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on us."
The slim, muscular shadow that was Cossinza hovered nearby, covering the two men
as they conversed. "What's he talking about?'' Her eyes never left the sighting
predic-tor of her rifle.
"One case of combat madness I could allow for, but not two. They were
influenced." Fighting echoed throughout the complex, explosions reverberating,
weap-ons hissing in the enclosed spaces beneath the mountain. He rose alongside
her and gazed speculatively into the depths of the staging area.
"There are Amplitur here."
Weenn nodded somberly. "The other Massood figured that out pretty quick.''
"Tell our people to keep a close watch on them and on the Hivistahm sled techs.
They may have to pull back and leave the rest of the fighting in here to us."
"They realize that," Weenn told him, "but they want, to try and stick it out.
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Their understanding of the danger is balanced by their desire to kill Amplitur.
None of them have ever even seen one. They look on it as a real potential coup
... if they can bring it off without getting their brains turned inside out in
the trying."
Ranji chewed his lower lip. "We can't order them out. The other squads must be
making real progress for one of the Teach . . . one of the Amplitur to risk
itself in combat. It wouldn't do so unless it had no choice. That means there
are no back exits to this complex. It's trapped in here.
"You and Tourmast and the others with experience stick close to the Massood. If
they show signs of being pushed, use your own abilities to push back. Knock 'em
out if you have to. When this is over we'll have some allies with terrific
headaches, but at least they'll still be alive."
Weenn looked uncertain. "Won't they suspect?"
"I don't think so. With their thoughts and intentions being jostled in so many
different directions at once they won't have time to sort through the confusion.
Later they'll ascribe their feelings to Amplitur manipulation under combat
conditions. In any case we have no choice. We can't let the Amplitur influence
our allies at will."
The sub-officer nodded understanding and hurried to re-join his own troops.
Despite being fully restored, despite everything Ranji had learned and
experienced, it was hard to set aside a lifetime of conditioning. The childhood
awe in which he and his friends had held the Teachers lingered in his emo-tions
if not his mind. It wasn't so very long ago that he had stood with pride before
his parents and relations in the great hall of Kizzmat, waiting to receive
honors from the Teachers themselves. So it was that he advanced un-easily
knowing that one of the Amplitur was near. Cossinza was no less edgy.
Defenders and attackers advanced and retreated within the staging area, shooting
and screaming imprecations and defiance, transforming the enclosed space into a
fiery farrago of death and confusion in which it was difficult to tell friend
from foe despite the aid of advanced technology. Occasionally confused but ever
courageous, the Massood stumbled forward. It seemed to some among them that the
Amplitur were not so effective now as they had been when first their influence
had been felt. The evident waning of this particularly insidious threat impelled
the tall warriors to greater effort. This in turn further inspired the Humans
who fought alongside them.
Both the battle for control of the staging area and com-munications complex and
the one for the minds of the relentless Massood were waged simultaneously. The
small group of restored Humans monitored both. For the Am-plitur, Ranji mused,
confusion must be near complete.
Certainly that was the case for Sigh-moving-Fast. Though to its Ashregan escort
the Teacher appeared calm and in complete control of the situation, inwardly
their leader was appalled and stunned by what was sensed.
It seemed that individual Massood soldiers were re-sponding readily to
suggestion, but after moving on in search of others to push and then reaching
back to check on those initially persuaded Sigh-moving-Fast was shocked to
discover that their original belligerence had reasserted itself. From this
irrefutable and disconcerting conclusions could be drawn.
Something or someone was countermanding his influ-ence.
That unique mind reached out, probing the maelstrom of conflicting thought
impulses that energized the room far more thoroughly than could mere primitive
weaponry. The notion of a renegade Amplitur was never considered. One might as
well anticipate a reversal of entropy.
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