[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Anacho made a dreary sound. "I had better go as well."
Reith shook his head. "One can do the job as well as three. You two remain
here and keep our affairs moving."
"And if you don't return?"
"There are sixty or seventy thousand sequins still in the pouch. Take the
money and leave
Sivishe ... But I'll be back. I can't doubt this. It's not possible that we
should toil and suffer so greatly only to fail."
"Hardly a rational assessment," Anacho said dryly: "I expect never to see you
again."
"Nonsense," said Reith. "Well, I'll get started. The sooner I leave, the
sooner I return."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE SKY-CAR SAILED quietly through the night of old Tschai, over landscape
ghostly in the light of the blue moon. Reith felt like a man drifting through
a strange dream. He mused over the events of his life, his childhood, his
years of training, his missions among the stars and finally his assignment to
the Explorator IV. Then Tschai: destruction and disaster, his time with the
Emblem nomads, the journey across Aman Steppe and the Dead Steppe to Pera; the
sack of Dadiche; the subsequent journey to Cath and his adventures at Ao
Hidis. Then the journey to Carabas, the slaughter of the Dirdir, the
construction of the spaceship in Sivishe. And Woudiver! On Tschai both virtue
and vice were exaggerated; Reith had known many evil men, among whom Woudiver
ranked high.
The night advanced; the forests of central Kislovan gave way to barren uplands
and silent
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20Vance/Vance,%20Jack%20-%20Tschai%203%20-%20The%20Dirdir.
txt (57 of 81) [2/4/03 10:46:09 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20Vance/Vance,%20Jack%20-%20Tschai%203%20-%20The%20Dirdir.
txt wasteland. In all the circle of vision, no light, no fire, no sign of
human activity was visible.
Reith consulted the course monitor, adjusted the automatic pilot. The Carabas
lay only an hour ahead. The blue moon hung low; when it set the landscape
would be dark until dawn.
The hour passed. Braz sank behind the horizon; in the east appeared a sepia
glimmer announcing the nearness of dawn. Reith, dividing his attention between
the course monitor and the ground below, finally thought to glimpse the shape
of Khusz. At once, he dropped the car low to the ground and veered to the
east, swinging behind the Boundary Forest. As Carina 4269 thrust a first cool
brown sliver over the edge of the horizon Reith landed, close under the first
great torquils of the forest.
For a period he sat watching and listening. Carina 4269 rose into the sky and
the low light shone directly upon the sky-car. Reith gathered broken fronds
and branches, which he laid against the car, camouflaging it to some extent.
Page 59
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
The time had come when he must venture into the forest. He could delay no
longer. Taking a sack and a shovel, tucking weapons into his belt, Reith set
forth.
The trail was familiar. Reith recognized each bole, every dark sheaf of
fungus, every hummock of lichen. As he passed through the forest he became
aware of a sickening odor: the reek of carrion. This was to be expected. He
halted. Voices? Reith jumped off the trail, listened.
Voices indeed. Reith hesitated, then stole forward through the heavy foliage.
Ahead lay the site of the trap. Reith approached with the most extreme
caution, creeping on his hands and knees, finally crawling on his elbows ...
He looked forth upon an eerie sight. To one side, in front of a great torquil,
stood five Dirdir in hunting regalia. A dozen gray-faced men stood in a great
hole, digging with shovels and buckets: this was the hole, greatly enlarged,
in which Reith, Traz and Anacho had buried the Dirdir corpses. From the
splendid rotting carrion came an odious stench ... Reith stared. One of these
men was surely familiar-it was Issam the Thang.
And next to him worked the hostler, and next, the porter at the Alawan. The
others Reith could not positively identify, but all seemed somehow familiar, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl fopke.keep.pl
Anacho made a dreary sound. "I had better go as well."
Reith shook his head. "One can do the job as well as three. You two remain
here and keep our affairs moving."
"And if you don't return?"
"There are sixty or seventy thousand sequins still in the pouch. Take the
money and leave
Sivishe ... But I'll be back. I can't doubt this. It's not possible that we
should toil and suffer so greatly only to fail."
"Hardly a rational assessment," Anacho said dryly: "I expect never to see you
again."
"Nonsense," said Reith. "Well, I'll get started. The sooner I leave, the
sooner I return."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE SKY-CAR SAILED quietly through the night of old Tschai, over landscape
ghostly in the light of the blue moon. Reith felt like a man drifting through
a strange dream. He mused over the events of his life, his childhood, his
years of training, his missions among the stars and finally his assignment to
the Explorator IV. Then Tschai: destruction and disaster, his time with the
Emblem nomads, the journey across Aman Steppe and the Dead Steppe to Pera; the
sack of Dadiche; the subsequent journey to Cath and his adventures at Ao
Hidis. Then the journey to Carabas, the slaughter of the Dirdir, the
construction of the spaceship in Sivishe. And Woudiver! On Tschai both virtue
and vice were exaggerated; Reith had known many evil men, among whom Woudiver
ranked high.
The night advanced; the forests of central Kislovan gave way to barren uplands
and silent
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20Vance/Vance,%20Jack%20-%20Tschai%203%20-%20The%20Dirdir.
txt (57 of 81) [2/4/03 10:46:09 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20Vance/Vance,%20Jack%20-%20Tschai%203%20-%20The%20Dirdir.
txt wasteland. In all the circle of vision, no light, no fire, no sign of
human activity was visible.
Reith consulted the course monitor, adjusted the automatic pilot. The Carabas
lay only an hour ahead. The blue moon hung low; when it set the landscape
would be dark until dawn.
The hour passed. Braz sank behind the horizon; in the east appeared a sepia
glimmer announcing the nearness of dawn. Reith, dividing his attention between
the course monitor and the ground below, finally thought to glimpse the shape
of Khusz. At once, he dropped the car low to the ground and veered to the
east, swinging behind the Boundary Forest. As Carina 4269 thrust a first cool
brown sliver over the edge of the horizon Reith landed, close under the first
great torquils of the forest.
For a period he sat watching and listening. Carina 4269 rose into the sky and
the low light shone directly upon the sky-car. Reith gathered broken fronds
and branches, which he laid against the car, camouflaging it to some extent.
Page 59
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
The time had come when he must venture into the forest. He could delay no
longer. Taking a sack and a shovel, tucking weapons into his belt, Reith set
forth.
The trail was familiar. Reith recognized each bole, every dark sheaf of
fungus, every hummock of lichen. As he passed through the forest he became
aware of a sickening odor: the reek of carrion. This was to be expected. He
halted. Voices? Reith jumped off the trail, listened.
Voices indeed. Reith hesitated, then stole forward through the heavy foliage.
Ahead lay the site of the trap. Reith approached with the most extreme
caution, creeping on his hands and knees, finally crawling on his elbows ...
He looked forth upon an eerie sight. To one side, in front of a great torquil,
stood five Dirdir in hunting regalia. A dozen gray-faced men stood in a great
hole, digging with shovels and buckets: this was the hole, greatly enlarged,
in which Reith, Traz and Anacho had buried the Dirdir corpses. From the
splendid rotting carrion came an odious stench ... Reith stared. One of these
men was surely familiar-it was Issam the Thang.
And next to him worked the hostler, and next, the porter at the Alawan. The
others Reith could not positively identify, but all seemed somehow familiar, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]