[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
The boat didn't have internal gravity fields, except for the shaft. Trevelyan buckled the webbing about
himself and
looked out into a night of rushing wind. His bands moved along the polished deadliness of the Long
john's controls. I had hoped we could get away without this, he thought.
His head swooped as Sean brought the boat around. They slanted over the planet's surface, seeking to
use the advantage of height. The other boat climbed steeply toward them. Trevelyan saw flame as the
intercepted shells blew up. Once a shrapnel burst struck the hull near the bows, and it rang like a great
gong.
"His piloting stinks," said Sean. "Tbis'll be easy."
"Do we have to do it?" Surprisingly, it was Ferenezi who said that. "Can't we just outrun him?"
'And be gunned down from behind? If that lunatic doesn't know when he's beaten, he'll have to be
shown." The hardness died in Sean's voice and he bit his lip. "But I hate to do this!"
Esperera, thought Trevelyan grayly, is my friend.
For a moment the philosophy of a lifetime buckled. How long will we have to accept the world as it is?
How long will we have to stand by with empty hands and see in-
justice done?
The Nomad boat dived close, swooping on her enemy like a hawk. The Alorian pilot tried to evade
them, swerving clumsily aside. Sean passed within meters of the other, and everything his boat had cut
loose as he rushed by. Fire lanced over the sky and the Alorian boat went down in a hot rain of metal.
It w@t right! They shouldn't have died that way!
The Nomads turned upward again; Trevelyan saw that they had crossed the edge of night. The sun was
low in the east, shadows long across a forest world that glittered
with dew.
"We're away." Suddenly Sean threw back his bead and laughed. "We're away and free againl"
Trevelyan heard a shout over the intercom-joacmm's bull roar, broken in the middle. After it came a
great howling of wind.
'Vhat the hell-?" Sean bent over his mike. "What's wrong, Skipper?"
The wind hooted. There was a cold draft up the gravity tube. "I'll go," said Trevelyan. His voice seemed
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as if it came from outside himself. "I'll go find out what it is."
Trevelyan threw off the safety webbing, and ran across the deck, two steps to the shaft and then down
the beam like a dead leaf falling in England's October. He heard Joachim over the loudspeakers: "It's all
right. just a little accident. Captain to crew, remain at battle posts."
Trevelyan emerged in the airlock vestibule. The outer door was open to a sky that seemed infinitely blue.
Joachim stood by the chamber with his clothes whipping about a stooped form. The battered homely
face turned to him, fighting to keep itself steady. Joachim was crying. He didn't know how; he wept so
heavily and awkwardly that it was as if it would shake his body apart. "How'll I tell him, Micah? How'll I
tell the lad?"
"She jumped?"
"I was busy at the screen, watching. I saw the boat blow up, and stood there for a minute after. Then I
heard the airlock motor start. The door was just open a little bit, and Ilaloa stood there. I ran to grab her,
but the door opened just enough more for her to go out."
Joachim shook his head. "But how am I going to tell Sean?"
Trevelyan didn't answer. He thought of Ilaloa, falling through the sky down to her forest, and wondered
what she had been thinking of in that time. He thumbed the switch, and the door closed.
Trevelyan Micah straightened himself and laid a hand on Joachim's shoulder. "It's all right," he said.
"There's more to Sean than you know. But let's not tell him just yet."
The sky darkened around them and the stars came forth. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl fopke.keep.pl
The boat didn't have internal gravity fields, except for the shaft. Trevelyan buckled the webbing about
himself and
looked out into a night of rushing wind. His bands moved along the polished deadliness of the Long
john's controls. I had hoped we could get away without this, he thought.
His head swooped as Sean brought the boat around. They slanted over the planet's surface, seeking to
use the advantage of height. The other boat climbed steeply toward them. Trevelyan saw flame as the
intercepted shells blew up. Once a shrapnel burst struck the hull near the bows, and it rang like a great
gong.
"His piloting stinks," said Sean. "Tbis'll be easy."
"Do we have to do it?" Surprisingly, it was Ferenezi who said that. "Can't we just outrun him?"
'And be gunned down from behind? If that lunatic doesn't know when he's beaten, he'll have to be
shown." The hardness died in Sean's voice and he bit his lip. "But I hate to do this!"
Esperera, thought Trevelyan grayly, is my friend.
For a moment the philosophy of a lifetime buckled. How long will we have to accept the world as it is?
How long will we have to stand by with empty hands and see in-
justice done?
The Nomad boat dived close, swooping on her enemy like a hawk. The Alorian pilot tried to evade
them, swerving clumsily aside. Sean passed within meters of the other, and everything his boat had cut
loose as he rushed by. Fire lanced over the sky and the Alorian boat went down in a hot rain of metal.
It w@t right! They shouldn't have died that way!
The Nomads turned upward again; Trevelyan saw that they had crossed the edge of night. The sun was
low in the east, shadows long across a forest world that glittered
with dew.
"We're away." Suddenly Sean threw back his bead and laughed. "We're away and free againl"
Trevelyan heard a shout over the intercom-joacmm's bull roar, broken in the middle. After it came a
great howling of wind.
'Vhat the hell-?" Sean bent over his mike. "What's wrong, Skipper?"
The wind hooted. There was a cold draft up the gravity tube. "I'll go," said Trevelyan. His voice seemed
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
as if it came from outside himself. "I'll go find out what it is."
Trevelyan threw off the safety webbing, and ran across the deck, two steps to the shaft and then down
the beam like a dead leaf falling in England's October. He heard Joachim over the loudspeakers: "It's all
right. just a little accident. Captain to crew, remain at battle posts."
Trevelyan emerged in the airlock vestibule. The outer door was open to a sky that seemed infinitely blue.
Joachim stood by the chamber with his clothes whipping about a stooped form. The battered homely
face turned to him, fighting to keep itself steady. Joachim was crying. He didn't know how; he wept so
heavily and awkwardly that it was as if it would shake his body apart. "How'll I tell him, Micah? How'll I
tell the lad?"
"She jumped?"
"I was busy at the screen, watching. I saw the boat blow up, and stood there for a minute after. Then I
heard the airlock motor start. The door was just open a little bit, and Ilaloa stood there. I ran to grab her,
but the door opened just enough more for her to go out."
Joachim shook his head. "But how am I going to tell Sean?"
Trevelyan didn't answer. He thought of Ilaloa, falling through the sky down to her forest, and wondered
what she had been thinking of in that time. He thumbed the switch, and the door closed.
Trevelyan Micah straightened himself and laid a hand on Joachim's shoulder. "It's all right," he said.
"There's more to Sean than you know. But let's not tell him just yet."
The sky darkened around them and the stars came forth. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]