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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18458-8.txt b/18458-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5526afa --- /dev/null +++ b/18458-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7483 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Star Born, by Andre Norton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Star Born + +Author: Andre Norton + +Release Date: May 27, 2006 [EBook #18458] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STAR BORN *** + + + + +Produced by Jason Isbell, Greg Weeks, Sankar Viswanathan, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + Transcriber's note: + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the + copyright on this publication was renewed. + + + + + ANDRE + NORTON + + STAR BORN + + + + + + + ace books + + A Division of Charter Communications Inc. + + 1120 Avenue of the Americas + + New York, N.Y. 10036 + + + + + * * * * * + + "What of our children--the second and third generations born + on this new world? They will have no memories of Terra's + green hills and blue seas. Will they be Terrans--or + something else?" + + --TAS KORDOV, _Record of the First Years_ + + * * * * * + + + + +1 + +SHOOTING STAR + + +The travelers had sighted the cove from the sea--a narrow bite into +the land, the first break in the cliff wall which protected the +interior of this continent from the pounding of the ocean. And, +although it was still but midafternoon, Dalgard pointed the outrigger +into the promised shelter, the dip of his steering paddle swinging in +harmony with that wielded by Sssuri in the bow of their narrow, +wave-riding craft. + +The two voyagers were neither of the same race nor of the same +species, yet they worked together without words, as if they had +established some bond which gave them a rapport transcending the need +for speech. + +Dalgard Nordis was a son of the Colony; his kind had not originated on +this planet. He was not as tall nor as heavily built as those Terran +outlaw ancestors who had fled political enemies across the Galaxy to +establish a foothold on Astra, and there were other subtle differences +between his generation and the parent stock. + +Thin and wiry, his skin was brown from the gentle toasting of the +summer sun, making the fairness of his closely cropped hair even more +noticeable. At his side was his long bow, carefully wrapped in +water-resistant flying-dragon skin, and from the belt which supported +his short breeches of tanned duocorn hide swung a two-foot blade--half +wood-knife, half sword. To the eyes of his Terran forefathers he would +have presented a barbaric picture. In his own mind he was amply clad +and armed for the man-journey which was both his duty and his +heritage to make before he took his place as a full adult in the +Council of Free Men. + +In contrast to Dalgard's smooth skin, Sssuri was covered with a fluffy +pelt of rainbow-tipped gray fur. In place of the human's steel blade, +he wore one of bone, barbed and ugly, as menacing as the spear now +resting in the bottom of the outrigger. And his round eyes watched the +sea with the familiarity of one whose natural home was beneath those +same waters. + +The mouth of the cove was narrow, but after they negotiated it they +found themselves in a pocket of bay, sheltered and calm, into which +trickled a lazy stream. The gray-blue of the seashore sand was only a +fringe beyond which was turf and green stuff. Sssuri's nostril flaps +expanded as he tested the warm breeze, and Dalgard was busy +cataloguing scents as they dragged their craft ashore. They could not +have found a more perfect place for a camp site. + +Once the canoe was safely beached, Sssuri picked up his spear and, +without a word or backward glance, waded out into the sea, +disappearing into the depths, while his companion set about his share +of camp tasks. It was still early in the summer--too early to expect +to find ripe fruit. But Dalgard rummaged in his voyager's bag and +brought out a half-dozen crystal beads. He laid these out on a +flat-topped stone by the stream, seating himself cross-legged beside +it. + +To the onlooker it would appear that the traveler was meditating. A +wide-winged living splotch of color fanned by overhead; there was a +distant yap of sound. Dalgard neither looked nor listened. But perhaps +a minute later what he awaited arrived. A hopper, its red-brown fur +sleek and gleaming in the sun, its eternal curiosity drawing it, +peered cautiously from the bushes. Dalgard made mind touch. The +hoppers did not really think--at least not on the levels where +communication was possible for the colonists--but sensations of +friendship and good will could be broadcast, primitive ideas +exchanged. + +The small animal, its humanlike front pawhands dangling over its +creamy vest, came out fully into the open, black eyes flicking from +the motionless Dalgard to the bright beads on the rock. But when one +of those paws shot out to snatch the treasure, the traveler's hand was +already cupped protectingly over the hoard. Dalgard formed a mental +picture and beamed it at the twenty-inch creature before him. The +hopper's ears twitched nervously, its blunt nose wrinkled, and then it +bounded back into the brush, a weaving line of moving grass marking +its retreat. + +Dalgard withdrew his hand from the beads. Through the years the Astran +colonists had come to recognize the virtues of patience. Perhaps the +mutation had begun before they left their native world. Or perhaps the +change in temperament and nature had occurred in the minds and bodies +of that determined handful of refugees as they rested in the frozen +cold sleep while their ship bore them through the wide, uncharted +reaches of deep space for centuries of Terran time. How long that +sleep had lasted the survivors had never known. But those who had +awakened on Astra were different. + +And their sons and daughters, and the sons and daughters of two more +generations were warmed by a new sun, nourished by food grown in alien +soil, taught the mind contact by the amphibian mermen with whom the +space voyagers had made an early friendship--each succeeding child +more attuned to the new home, less tied to the far-off world he had +never seen or would see. The colonists were not of the same breed as +their fathers, their grandfathers, or great-grandfathers. So, with +other gifts, they had also a vast, time-consuming patience, which +could be a weapon or a tool, as they pleased--not forgetting the +instantaneous call to action which was their older heritage. + +The hopper returned. On the rock beside the shining things it +coveted, it dropped dried and shriveled fruit. Dalgard's fingers +separated two of the gleaming marbles, rolled them toward the animal, +who scooped them up with a chirp of delight. But it did not leave. +Instead it peered intently at the rest of the beads. Hoppers had their +own form of intelligence, though it might not compare with that of +humans. And this one was enterprising. In the end it delivered three +more loads of fruit from its burrow and took away all the beads, both +parties well pleased with their bargains. + +Sssuri splashed out of the sea with as little ado as he had entered. +On the end of his spear twisted a fish. His fur, slicked flat to his +strongly muscled body, began to dry in the air and fluff out while the +sun awoke prismatic lights on the scales which covered his hands and +feet. He dispatched the fish and cleaned it neatly, tossing the offal +back into the water, where some shadowy things arose to tear at the +unusual bounty. + +"This is not hunting ground." His message formed in Dalgard's mind. +"That finned one had no fear of me." + +"We were right then in heading north; this is new land." Dalgard got +to his feet. + +On either side, the cliffs, with their alternate bands of red, blue, +yellow, and white strata, walled in this pocket. They would make far +better time keeping to the sea lanes, where it was not necessary to +climb. And it was Dalgard's cherished plan to add more than just an +inch or two to the explorers' map in the Council Hall. + +Each of the colony males was expected to make his man-journey of +discovery sometimes between his eighteenth and twentieth year. He went +alone or, if he formed an attachment with one of the mermen near his +own age, accompanied only by his knife brother. And from knowledge so +gained the still-small group of exiles added to and expanded their +information about their new home. + +Caution was drilled into them. For they were not the first masters of +Astra, nor were they the masters now. There were the ruins left by +Those Others, the race who had populated this planet until their own +wars had completed their downfall. And the mermen, with their +traditions of slavery and dark beginnings in the experimental pens of +the older race, continued to insist that across the sea--on the +unknown western continent--Those Others still held onto the remnants +of a degenerate civilization. Thus the explorers from Homeport went +out by ones and twos and used the fauna of the land as a means of +gathering information. + +Hoppers could remember yesterday only dimly, and instinct took care of +tomorrow. But what happened today sped from hopper to hopper and could +warn by mind touch both merman and human. If one of the dread +snake-devils of the interior was on the hunting trail, the hoppers +sped the warning. Their vast curiosity brought them to the fringe of +any disturbance, and they passed the reason for it along. Dalgard knew +there were a thousand eyes at his service whenever he wanted them. +There was little chance of being taken by surprise, no matter how +dangerous this journey north might be. + +"The city--" He formed the words in his mind even as he spoke them +aloud. "How far are we from it?" + +The merman hunched his slim shoulders in the shrug of his race. "Three +days' travel, maybe five. And it"--though his furred face displayed no +readable emotion, the sensation of distaste was plain--"was one of the +accursed ones. To such we have not returned since the days of falling +fire--" + +Dalgard was well acquainted with the ruins which lay not many miles +from Homeport. And he knew that that sprawling, devastated metropolis +was not taboo to the merman. But this other mysterious settlement he +had recently heard of was still shunned by the sea people. Only +Sssuri and a few others of youthful years would consider a journey to +explore the long-forbidden section their traditions labeled as +dangerous land. + +The belief that he was about to venture into questionable territory +had made Dalgard evasive when he reported his plans to the Elders +three days earlier. But since such trips were, by tradition, always +thrusts into the unknown, they had not questioned him too much. All in +all, Dalgard thought, watching Sssuri flake the firm pink flesh from +the fish, he might deem himself lucky and this quest ordained. He went +off to hack out armloads of grass and fashion the sleep mats for the +sun-warmed ground. + +They had eaten and were lounging in content on the soft sand just +beyond the curl of the waves when Sssuri lifted his head from his +folded arms as if he listened. Like all those of his species, his +vestigial ears were hidden deep in his fur and no longer served any +real purpose; the mind touch served him in their stead. Dalgard caught +his thought, though what had aroused his companion was too rare a +thread to trouble his less acute senses. + +"Runners in the dark--" + +Dalgard frowned. "It is still sun time. What disturbs them?" + +To the eye Sssuri was still listening to that which his friend could +not hear. + +"They come from afar. They are on the move to find new hunting +grounds." + +Dalgard sat up. To each and every scout from Homeport the unusual was +a warning, a signal to alert mind and body. The runners in the +night--that furred monkey race of hunters who combed the moonless dark +of Astra when most of the higher fauna were asleep--were very +distantly related to Sssuri's species, though the gap between them was +that between highly civilized man and the jungle ape. The runners were +harmless and shy, but they were noted also for clinging stubbornly to +one particular district generation after generation. To find such a +clan on the move into new territory was to be fronted with a puzzle it +might be well to investigate. + +"A snake-devil--" he suggested tentatively, forming a mind picture of +the vicious reptilian danger which the colonists tried to kill on +sight whenever and wherever encountered. His hand went to the knife at +his belt. One met with weapons only that hissing hatred motivated by a +brainless ferocity which did not know fear. + +But Sssuri did not accept that explanation. He was sitting up, facing +inland where the thread of valley met the cliff wall. And seeing his +absorption, Dalgard asked no distracting questions. + +"No, no snake-devil--" after long moments came the answer. He got to +his feet, shuffling through the sand in the curious little half dance +which betrayed his agitation more strongly than his thoughts had done. + +"The hoppers have no news," Dalgard said. + +Sssuri gestured impatiently with one outflung hand. "Do the hoppers +wander far from their own nest mounds? Somewhere there--" he pointed +to the left and north, "there is trouble, bad trouble. Tonight we +shall speak with the runners and discover what it may be." + +Dalgard glanced about the camp with regret. But he made no protest as +he reached for his bow and stripped off its protective casing. With +the quiver of heavy-duty arrows slung across his shoulder he was ready +to go, following Sssuri inland. + +The easy valley path ended less than a quarter of a mile from the sea, +and they were fronted by a wall of rock with no other option than to +climb. But the westering sun made plain every possible hand and foot +hold on its surface. + +When they stood at last on the heights and looked ahead, it was across +a broken stretch of bare rock with the green of vegetation beckoning +from at least a mile beyond. Sssuri hesitated for only a moment or +two, his round, almost featureless head turning slowly, until he +fixed on a northeasterly course--striking out unerringly as if he +could already sight the goal. Dalgard fell in behind, looking over the +country with a wary eye. This was just the type of land to harbor +flying dragons. And while those pests were small, their +lightning-swift attack from above made them foes not to be +disregarded. But all the flying things he saw were two moth birds of +delicate hues engaging far over the sun-baked rock in one of their +graceful winged dances. + +They crossed the heights and came to the inland slope, a drop toward +the central interior plains of the continent. As they plowed through +the high grasses Dalgard knew they were under observation. Hoppers +watched them. And once through a break in a line of trees he saw a +small herd of duocorns race into the shelter of a wood. The presence +of those two-horned creatures, so like the pictures he had seen of +Terran horses, was insurance that the snake-devils did not hunt in +this district, for the swift-footed duocorns were never found within a +day's journey of their archenemies. + +Late afternoon faded into the long summer twilight and still Sssuri +kept on. As yet they had come across no traces of Those Others. Here +were none of the domed farm buildings, the monorail tracks, the other +relics one could find about Homeport. This wide-open land could have +been always a wilderness, left to the animals of Astra for their own. +Dalgard speculated upon that, his busy imagination supplying various +reasons for such tract. Then the voiceless communication of his +companion provided an explanation. + +"This was barrier land." + +"What?" + +Sssuri turned his head. His round eyes which blinked so seldom stared +into Dalgard's as if by the intensity of that gaze he could drive home +deeper his point. + +"What lies to the north was protected in the days before the falling +fire. Even _Those_"--the distorted mermen symbol for Those Others was +sharpened by the very hatred of all Sssuri's kind, which had not paled +during the generations since their escape from slavery to Astra's +one-time masters--"could not venture into some of their own private +places without special leave. It is perhaps true that the city we are +seeking is one of those restricted ones and that this wilderness is a +boundary for it." + +Dalgard's pace slowed. To venture into a section of land which had +been used as a barrier to protect some secret of Those Others was a +highly risky affair. The first expedition