Two of the Navy crew were on him. They pulled him loose from his handhold, set him spinning in the air. He caught glimpses of them rebounding from walls. Then one had wrapped his arms and legs around Rather's lower ribs from behind, and the other had a foot in Rather's crotch and Rather's two ankles in his hands, stretching his legs straight.

There was a wrestling trick. Jill had shown him, in the brief period when she was stronger than he was. You wrapped your arms or legs around your opponent's short ribs and tightened them. Your opponent couldn't inhale. Presently he would faint.

Rather had used it on others afterward, and been punished for it. Most of the children were smaller than he was. Jilly wasn't, but she didn't have the strength of a dwarf after they beth got older. Rather had been taught not to fight. He still got angry sometimes, but he learned to control it. Sometimes he wrestled with adults. He generally lost.

The man behind him (call him Navy #1) was letting him breathe, but shallowly. The other (Navy #2) wasn't kicking Rather's seeds into his belly; but he could. Rather held the red rage in check. "Booce?"

Booce answered the implied question. "You tell me. Where have you beenT'

"The Dark. We've delivered Hilar's mud. We've got some walnut-cushion and-"

"The Navy went through this house like a whirlwind. I told them about the sporing fringe in the concrete. I was about to show them a hiding place I made in the door. I think they'd rather chop my house apart, and I get the distinct impression that it's all your fault-"

"Shut it, Booce," Mickl said. "Rather, what did you think you were coming home to?"

Anger made his thoughts murky, but he'd rehearsed this part in his mind. "I thought ... I saw Sectry and I saw you. I thought the Captain-Guardian had come personally to tell me I was in. The Navy. You know. But-"

"You must know that an officer wouldn't care that much about a new inductee."

"Well, you're here and . . . someone told me you're very eager to put another dwarf in the Guardian slot. What me you doing here, Captain-Guardian?"

"It's a mistake!" Sectry burst out.

Mickl didn't shout; he projected his voice over hers. The walls shivered to it. "Let me tell you something about mistakes. There's-"

"No, allow me." Rather reached for the foot in his crotch with both hands. He had it before the leg could snap straight, and he twisted. His rib cage closed. He stopped breathing and kept twisting. The leg buckled;

Navy #2 was pulled close; he loosed Rather's ankle and Rather kicked him twice under the jaw. Now his hands were free to pull the constricting arms apart and over his head and down. Torsion pulled the legs free too, and he could breathe.