Men jumped out of the helicopters. MacFarland's driver reversed his engine. The convoy screamed to a halt. The men jumping from the copters hit the ground and threw themselves prostrate. In the tall grass they could be anywhere. The helicopter overhead switched off its light. Another helicopter landed on their left flank. A dozen Belderkans climbed out and ran toward the scientists. "Don't leave us. Great men that you are, think of our needs." From Sabo's second personnel carrier, a squad ran to intercept the pleaders before they made it impossible for the scientists to move. The drivers of the threatened cars pulled out of the line. Arms linked, Sabo's men managed to keep the pleaders away from the scientists. * * * * * The two cars carrying the scientists parked next to MacFarland. "No wonder you like your work," Lauchstein, the genetic engineer shouted. The other scientists didn't act so enthusiastic. MacFarland switched on his mike. "Sabo, clear us a path through that gang up ahead. If you work fast, we can still outrun the crowd." "We're moving out," Sabo said. The bagpipes screamed. Sabo's men leaped from their carriers and moved out at a trot, the whole "regiment" of one hundred eighty men in the formation invented by Sabo himself and used by non-violent fighters all over the world. Half the regiment formed two parallel lines. The other half broke into three-man squads which hunted for a path through the Belderkan squads. The Belderkans stood up in the grass. There were about fifty of them. They tried to form a line in front of the convoy, but Sabo's men jumping and blocking among them thwarted that maneuver. A leader shouted an order and the Belderkans converged on the convoy, obviously trying to place one or two men so close to each vehicle movement would be impossible. The Belderkans were as disciplined and agile as Sabo's troops. Men danced and jumped in the tall grass. Sabo maneuvered to break a hole in the Belderkan lines and send his two files through it, forming a corridor for the convoy. The Belderkans maneuvered to obstruct the double file and place men among the vehicles. Since they only had to hold the convoy until the crowd arrived, the Belderkans had the advantage. "Look at it," Crawford Bell said. "It's the second time I've seen it. Look at it." * * * * * It was a spectacle, all right. The polite dancing men, the wailing bagpipes, the bodies that never touched, never even brushed lightly. But MacFarland wasn't enjoying it. He knew how close he was to defeat. He didn't like the danger created when heated men from different nations faced each other on the battle field. So far no one had forgotten the discipline of the non-violent fighter, but the old beast still lived in the human psyche. One shove by a Belderkan or a mercenary and the tiger would roar on the plain.