sent out from Homeport after +the landing of the Terran refugee ship had been shot down by +robot-controlled guns still set against some long-dead invader. Would +this territory be so guarded? If so they had better go carefully now-- + +Sssuri suddenly struck off at an angle, heading not northeast now, but +directly north. The brush lands along the foot of the cliffs gave way +to open fields, bare except for the grass rippled by the wind. It was +not the type of country to attract the night runners, and Dalgard +wondered a little. They should discover water, preferably a shallow +stream, if they wanted to find what the monkey creatures liked best. + +Within a quarter-hour he knew that Sssuri was not going wrong. Cradled +in a sudden dip in the land was the stream Dalgard had been looking +for. A hopper lifted a dripping muzzle from the shore ripples and +stared at them. Dalgard contacted the animal. It was its usual curious +self, nothing had alarmed or excited its interest. And he did not try +to establish more than a casual contact as they made their way down +the bank to the edge of the stream, Sssuri splashing in ankle-deep for +the sheer pleasure of feeling liquid curl about his feet and legs once +more. + +Water dwellers fled from their passing and insects buzzed and hovered. +Otherwise they moved through a deserted world. The stream bed widened +and small islands of gravel, swept together in untidy piles by the +spring floods, arose dry topped, some already showing the green of +venturesome plants. + +"Here--" Sssuri stopped, thrusting the butt of his spear into the +shore of one such islet. He dropped cross-legged on his choice, there +to remain patiently until those he sought would come with the dark. +Dalgard withdrew a little way downstream and took up a similar post. +The runners were shy, not easy to approach. And they would come more +readily if Sssuri were alone. + +Here the murmur of the stream was loud, rising above the rustle of the +wind-driven grass. And the night was coming fast as the sun, hidden by +the cliff wall, sank into the sea. Dalgard, knowing that his night +sight was far inferior to that of the native Astran fauna, resignedly +settled himself for an all-night stay, not without a second regretful +memory of the snug camp by the shore. + +Twilight and then night. How long before the runners would make their +appearance? He could pick up the sparks of thought which marked the +coming and going of hoppers, most hurrying off to their mud-plastered +nests, and sometimes a flicker from the mind of some other night +creature. Once he was sure he touched the avid, raging hunger which +marked a flying dragon, though they were not naturally hunters by +darkness. + +Dalgard made no move to contact Sssuri. The merman must be left +undisturbed in his mental quest for the runners. + +The scout lay back on his miniature island and stared up into the sky, +trying to sort out all the myriad impressions of life about him. It +was then that he saw it.... + +An arrow of fire streaking across the black bowl of Astra's night sky. +A light so vivid, so alien, that it brought him to his feet with a +chill prickle of apprehension along his spine. In all his years as a +scout and woodsman, in all the stories of his fellows and his elders +at Homeport--he had never seen, never heard of the like of that! + +And through his own wonder and alert alarm, he caught Sssuri's added +puzzlement. + +"Danger--" The merman's verdict fed his own unease. + +Danger had crossed the night, from east to west. And to the west lay +what they had always feared. What was going to happen now? + + + + +2 + +PLANETFALL + + +Raf Kurbi, flitter pilot and techneer, lay on the padded shock cushion +of his assigned bunk and stared with wide, disillusioned eyes at the +stretch of stark, gray metal directly overhead. He tried to close his +ears to the mutter of meaningless words coming from across the narrow +cabin. Raf had known from the moment his name had been drawn as crew +member that the whole trip would be a gamble, a wild gamble with the +odds all against them. _RS 10_--those very numbers on the nose of the +ship told part of the story. Ten exploring fingers thrust in turn out +into the blackness of space. _RS 3_'s fate was known--she had +blossomed into a pinpoint of flame within the orbit of Mars. And _RS +7_ had clearly gone out of control while instruments on Terra could +still pick up her broadcasts. Of the rest--well, none had returned. + +But the ships were built, manned by lot from the trainees, and sent +out, one every five years, with all that had been learned from the +previous job, each refinement the engineers could discover +incorporated into the latest to rise from the launching cradle. + +_RS 10_--Raf closed his eyes with weary distaste. After months of +being trapped inside her ever-vibrating shell, he felt that he knew +each and every rivet, seam, and plate in her only too well. And there +was no reason yet to believe that the voyage would ever end. They +would just go on and on through empty space until dead men manned a +drifting hulk-- + +There--to picture that was a danger signal. Whenever his thoughts +reached that particular point, Raf tried to think of something else, +to break the chain of dismal foreboding. How? By joining in Wonstead's +monologue of complaint and regret? Raf had heard the same words over +and over so often that they no longer had any meaning--except as a +series of sounds he might miss if the man who shared this pocket were +suddenly stricken dumb. + +"Should never have put in for training--" Wonstead's whine went up the +scale. + +That was unoriginal enough. They had all had that idea the minute +after the sorter had plucked their names for crew inclusion. No matter +what motive had led them into the stiff course of training--the +fabulous pay, a real interest in the project, the exploring fever--Raf +did not believe that there was a single man whose heart had not sunk +when he had been selected for flight. Even he, who had dreamed all his +life of the stars and the wonders which might lie just beyond the big +jump, had been honestly sick on the day he had shouldered his bag +aboard and had first taken his place on this mat and waited, dry +mouthed and shivering, for blast-off. + +One lost all sense of time out here. They ate sparingly, slept when +they could, tried to while away the endless hours artificially divided +into set periods. But still weeks might be months, or months weeks. +They could have been years in space--or only days. All they knew was +the unending monotony which dragged upon a man until he either lapsed +into a dreamy rejection of his surroundings, as had Hamp and Floy, or +flew into murderous rages, such as kept Morris in solitary confinement +at present. And no foreseeable end to the flight-- + +Raf breathed shallowly. The air was stale, he could almost taste it. +It was difficult now to remember being in the open air under a sky, +with fresh winds blowing about one. He tried to picture on that dull +strip of metal overhead a stretch of green grass, a tree, even the +blue sky and floating white clouds. But the patch remained stubbornly +gray, the murmur of Wonstead went on and on, a drone in his aching +ears, the throb of the ship's life beat through his own thin body. + +What had it been like on those legendary early flights, when the +secret of the overdrive had not yet been discovered, when any who +dared the path between star and star had surrendered to sleep, perhaps +to wake again generations later, perhaps never to rouse again? He had +seen the few documents discovered four or five hundred years ago in +the raided headquarters of the scientific outlaws who had fled the +regimented world government of Pax and dared space on the single hope +of surviving such a journey in cold sleep, the secret of which had +been lost. At least, Raf thought, they had escaped the actual +discomfort of the voyage. + +Had they found their new world or worlds? The end of their ventures +had been debated thousands of times since those documents had been +made public, after the downfall of Pax and the coming into power of +the Federation of Free Men. + +In fact it was the publication of the papers which had given the +additional spur to the building of the _RS_ armada. What man had dared +once he could dare anew. And the pursuit of knowledge which had been +so long forbidden under Pax was heady excitement for the world. +Research and discovery became feverish avenues of endeavor. Even the +slim hope of a successful star voyage and the return to Terra with +such rich spoils of information was enough to harness three quarters +of the planet's energy for close to a hundred years. And if the _RS +10_ was not successful, there would be _11_, _12_, more--flaming into +the sky and out into the void, unless some newer and more intriguing +experiment developed to center public imagination in another +direction. + +Raf's eyes closed wearily. Soon the gong would sound and this period +of rest would be officially ended. But it was hardly worth rising. He +was not in the least hungry for the concentrated food. He could repeat +the information tapes they carried dull word for dull word. + +"Nothing to see--nothing but these blasted walls!" Again Wonstead's +voice arose in querulous protest. + +Yes, while in overdrive there was nothing to see. The ports of the +ship would be sealed until they were in normal space once more. That +is, if it worked and they were not caught up forever within this thick +trap where there was no time, light, or distance. + +The gong sounded, but Raf made no move to rise. He heard Wonstead +move, saw from the corner of his eye the other's bulk heave up +obediently from the pad. + +"Hey--mess gong!" He pointed out the obvious to Raf. + +With a sigh the other levered himself up on his elbows. If he did not +move, Wonstead was capable of reporting him to the captain for strange +behavior, and they were all too alert to a divagation which might mean +trouble. He had no desire to end in confinement with Morris. + +"I'm coming," Raf said sullenly. But he remained sitting on the edge +of the pad until Wonstead left the cabin, and he followed as slowly as +he could. + +So he was not with the others when a new sound tore through the +constant vibrating hum which filled the narrow corridors of the ship. +Raf stiffened, the icy touch of fear tensing his muscles. Was that the +red alarm of disaster? + +His eyes went to the light at the end of the short passage. But no +blink of warning red shown there. Not danger--then what--? + +It took him a full moment to realize what he had heard, not the signal +of doom, but the sound which was to herald the accomplishment of their +mission--the sound which unconsciously they had all given up any hope +of ever hearing. They had made it! + +The pilot leaned weakly against the wall, and his eyes smarted, his +hands were trembling. In that moment he knew that he had never really, +honestly, believed that they would succeed. But they had! _RS 10_ had +reached the stars! + +"Strap down for turnout--strap down for turnout--!" The disembodied +voice screaming through the ship's speecher was that of Captain +Hobart, but it was almost unrecognizable with emotion. Raf turned and +stumbled back to his cabin, staggered to throw himself once more on +his pad as he fumbled with the straps he must buckle over him. + +He heard rather than saw Wonstead blunder in to follow his example, +and for the first time in months the other was dumb, not uttering a +word as he stowed away for the breakthrough which should take them +back into normal space and the star worlds. Raf tore a nail on a +fastening, muttered. + +"Condition red--condition red--Strap down for breakthrough--" Hobart +chanted at them from the walls. "One, two, three"--the count swung on +numeral by numeral; then--"ten--Stand by--" + +Raf had forgotten what breakthrough was like. He had gone through it +the first time when still under take-off sedation. But this was worse +than he remembered, so much worse. He tried to scream out his protest +against the torture which twisted mind and body, but he could not +utter even a weak cry. This, this was unbearable--a man could go mad +or die--die--die.... + +He aroused with the flat sweetness of blood on his tongue, a splitting +pain behind the eyes he tried to focus on the too familiar scrap of +wall. A voice boomed, receded, and boomed again, filling the air and +at last making sense, in it a ring of wild triumph! + +"Made it! This is it, men, we've made it; Sol-class sun--three +planets. We'll set an orbit in--" + +Raf licked his lips. It was still too much to swallow in one mental +gulp. So, they had made it--half of their venture was accomplished. +They had broken out of their own solar system, made the big jump, and +before them lay the unknown. Now it was within their reach. + +"D'you hear that, kid?" demanded Wonstead, his voice no longer an +accusing whine, more steady than Raf ever remembered hearing it. "We +got through! We'll hit dirt again! Dirt--" his words trailed away as +if he were sinking into some blissful daydream. + +There was a different feeling to the ship herself. The steady drone +which had ached in their ears, their bones, as she bored her way +through the alien hyper-space had changed to a purr as if she, too, +were rejoicing at the success of their desperate try. For the first +time in weary weeks Raf remembered his own duties which would begin +when the _RS 10_ came in to a flame-cushioned landing on a new world. +He was to assemble and ready the small exploration flyer, to man its +controls and take it up and out. Frowning, he began to run over in his +mind each step in the preparations he must make as soon as they +planeted. + +Information came down from control, where now the ports were open on +normal space and the engines were under control of the spacer's pilot. +Their goal was to be the third planet, one which showed signs of +atmosphere, of water and earth ready and waiting. + +Those who were not on flight duty crowded into the tiny central cabin, +where they elbowed each other before the viewer. The ball of alien +earth grew from a pinpoint to the size of an orange. They forgot time +in the wonder which none had ever thought in his heart he would see on +the screen. Raf knew that in control every second of this was being +recorded as they began to establish a braking orbit, which with luck +would bring them down on the surface of the new world. + +"Cities--those must be cities!" Those in the cabin studied the plate +with awe as the information filtered through the crew. Lablet, their +xenobiologist, sat with his fingers rigid on the lower bar of the visa +plate, so intent that nothing could break his vigil, while the rest +speculated wildly. Had they really seen cities? + +Raf went down the corridor to the door of the sealed compartment that +held the machine and the supplies for which he was responsible. These +last hours of waiting were worse with their nagging suspense than all +the time which had gone before. If they could only set down! + +He had, on training trips which now seemed very far in the past, trod +the rust-red desert country of Mars, waddled in a bulky protective +suit across the peaked ranges of the dead Moon, known something of the +larger asteroids. But how would it feel to tread ground warmed by the +rays of another sun? Imagination with which his superiors did not +credit him began to stir. Traits inherited from a mixture of races +were there to be summoned. Raf retreated once more into his cabin and +sat on his bunk pad, staring down at his own capable mechanic's hands +without seeing them, picturing instead all the wonders which might lie +just beyond the next few hours' imprisonment in this metallic shell he +had grown to hate with a dull but abiding hatred. + +Although he knew that Hobart must be fully as eager as any of them to +land, it seemed to Raf, and the other impatient crew members, that +they were very long in entering the atmosphere of the chosen world. It +was only when the order came to strap down for deceleration that they +were in a measure satisfied. Pull of gravity, ship beaming in at an +angle which swept it from night to day or night again as it encircled +that unknown globe. They could not watch their objective any longer. +The future depended entirely upon the skill of the three men in +control--and last of all upon Hobart's judgment and skill. + +The captain brought them down, riding the flaming counter-blasts from +the ship's tail to set her on her fins in an expert point landing, so +that the _RS 10_ was a finger of light into the sky, amid wisps of +smoke from brush ignited