This gave the cyclist heart. Dugan felt misgivings when he deduced that the man did not feel he had driven fast yet. He wished he were not so tired. If he had the strength, he could think of something better. When there was only one chance, that one was the chance to take.
The cyclist started up his machine. It raced forward with terrific acceleration. Dugan held tight. The road reeled in front of him. As they swung he saw the sentries ahead of him. They stood in the road, blocking it. The driver wobbled his machine.
They plowed into the men.
Dugan felt the motorcycle dropping sidewise. He strained with his entire will to force it back to balance. Forty or fifty feet past the sentries it slewed sidewise. Dugan received a terrific blow on the left shoulder. He absorbed as much of it as he could, and fire ran through his side and arm.
He blacked out momentarily — five seconds, a minute, he could not tell. When he opened his eyes he saw a sentry approaching him. The body of the motorcyclist was halfway over Dugan's. The approaching sentry had his gun ready. Dugan raised his pistol with a final effort of will.
His bullet and the rifle shot seemed to blaze out at the same precise instant. Dugan felt the body over his jump at the impact. The motorcyclist's blood covered them both. But the approaching soldier was not to be seen. And the second sentry?
Dugan dragged himself to his feet.
The nearer sentry was lying on his face. Dugan walked over to him, saw the man move, fired a bullet directly into him. If the second sentry had been standing there with a rifle, Dugan would not have been able to account for him. But the second sentry was not there.
Dugan limped back to the sentry box. The other man was there on the ground, groaning. Dugan, who felt bad about the two men in the road behind him, tapped this one on the head and silenced him,
He got back to the motorcycle. It took him long, long minutes to right the machine. He tried the controls half a dozen different ways before he saw the obvious ignition switch. Turning it on, he kicked the motor into action.