the streets were lined with silent people when the procession came into view around the slight curve.
then there was a tentative cheer from someone. it was taken up by someone else, and soon the crowd was roaring its synthetic appreciation of administrator mayne landing. wolf breathed easier.
craning his neck in the crowd, wolf spotted the other five, standing dispersed in the crowd, but all near the spot on the street opposite the tailor's shop. they made no acknowledgement except meeting his eyes, then turning away to watch the procession near.
as they came closer, wolf noted with satisfaction that several of the guards occasionally glanced at the street behind them.
good. they had seen the knot of men outside town, then. if they expected anything, they were expecting it from behind them.
he could see the tall, straight figure of mayne landing in the ground car. he took in the familiar face almost hungrily, the great shock of white hair moving gently in the slight breeze, the characteristic gesture, a half-salute, the slight smile, the kindly eyes of the old man—
he tore his eyes away from the dignified figure and glanced behind him, down the street. he saw a figure move on a roof-top, and wondered if the guards saw it, too.
then the ground car was opposite, and wolf had a wrenching sensation that the diversionary squad was not going to go through with it....
an explosion rocked the street a block away, shaking the ground underfoot, shattering windows in the adjacent stores. a billow of dirty black smoke began to drift toward the sky. there was a scattering of small, explosive fire.
the tone of the crowd's roar changed. it deepened and became a mass cry of confusion and fright.
quietly, wolf edged forward to the street, automatically noting that his men were doing the same. several of the guards had turned, were running back toward the source of the excitement, and others were turned toward it. but those around mayne landing had not responded. they were keeping their eyes fixed on the crowd. they were too well trained to be drawn off, and wolf cursed under his breath.
he stopped his forward motion and waited, rocking on the balls of his feet. this was the part he hadn't told his five about.
suddenly there was a flurry in the crowd on the opposite side of the street. the nearest guard whirled, in time to draw his hand gun and fire. the first of the five sprawled in the street, a bloody stump where his head had been. but the guard's blast had not been in time to stop the long mowing knife that buried itself to the hilt in his throat. he lurched forward, dropping the hand gun. his momentum carried him almost into the edge of the crowd, and a woman screamed hysterically.
wolf's other men had been only a fraction of a second behind the first, and the street was now a chaos of shouting and the sharp, flat reports of the guards' hand guns. the crowd milled frantically, adding to the confusion as the attackers leaped at the procession.
wolf waited, waited, watching for the single split-second when the guards were fully engaged with the crowd.
then it came, and their heads were momentarily turned away from mayne landing.
wolf sprinted from the crowd, the short stiletto cradled in his hand. he leaped to the side of the ground car just as mayne landing turned toward him.
he saw the old man's face clearly in that moment. it held no fear, but only an unbelievable surprise, an astonishment beyond understanding. then the stiletto slid gently into the throat, severing the jugular, and all surprise and emotion was lost in the implacable blank agony of death. the still-pumping heart forced a pulsing stream of bright arterial blood around the blade of the knife.