by her landing. + +There was another wait which seemed endless to the restless men +within, a wait until the air was analyzed, the countryside surveyed. +But when the go-ahead signal was given and the ramp swung out, those +first at the hatch still hesitated for an instant or so, though the +way before them was open. + +Beyond the burnt ground about the ship was a rolling plain covered +with tall grass which rippled under the wind. And the freshness of +that wind cleansed their lungs of the taint of the ship. + +Raf pulled off his helmet, held his head high in that breeze. It was +like bathing in air, washing away the smog of those long days of +imprisonment. He ran down the ramp, past the little group of those who +had preceded him, and fell on his knees in the grass, catching at it +with his hands, a little over-awed at the wonder of it all. + +The wide sweep of sky above them was not entirely blue, he noted. +There was the faintest suggestion of green, and across it moved clouds +of silver. But, save for the grass, they might be in a dead and empty +world. Where were the cities? Or had those been born of imagination? + +After a while, when the wonder of this landing had somewhat worn away, +Hobart summoned them back to the prosaic business of setting up base. +And Raf went to work at his own task. The sealed storeroom was opened, +the supplies slung by crane down from the ship. The compact assembly, +streamlined for this purpose, was all ready for the morrow. + +They spent the night within the ship, much against their will. After +the taste of freedom they had been given, the cramped interior weighed +upon them, closing like a prison. Raf lay on his pad unable to sleep. +It seemed to him that he could hear, even through the heavy plates, +the sigh of that refreshing wind, the call of the open world lying +ready for them. Step by step in his mind, he went through the process +for which he would be responsible the next day. The uncrating of the +small flyer, the assembling of frame and motor. And sometime in the +midst of that survey he did fall asleep, so deeply that Wonstead had +to shake him awake in the morning. + +He bolted his food and was out at his job before it was far past dawn. +But eager as he was to get to work, he paused just to look at the +earth scuffed up by his boots, to stare for a long moment at a stalk +of tough grass and remember with a thrill which never lessened that +this was not native earth or grass, that he stood where none of his +race, or even of his kind, had stood before--on a new planet in a new +solar system. + +Raf's expert training and instruction paid off. By evening he had the +flitter assembled save for the motor which still reposed on the +turning block. One party had gone questing out into the grass and +returned with the story of a stream hidden in a gash in the plain, and +Wonstead carried the limp body of a rabbit-sized furred creature he +had knocked over at the waterside. + +"Acted tame." Wonstead was proud of his kill. "Stupid thing just stood +and watched me while I let fly with a stone." + +Raf picked up the little body. Its fur was red-brown, plush-thick, and +very soft to the touch. The breast was creamy white and the forepaws +curiously short with an uncanny resemblance to his own hands. Suddenly +he wished that Wonstead had not killed it, though he supposed that +Chou, their biologist, would be grateful. But the animal looked +particularly defenseless. It would have been better not to mark their +first day on this new world with a killing--even if it were the +knocking over of a stupid rabbit thing. The pilot was glad when Chou +bore it off and he no longer had to look at it. + +It was after the evening meal that Raf was called into consultation by +the officers to receive his orders. When he reported that the flitter, +barring unexpected accidents, would be air-borne by the following +afternoon, he was shown an enlarged picture from the records made +during the descent of the _RS 10_. + +There was a city, right enough--showing up well from the air. Hobart +stabbed a finger down into the heart of it. + +"This lies south from here. We'll cruise in that direction." + +Raf would have liked to ask some questions of his own. The city +photographed was a sizable one. Why then this deserted land here? Why +hadn't the inhabitants been out to investigate the puzzle of the space +ship's landing? He said slowly, "I've mounted one gun, sir. Do you +want the other installed? It will mean that the flitter can only carry +three instead of four--" + +Hobart pulled his lower lip between his thumb and forefinger. He +glanced at his lieutenant then to Lablet, sitting quietly to one side. +It was the latter who spoke first. + +"I'd say this shows definite traces of retrogression." He touched the +photograph. "The place may even be only a ruin." + +"Very well. Leave off the other gun," Hobart ordered crisply. "And be +ready to fly at dawn day after tomorrow with full field kit. You're +sure she'll have at least a thousand-mile cruising radius?" + +Raf suppressed a shrug. How could you tell what any machine would do +under new conditions? The flitter had been put through every possible +test in his home world. Whether she would perform as perfectly here +was another matter. + +"They thought she would, sir," he replied. "I'll take her up for a +shakedown run tomorrow after the motor is installed." + +Captain Hobart dismissed him with a nod, and Raf was glad to clatter +down ladders into the cool of the evening once more. Flying high in a +formation of two lanes were some distant birds, at least he supposed +they were birds. But he did not call attention to them. Instead he +watched them out of sight, lingering alone with no desire to join +those crew members who had built a campfire a little distance from the +ship. The flames were familiar and cheerful, a portion, somehow, of +their native world transported to the new. + +Raf could hear the murmur of voices. But he turned and went to the +flitter. Taking his hand torch, he checked the work he had done during +the day. To-morrow--tomorrow he could take her up into the blue-green +sky, circle out over the sea of grass for a short testing flight. That +much he wanted to do. + +But the thought of the cruise south, of venturing toward that +sprawling splotch Hobart and Lablet identified as a city was somehow +distasteful, and he was reluctant to think about it. + + + + +3 + +SNAKE-DEVIL'S TRAIL + + +Dalgard drew the waterproof covering back over his brow, making a +cheerful job of it, preparatory to their pushing out to sea once more. +But he was as intent upon what Sssuri had to tell as he was on his +occupation of the moment. + +"But that is not even a hopper rumor," he was protesting, breaking +into his companion's flow of thought. + +"No. But, remember, to the runners yesterday is very far away. One +night is like another; they do not reckon time as we do, nor lay up +memories for future guidance. They left their native hunting grounds +and are drifting south. And only a very great peril would lead the +runners into such a break. It is against all their instincts!" + +"So, long ago--which may be months, weeks, or just days--there came +death out of the sea, and those who lived past its coming fled--" +Dalgard repeated the scanty information Sssuri had won for them the +night before by patient hour-long coaxing. "What kind of death?" + +Sssuri's great eyes, somber and a little tired, met his. "To us there +is only one kind of death to be greatly feared." + +"But there are the snake-devils--" protested the colony scout. + +"To be hunted down by snake-devils is death, yes. But it is a quick +death, a death which can come to any living thing that is not swift or +wary enough. For to the snake-devils all things that live and move are +merely meat to fill the aching pit in their swollen bellies. But there +were in the old days other deaths, far worse than what one meets under +a snake-devil's claws and fangs. And those are the deaths we fear." He +was running the smooth haft of his spear back and forth through his +fingers as if testing the balance of the weapon because the time was +not far away when he must rely upon it. + +"Those Others!" Dalgard shaped the words with his lips as well as in +his mind. + +"Just so." Sssuri did not nod, but his thought was in complete +agreement. + +"Yet they have not come before--not since the ship of my fathers +landed here," Dalgard protested, not against Sssuri's judgment but +against the whole idea. + +The merman got to his feet, sweeping his arm to indicate not only the +cove where they now sheltered but the continent behind it. + +"Once they held all this. Then they warred and killed, until but a +handful lay in cover to lick their wounds and wait. It has been many +threes of seasons since they left that cover. But now they come +again--to loot their place of secrets--Perhaps in the time past they +have forgotten much so that now they must renew their knowledge." + +Dalgard stowed the bow in the bottom of the outrigger. "I think we had +better go and see," he commented, "so that we may report true tidings +to our Elders--something more than rumors learned from night runners." + +"That is so." + +They paddled out to sea and turned the prow of the light craft north. +The character of the land did not change. Cliffs still walled the +coast, in some places rising sheer from the water, in others broken by +a footing of coarse beach. Only flying things were to be sighted over +their rocky crowns. + +But by midday there was an abrupt alteration in the scene. A wide +river cut through the heights and gave birth to a fan-shaped delta +thickly covered with vegetation. Half hidden by the riot of growing +things was a building of the dome shape Dalgard knew so well. Its +windowless, doorless surface reflected the sunlight with a glassy +sheen, and to casual inspection it was as untouched as it had been on +the day its masters had either died within it or left it for the last +time, perhaps centuries before. + +"This is one way into the forbidden city," Sssuri announced. "Once +they stationed guards here." + +Dalgard had been about to suggest a closer inspection of the dome but +that remark made him hesitate. If it had been one of the +fortifications rimming in a forbidden ground, there was more than an +even chance that unwary invaders, even this long after, might stumble +into some trap still working automatically. + +"Do we go upriver?" He left it to Sssuri, who had the traditions of +his people to guide him, to make the decision. + +The merman looked at the dome; it was evident from his attitude that +he had no wish to examine it more closely. "They had machines which +fought for them, and sometimes those machines still fight. This river +is the natural entrance for an enemy. Therefore it would have been +well defended." + +Under the sun the green reach of the delta had a most peaceful +appearance. There was a family of duck-dogs fishing from the beach, +scooping their broad bills into the mud to locate water worms. And +moth birds danced in the air currents overhead. Yet Dalgard was ready +to agree with his companion--beware the easy way. They dipped their +paddles deep and cut across the river current toward the cliffs to the +north. + +Two days of steady coastwise traveling brought them to a great bay. +And Dalgard gasped as the full sight of the port confronting them +burst into view. + +Tiers of ledges had been cut and blasted in the native rock, extending +from the sea back into the land in a series of giant steps. Each of +them was covered with buildings, and here the ancient war had left its +mark. The rock itself had been brought to a bubbling boil and sent in +now-frozen rivers down that stairway in a half-dozen places, +overwhelming all structures in its path, and leaving crystallized +streams to reflect the sun blindingly. + +"So this is your secret city!" + +But Sssuri shook his round head. "This is but the sea entrance to the +country," he corrected. "Here struck the day of fire, and we need not +fear the machines which doubtless lie in wait elsewhere." + +They beached the outrigger and hid it in the shell of one of the +ruined buildings on the lowest level. Dalgard sent out a questing +thought, hoping to contact a hopper or even a duck-dog. But seemingly +the ruins were bare of animal life, as was true in most of the other +towns and cities he had explored in the past. The fauna of Astra was +shy of any holding built by Those Others, no matter how long it may +have been left to the wind, and cleansing rain. + +With difficulty and detours to avoid the rivers of once-molten rock, +they made their way slowly from ledge to ledge up that giant's +staircase, not stopping to explore any of the buildings as they +passed. There was a taint of alien age about the city which repelled +Dalgard, and he was eager to get out of it into the clean countryside +once more. Sssuri sped on silent feet, his shoulders hunched, his +distaste for the structures to be read in every line of his supple +body. + +When they reached the top, Dalgard turned to gaze down to the restless +sea. What a prospect! Perhaps Those Others had built thus for reasons +of defense, but surely they, too, must have paused now and then to be +proud of such a feat. It was the most impressive site he had yet seen, +and his report of it would be a worthy addition to the Homeport +records. + +A road ran straight from the top of the stair, stabbing inland without +taking any notice of the difficulties of the terrain, after the usual +arrogant manner of the alien engineers. But Sssuri did not follow it. +Instead he struck off to the left, avoiding that easy path, choosing +to cross through tangles which had once been gardens or through open +fields. + +They were well out of the sight of the city before they flushed their +first hopper, a full-grown adult with oddly pale fur. Instead of +displaying the usual fearless interest in strangers, the animal took +one swift look at them and fled as if a snake-devil had snorted at its +thumping heels. And Dalgard received a sharp impression of terror, as +if the hopper saw in him some frightening menace. + +"What--?" Honestly astounded, he looked to Sssuri for enlightenment. + +The hoppers could be pests. They stole any small bright object which +aroused their interest. But they could also be persuaded to trade, and +they usually had no fear of either colonist or merman. + +Sssuri's furred face might not convey much emotion, but by all the +signs Dalgard _could_ read he knew that the merman was as startled as +he by the strange behavior of the grass dweller. + +"He is afraid of those who walk erect as we do," he made answer. + +_Those who walk erect_--Dalgard was quick to interpret that. + +He knew that Those Others were biped, quasi-human in form, closer in +physical appearance to the colonists than to the mermen. And since +none of Dalgard's people had penetrated this far to the north, nor had +the mermen invaded this taboo territory until Sssuri had agreed to +come, that left only the aliens. Those strange people whom the +colonists feared without knowing why they feared them, whom the mermen +hated with a hatred which had not lessened with the years of freedom. +The faint rumor carried by the migrating runners must be true, for +here was a hopper afraid of bipeds. And it must have been recently +provided with a reason for such fear, since hoppers' memories were +very short and such terror would have faded from its mind in a matter +of weeks. + +Sssuri halted in a patch of grass which reached to his waist belt. "It +is best to wait until the hours of dark." + +But Dalgard could not agree. "Better for you with your night sight," +he objected, "but I do not have your eyes in my head." + +Sssuri had to admit the justice of that. He could travel under the +moonless sky as sure-footed as under broad sunlight. But to guide a +blundering Dalgard through unknown country was not practical. However, +they could take to cover and that they did as speedily as possible, +using a zigzag tactic which delayed their advance but took them from +one bit of protecting brush or grove of trees to the next, keeping to +the fields well away from the road. + +They camped that night without fire in a pocket near a spring. And +while Dalgard was alert to all about them, he knew that Sssuri was +mind questing in a far wider circle, trying to contact a hopper, a +runner, any animal that could answer in part the inquiries they had. +When Dalgard could no longer hold open weary eyes, his last waking +memory was that of his companion sitting statue-still, his spear +across his knees, his head leaning a trifle forward as if what he +listened to