessary. He will have to make all of them do the same thing, of course-«
«That is much better than having none of them do anything,» said Peython.
«Very true. In fact, I plan to have only three or four other people in control chairs at the same time, each controlling waldoes of their own.»
«No more?»
«I can teach only three or four people how to fight and also how to teach others. Kaldak will be better off with three or four people who know everything than with thirty or forty who know only a little.» Peython nodded.
When the Doimari advanced, Blade and his trained operators would march Kaldak's waldoes out to a hiding place close to the chosen battlefield. That would have to be within fifty miles of Kaldak, because there was no hope of getting any sort of radio relay.
«What if the Doimari have such a 'relay,' as you call it?»
Blade knew the Doimari probably did have the relay system now, thanks to his discovery of the Hovercraft, but that couldn't be helped. «As fast as possible we attack the machine carrying the Voice and destroy it.»
«And if the Doimari do not march until they have many Voice relays?» said Peython. From someone other than Peython this persistent question might have annoyed Blade. As it was, it implied that Peython wanted to learn for himself most of what Blade wanted to teach. So Blade didn't mind explaining anything Peython wanted explained.
«That will take until next year. I do not think they will wait that long. If they do not know of our new Oltec, they will think we are still weak and helpless. If they do know of it, they will also know they must strike soon, before we can learn to use what we have discovered. They have nothing at all to gain by waiting. Also, I think the quarrel between the Seekers and the infantry will keep them from stopping to think clearly about almost anything.»
«I hope we will not have such a quarrel between those who love Oltec and those who love the Law in Kaldak,» said Peython. He poured himself more beer and grinned. «However, I have thought of ways to make sure that those who love the Law can do no harm to us in the war. After that, we shall see.» He drank, then poured some more beer for Blade.
Blade drank more than he'd planned that night, so when he left Peython he also was not thinking too clearly about anything. He drifted back to his quarters without really being aware of covering the distance.
He now had four rooms of his own. That was more than he needed, but Peython refused to listen to Blade's protests. «Nobody was turned out into the streets to make room for you,» the chief said. «And I will not give you less than you got from Feragga of Doimar! So for once in your life, Blade, you will do as I tell you!»
«Yes, Peython,» said Blade with a wry grin.
Blade's new bedroom was the farthest room from the main door. Blade left clothes and weapons in each of the first three rooms, until he was naked when he entered the bedroom. Then he stopped abruptly, a few steps short of climbing into bed. The room was dark, but he saw a long bulge in the furs and a few trailing curls of dark hair on the pillow.
Instantly Blade's thoughts were clear, even though he wasn't exactly sober. He wasn't worried about an assassin. If there was going to be an attack, it would have come already. What he suspected was waiting for him in the bed might be more difficult to handle. He bent over the bed, rested a hand on the curls of hair, and murmured softly to the bulge in the furs, «Hello, Kareena.»
The furs churned briefly, then Kareena's head popped out. She was smiling. «You would have been embarrassed if it had been Geyrna or some other woman.»
«I didn't think it was.» Blade sat down on the bed and took the hand Kareena stretched out to him. Then he bent over and kissed her upturned lips. They were rigid and cold under his for a moment. Then they trembled and broke apart. When he thrust his tongue slowly into her mouth, he felt her body stiffen. He didn't draw back, and after another moment some of the tension went out of her. Her own tongue crept up to meet his.
That saved a good many words. He now knew what she wanted-a night with him which would finish healing the wounds from Doimar. He didn't know whether he or any other man could give it. Well, in love as in war, a man could only do the best job he could do in the time available.