He answered:
"Ye and the other woman shall stay here with me, on this hill." He
produced a telescope. "We will watch with this eye-tube. The other nine
men will go ahead and do the work."
"And will they separate?"
"Nay. They intend to conquer this colony first; then, after your people
are freed and safely on the way to my country, the conquerors will
proceed to the next valley, and so on until all are released." He kept
his word not to warn Rolla of the proposed captivity. "In that way the
fear of them will go ahead and make their way easy."
Meanwhile the nine were getting ready for their unprecedented conquest.
They put on heavy leather clothes, also leather caps, gloves and boots.
Around their faces were stiff wire nets, such as annoyed them all
exceedingly and would have maddened Cunora or Rolla. But it meant
safety.
As for weapons, they relied entirely upon fire. Each man carried a
little wood alcohol in a flask, in case it was necessary to burn wet or
green wood. Otherwise, their equipment was matches, with an emergency
set of flint and steel as well. There could be no resisting them.
"We'll wait here till we've seen that you've succeeded," Somat told
Deltos and Sorplee. "Then we'll follow.
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