was as vocal as the hum of night insects. + +When the colony scout roused in the morning, his companion was +stretched full length on the other side of the spring, but his head +came up as Dalgard moved. + +"We may go forward without fear," he shaped the assurance. "What has +troubled this land has gone." + +"A long time ago?" + +Dalgard was not surprised at Sssuri's negative answer. "Within days +_they_ have been here. But they have gone once more. It will be wise +for us to learn what they wanted here." + +"Have they come to establish a base here once more?" Dalgard brought +into the open the one threat which had hung over his own clan since +they first learned that a few of Those Others still lived--even if +overseas. + +"If that is their plan, they have not yet done it." Sssuri rolled over +on his back and stretched. He had lost that tenseness of a hound in +leash which had marked him the night before. "This was one of their +secret places, holding much of their knowledge. They may return here +on quest for that learning." + +All at once Dalgard was conscious of a sense of urgency. Suppose that +what Sssuri suggested was the truth, that Those Others were attempting +to recover the skills which had brought on the devastating war that +had turned this whole eastern continent into a wilderness? Equipped +with even the crumbs of such discoveries, they would be enemies +against which the Terran colonists could not hope to stand. The few +weapons their outlaw ancestors had brought with them on their +desperate flight to the stars were long since useless, and they had +had no way of duplicating them. Since childhood Dalgard had seen no +arms except the bows and the sword-knives carried by all venturing +away from Homeport. And what use would a bow or a foot or two of +sharpened metal be against things which could kill from a distance or +turn rock itself into a flowing, molten river? + +He was impatient to move on, to reach this city of forgotten knowledge +which Sssuri was sure lay before them. Perhaps the colonists could +draw upon what was stored there as well as Those Others could. + +Then he remembered--not only remembered but was corrected by Sssuri. +"Think not of taking _their_ weapons into your hands." Sssuri did not +look up as he gave that warning. "Long ago your fathers' fathers knew +that the knowledge of Those Others was not for their taking." + +A dimly remembered story, a warning impressed upon him during his +first guided trips into the ruins near Homeport flashed into Dalgard's +mind. Yes, he knew that some things had been forbidden to his kind. +For one, it was best not to examine too closely the bands of color +patterns which served Those Others as a means of written record. Tapes +of the aliens' records had been found and stored at Homeport. But not +one of the colonists had ventured to try to break the color code and +learn what lay locked in those bands. Once long ago such an experiment +had led to the brink of disaster, and such delvings were now +considered too dangerous to be allowed. + +But there was no harm in visiting this city, and certainly he must +make some report to the Council about what might be taking place here, +especially if Those Others were in residence or visited the site. + +Sssuri still kept to the fields, avoiding the highway, until +mid-morning, and then he made an abrupt turn and brought them out on +the soil-drifted surface of the road. The land here was seemingly +deserted. No moth birds performed their air ballets overhead, and they +did not see a single hopper. That is, they did not until the road +dipped before them and they started down into a cupped hollow filled +with buildings. The river, whose delta they had earlier seen, made a +half loop about the city, lacing it in. And here were no signs of the +warfare which had ruined the port. + +But in the middle of the road lay a bloody bunch of fur and splintered +bone, insects busy about it. Sssuri used the point of his spear to +straighten out the small corpse, displaying its headlessness. And +before they reached the outer buildings of the city they found four +more hoppers all mangled. + +"Not a snake-devil," Dalgard deduced. As far as he knew only the huge +reptiles or their smaller flying-dragon cousins preyed upon animals. +But a snake-devil would have left no remains of anything as small as a +hopper, one mouthful which could not satisfy its gnawing hunger. And a +flying dragon would have picked the bones clean. + +"_Them_!" Sssuri's reply was clipped. "They hunt for sport." + +Dalgard felt a little sick. To his mind, hoppers were to be treated +with friendship. Only against the snake-devils and the flying dragons +were the colonists ever at war. No wonder that hopper had run from +them back on the plain during yesterday's journey! + +The buildings before them were not the rounded domes of the isolated +farms, but a series of upward-pointing shafts. They walked through a +tall gap which must have supported a now-disappeared barrier gate, and +their passing was signaled by a whispering sound as they shuffled +through the loose sand and soil drifted there in a miniature dune. + +This city was in a better state of preservation than any Dalgard had +previously visited. But he had no desire to enter any of the gaping +doorways. It was as if the city rejected him and his kind, as if to +the past that brooded here he was no more than a curious hopper or a +fluttering, short-lived moth bird. + +"Old--old and with wisdom hidden in it--" he caught the trail of +thought from Sssuri. And he was certain that the merman was no more at +ease here than he himself was. + +As the street they followed brought them into an open space surrounded +by more imposing buildings, they made another discovery which blotted +out all thoughts of forbidden knowledge and awakened them to a more +normal and everyday danger. + +A fountain, which no longer played but gave birth to a crooked stream +of water, was in the center. And in the muddy verge of the stream, +pressed deep, was the fresh track of a snake-devil. Almost full grown, +Dalgard estimated, measuring the print with his fingers. Sssuri +pivoted slowly, studying the circle of buildings about them. + +"An hour--maybe two--" Dalgard gave a hunter's verdict on the age of +the print. He, too, eyed those buildings. To meet a snake-devil in the +open was one thing, to play hide-and-seek with the cunning monster in +a warren such as this was something else again. He hoped that the +reptile had been heading for the open, but he doubted it. This mass of +buildings would provide just the type of shelter which would appeal to +it for a lair. And snake-devils did not den alone! + +"Try by the river," Sssuri gave advice. Like Dalgard, he accepted the +necessity of the chase. No intelligent creature ever lost the chance +to kill a snake-devil when fortune offered it. And he and the scout +had hunted together on such trails before. Now they slipped into +familiar roles from long practice. + +They took a route which should lead them to the river, and within a +matter of yards, came across evidence proving that the merman had +guessed correctly; a second claw print was pressed deep in a patch of +drifted soil. + +Here the buildings were of a new type, windowless, perhaps +storehouses. But what pleased Dalgard most was the fact that most of +them showed tightly closed doors. There was no chance for their prey +to lurk in wait. + +"We should smell it." Sssuri picked that worry out of the scout's mind +and had a ready answer for it. + +Sure--they should smell the lair; nothing could cloak the horrible +odor of a snake-devil's home. Dalgard sniffed vigorously as he padded +along. Though odd smells clung to the strange buildings none of them +were actively obnoxious--yet. + +"River--" + +There was the river at the end of the way they had been following, a +way which ended in a wharf built out over the oily flow of water. +Blank walls were on either side. If the snake-devil had come this way, +he had found no hiding place. + +"Across the river--" + +Dalgard gave a resigned grunt. For some reason he disliked the thought +of swimming that stream, of having his skin laved by the turgid water +with its brown sheen. + +"There is no need to swim." + +Dalgard's gaze followed Sssuri's pointing finger. But what he saw +bobbing up and down, pulled a little downstream by the current, did +not particularly reassure him. It was manifestly a boat, but the form +was as alien as the city around them. + + + + +4 + +CIVILIZATION + + +Raf surveyed the wide sweep of prairie where dawn gave a gray tinge to +soften the distance and mark the rounded billows of the ever-rippling +grass. He tried to analyze what it was about this world which made it +seem so untouched, so fresh and new. There were large sections of his +own Terra which had been abandoned after the Big Burn-Off and the +atomic wars, or later after the counterrevolution which had defeated +the empire of Pax, during which mankind had slipped far back on the +road to civilization. But he had never experienced this same feeling +when he had ventured into those wildernesses. Almost he could believe +that the records Hobart had showed him were false, that this world had +never known intelligent life herding together in cities. + +He walked slowly down the ramp, drawing deep breaths of the crisp air. +The day would grow warmer with the rising sun. But now it was just the +sort of morning which led him to be glad he was alive--and young! +Maybe part of it was because he was free of the ship and at last not +just excess baggage but a man with a definite job before him. + +Spacemen tended to be young. But until this moment Raf had never felt +the real careless freedom of youth. Now he was moved by a desire to +disobey orders--to take the flitter up by himself and head off into +the blue of the brightening sky for more than just a test flight, not +to explore Hobart's city but to cruise over the vast sea of grass and +find out its wonders for himself. + +But the discipline which had shaped him almost since birth sent him +now to check the flyer and wait, inwardly impatient, for Hobart, +Lablet, and Soriki, the com-tech, to join him. + +The wait was not a long one since the three others, with equipment +hung about, tramped down the ramp as Raf settled himself behind the +control board of the flyer. He triggered the shield which snapped over +them for a windbreak and brought the flitter up into the spreading +color of the morning. Beside him Hobart pressed the button of the +automatic recorder, and in the seat behind, Soriki had the headset of +the com clamped over his ears. They were not only making a record of +their trip, they were continuing in constant communication with the +ship--now already a silver pencil far to the rear. + +It was some two hours later that they discovered what was perhaps one +reason for the isolation of the district in which the _RS 10_ had set +down. Rolling foothills rose beneath them and miles ahead the +white-capped peaks of a mountain range made a broken outline against +the turquoise sky. The broken lands would be a formidable barrier for +any foot travelers: there were no easy roads through that series of +sharp lifts and narrow valleys. And the one stream they followed for a +short space descended from the heights in spectacular falls. Twice +they skimmed thick growths of trees, so tightly packed that from the +air they resembled a matted carpet of green-blue. And to cut through +such a forest would be an impossible task. + +The four in the flitter seldom spoke. Raf kept his attention on the +controls. Sudden currents of air were tricky here, and he had to be +constantly alert to hold the small flyer on an even keel. His glimpses +of what lay below were only snatched ones. + +At last it was necessary to zoom far above the vegetation of the lower +slopes, to reach an altitude safe enough to clear the peaks ahead. +Since the air supply within the windshield was constant they need not +fear lack of oxygen. But Raf was privately convinced, as they soared, +that the range might well compare in height with those Asian mountains +which dominated all the upflung reaches of his native world. + +When they were over the sharp points of that chain disaster almost +overtook them. A freakish air current caught the flitter as if in a +giant hand, and Raf fought for control as they lost altitude past the +margin of safety. Had he not allowed for just such a happening they +might have been smashed against one of the rock tips over which they +skimmed to a precarious safety. Raf, his mouth dry, his hands sweating +on the controls, took them up--higher than was necessary--to coast +above the last of that rocky spine to see below the beginning of the +downslopes leading to the plains the range cut in half. He heard +Hobart draw a hissing breath. + +"That was a close call." Lablet's precise, lecturer's voice cut +through the drone of the motor. + +"Yeah," Soriki echoed, "looked like we might be sandwich meat there +for a while. The kid knows his stuff after all." + +Raf grinned a little sourly, but he did not answer that. He _ought_ to +know his trade. Why else would he be along? They were each specialists +in one or two fields. But he had good sense enough to keep his mouth +shut. That way the less one had to regret minutes--or hours--later. + +The land on the south side of the mountains was different in character +to the wild northern plains. + +"Fields!" + +It did not require that identification from Lablet to point out what +they had already seen. The section below was artificially divided into +long narrow strips. But the vegetation growing on those strips was no +different from the northern grass they had seen about the spacer. + +"Not cultivated now," the scientist amended his first report. "It's +reverting to grassland--" + +Raf brought the flitter closer to the ground so that when a domed +structure arose out of a tangle of overgrown shrubs and trees they +were not more than fifty feet above it. There was no sign of life +about the dwelling, if dwelling it was, and the unkempt straggle of +growing things suggested that it had been left to itself through more +than one season. Lablet wanted to set down and explore, but the +captain was intent upon reaching the city. A solitary farm was of +little value compared with what they might learn from a metropolis. +So, rather to Raf's relief, he was ordered on. + +He could not have explained why he shrank from such investigation. +Where earlier that morning he had wanted to take the flitter and go +off by himself to explore the world which seemed so bright and new, +now he was glad that he was only the pilot of the flyer and that the +others were not only in his company but ready to make the decisions. +He had a queer distaste for the countryside, a disinclination to land +near that dome. + +Beyond the first of the deserted farms they came to the highway and, +since the buckled and half-buried roadway ran south, Hobart suggested +that they use it as a visible guide. More isolated dome houses showed +in the course of an hour. And their fields were easy to map from the +air. But nowhere did the Terrans see any indication that those fields +were in use. Nor were there any signs of animal or bird life. The +weird desolation of the landscape began to work its spell on the men +in the flitter. There was something unnatural about the country, and +with every mile the flyer clocked off, Raf longed to be heading in the +opposite direction. + +The domes drew closer together, made a cluster at crossroads, gathered +into a town in which all the buildings were the same shape and size, +like the cells of a wasp nest. Raf wondered if those who had built +them had not been humanoid at all, but perhaps insects with a hive +mind. And because that thought was unpleasant he resolutely turned his +attention to the machine he piloted. + +They passed over four such towns, all marking intersections of roads +running east and west, north and south, with precise exactness. The +sun was at noon or a little past that mark when Captain Hobart gave +the order to set down so that they could break out rations and eat. + +Raf brought the flitter down on the cracked surface of the road, +mistrusting what might lie hidden in the field grass. They got out and +walked for a space along pavement which had once been smooth. + +"High-powered traffic--" That was Lablet. He had gone down on one +knee and was tracing a finger along the substance. + +"Straight--" Soriki squinted against the sun. "Nothing stopped them, +did it? We want a road here and we'll get it! That sort of thing. Must +have been master engineers." + +To Raf the straight highways suggested