[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
white protosaurian had reminded him uncomfortably of Vilkish F'Thansa's story.
And again at the foot of the cliffs, while he was looking for a way up, he had seen
something large and white at a distance; he had not known whether it was the slave-
hound, or the mysterious white protosaur.
He had found a narrow trail to the top of the cliffs, and had met an Anka'an
spearman coming down.
"He had not been expecting me," Dravash said, "and for a moment was not sure I
was not one of his own First People. That gave me a moment to evade his spear and
to seize him from behind where he could not get at me. I am a peaceful man, and I
do not like to kill, but I broke the spear over his head, and banged that head against
the rock a time or two. I do not think I killed him, but I am also sure he was in no
shape to follow me. That is the only wound I have which is not from the rocks and
sharp glass of this monstrous place; the accursed spear caught me in the shoulder."
From these few words Dane caught a tantalizing picture of a battle he would have
liked to have seen. On second thought, he had had enough of battles for a time.
Dravash had discovered, soon after that, that he had walked into a furious
manhunt; and had had no resource but to conceal himself in the underbrush while it
raged around him. And from things the Anka'an spearmen, their leaders, and the
villagers who followed them said within his hearing,
he surmised that the quarry of the hunt was neither the slave-hound some of the
villagers had grumbled because they were not giving their time and energy to
hunting that monster which had killed so many of their cattle nor the four who
had escaped from Rahnilor.
"Otherwise," he said, "I'd have gone back out of the Gorge the other way, and
headed back for the Unity Base to try to get a ship down for us. We've done our
work here; we know there are Kirgon, and we know about the white protosaurs,
and once the Council of Protectors hears this story, they can monitor all approaches
to Belsar, and stop whoever it is. Although I do not like to think that the
protosaurian kind could spawn such a fierce race of pirates. But when I heard that,
I realized there was probably a survivor of the Unity Base hiding out somewhere
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
around here."
Rianna asked, "How do you know it was a survivor of the Unity Base?"
"Because," Dravash said, "I saw an arrow a fairly crude one. No native would
have used it; and after I found the wreck of the Kirgon base, I knew that any race
which could have done that would have had no scruples about hunting with a
weapon more effective than bow and arrow. The Unity people on the Base knew
about the taboo here, but when a last survivor was starving, he might not be so
careful to observe such a prohibition."
Dane wasn't so sure; the same might possibly apply to some criminal of the native
population, exiled from a village. "But if it is a survivor from the Unity Base," he
asked, "and he has been able to hide out from the whole Anka'an Order, how do
you think that we are going to be able to find him?"
"Our throat disks," Dravash said. "If we can get within normal range, his disk will
pick up the vibrations of ours, and he will know we mean him no harm."
"That's a lot bigger if than I like," Dane began but at that moment there was a
sudden hiss in the air, and an arrow drove quivering into the ground by Dane's foot.
His heart lurched; his sword sparkled sunlight as he pulled it free. His disk in his
throat vibrated suddenly to speech strange speech.
"Come on, you filthy subbumans! You'll not get me this time, either!"
There was a second hiss in the air and Dane suddenly rolled his good wrist upward
in a swift movement, a foil-
guard. The arrow skittered on his raised blade and flew off at an angle.
"Wait!" Rianna shouted. "We're from the Unity! We're friends!" She peered
toward the thick brush of the jungle, and a human figure prowled toward them.
Dane thought, in confusion, human, 1 thought the Unity personnel were Sh'fejj...
The human kept itself in the densest part of the shadows, but Dane could see the
bow, still half-drawn.
"I have no friends in the Unity," the voice sneered, "So you've finally gotten around
to this dung-ball, have you?" The bow moved up in his hands. "Was it you who
did this?" A comprehensive gesture took in the desolation of the Kirgon base
around them.
"No," said Dravash, "we had nothing to do with it; we found it only a little while
ago. Come out, why don't you, and talk?"
"One of you overgrown rock-creepers? Sh'fejj, by the Great Fire," the sneering
voice said from the shadows, "Where's your ship?"
"In orbit," said Dravash. "Now come out where we can see you, and talk."
Rianna whispered, "A Kirgon."
The man in the shadows hesitated, and then, lowering the bow once more, moved
toward them out of the shadows. The pallidness of his form was, Dane decided, a
close-fitting silvery suit that made Dane think of early flying gear; his hair, too, was
silvery, and his skin pale in the shadows, with a faint grayish hue that made Dane
think for some reason of photographic film.
He stepped into the full sunlight and suddenly his face and hands glowed pearl-
white, beautiful as a haloed angel. Prismatic shimmers rippled along the highlights
of his cheekbones, and his eyes were mirrors from which the sun flared a blaze of
light. His hair had become invisible, a reflector casting off sunbeam brilliance.
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
He was wearing some kind of close-fitting coverall of grayish leather, trimmed with
fur; Dane wondered how he endured the heat. Round his waist was a black belt
studded with metal, supporting the sheaths of two blades, and an empty holster
which must once have held a pistol-like weapon. The bow was new, made obviously
from native materials.
"So you didn't know the Unity had a Base on this planet?"
Dravash said, and Dane, following his thought processes, knew the unspoken part of
that was, so you didn't find it, if you people had found it, it would took like this.
Dravash, with a gesture, indicated the wreckage around them.
"How did this happen?"
The flashing eyes were like silver mirrors and unreadable, but Dane saw the lips
move, and fancied a sneer as the Kirgon asked, "Why do you want to know?"
"My superiors, in orbit, have ordered me to investigate," Dravash said calmly,
"Belsar is a peaceful world, and under the protection of the Unity." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl fopke.keep.pl
white protosaurian had reminded him uncomfortably of Vilkish F'Thansa's story.
