where they were supposed to be. He had waited long enough to realize they were not going to meet with him as intended. That meant one of two things: they had been wiped out to the man, which of course he hoped was not the case; or, the enemy had managed to cut off their route to the rendezvous point. Naturally M’k’n’zy had anticipated that possibility, and so he had arranged a backup meeting place.
The only remaining question was whether M’k’n’zy would be able to make it there.
He reached out with his finely honed senses, endeavoring to determine if he was truly alone. The rocky pass in which he was secreted was an excellent place for an ambush. He was under a stone overhang that shielded him from the view of anyone who might be above him, while offering a clear sightline into a passageway below. Anyone trying to make their way through the crevasse running through the mountain would be a perfect target for him.
He had to work on the assumption, though, that the enemy would not be that stupid. If they were, well, then it was a gift and he would take full advantage of it. But there was no point in sitting around and waiting to see if anyone showed up that he could try to pick off from hiding, particularly if it delayed his meeting up with his troops.
It wasn’t as if the enemy was especially stealthy; their armor made a distinctive clanking when they approached. Then there was the fact that his sixth sense for danger, which had never let him down before, wasn’t alerting him to any immediate threat. He was safe, or at least as safe as the current situation permitted.
M’k’n’zy knew his way around the mountains of Xenex better than any other man alive. He knew that, from where he was positioned, there was an angled, sheltered pathway that would get him to the ground without exposing him to attack. It would be an easy matter to make it to that path unobserved.
The ideal course of action would have been to wait for night, but he had no desire to remain separated from his troops for that long. They needed him. They were up against a devastating, even overwhelming enemy, and his leadership and skill were an absolute necessity. He cursed his inability to communicate with them over long distances, and resolved that—once this business was done—he would make certain that the Xenexian army was properly outfitted with the sort of equipment necessary to fight a war. Certainly he had to assume that their enemies possessed the ability to stay in touch with each other, as if the Xenexians didn’t already have enough disadvantages.
The sun was not quite at its zenith, and M’k’n’zy decided not to wait any longer. Keeping to the wall as closely as possible, he started making his way toward the path that would take him to the ground. From there he would head due east, trying to stick to areas of cover as much as possible. There would be a few points along the way where he would be vulnerable to observers, but it couldn’t be helped. He would just have to trust his reflexes and experiences to see him through.
Frequently the planet itself was the single greatest defense against intruders, because off-worlders typically found the brutal Xenexian climate to be nearly overwhelming. Unfortunately that was not the case now. The enemy that M’k’n’zy was facing was as indifferent to the heat as was M’k’n’zy himself. He could not count on the environment to wear them down or make them think that departing Xenex in exasperation was the best option. If he and his men were going to get rid of them, it was going to have to be done by outthinking and outmaneuvering them.
The long minutes crawled past. The entire way down, M’k’n’zy kept waiting for some sort of attack. He was holding a sword in his hand, keeping it firm and steady.
Ten feet shy of reaching the ground, he stopped dead.
Something was wrong up ahead. He wasn’t sure what it was, but that alone was enough to bring him to full alert. He strained, trying to see what could possibly be waiting for him that presented a threat, but there didn’t appear to be anything. Nevertheless the hairs on the back of his neck were prickling, and that was enough to keep him rooted to the spot.