they had spent the night by, thought Nelson. But where it had
been calm and shallow, it was now a raging torrential river where
brown, churning waters ran between high, difficult to climb cliffs.

There was no need for either of them to speak. They began looking for
a place to cross the river. All the time they searched they could hear
the machine behind them, above them, humming safely out of their
range.

The sun was low in the sky when they heard the second humming. The
humming grew until it was a throbbing that covered the weaker sound of
the robot and chilled Nelson.

"The patrol," he said, pushing the girl toward the forest. "Back into
the trees. We're going to have to fight it out with them."

They ran into the trees. The throbbing stopped and behind them, Nelson
could hear the sounds made by men thrashing through the undergrowth.
His palms were wet; he wiped them on his shirt front. The impending
contact with the patrol gave him a calmness as always, and he picked
out a thicket where he believed he could make some sort of stand.

He reached the thicket with Glynnis behind him. Her gun was out. He
signed to her to lower the intensity of the gun; she caught on. He
watched her face. It was like a mask.

Nelson listened to the sounds of the approaching patrolmen. Five or
six, he decided. Plus a guard back at the flier. He'd figure on eight,
in all, he decided. Then the first one showed behind some bushes.

Nelson touched Glynnis' arm in a signal to wait. The patrolman looked
around, searching too intensely to find anything. He was young. Nelson
didn't think he would uncover their whereabouts and for a moment
debated letting him pass.

But he didn't want to be surrounded. He pulled his gun up and sighted
carefully before squeezing the trigger. In the tenth of a second
before the patrolman burst into flames, the blast produced a blast
circle that grew to the size of a basketball in his midsection. The
patrolman fell without screaming.

The others were there now. Most of them were young and two rushed
forward at the sight of their companion's death, to die like heroes.
The others wisely sought cover. Nelson decided that the thicket wasn't
as safe as he'd hoped. One of the patrolmen was doing a good job with
an energizer, coming closer with each shot, before Nelson finally saw
where he was, and fired at him. Nelson saw the trunk of a large fallen
tree and pointed to it for Glynnis' benefit. She nodded.

Ther