something else. Master +engineering, certainly. But a ruthlessness too, as if the builders, +who refused to accept any modifications of their original plans from +nature, might be as arrogant and self-assured in other ways. He did +not admire this relic of civilization; in fact it added to his vague +uneasiness. + +The land was so still, under the whisper of the wind. He discovered +that he was listening--listening for the buzz of an insect, the squeak +of some grass dweller, anything which would mean that there was life +about them. As he chewed on the ration concentrate and drank sparingly +from his canteen, Raf continued to listen. Without result. + +Hobart and Lablet were engrossed in speculation about what might lie +ahead. Soriki had gone back to the flitter to make his report to the +ship. The pilot sat where he was, content to be forgotten, but eager +to see an animal peering at him from cover, a bird winging through the +air. + +"--if we don't hit it by nightfall--But we can't be that far away! +I'll stay out and try tomorrow." That was Hobart. And since he was +captain what he said was probably what they would do. Raf shied away +from the thought of spending the night in this haunted land. Though, +on the other hand, he would be utterly opposed to lifting the flitter +over those mountains again except in broad daylight. + +But the problem did not arise, for they found their city in the +midafternoon, the road bringing them straight to an amazing collection +of buildings, which appeared doubly alien to their eyes since it did +not include any of the low domes they had seen heretofore. + +Here were towers of needle slimness, solid blocks of almost windowless +masonry looking twice as bulky beside those same towers, archways +stringing at dizzy heights above the ground from one skyscraper to the +next. And here time and nature had been at work. Some of the towers +were broken off, a causeway displayed a gap--Once it had been a +breathtaking feat of engineering, far more impressive than the +highway, now it was a slowly collapsing ruin. + +But before they had time to take it all in Soriki gave an exclamation. +"Something coming through on our wave band, sir!" He leaned forward to +dig fingers into Hobart's shoulder. "Message of some kind--I'd swear +to it!" + +Hobart snapped into action. "Kurbi--set down--there!" + +His choice of a landing place was the flat top of a near-by building, +one which stood a little apart from its neighbors and, as Raf could +see, was not overlooked except by a ruined tower. He circled the +flitter. The machine had been specially designed to land and take off +in confined spaces, and he knew all there was possible to learn about +its handling on his home world. But he had never tried to bring it +down on a roof, and he was very sure that now he had no margin for +error left him, not with Hobart breathing impatiently beside him, his +hands moving as if, as a pilot of a spacer, he could well take over +the controls here. + +Raf circled twice, eyeing the surface of the roof in search of any +break which could mean a crack-up at landing. And then, though he +refused to be hurried by the urgency of the men with him, he came in, +cutting speed, bringing them down with only a slight jar. + +Hobart twisted around to face Soriki. "Still getting it?" + +The other, cupping his earphones to his head with his hands, nodded. +"Give me a minute or two," he told them, "and I'll have a fix. They're +excited about something--the way this jabber-jabber is coming +through--" + +"About us," Raf thought. The ruined tower topped them to the south. +And to the east and west there were buildings as high as the one they +were perched on. But the town he had seen as he maneuvered for a +landing had held no signs of life. Around them were only signs of +decay. + +Lablet got out of the flitter and walked to the edge of the roof, +leaning against the parapet to focus his vision glasses on what lay +below. After a moment Raf followed his example. + +Silence and desolation, windows like the eye pits in bone-picked +skulls. There were even some small patches of vegetation rooted and +growing in pockets erosion had carved in the walls. To the pilot's +uninformed eyes the city looked wholly dead. + +"Got it!" Soriki's exultant cry brought them back to the flitter. As +if his body was the indicator, he had pivoted until his outstretched +hand pointed southwest. "About a quarter of a mile that way." + +They shielded their eyes against the westering sun. A block of solid +masonry loomed high in the sky, dwarfing not only the building they +were standing on but all the towers around it. Its imposing lines made +clear its one-time importance. + +"Palace," mused Lablet, "or capitol. I'd say it was just about the +heart of the city." + +He dropped his glasses to swing on their cord, his eyes glistening as +he spoke directly to Raf. + +"Can you set us down on that?" + +The pilot measured the curving roof of the structure. A crazy fool +might try to make a landing there. But he was no crazy fool. "Not on +that roof!" he spoke with decision. + +To his relief the captain confirmed his verdict with a slow nod. +"Better find out more first." Hobart could be cautious when he wanted +to. "Are they still broadcasting, Soriki?" + +The com-tech had stripped the earphones from his head and was rubbing +one ear. "Are they!" he exploded. "I'd think you could hear them clear +over there, sir!" + +And they could. The gabble-gabble which bore no resemblance to any +language Terra knew boiled out of the phones. + +"Someone's excited," Lablet commented in his usual mild tone. + +"Maybe they've discovered us." Hobart's hand went to the weapon at his +belt. "We must make peaceful contact--if we can." + +Lablet took off his helmet and ran his fingers through the scrappy +ginger-and-gray fringe receding from his forehead. "Yes--contact will +be necessary--" he said thoughtfully. + +Well, he was supposed to be their expert on that. Raf watched the +older man with something akin to amusement. The pilot had a suspicion +that none of the other three, Lablet included, was in any great hurry +to push through contact with unknown aliens. It was a case of dancing +along on shore before having to plunge into the chill of autumn sea +waves. Terrans had explored their own solar system, and they had +speculated learnedly for generations on the problem of intelligent +alien life. There had been all kinds of reports by experts and +would-be experts. But the stark fact remained that heretofore mankind +as born on the third planet of Sol had _not_ encountered intelligent +alien life. And just how far did speculations, reports, and arguments +go when one was faced with the problem to be solved practically--and +speedily? + +Raf's own solution would have been to proceed with caution and yet +more caution. Under his technical training he had far more imagination +than any of his officers had ever realized. And now he was certain +that the best course of action was swift retreat until they knew more +about what was to be faced. + +But in the end the decision was taken out of their hands. A muffled +exclamation from Lablet brought them all around to see that distant +curving roof crack wide open. From the shadows within, a flyer +spiraled up into the late afternoon sky. + +Raf reached the flitter in two leaps. Without orders he had the spray +gun ready for action, on point and aimed at the bobbing machine +heading toward them. From the earphones Soriki had left on the seat +the gabble had risen to a screech and one part of Raf's brain noted +that the sounds were repetitious: was an order to surrender being +broadcast? His thumb was firm on the firing button of the gun and he +was about to send a warning burst to the right of the alien when an +order from Hobart stopped him cold. + +"Take it easy, Kurbi." + +Soriki said something about a "gun-happy flitter pilot," but, Raf +noted with bleak eyes, the com-tech kept his own hand close to his +belt arm. Only Lablet stood watching the oncoming alien ship with +placidity. But then, as Raf had learned through the long voyage of the +spacer, a period of time which had left few character traits of any of +the crew hidden from their fellows, the xenobiologist was a fatalist +and strictly averse to personal combat. + +The pilot did not leave his seat at the gun. But within seconds he +knew that they had lost the initial advantage. As the tongue-shaped +stranger thrust at them and then swept on to glide above their heads +so that the weird shadow of the ship licked them from light to dark +and then to light again, Raf was certain that his superiors had made +the wrong decision. They should have left the city as soon as they +picked up those signals--if they could have gone then. He studied the +other flyer. Its lines suggested speed as well as mobility, and he +began to doubt if they _could_ have escaped with that craft trailing +them. + +Well, what would they do now? The alien flyer could not land here, not +without coming down flat upon the flitter. Maybe it would cruise +overhead as a warning threat until the city dwellers were able to +reach the Terrans in some other manner. Tense, the four spacemen stood +watching the graceful movements of the flyer. There were no visible +portholes or openings anywhere along its ovoid sides. It might be a +robot-controlled ship, it might be anything, Raf thought, even a bomb +of sorts. If it was being flown by some human--or nonhuman--flyer, he +was a master pilot. + +"I don't understand," Soriki moved impatiently. "They're just +shuttling around up there. What do we do now?" + +Lablet turned his head. He was smiling faintly. "We wait," he told the +com-tech. "I should imagine it takes time to climb twenty flights of +stairs--if they have stairs--" + +Soriki's attention fell from the flyer hovering over their heads to +the surface of the roof. Raf had already looked that over without +seeing any opening. But he did not doubt the truth of Lablet's +surmise. Sooner or later the aliens were going to reappear. And it did +not greatly matter to the marooned Terrans whether they would drop +from the sky or rise from below. + + + + +5 + +BANDED DEVIL + + +Familiar only with the wave-riding outriggers, Dalgard took his seat +in the alien craft with misgivings. And oddly enough it also bothered +him to occupy a post which earlier had served not a nonhuman such as +Sssuri, whom he admired, but a humanoid whom he had been taught from +childhood to avoid--if not fear. The skiff was rounded at bow and +stern with very shallow sides and displayed a tendency to whirl about +in the current, until Sssuri, with his instinctive knowledge of +watercraft, used one of the queerly shaped paddles tucked away in the +bottom to both steer and propel them. They did not strike directly +across the river but allowed the current to carry them in a diagonal +path so that they came out on the opposite bank some distance to the +west. + +Sssuri brought them ashore with masterly skill where a strip of sod +angled down to the edge of the water, marking, Dalgard decided, what +had once been a garden. The buildings on this side of the river were +not set so closely together. Each, standing some two or three stories +high, was encircled by green, as if this had been a section of private +dwellings. + +They pulled the light boat out of the water and Sssuri pointed at the +open door of the nearest house. "In there--" + +Dalgard agreed that it might be well to hide the craft against the +return. Although as yet they had found no physical evidence, other +than the dead hoppers, that they might not be alone in the city, he +wanted a means of escape ready if such a flight would be necessary. In +the meantime there was the snake-devil to track, and that wily +creature, if it had swum the river, might be lurking at present in the +next silent street--or miles away. + +Sssuri, spear ready, was trotting along the paved lane, his head up as +he thought-quested for any hint of life about them. Dalgard tried to +follow that lead. But he knew that it would be Sssuri's stronger power +which would warn them first. + +They cast east from where they had landed, studying the soil of each +garden spot, hunting for the unmistakable spoor of the giant reptile. +And within a matter of minutes they found it, the mud still moist as +Dalgard proved with an exploring fingertip. At the same time Sssuri +twirled his spear significantly. Before them the lane ran on between +two walls without any breaks. Dalgard uncased his bow and strung it. +From his quiver he chose one of the powerful arrows, the points of +which were kept capped until use. + +A snake-devil, with its nervous system controlled not from the tiny, +brainless head but from a series of auxiliary "brains" at points along +its powerful spine, could and would go on fighting even after that +head was shorn away, as the first colonists had discovered when they +depended on the deadly ray guns fatal to any Terran life. But the +poison-tipped arrow Dalgard now handled, with confidence in its +complete efficiency, paralyzed within moments and killed in a +quarter-hour one of the scaled monstrosities. + +"Lair--" + +Dalgard did not need that warning thought from his companion. There +was no mistaking that sickly sweet stench born of decaying animal +matter, which was the betraying effluvium of a snake-devil's lair. He +turned to the right-hand wall and with a running leap reached its +broad top. The lane curved to end in an archway cut through another +wall, which was higher than Dalgard's head even when he stood on his +present elevation. But bands of ornamental patterning ran along the +taller barrier, and he was certain that it could be climbed. He +lowered a hand to Sssuri and hoisted the merman up to join him. + +But Sssuri stood for a long moment looking ahead, and Dalgard knew +that the merman was disturbed, that the wall before them had some +terrifying meaning for the native Astran. So vivid was the impression +of what could only be termed horror--that Dalgard dared to ask a +question: + +"What is it?" + +The merman's yellow eyes turned from the wall to his companion. Behind +his hatred of this place there was another emotion Dalgard could not +read. + +"This is the place of sorrow, the place of separation. But _they_ +paid--oh, how they paid--after that day when the fire fell from the +sky." His scaled and taloned feet moved in a little shuffling war +dance, and his spear spun and quivered in the sunlight, as Dalgard had +seen the spears of the mer-warriors move in the mock combats of their +unexplained, and to his kind unexplainable, rituals. "Then did our +spears drink, and knives eat!" Sssuri's fingers brushed the hilt of +the wicked blade swinging from his belt. "Then did the People make +separations and sorrows for _them_! And it was accomplished that we +went forth into the sea to be no longer bond but free. And _they_ went +down into the darkness and were no more--" In Dalgard's head the chant +of his friend skirled up in a paean of exultation. Sssuri shook his +spear at the wall. + +"No more the beast and the death," his thoughts swelled, a shout of +victory. "For where are _they_ who sat and watched many deaths? _They_ +are gone as the wave smashes itself upon the coast rocks and is no +more. But the People are free and never more shall Those Others put +bonds upon them! Therefore do I say that this is a place of nothing, +where evil has turned in upon itself and come to nothing. Just as +Those Others will come to nothing since their own evil will in the end +eat them up!" + +He strode forward along the wall until he came to the barrier, +seemingly oblivious of the carrion reek which told of a snake-devil's +den somewhere about. And he raised his arm high, bringing the point of +his spear gratingly along the carved surface. Nor did it seem to +Dalgard a futile gesture, for Sssuri lived and breathed, stood free +and armed in the city of his enemies--and the city was dead. + +Together they climbed the barrier, and then Dalgard discovered that it +was the rim of an arena which must have seated close to a thousand in +the days of its use. It was a perfect oval in shape with tiers of +seats now forming a staircase down to the center, where was a section +ringed about by a series of archways. A high stone grille walled this +portion away from the seats as if to protect the spectators from what +might enter through those portals. + +Dalgard noted all this only in passing, for the arena was occupied, +very much occupied. And he knew the occupiers only too well. + +Three full-grown snake-devils were stretched at pulpy ease, their +filled bellies obscenely round, their long necks crowned with their +tiny heads flat on the sand as they napped. A pair of half-grown +monsters, not yet past the six-foot stage, tore at some indescribable +remnants of their elders' feasting, hissing at each other and aiming +vicious blows whenever they came within possible fighting distance. +Three more, not long out of their mothers' pouches scrabbled in the +earth about the sleeping adults. + +"A good catch," Dalgard signaled Sssuri, and the merman nodded. + +They climbed down from seat to seat. This could not rightfully be +termed hunting when the quarry might be picked off so easily without +risk to the archer. But as Dalgard notched his first arrow, he sighted +something so surprising that he did not let the poisoned dart fly. + +The nearest sleeping reptile which he had selected as his mark +stretched lazily without raising its head or opening its small eyes. +And the sun caught on a glistening band about its short foreleg just +beneath the joint of the taloned pawhands. No natural scales could +reflect the light with such a brilliant glare. It could be only one +thing--metal! A metal bracelet about the tearing arm of a snake-devil! +Dalgard looked at the other two sleepers. One was lying on its belly +with its forearms gathered under it so that he could not see if it, +also, were so equipped. But the other--yes, it was banded! + +Sssuri stood at the grille, one hand on its stone divisions. His +surprise equaled Dalgard's. It was not in his experience either that +the untamed snake-devils, regarded by merman and human alike as so +dangerous as to be killed on sight, could be banded--as if they were +personal pets! + +For a moment or two a wild idea crossed Dalgard's mind. How long was +the natural life span of a snake-devil? Until the coming of the +colonists they had been the undisputed rulers of the deserted +continent, stupid as they were, simply because of their strength and +ferocity. A twelve-foot, scale-armored monster, that could tear apart +a duocorn with ease, might not be successfully vanquished by any of +the fauna of Astra. And since the monsters did not venture into the +sea, contact between them and the mermen had been limited to casual +encounters at rare intervals. So, how long did a snake-devil live? +Were these creatures sprawled here in sleep ones that had known the +domination of Those Others--though the fall of the master race of +Astra must have occurred generations, hundreds of years in the past? + +"No," Sssuri's denial cut through that. "The smaller one is not yet +full-grown. It lacks the second neck ring. Yet it is banded." + +The merman was right. That unpleasant wattle of armored flesh which +necklaced the serpent throat of the devil Dalgard had picked as his +target was thin, not the thick roll of fat such as distinguished its +two companions. It was not fully adult, yet the band was plain to see +on the foreleg now stretched to its full length as the sun bored down +to supply the heavy heat the snake-devils relished next to food. + +"Then--" Dalgard did not like to think of what might be the answer to +that "then." + +Sssuri shrugged. "It is plain that these are not wild roamers. They +are here for a purpose. And that purpose--" Suddenly his arm shot out +so that his fingers protruded through the slits in the stone grille. +"See?" + +Dalgard had already seen, in seeing he knew hot and terrible anger. +Out of the filthy mess in which the snake-devils wallowed, something +had rolled, perhaps thrown about in play by the unspeakable offspring. +A skull, dried scraps of fur and flesh still clinging to it, stared +hollow-eyed up at them. At least one merman had fallen prey to the +nightmares who ruled the arena. + +Sssuri hissed and the red rage in his mind was plain to Dalgard. "Once +more they deal death here--" His eyes went from the skull to the +monsters. "Kill!" The command was imperative and sharp. + +Dalgard had qualified as a master bowman before he had first gone +roving. And the killing of snake-devils was a task which had been set +every colonist since their first brush with the creatures. + +He snapped the cap off the glass splinter point, designed to pin and +then break off in the hide so that any clawing foot which tore out an +arrow could not rid the victim of the poisonous head. The archer's +mark was under the throat where the scales were soft and there was a +chance of piercing the skin with the first shot. + +The growls of the two feeding youngsters covered the snap of the bow +cord as Dalgard shot. And he did not miss. The brilliant scarlet +feather of the arrow quivered in the baggy roll of flesh. + +With a scream which tore at the human's eardrums, the snake-devil +reared to its hind feet. It made a tearing motion with the banded +forearm which scraped across the back of one of its companions. And +then it fell back to the blood-stained sand, limp, a greenish foam +drooling from its fangs. + +As the monster that the dead devil had raked roused, Dalgard had his +chance for another good mark. And the second scarlet shaft sped +straight to the target. + +But the third creature which had been sleeping belly down on the sand +presented only its armored back, a hopeless surface for an arrow to +pierce. It had opened its eyes and was watching the now motionless +bodies of its fellows. But it showed no disposition to move. It was +almost as if it somehow understood that as long as it remained in its +present position it was safe. + +"The small ones--" + +Dalgard needed no prompting. He picked off easily enough the two +half-grown ones. The infants were another problem. Far less sluggish +than their huge elders they sensed that they were in danger and fled. +One took refuge in the pouch of its now-dead parent, and the others +moved so fast that Dalgard found them difficult targets. He killed one +which had almost reached an archway and at length nicked the second in +the foot, knowing that, while the poison would be slower in acting, it +would be as sure. + +Through all of this the third adult devil continued to lie motionless, +only its wicked eyes giving any indication that it was alive. Dalgard +watched it impatiently. Unless it would move, allow him a chance to +aim at the soft underparts, there was little chance of killing it. + +What followed startled both hunters, versed as they were in the usual +mechanics of killing snake-devils. It had been an accepted premise, +through the years since the colonists had known of the monsters, that +the creatures were relatively brainless, mere machines which fought, +ate, and killed, incapable of any intelligent reasoning, and therefore +only dangerous when one was surprised by them or when the hunter was +forced to face them inadequately armed. + +This snake-devil was different, as it became increasingly plain to the +two behind the grille. It had remained safe during the slaughter of +its companions because it had not moved, almost as if it had wit +enough _not_ to move. And now, when it did change position, its +maneuvers, simple as they were, underlined the fact that this one +creature appeared to have thought out a solution to its situation--as +rational a solution as Dalgard might have produced had it been his +problem. + +Still keeping its soft underparts covered, it edged about in the sand +until its back, with the impenetrable armor plates, was facing the +grille behind which the hunters stood. Retracting its neck between its +shoulders and hunching its powerful back limbs under it, it rushed +from that point of danger straight for one of the archways. + +Dalgard sent an arrow after it. Only to see the shaft scrape along the +heavy scales and bounce to the sand. Then the snake-devil was gone. + +"Banded--" The word reached Dalgard. Sssuri had been cool enough to +note that while the human hunter had been only bewildered by the +untypical actions of his quarry. + +"It must be intelligent." The scout's statement was more than half +protest. + +"Where _they_ are concerned, one may expect many evil wonders." + +"We've got to get that devil!" Dalgard was determined on that. Though +to run down, through this maze of deserted city, an enraged +snake-devil--above all, a snake-devil which appeared to have some +reasoning powers--was not a prospect to arouse any emotion except grim +devotion to duty. + +"It goes for help." + +Dalgard, startled, stared at his companion. Sssuri was still by the +grille, watching that archway through which the devil had disappeared. + +"What kind of help?" For a moment Dalgard pictured the monster +returning at the head of a regiment of its kind, able to tear out this +grille and get at their soft-fleshed enemies behind it. + +"Safety--protection," Sssuri told him. "And I think that the place to +which it now flees is one we should know." + +"Those Others?" The sun had not clouded, it still streamed down in the +torrid heat of early afternoon, warm on their heads and shoulders. Yet +Dalgard felt as chill as if some autumn wind had laid its lash across +the small of his back. + +"_They_ are not here. But they have been--and it is possible that they +return. The devil goes to where it expects to find them." + +Sssuri was already on his way, running about the arena's curve to +reach the point above the archway through which the snake-devil had +raced. Dalgard padded after him, bow in hand. He trusted Sssuri +implicitly when it came to tracking. If the merman said that the +snake-devil had a definite goal in view, he was right. But the scout +was still a little bemused by a monster who was able to have any goal +except the hunting and devouring of meat. Either the one who fled was +a freak among its kind or--There were several possibilities which +could answer that "or," and none of them were very pleasant to +consider. + +They reached the section above the archway and climbed the tiers of +seat benches to the top of the wall. Only to see no exit below them. +In fact nothing but a wide sweep of crushed brown tangle which had +once been vegetation. It was apparent that there was no door below. + +Sssuri sped down again. He climbed the grille and was on his way to +the sand when Dalgard caught up with him. Together they ventured into +the underground passage which the snake-devil had chosen. + +The stench of the lair was thick about them. Dalgard coughed, sickened +by the foul odor. He was reluctant to advance. But, to his growing +relief, he discovered that it was not entirely dark. Set in the roof +at intervals were plates which gave out a violet light, making a dim +twilight which was better than total darkness. + +It was a straight passage without any turns or openings. But the +horrible odor was constant, and Dalgard began to think that they might +be running head-on into another lair, perhaps one as well populated as +that they had left behind them. It was against nature for the +snake-devils he had known to lair under cover; they preferred narrow +rocky places where they could bask in the sun. But then the devil they +now pursued was no ordinary one. + +Sssuri reassured him. "There is no lair, only the smell because they +have come this way for many years." + +The passage opened into a wide room and here the violet light was +stronger, bright enough to make plain the fact that alcoves opened off +it, each and every one with a barred grille for a door. There was no +mistaking that once this had been a prison of sorts. + +Sssuri did no exploring but crossed the room at his shuffling trot, +which Dalgard matched. The way leading out on the opposite side +slanted up, and he judged it might bring them out at ground level. + +"The devil waits," Sssuri warned, "because it fears. It will turn on +us when we come. Be ready--" + +They were at another door, and before them was a long corridor with +tall window openings near the ceiling which gave admittance to the +sunlight. After the gloom of the tunnel, Dalgard blinked. But he was +aware of movement at the far end, just as he heard the hissing scream +of the monster they trailed. + + + + +6 + +TREASURE HUNT + + +Raf, squatting on a small, padded platform raised some six inches from +the floor, tried to study the inhabitants of the room without staring +offensively. At the first glance, in spite of their strange clothing +and their odd habit of painting their faces with weird designs, the +city people might have been of his own species. Until one saw their +too slender hands with the three equal-length fingers and thumb, or +caught a glimpse, under the elaborate head coverings, of the stiff, +spiky substance which served them for hair. + +At least they did not appear to be antagonistic. When they had reached +the roof top where the Terrans had landed their flitter, they had come +with empty hands, making gestures of good will and welcome. And they +had had no difficulty in persuading at least three of the exploring +party to accompany them to their own quarters, though Raf had been +separated from the flyer only by the direct order of Captain Hobart, +an order he still resented and wanted to disobey. + +The Terrans had been offered refreshment--food and drink. But knowing +the first rule of stellar exploration, they had refused, which did not +mean that the hosts must abstain. In fact, Raf thought, watching the +aliens about him, they ate as if such a feast were novel. His two +neighbors had quickly divided his portion between them and made it +disappear as fast, if not faster, than their own small servings. + +At the other end of the room Lablet and Hobart were trying to +communicate with the nobles about them, while Soriki, a small palm +recorder in his hand, was making a tape strip of the proceedings. + +Raf glanced from one of his neighbors to the other. The one on his +right had chosen to wear a sight-torturing shade of crimson, and the +material was wound in strips about his body as if he were engulfed in +an endless bandage. Only his fluttering hands, his three-toed feet and +his head were free of the supple rolls. Having selected red for his +clothing, he had picked a brilliant yellow paint for his facial +makeup, and it was difficult for the uninitiated to trace what must be +his normal features under that thick coating of stuff which fashioned +a masklike strip across his eyes and a series of circles outlining his +mouth, circles which almost completely covered his beardless cheeks. +More twists of woven fabric, opalescent and changing color as his head +moved, made a turban for his head. + +Most of the aliens about the room wore some variation of the same +bandage dress, face paint, and turban. An exception, one of three +such, was the feaster on Raf's left. + +His face paint was confined to a conservative set of bars on each +cheek, those a stark black and white. His sinewy arms were bare to the +shoulder, and he wore a shell of some metallic substance as a +breast-and back-plate, not unlike the very ancient body armor of Raf's +own world. The rest of his body was covered by the bandage strips, but +they were of a dead black, which, because of the natural thinness of +his limbs, gave him a rather unpleasant resemblance to a spider. +Various sheaths and pockets hung from a belt pulled tight about his +wasp middle, and a helmet of the metal covered his head. Soldier? Raf +was sure that his guess was correct. + +The officer, if officer he was, caught Raf's gaze. His small round +mouth gaped, and then his hands, with a few quick movements which Raf +followed, fascinated, pantomimed a flyer in the air. With those +talking fingers, he was able to make plain a question: was Raf the +pilot of the flitter? + +The pilot nodded. Then he pointed to the officer and forced as +inquiring an expression as he could command. + +The answer was sketched quickly and readably: the alien, too, was +either a pilot or had some authority over flyers. For the first time +since he had entered this building, Raf knew a slight degree of +relaxation. + +The wrinkleless, too smooth skin of the alien was a darkish yellow. +His painted face was a mask to frighten any sensible Terran child; his +general appearance was not attractive. But he was a flyer, and he +wanted to talk shop, as well as they could with no common speech. +Since the scarlet-wound nobleman on Raf's right was completely +engrossed in the feast, pursuing a few scraps avidly about the dish, +the Terran gave all his attention to the officer. + +Twittering words poured in a stream from the warrior's lips. Raf shook +his head regretfully, and the other jerked his shoulders in almost +human impatience. Somehow that heartened Raf. + +With many guesses to cover gaps, probably more than half of which were +wrong, Raf gathered that the officer was one of a very few who still +retained the almost forgotten knowledge of how to pilot the remaining +airworthy craft in this crumbling city. On their way to the building +with the curved roof, Raf had noted the evidences that the inhabitants +of this metropolis could not be reckoned as more than a handful and +that most of these now lived either within the central building or +close to it. A pitiful collection of survivors lingering on in the +ruins of their past greatness. + +Yet he was impressed now by no feeling that the officer, eagerly +trying to make contact, was a degenerate member of a dying race. In +fact, as Raf glanced at the aliens about the room, he was conscious of +an alertness, of a suppressed energy which suggested a young and +vigorous people. + +The officer was now urging him to go some place, and Raf, his dislike +for being in the heart of the strangers' territory once more aroused, +was about to shake his head in a firm negative when a second idea +stopped him. He had resisted separation from the flitter. Perhaps he +could persuade the alien, under the excuse of inspecting a strange +machine, to take him back to the flyer. Once there he would stay. He +did not know what Captain Hobart and Lablet thought they could +accomplish here. But, as for himself, Raf was sure that he was not +going to feel easy again until he was across the northern mountain +chain and coming in for a landing close by the _RS 10_. + +It was as if the alien officer had read his thoughts, for the warrior +uncrossed his black legs and got nimbly to his feet with a lithe +movement, which Raf, cramped by sitting in the unfamiliar posture, +could not emulate. No one appeared to notice their withdrawal. And +when Raf hesitated, trying to catch Hobart's eye and make some +explanation, the alien touched his arm lightly and motioned toward one +of the curtained doorways. Conscious that he could not withdraw from +the venture now, Raf reluctantly went out. + +They were in a hall where bold bands of color interwove in patterns +impossible for Terran eyes to study. Raf lowered his gaze hurriedly to +the gray floor under his boots. He had discovered earlier that to try +to trace any thread of that wild splashing did weird things to his +eyesight and awakened inside him a sick panic. His space boots, with +the metal, magnetic plates set in the soles, clicked loudly on the +pavement where his companion's bare feet made no whisper of sound. + +The hall gave upon a ramp leading down, and Raf recognized this. His +confidence arose. They were on their way out of the building. Here the +murals were missing so that he could look about him for reference +points. + +He was sure that the banquet hall was some ten stories above street +level. But they did not go down ten ramps now. At the foot of the +third the officer turned abruptly to the left, beckoning Raf along. +When the Terran remained stubbornly where he was, pointing in the +direction which, to him, meant return to the flitter, the other made +gestures describing an aircraft in flight. His own probably. + +Raf sighed. He could see no way out unless he cut and ran. And long +before he reached the street from this warren they could pick him up. +Also, in spite of all the precautions he had taken to memorize their +way here, he was not sure he could find his path back to the flyer, +even if he were free to go. Giving in, he went after the officer. + +Their way led out on one of the spider-web bridges which tied building +and tower into the complicated web which was the city. Raf, as a pilot +of flitter, had always believed that he had no fear of heights. But he +discovered that to coast above the ground in a flyer was far different +than to hurry at the pace his companion now set across one of these +narrow bridges suspended high above the street. And he was sure that +the surface under them vibrated as if the slightest extra poundage +would separate it from its supports and send it, and them, crashing +down. + +Luckily the distance they had to cover was relatively short, but Raf +swallowed a sigh of relief as they reached the door at the other end. +They were now in a tower which, unluckily, proved to be only a way +station before another swing out over empty space on a span which +sloped down! Raf clutched at the guide rail, the presence of which +suggested that not all the users of this road were as nonchalant as +the officer who tripped lightly ahead. This must explain the other's +bare feet--on such paths they were infinitely safer than his own +boots. + +The downward sloping bridge brought them to a square building which +somehow had an inhabited look which those crowding around it lacked. +Raf gained its door to become aware of a hum, a vibration in the wall +he touched to steady himself, hinting at the drive of motors, the +throb of machinery inside the structure. But within, the officer +passed along a corridor to a ramp which brought them out, after what +was for Raf a steep climb, upon the roof. Here was not one of the +tongue-shaped craft such as had first met them in the city, but a +gleaming globe. The officer stopped, his eyes moving from the Terran +to the machine, as if inviting Raf to share in his own pride. To the +pilot's mind it bore little resemblance to any form of aircraft past +or present with which he had had experience in his own world. But he +did not doubt that it was the present acme of alien construction, and +he was eager to see it perform. + +He followed the officer through a hatch at the bottom of the globe, +only to be confronted by a ladder he thought at first he could not +climb, for the steps were merely toe holds made to accommodate the +long, bare feet of the crew. By snapping on the magnetic power of his +space boots, Raf was able to get up, although at a far slower speed +than his guide. They passed several levels of cabins before coming +out in what was clearly the control cabin of the craft. + +To Raf the bank of unfamiliar levers and buttons had no meaning, but +he paid strict attention to the gestures of his companion. This was +not a space ship he gathered. And he doubted whether the aliens had +ever lifted from their own planet to their neighbors in this solar +system. But it was a long-range ship with greater cruising power than +the other flyer he had seen. And it was being readied now for a voyage +of some length. + +The Terran pilot squatted down on the small stool before the controls. +Before him a visa plate provided a clear view of the sky without and +the gathering clouds of evening. Raf shifted uncomfortably. That +signal of the passing of time triggered his impatience to be +away--back to the _RS 10_. He did not want to spend the night in this +city. Somehow he must get the officer to take him back to the +flitter--to be there would be better than shut up in one of the alien +dwellings. + +Meanwhile he studied the scene on the visa plate, trying to find the +roof on which they had left the flitter. But there was no point he was +able to recognize. + +Raf turned to the officer and tried to make clear the idea of +returning to his own ship. Either he was not as clever at the sign +language as the other, or the alien did not wish to understand. For +when they left the control cabin, it was only to make an inspection +tour of the other parts of the globe, including the space which held +the motors of the craft and which, at another time, would have kept +Raf fascinated for hours. + +In the end the Terran broke away and climbed down the thread of ladder +to stand on the roof under the twilight sky. Slowly he walked about +the broad expanse of the platform, attempting to pick out some +landmark. The central building of the city loomed high, and there were +any number of towers about it. But which was the one that guarded the +roof where the flitter rested? Raf's determination to get back to his +ship was a driving force. + +The alien officer had watched him, and now a three-fingered hand was +laid on Raf's sleeve while its owner looked into Raf's face and +mouthed a trilling question. + +Without much hope the pilot sketched the set of gestures he had used +before. And he was surprised when the other led the way down into the +building. This time they did not go back to the bridge, which had +brought them across the canyons of streets, but kept on down ramps +within the building. + +There was a hum of activity in the place. Aliens, all in tight black +wrappings and burnished metal breastplates, their faces barred with +black and white paint, went on errands through the halls or labored at +tasks Raf could not understand. It now seemed as if his guide were +eager to get him away. + +It was when they reached the street level that the officer did pause +by one door, beckoning Raf imperiously to join him. The Terran obeyed +reluctantly--and was almost sick. + +He was staring down at a dead, very dead body. By the stained rags +still clinging to it, it was one of the aliens, a noble, not one of +the black-clad warriors. The gaping wounds which had almost torn the +unfortunate apart were like nothing Raf had ever seen. + +With a guttural sound which expressed his feelings as well as any +words, the officer picked up from the floor a broken spear, the barbed +head of which was dyed the same reddish yellow as the blood still +seeping from the torn body. Swinging the weapon so close to Raf that +the Terran was forced to retreat a step or two to escape contact with +the grisly relic, the officer burst into an impassioned speech. Then +he went back to the gestures which were easier for the spaceman to +understand. + +This was the work of a deadly enemy, Raf gathered. And such a fate +awaited any one of them who ventured beyond certain bounds of safety. +Unless this enemy were destroyed, the city--life itself--was no +longer theirs-- + +Seeing those savage wounds which suggested that an insane fury had +driven the attacker, Raf could believe that. But surely a primitive +spear was no equal to the weapons his guide could command. + +When he tried to suggest that, the other shook his head as if +despairing of making plain his real message, and again beckoned Raf to +come with him. They were out on the littered street, heading away from +the central building where the rest of the Terran party must still be. +And Raf, seeing the lengthening shadows, the pools of dusk gathering, +and remembering that spear, could not resist glancing back over his +shoulder now and then. He wondered if the metallic click of his boot +soles on the pavement might not draw attention to them, attention they +would not care to meet. His hand was on his stun gun. But the officer +gave no sign of being worried; he walked along with the assurance of +one who has nothing to fear. + +Then Raf caught sight of a patch of color he had seen before and +relaxed. They _were_ on their way back to the flitter! He had come +down this very street earlier. And he did not mind the long climb +back, ramp by steep ramp, which brought him out at last beside the +flyer. His relief was so great that he put out his hand to draw it +along the sleek side of the craft as he might have caressed a +well-loved pet. + +"Kurbi?" + +At Hobart's bark he stiffened. "Yes, sir!" + +"We camp here tonight. Have to make some plans." + +"Yes, sir." He agreed with that. To attempt passage of the mountains +in the dark was a suicide mission which he would have refused. On the +other hand, to his mind, they would sleep more soundly if they were +out of the city. He speculated whether he dared suggest that they use +the few remaining moments of twilight to head into the open and +establish a camp somewhere in the countryside. + +The alien officer made some comment in his slurred speech and faded +away into the shadows. Raf saw that the others had already dragged out +their blanket rolls and were spreading them in the shelter of the +flitter while Soriki busied himself at the com, sending back a message +to the _RS 10_. + +"... should not be too difficult to establish a common speech form," +Lablet was saying as Raf climbed into the flitter to tug loose his own +roll. "Color and pitch both seem to carry meaning. But the basic +pattern is there to study. And with the scanner to sort out those +record strips--did you adjust them, Soriki?" + +"They're all ready for you to push the button. If the scanner can read +them, it will. I got all that speech the chief, or king, or whatever +he was, made just before we left." + +"Good, very good!" In the light of the portable lamp by Soriki's com, +Lablet settled down, plugged the scanner tubes in his ears, absently +accepting a ration bar the captain handed him to chew on while he +listened to the playback of the record the com-tech had made that +afternoon. + +Hobart turned to Raf. "You went off with that officer. What did he +have to show you?" + +The pilot described the globe and the body he had been shown and then +added what he had deduced from the sketchy explanations he had been +given. The captain nodded. + +"Yes, they have aircraft, have been using them, too. But I think that +there's only one of the big ones. And they're fighting a war all +right. We didn't see the whole colony, but I'll wager that there are +only a handful of them left. They're holed up here, and they need help +or the barbarians will finish them off. They talked a lot about that." + +Lablet pulled the ear plugs from his ears. In the lamplight there was +an excited expression on his face. "You were entirely right, Captain! +They were offering us a bargain there at the last! They are offering +us the accumulated scientific knowledge of this world!" + +"What?" Hobart sounded bewildered. + +"Over there"--Lablet made a sweep with his arm which might indicate +any point to the east--"there is a storehouse of the original learning +of their race. It's in the heart of the enemy country. But the enemy +as yet do not know of it. They've made two trips over to bring back +material and their ship can only go once more. They offer us an equal +share if we'll make the next trip in their company and help them clean +out the storage place--" + +Hobart's answer was a whistle. There was an avid hunger on Lablet's +lean face. No more potent bribe could have been devised to entice him. +But Raf, remembering the spear-torn body, wondered. + +_In the heart of the enemy country_, he repeated to himself. + +Lablet added another piece of information. "After all, the enemy they +face is only dangerous because of superior numbers. They are only +animals--" + +"Animals don't carry spears!" Raf protested. + +"Experimental animals that escaped during a world-wide war generations +ago," reported the other. "It seems that the species have evolved to a +semi-intelligent level. I must see them!" + +Hobart was not to be hurried. "We'll think it over," he decided. "This +needs a little time for consideration." + + + + +7 + +MANY EYES, MANY EARS + + +This was not the first time Dalgard had faced the raging fury of a +snake-devil thirsting for a kill. The slaying he had done in the arena +was an exception to the rule, not the usual hunter's luck. And now +that he saw the creature crouched at the far end of the hall he was +ready. Sssuri, also, followed their familiar pattern, separating from +his companion and slipping along the wall toward the monster, ready to +attract its attention at the proper moment. + +Only one doubt remained in Dalgard's mind. This devil had not acted in +the normal brainless fashion of its kin. What if it was able to assess +the very simple maneuvers, which always before had completely baffled +its species, and attacked not the moving merman but the waiting +archer? + +It was backed against another door, a closed one, as if it had fled +for refuge to some aid it had expected and did not find. But as Sssuri +moved, its long neck straightened until it was almost at right angles +with its narrow shoulders, and from its snake's jaws proceeded a +horrific hissing which arose to a scream as its leg muscles tensed for +a spring. + +At just the right moment Sssuri's arm went back, his spear sang +through the air. And the snake-devil, with an incredible twist of its +neck, caught the haft of the weapon between its teeth, crunching the +iron-hard substance into powder. But with that move it exposed its +throat, and the arrow from Dalgard's bow was buried head-deep in the +soft inner flesh. + +The snake-devil spat out the spear and tried to raise its head. But +the muscles were already weakening. It fought the poison long enough +to take a single step forward, its small red eyes alight with +brainless hate. Then it crashed and lay twisting. Dalgard lowered his +bow. There was no need for a second shot. + +Sssuri regarded the remains of his spear unhappily. Not only was it +the product of long hours of work, but no merman ever felt