«We don't get one like her very often,» said one, and his comrades muttered agreement.

«All right,» the officer finally said. «If she won't talk, you can have her.» He bent over the woman, took one wrist, and twisted just hard enough to make her face contort in pain.

«Your name, mudskin bitch! And what were you doing with the woodrats, anyway?»

The woman shook her head silently. The officer repeated the questions, got more silence, and twisted her wrist hard enough to make her cry out. The attempted interrogation went on for quite a while along those lines. The officer's face slowly darkened with rage and frustration, while the woman soon lost the breath to even scream.

«Hey, leave some life in her for us, for Mork's sake!» said one of the soldiers at last. The officer shrugged and stepped back.

«Well enough. She's yours. But let's not be foolish. Shturz, Hegen, Durgo-take up a triangle with the points there.» He pointed at three soldiers, then at three points around the clearing. Blade saw that one of those points was right in front of the trees where he lay hidden, another off to his left.

The three soldiers took up their positions, while one of their comrades started opening his pants. The officer holstered his laser and stepped back. Blade crept backward until he was at the edge of the trees. Now he could no longer see the woman and the men around her clearly. He could still see both the sentry to his left and the one in front of the trees. That should be enough for now.

Blade waited, trying not to hold his breath. Then the woman screamed, the soldier on top of her gave a grunting cry, both sentries turned to watch the show, and Blade went into action.

He rose, dropping a stone into the sling and whirling it around his head faster and faster. The woman's cries drowned the hiss of the sling winding up for the throw. At the last moment the flicker of movement caught the first sentry's eye. He started to turn, Blade's arm snapped out, the stone flew from the sling and smashed into the soldier's forehead. He fell, not quite as spectacularly as Goliath, but with a satisfying thud.