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she was heading for Itskapintik because her position as daughter of the Blodland ambassador would
ensure her good treatment and even a return to her country. She would want to take Two Hawks and
O'Brien with her. After all, that had been her original intent, and he could think of no reason why she
should have changed her mind.
He walked boldly up to her. For a minute, she seemed puzzled. Then she recognized him.
Incredulity was succeeded by a smile of joy. "Can we go with you?" he said.
She nodded and said, "This seems too good to be true."
He did not waste any more time. The two Americans went to the rear of the car and helped the
other three men. After the vehicle had regained the harder dirt, Two Hawks and O'Brien got into the
front seat beside Ilmika. The others, who turned out to be members of the British embassy at 'Estokwa,
rode in the rear. Ilmika drove the steamer as fast as she could without endangering the pedestrians. She
used her horn frequently to warn them out of the way, and if they did not dodge quickly enough, swung
onto the shoulder. It was just such a maneuver that had trapped her in the mud ten minutes before Two
Hawks came along.
While they rode, he told Ilmika what had happened. She knew, of course, that the Blodland
agents had been killed but she had supposed that the Perkunishans had succeeded in abducting the two
otherworlders. She was now on this road because her original avenue of escape had been cut off. The
Perkunishan fleet had broken into the Black Sea, defeated the Hotinohsonih navy and the small
contingent of Blodland ships. They controlled the waters and the air of the Black Sea. The small dirigible
on which she had planned to take the two to Pahlavia (Turkey) had been destroyed. So she had fled
towards Itskapintik.
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They drove all day and night, and dawn found them much farther northward but also out of fuel.
They had no luck try-ing to get more from the army vehicles that passed them. Of the twenty, not one
stopped in response to their signals.
"It's a long way, but we'll have to walk," Ilmika said. "If I can get into contact with an officer, I
might be able to get another car."
She did not sound hopeful. It was evident that the Hotinoh-sonih were too occupied with the
battle to the northwest to spare time or material, even for the Lady Ilmika Thorrsstein. And they had
walked no more than four miles, when they got evidence that the soldiers were too busy taking care of
them-selves to bother with them.
A score of troopers a half-mile ahead ran from a wood and cut across the road. The refugees
near them abandoned their carts and ran after them. Word passed back along the column and with it
panic. The road suddenly became a litter of vehicles and no people.
Forty yards ahead of them, the earth blossomed into a pillar of upflung dirt and smoke. The
people who had just desertedthe highway were unhurt, but the next shell exploded near a group who had
not heard the news in time. They were tossed in every direction.
Two Hawks and the others had flung themselves in a small ditch when the first shell landed. They
hugged the earth while a second, third, and fourth, running down the road, deafened them and covered
them with dirt. A severed foot landed by Two Hawks' head. He took one look and then drove his face
into the grass. The fifth shell stunned and half-buried them, but no one was hit. The sixth exploded a little
further down; the seventh struck the ditch and killed a number of men, women, and children.
Then the cannonade ceased. Two Hawks raised his head. Across the road was a burnt-out
wheat field and beyond it a sloping hill. Over the top of the hill came five armored cars. Two carried
long-snouted cannons; the others were armed with weapons that looked from this distance like the
barrels of machine guns. Two Hawks knew that machine guns had not been invented yet. In fact, this was
one of the items he had in-tended to explain to the Blodlandish. But he did not like their looks, although
the cannons would have been enough for him to decide on flight. He rose with the others and dashed
across the blackened stubble of the wheat field on his side of the road. He had seen the Iroquois troops
take cover in a copse of trees about a quarter-mile to the northwest. They would be the object of attack
by the armored cars, so there was no use trying to hide there. He led the others southeast across the field
toward a distant line of half-burned trees that prob-ably hid a stream. By the time the refugees had
reached the middle of the field, the Perkunishans had crossed the road. They fired a few rounds at the
group, which kept on running. Glancing behind him, Two Hawks could see the bullets throw up
fragments of earth. The rate of fire amazed him. He was sure that the cars had some sort of rapid-fire
weapon. His reading had not indicated the existence of such a gun, but it was evident that it must have
been developed secretly and only now revealed.
One more reason for the Perkunishans' rapid advances. Their firepower must be overwhelming.
The car swung toward the woods, and soon the racket of battle was hideous. It lasted for
perhaps ten minutes. After that, a silence. By then the refugees had passed through the tree-lined creek
and had entered a relatively thick and extensive wood. They walked until nightfall, slept several hours,
then resumed their flight. Two days afterwards, they came upon a group of dead soldiers. A gully near
them concealed a small car -- equivalent of a jeep -- which was undamaged and had a half-tank of gas.
They drove it northward until the fuel ran out and began walking again. A week later, they were
some-where near the Itskapintik border.
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They had heard light rifle fire ahead of them. While Ilmika and a man who had been sick hid
behind some trees, the others crawled up the slope of a hill. They were armed with rifles and revolvers
taken from the dead who had also provided them with the jeep. Nevertheless, they did not intend to take
any aggressive action. They just wanted to determine what the situa-tion ahead was and if they would
have to take a wide detour.
He got to the top of the hill and inspected the fight through binoculars. The skirmish was almost at
an end. There were a number of bodies on the ground at various distances outside a stone rampart, all
that was left of a farmhouse which had burned. The bodies wore the black and orange uniforms of the
Perkunishan infantry. There were seven attackers left, and they were working in closer to the defense
behind the wall. Two Hawks watched for a while and saw that only three were still firing from the wall.
Then a Perkunishan, crouching behind an overturned wagon near the ruins, threw a grenade. It landed
over the wall and in a corner.
After the explosion, there was no return fire. Still cautious, the Perkunishans continued to hug the
ground until they were several yards away. One exposed himself briefly but drew no fire. There was a
signal from one, and all rose and dashed towards the wall. Suddenly, smoke from a gun behind the wall
rose, and seconds later Two Hawks heard the crack. A Per-kunishan fell. Another shot; another
crumpled.
The others were too near the wall to turn to run. They kept on charging but fired as they did so to
force their enemy to keep his head down. He, however, paid no attention to the bullets which were
bouncing off the stone near his head. He kept on shooting and with deadly effectiveness. Two more
stag-gered; one fell backward and the other ran forward again a few steps after stopping before he too
slumped.
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