The line of enemy cars was long and moving fast. He couldn't go around their rear and they were moving fast enough to head him off and hold him for as long as the crowd needed to surround the convoy. He switched on his mike. "Sabo, can you break their line?" "Right. Allenby, attack the cars!" A personnel carrier, sixty men standing on its deck, charged the enemy vehicles. MacFarland grinned when he heard the bagpipes wail. The carrier headed toward the tiny space between the fourth and fifth vehicles in the enemy line. It swerved suddenly and half a dozen kilted troopers jumped from the deck and landed among the enemy vehicles. Fans screamed as drivers maneuvered to avoid running them over. A second squad jumped off. A third squad landed on their heels. Soon only the piper stood on the deck of the carrier, proudly erect as his mess mates risked their lives among rampaging machines. The enemy line disintegrated. MacFarland picked out a hole eighty yards wide and led the convoy forward. As they passed the carrier, he threw the piper a salute. "Well done," he told the mike. "Thank you," Sabo said. "It was a good job," Crawford Bell said, "but we had all the advantages. Wait until it's them on foot and us mounted." * * * * * The crowd had grown bigger. Now its roar could be heard for miles. A helicopter hovered over it, probably broadcasting the same kind of propaganda as the helicopter over the convoy. Aiming for the airport, the convoy had left the Institute on a Northeast tack. In trying to outrun the line of cars, they had turned until they were moving due north. The mob was running north, too, and had almost placed itself between the convoy and the airport. "Cut right," MacFarland told his driver. "Full speed ahead. See if you can cross in front of the crowd." The helicopter's spotlight irritated him. He didn't like bright lights. Turning around, he checked to see how the scientists were doing. They were all wearing masks and their positions told him nothing about their feelings. He waved and one of them waved back. Now he could hear the helicopter over the crowd. It was describing the loss that threatened Belderkan. The situation didn't demand sophisticated propaganda. In a world of unrestricted international trade, with a hundred and ten countries fighting to maintain high living standards, a nation had to maintain a good balance between its exports and imports. The new products talented brains could create were the key to survival. Albert Warren, inventor of several valuable life forms, creator of the currently accepted unified theory of the life process, was one of the world's most valuable natural resources. He and his colleagues were worth several battles. Three helicopters swooped over the convoy. MacFarland ducked and looked for signs of gas. The helicopters held a position about twenty yards in front of his car and a few feet off the ground. "Here it comes," Crawford Bell mumbled.