And again at the foot of the cliffs, while he was looking for a way up, he had seen
something large and white at a distance; he had not known whether it was the slave-
hound, or the mysterious white protosaur.
He had found a narrow trail to the top of the cliffs, and had met an Anka'an
spearman coming down.
"He had not been expecting me," Dravash said, "and for a moment was not sure I
was not one of his own First People. That gave me a moment to evade his spear and
to seize him from behind where he could not get at me. I am a peaceful man, and I
do not like to kill, but I broke the spear over his head, and banged that head against
the rock a time or two. I do not think I killed him, but I am also sure he was in no
shape to follow me. That is the only wound I have which is not from the rocks and
sharp glass of this monstrous place; the accursed spear caught me in the shoulder."
From these few words Dane caught a tantalizing picture of a battle he would have
liked to have seen. On second thought, he had had enough of battles for a time.
Dravash had discovered, soon after that, that he had walked into a furious
manhunt; and had had no resource but to conceal himself in the underbrush while it
raged around him. And from things the Anka'an spearmen, their leaders, and the
villagers who followed them said within his hearing,
he surmised that the quarry of the hunt was neither the slave-hound some of the
villagers had grumbled because they were not giving their time and energy to
hunting that monster which had killed so many of their cattle nor the four who
had escaped from Rahnilor.
"Otherwise," he said, "I'd have gone back out of the Gorge the other way, and
headed back for the Unity Base to try to get a ship down for us. We've done our
work here; we know there are Kirgon, and we know about the white protosaurs,
and once the Council of Protectors hears this story, they can monitor all approaches
to Belsar, and stop whoever it is. Although I do not like to think that the
protosaurian kind could spawn such a fierce race of pirates. But when I heard that,
I realized there was probably a survivor of the Unity Base hiding out somewhere
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
around here."
Rianna asked, "How do you know it was a survivor of the Unity Base?"
"Because," Dravash said, "I saw an arrow a fairly crude one. No native would
have used it; and after I found the wreck of the Kirgon base, I knew that any race
which could have done that would have had no scruples about hunting with a
weapon more effective than bow and arrow. The Unity people on the Base knew
about the taboo here, but when a last survivor was starving, he might not be so
careful to observe such a prohibition."
Dane wasn't so sure; the same might possibly apply to some criminal of the native
population, exiled from a village. "But if it is a survivor from the Unity Base," he
asked, "and he has been able to hide out from the whole Anka'an Order, how do
you think that we are going to be able to find him?"
"Our throat disks," Dravash said. "If we can get within normal range, his disk will
pick up the vibrations of ours, and he will know we mean him no harm."
"That's a lot bigger if than I like," Dane began but at that moment there was a
sudden hiss in the air, and an arrow drove quivering into the ground by Dane's foot.
His heart lurched; his sword sparkled sunlight as he pulled it free. His disk in his
throat vibrated suddenly to speech strange speech.
"Come on, you filthy subbumans! You'll not get me this time, either!"
There was a second hiss in the air and Dane suddenly rolled his good wrist upward
in a swift movement, a foil-
guard. The arrow skittered on his raised blade and flew off at an angle.
"Wait!" Rianna shouted. "We're from the Unity! We're friends!" She peered
toward the thick brush of the jungle, and a human figure prowled toward them.
Dane thought, in confusion, human, 1 thought the Unity personnel were Sh'fejj...
The human kept itself in the densest part of the shadows, but Dane could see the
bow, still half-drawn.
"I have no friends in the Unity," the voice sneered, "So you've finally gotten around
to this dung-ball, have you?" The bow moved up in his hands. "Was it you who
did this?" A comprehensive gesture took in the desolation of the Kirgon base
around them.
"No," said Dravash, "we had nothing to do with it; we found it only a little while
ago. Come out, why don't you, and talk?"
"One of you overgrown rock-creepers? Sh'fejj, by the Great Fire," the sneering
voice said from the shadows, "Where's your ship?"
"In orbit," said Dravash. "Now come out where we can see you, and talk."
Rianna whispered, "A Kirgon."
The man in the shadows hesitated, and then, lowering the bow once more, moved
toward them out of the shadows. The pallidness of his form was, Dane decided, a
close-fitting silvery suit that made Dane think of early flying gear; his hair, too, was
silvery, and his skin pale in the shadows, with a faint grayish hue that made Dane
think for some reason of photographic film.
He stepped into the full sunlight and suddenly his face and hands glowed pearl-
white, beautiful as a haloed angel. Prismatic shimmers rippled along the highlights
of his cheekbones, and his eyes were mirrors from which the sun flared a blaze of
light. His hair had become invisible, a reflector casting off sunbeam brilliance.
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
He was wearing some kind of close-fitting coverall of grayish leather, trimmed with
fur; Dane wondered how he endured the heat. Round his waist was a black belt
studded with metal, supporting the sheaths of two blades, and an empty holster
which must once have held a pistol-like weapon. The bow was new, made obviously
from native materials.
"So you didn't know the Unity had a Base on this planet?"
Dravash said, and Dane, following his thought processes, knew the unspoken part of
that was, so you didn't find it, if you people had found it, it would took like this.
Dravash, with a gesture, indicated the wreckage around them.
"How did this happen?"
The flashing eyes were like silver mirrors and unreadable, but Dane saw the lips
move, and fancied a sneer as the Kirgon asked, "Why do you want to know?"
"My superiors, in orbit, have ordered me to investigate," Dravash said calmly,
"Belsar is a peaceful world, and under the protection of the Unity." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]