Chapter 4

 Wolfs final plan was simple. He had not enough men to count on a direct attack. The major work would be performed by the dependable five, of which Carroll assured him. The others would be used to create a diversion to cover the actual assault.

There was a slight bend to the highway just before it entered the village. When the procession passed this point, they would see a group of men disperse¹ quickly into the low scrub at the side of the road. This would put them on their guard, they would be apprehensive², watching.

When the procession had entered the village itself and was within the short commercial strip, there would be an explosion back of them. Grenades, perhaps some shooting. If Wolf's prediction were accurate, this would divert the attention of at least the major portion of guards for long enough.

Long enough for the five men in the crowd to do what they had to do—

"This must be timed perfectly," he told the man who was to head the diversionary squad³.

"I understand that."

"Too soon or too late, either will destroy us. It will take us too long to reach the Administrator⁴. He must be exactly opposite the tailor's shop. It must be done right."

"It will be done right."

"If it is not, all the sacrifices are for nothing, you understand that? The consequences will be as bad, or worse, for the village, and we will have accomplished⁵ nothing. If the Administrator is dead, there will be time for most of the villagers to escape into the hills before the Federation⁶ can take action against them."

The man left, after Wolf had provided him with the weapons his group would need from his cache on the nearby hillside.

The dependable five were instructed in their parts, and then there was nothing to do but wait.

The next morning dawned clear. The air was cool, a slight breeze ruffled⁷ the fields around the village. As the sun rose higher in the sky, it glinted sharply from the towers of Thanlar.

It had been impossible to keep the entire operation a secret from the villagers. They knew something was to happen, and they knew it concerned the inspection⁸ trip of Mayne Landing to the village. It was not hard to guess what it was.

As the day drew on toward noon, the tension of the people grew. Small knots of farmers gathered on the corners, their fields forgotten for the day, talking low.

Wolf didn't like it, it was too obvious. The village was primed, ready to explode, and he was afraid the tension would make the guards too alert. They had to be just tense enough to respond to the diversion, not enough so they would be watching everywhere. He was counting on an instinctive⁹, rapid response.

He sat behind the tailor shop, talking to his men with a confidence and calm he did not feel. He spoke¹⁰ as if the success of the mission were a foregone fact, and the escape of the villagers into the hills. But he knew it was tenuous¹¹.

Perhaps he had planned it too critically. Perhaps a simple direct attack would have been better. Perhaps, perhaps—

Any number of things were possible, he thought. But it was done now. If he had made a mistake, they would know soon.

On the contraband¹² comset behind the tailor shop, Wolf had called the mother-ship that hovered¹³ just out of detection range. All right, they confirmed, there would be a shuttle in the hills back of the town. Did he know the shuttle that had brought him had been lost? No? Well, it had. With the whole crew aboard.

That many more, thought Wolf. If anybody's keeping a list, I've got a lot to my credit. Or damnation. And, bitterly: More friends than enemies.

Don't think about it. Do your job and get the hell out. If you can.

He spoke to Daimya, but on her father's advice did not tell her of his plan to take her along.

"She won't go voluntarily," the old man said frankly¹⁴. "We will have to pretend we are all going to the hills. After that—" he nodded slowly, "—the problem is yours."

"I will take care of her, Joseph," Wolf had promised, and the sun-browned farmer had clasped his hand tightly in a mute gesture of hopefulness.

"You understand—a man and his daughter—you understand?"

More than you probably know, Joseph.

"Yes," he said aloud. "I think I understand."

And then came the word that the Administrator's procession was in sight.

Wolf looked at his five dependables. He passed each face slowly, as if he had never seen them before. They were young, and old, and middle-aged¹⁵. They were dark from the hours in the sun, strong from the work that pulled their muscles for the long hours each day. They smiled at him, grimly, nervous, but they were good men.

The faces of freedom, Wolf thought. These are the faces and the bodies of freedom.

Then it was time.

1 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

2 apprehensive   

adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的

参考例句：

• She was deeply apprehensive about her future.她对未来感到非常担心。
• He was rather apprehensive of failure.他相当害怕失败。

3 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

4 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

5 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

6 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

7 ruffled   

adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
• All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。

8 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

9 instinctive   

adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的

参考例句：

• He tried to conceal his instinctive revulsion at the idea.他试图饰盖自己对这一想法本能的厌恶。
• Animals have an instinctive fear of fire.动物本能地怕火。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。

12 contraband   

n.违禁品，走私品

参考例句：

• Most of the city markets were flooded with contraband goods.大多数的城市市场上都充斥着走私货。
• The customs officers rummaged the ship suspected to have contraband goods.海关人员仔细搜查了一艘有走私嫌疑的海轮。

13 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

14 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

15 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。