Battlefield Earth

MacAdam said did they know Brown Limper claimed to own the whole planet? The Chiefs said they knew of that. Also that he claimed to own the whole Earth branch of Intergalactic Mining?

The Chief of Clanfearghus said that valid or not, part of such deeds belonged to them, and they would pledge their share of these mineral deposits to guarantee the war expenses.

MacAdam had a quiet smile. He knew which way the wind blew. He accepted that. He would not violate their confidence.

The Chiefs passed a resolution to that effect and gave Sir Robert the right to draw against this open account at his discretion as a “war chest.”

Much later, it was a very sober group that broke up.

Gillies escorted Jo

Chrissie was up and waiting for him and served him some tea and what she said were “crumpets.”

Legs stretched out, shirt thongs unlaced, feet in soft moccasins, Jo

Chrissie was telling him that the parson and Aunt Ellen would be here for lunch tomorrow and she hoped he would be at home. Aunt Ellen was doing so well here in Scotland– her cheeks had filled out and she had lost a cough she had had. She was looking quite young, really.

Jo

Pattie was better. She had gotten terribly thin. She was still in bed from her fever but it had subsided, leaving her weak. Jo

Jo

He found it all very pleasant. It was a lovely old house, so different from those decayed ruins in the old village. If they could just win through somehow and if his luck held, maybe someday the rather remarkably pleasant fact of sitting in this drawing room and talking about calm matters with Chrissie or friends would become routine.

Then the gong at the door was struck and Chrissie went to open it.

With a shout, Jo

Part XXIII

Chapter 1

Damn Terl!

At first, Jo

Aunt Ellen and the parson again. And to try to cheer up Pattie.

He had flown back to the African minesite in good spirits. He had gotten up this morning all ready to really plow into it. And now this!

Glenca

Looking at them now, Jo

Here it was, the full layout and plan, complete with the exact dimensions: the firing platform, the new position for the console, and a squiggly line.

Jo

The box Ker had sent contained a little note, written with his wrong paw if Jo

To You know who.

Here is a chunk that got sawed off by accident– ha, ha. I am digging it up for them from beside that dam to the southwest where it ain't used anymore. In case you don't know it's called "atmosphere-armor ionization cable.” I won't include the parts order number because you won't be ordering any from Psychlo. Ha, ha. Also it is a fine of three months' pay to give away company property so if I’m caught, you owe me another three months' pay. You're going to go broke at this rate. Ha, ha.

–You know who

Added: They are paying me a fortune to dig this up. You get your split when we swap lunch boxes. Ha, ha, ha!

Jo

The way it worked seemed fairly obvious: the bottom insulation interior was really a reflector. Just above that went the main current source. Then above that there was another wire and above that a third and so on up. A stack of fifteen wires. Each apparently amplified the charge of the one just below it. Out at the end it must be fastened together with a box, not included here, which assisted amplification. The resulting fabulously boosted charge must be tuned to the fields of the core and ring particles of air atoms. Hit, the molecules of air realigned themselves into molecular cohesion. The final product was an invisible curtain wall entitled "atmosphere-armor ionization cable.” They had proved it at Kariba. Not even a bullet would go through it.

It wasn't a “force screen.” Those were used in space and the Hawvins employed them on major war vessels. It was air armor.

And Terl was going to put this seven and eight-elevenths feet all around the console and platform?

Jo

But this changed things.

How could one get through a solid curtain like that?

Damn Terl!

Dully, Jo

The map was so old and creased that he hadn't really noticed before that all minesites had these cables around their dams and along their lines. He saw now that this African minesite had a second underground power transmission line and that what had been known as the Owens Falls Dam back in man-days was protected. He called for Angus and told him to go down there and check, and if the cable was still there, to get the trees removed from above it, using a blade scraper, and then if the switchboard at the dam still worked, to shift over to underground transmission and drill the sentries on turning it on and off so one could get in and out of the dam and in and out of the minesite.