e on the hill
that was silent with her going and remembered the day he had met her
and the way the song swans had been calling. When he looked up at the
sky, it was bright gold in the east and the blazing stars of the
Whirlpool were fading into invisibility. He looked to the west, where
the road wound its long way out of the valley, and he thought he could
see her trudging up it, tiny and distant. He looked at his watch and
saw he had just time enough to reach the ship before it left.

* * * * *

Brenn was standing by his gate, watching the dawn flame into
incandescence and looking more frail and helpless than ever. The
cruiser towered beyond, blotting out half the dawn sky like a sinister
omen. A faint, deep hum was coming from it as the drive went into the
preliminary phase that preceded take-off.

"You have only seconds left to reach the ship," Brenn said. "You have
already tarried almost too long."

"You're looking at a fool," he answered, "who is going to tarry in the
Azure Mountains and beyond the Emerald Plain for a hundred days. Then
the Occupation men will kill him."

There was no surprise on Brenn's face but it seemed to Kane that the
old man smiled in his beard. For the second time since he was sixteen,
Kane heard someone speak to him with gentle understanding:

"Although you have not been of much help to my plans, your intentions
were good. I was sure that in the end this would be your decision. I
am well pleased with you, my son."

A whine came from the ship and the boarding ramp flicked up like a
disappearing tongue. The black opening of the air lock seemed to
wink, then was solid, featureless metal as the doors slid shut.

"_Bon voyage_, Y'Nor!" Kane said. "We'll be waiting for you with our
bows and arrows."

"There is no one on the ship but Y'Nor," Brenn said. "Graver saw to it
that the Ready lights were all going on the command room control
board, then he and all the others followed my ... suggestion."

Kane remembered Graver's calmness and his statement concerning his
men: "... It would be suicide for part of them to desert."

For _part_ of them. But if every last one deserted--

The drives of the ship roared as Y'Nor pushed a control button and the
ship lifted slowly. The roaring faltered and died as Y'Nor pushed
another button which called for a crewman who was not there. The ship
dropped back with a ponderous thud, careened, and fell with a force
that sh