"Once more," said the captain, "clear the way. This man is your new governor. He will be regarded as the official agent of the Earth Government until the final production capacity of this colony is determined. Now clear out."
The men didn't move. Without another word, the captain threw the jeep into reverse, jerked back in a curve, and started the jeep, flat tire and all, back toward the ship in a billow of dust.
Abruptly the village exploded into activity. Four men took up places behind the row of windbreaks beyond the first row of cabins. Pete turned and ran back into the village. He found John Tegan commandeering a squad of ten dirty-faced men. "Are the women and children all out?" he shouted.
"All taken care of." Tegan spat tobacco juice, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Where's Mel?"
"Left flank. He'll try to move in behind them. Gonna be tough, Pete, they've got good weapons."
"What about the boys last night?"
John was checking the bolt on his ancient rifle. "Hank and Ringo? Just got back an hour ago. If Varga wants to get his surface planes into action, he's going to have to dismantle them and rebuild them outside. The boys jammed up the launching ports for good." He spat again. "Don't worry, Pete. This is going to be a ground fight."
"Okay." Pete held out his hand to the old man. "This may be it. And if we turn them back, there's bound to be more later."
"There's a lot of planet to hide on," said Tegan. "They may come back, but after a while they'll go again."