fully +equipped to face the world without such a weapon to hand. He salvaged +the barbed head and broke it free of the shred of haft the snake-devil +had left. Knotting it at his belt he turned to Dalgard. + +"Shall we see what lies beyond?" + +Dalgard crossed the hall to test the door. It did not yield to an +inward push, but rolled far enough into the wall to allow them +through. + +On the other side was a room which amazed the scout. The colonists had +their laboratory, their workshops, in which they experimented and +tried to preserve the remnants of knowledge their forefathers had +brought across space, as well as to discover new. But the extent of +this storehouse with its bewildering mass of odd machines, tanks, +bales, and stocked shelves and tables, was too much to be taken in +without a careful and minute examination. + +"We are not the first to walk here." Sssuri had given little attention +to what was stacked about him. Instead he bent over the disturbed dust +in one aisle. Dalgard noted as he went to join the merman that there +were gaps on those tables which ran the full length of the room, lines +left in the grimy deposit of years which told of things recently +moved. And then he saw what had interested Sssuri: tracks, some +resembling those which his own bare feet might leave, except that +there were only three toes! + +"_They._" + +Dalgard who had been a hunter and a tracker before he was an explorer +crouched for a clearer view. Yes, they were recent, yet not made today +or even yesterday; there was a thin film of dust resettled in each. + +"Some days ago. They are not in the city now," the merman declared +with certainty. "But they will come again." + +"How do you know that?" + +Sssuri's hand swept about to include the wealth around them. "They +have taken some, perhaps to them the most needful. But they will not +be able to resist gathering the rest. Surely they will return, perhaps +not once but many times. Until--" + +"Until they come to stay." Dalgard was grim as he completed that +sentence for the other. + +"That is what they will work for. This land was once under their +mastery. This world was theirs before they threw it away warring among +themselves. Yes, they dream of holding all once more. But"--Sssuri's +yellow eyes took on some of the fire which had shone in those of the +snake-devil during its last seconds of life--"that must not be so!" + +"If they take the land, you have the sea," Dalgard pointed out. The +mermen had a means of escape. But what of his own clansmen? Large +families were unknown among the Terran colonists. In the little more +than a century they had been on this planet their numbers, from the +forty-five survivors of the voyage, had grown to only some two hundred +and fifty, of which only a hundred and twenty were old enough or young +enough to fight. And for them there was no retreat or hiding place. + +"We do not go back to the depths!" There was stern determination in +that declaration from Sssuri. His tribe had been long hunted, and it +wasn't until they had made a loose alliance with the Terran colonists +that they had dared to leave the dangerous ocean depths, where they +were the prey of monsters more ferocious and cunning than any +snake-devil, to house their families in the coast caves and on the +small islands off-shore, to increase in numbers and develop new skills +of civilization. No, knowing the stubbornness which was bred into +their small, furry bodies, Dalgard did not believe that many of the +sea people would willingly go back into the sunless depths. They would +not surrender tamely to the rulership of the loathed race. + +"I don't see," Dalgard spoke aloud, half to himself, as he studied the +tables closely packed, the machines standing on bases about the walls, +the wealth of alien technology, "what we can do to stop them." + +The restriction drilled into him from early childhood, that the +knowledge of Those Others was not for his race and in some way +dangerous, gave him an uneasy feeling of guilt just to be standing +there. Danger, danger which was far worse than physical, lurked +there. And he could bring it to life by merely putting out his hand +and picking up any one of those fascinating objects which lay only +inches away. For the pull of curiosity was warring inside him against +the stern warnings of his Elders. + +Once when Dalgard had been very small he had raided his father's trip +bag after the next to the last exploring journey the elder Nordis had +made. And he had found a clear block of some kind of greenish crystal, +in the heart of which threadlike lines of color wove patterns which +were utterly strange. When he had turned the block in his hand, those +lines had whirled and changed to form new and intricate designs. And +when he had watched them intently it had seemed that something +happened inside his mind and he knew, here and there, a word, a +fragment of alien thought--just as he normally communicated with the +cub who was Sssuri or the hoppers of the field. And his surprise had +been so great that he had gone running to his father with the cube and +the story of what happened when one watched it. + +But there had been no praise for his discovery. Instead he had been +hurried off to the chamber where an old, old man, the son of the Great +Man who had planned to bring them across space, lay in his bed. And +Forken Kordov himself had talked to Dalgard in his old voice, a voice +as withered and thin as the hands crossed helplessly on his shrunken +body, explaining in simple, kindly words that the knowledge which lay +in the cubes, in the oddly shaped books which the Terrans sometimes +came across in the ruins, was not for them. That his own +great-grandfather Dard Nordis, who had been one of the first of the +mutant line of sensitives, had discovered that. And Dalgard, impressed +by Forken, by his father's concern, and by all the circumstances of +that day, had never forgotten nor lost that warning. + +"_We_ cannot hope to stop them," Sssuri pointed out. "But we must +learn when they will come again and be waiting for them--with your +people and mine. For I tell you now, brother of the knife, they must +not be allowed to rise once more!" + +"And how can we foretell their coming?" Dalgard wanted to know. + +"Perhaps that alone we cannot do. But when they come they will not +leave speedily. They have stayed here before without harm, and their +distrust has been lulled. When next they come, it will be only +according to their natures that they will wish to stay longer. Not +snatching up the closest to hand of these treasures of theirs, but +choosing out with care those things which will give them the best +results. Therefore they may make a camp, and we can summon others to +aid us." + +"To return to Homeport will take several days even if we push," +pointed out the scout. + +"Word can pass swifter than man," the merman returned, with confidence +in his own plan of action. "We shall put other eyes, other ears, many +eyes, many ears, to service for us. Be assured we are not the only +ones to fear the return of Those Others from overseas." + +Dalgard caught his meaning. Yes, it would not be the first time the +hoppers and other small animals living in the grasslands, the runners +and even the moth birds that only the mermen could mind touch, would +relay a message across the land. It might not be an accurate +message--to transmit that by small animal brains was impossible--but +the meaning would reach both merman and colony Elders: trouble in the +north, help needed there. And since Dalgard was the only explorer at +present who had chosen the northern trails, his people would know that +he had sent that warning and would act upon it, as Sssuri's message +would in turn be heeded by the warriors of his tribe. + +Yes, it could be done. But what of the traces they had left here--the +slaughtered snake-devils--? + +Sssuri had an answer for that also. "Let them believe that one of my +race came here, or that a party of us ventured to explore inland. We +can make it appear that way. But they must not know of you. I do not +believe that they ever learned of you or how your fathers came from +the sky. And so that may swing the battle in our favor if it comes to +open warfare." + +What the merman said was sensible enough, and Dalgard was willing to +obey orders. As he left the storehouse, Sssuri trailed him, scuffing +each dusty print the scout left. Perhaps a master of trailcraft could +unravel that spoor, but the colonist was ready to believe that no such +master existed in the ranks of Those Others. + +In the outer hall the merman approached the now dead snake-devil and +jerked from its loose skin the arrow which had killed it. Loosing the +head of his ruined spear from his belt, he dug and gouged at the small +wound, tearing it so that its original nature was concealed forever. +Then they retraced their way through the underground passages until +they reached the sanded arena. Already insects buzzed hungrily about +the hulks of the dead monsters. + +There was a shrill squeal as the remaining infant reptile fled from +the pouch where it had hidden. Sssuri hurled his knife, and the blade +caught the small devil above the shoulder line, half cutting, half +snapping its tender neck, so that it bounded aimlessly on to crash +against the wall and fall back squirming feebly. + +They collected the darts which had killed the others. Dalgard took the +opportunity to study those bands on the forearms of the adults. To his +touch they had the slick smoothness of metal, yet he was unfamiliar +with the material. It possessed the ruddy fire of copper, but through +it ran small black veins. He would have liked to have taken one with +him for investigation, but it was out of the question to pry it off +that scaled limb. + +Sssuri straightened up from his last gruesome bit of stage-setting +with a sigh of relief. "Go ahead." He pointed to one of the other +archways. "I will confuse the trail." + +Dalgard obeyed, treading as lightly as he could, avoiding all +stretches in which he could leave a clear print. Sssuri ran lightly +back and forth mixing the few impressions to the best of his ability. + +They backtracked to the river, retrieved the boat and recrossed, to +leave the city behind and strike into the open country beyond its +sinister walls. Night was falling, and Dalgard was very glad that he +was not to spend the time of darkness within those haunted buildings. +But he knew that it was more than a dislike for being shut up in the +alien dwellings which had brought Sssuri out into the fields. The +second part of their plan must be put into operation. + +While Dalgard willed his body motionless, the merman lay relaxed upon +the ground before him as he might have floated upon his beloved waves +in some secluded cove. His brilliant eyes were closed. Yet Dalgard +knew that Sssuri was far from asleep, and with all his own power he +tried to join in the broadcast: that urgency which should send some +hopper, some night runner, on to spread the rumor that there was +trouble in the north, that danger existed and must be investigated. +They had already met one colony of runners ranging southward to +escape. But if they could send another such tribe traveling, arouse +and aim south a hopper exodus, the story would spread until the fringe +would reach the animals who lived in peace within touch of Homeport. + +The sun was gone, the dark gathered fast. Dalgard could not even see +the clustered buildings of the city now. And since he lacked Sssuri's +range and staying power, he had no idea whether their efforts had met +with even a shadow of success. He shivered in the bite of the wind and +dared to lay his hand on Sssuri's shoulder, feeling anew the electric +shock of warmth and bursting life which was always there. + +Having so broken the other's absorption he asked a question: "Would it +not be well, brother of the knife, if with the rising sun you returned +to the sea and struck out to join your tribesmen, leaving me here to +watch until you return?" + +Sssuri's answer came with a speed which suggested that he, too, had +been considering that problem. "We shall see what happens with the +sun's rising. It is true that in the sea I can travel with greater +speed, that there are hunting parties of my people striking into these +waters. But they will not come to this city without good reason. It is +an accursed place." + +With the early morning the city drew them once more. Dalgard's +curiosity pulled him to that storehouse. He could not stifle the hope +that with luck he might find something there which would solve their +problem for them. If there could only be a way to avoid open conflict +with Those Others, some solution whereby the aliens need never know of +the existence of the Colony. For so many generations, even centuries, +the aliens had been confined, or had confined themselves, safely +overseas on the western continent. Perhaps if now they were faced by +some new catastrophe, they would never attempt to come east again. He +had visions of discovering and activating some trap set to protect +their treasures which could be turned against them. But he realized +that he lacked the technical knowledge which would have aided him in +the search for such a weapon. + +The remnants of Terran science and mechanics, which the outlaws had +brought with them from their native world, had been handed on; the +experiments they had managed since with crude equipment had been +carefully recorded, and he was acquainted with the outlines of most of +them. But the few destructive arms they had imported were long since +worn out or lacked charges, and they had not been able to duplicate +them. Just as they had torn asunder the ship in which they had crossed +space, to use its parts for the building of Homeport, so had they +hoarded all else they had brought. But they were limited by lack of +materials on Astra, and their fear of the knowledge of the aliens had +kept them from experimenting with things found in the ruins. + +There might be hundreds of objects on the shelves of that storage +place, which, properly used, would reduce not only just the room and +its contents to glowing slag, but take half the city with it. But he +had no idea which, or which combination, would do it. + +And here Sssuri could be no help. The mermen had made great strides +forward in biological and mental sciences, but mechanics was a closed +section of learning because of their enforced habitat under the sea, +and of machines they knew less than the colonists. + +"I have been thinking--" Sssuri broke into his companion's chain of +reasoning, "of what we may do. And perhaps there is a way to reach the +sea more swiftly than by returning overland." + +"Downriver? But you said that way may have its watching devices." + +"Which would be centered on objects coming upstream, not down. But in +this city there should be yet another way--" + +He did not enlarge upon that, but since he apparently knew what he was +doing, Dalgard let him play guide once more. They recrossed the +sluggish river, the scout looking into its murky depths with little +relish for it as a means of transportation. Though it had an oily, +flowing current, there was a suggestion of stagnant water with +unpleasant surprises waiting beneath its turgid surface. + +For the second time they entered the arena. Avoiding the bodies, +Sssuri made a circuit of the sanded floor. He did not turn in at the +archway which led to the storage place, but paused before another as +if there lay what he had been searching for. + +Dalgard's less sensitive nostrils picked up a new scent, the +not-to-be-missed fetor of damp underground ways where water stood. +The merman edged around a barred gate as Dalgard sniffed again. The +smell of damp was crossed by other and even less appetizing odors, but +he did not catch the stench of the snake-devils. And, relying on +Sssuri's judgment, he followed the merman into the dark. + +Once again patches of violet light glimmered over their heads as the +passage narrowed and sloped downward. Dalgard tried to remember the +general geography of the section which was above them now. He had +assumed that this way with its dank chill must give on the river. But +when they had pattered on for a long distance, he knew that either +they had passed beneath the stream or that he was totally lost as to +direction. + +As their eyes adjusted to the gloom of the passage the violet light +grew stronger. So Dalgard saw clearly when Sssuri whirled and faced +back along the way they had come, his body in a half crouch, his knife +ready in his hand. + +Dalgard, his bow useless in the damp, drew his own sword-knife. But, +though his mind probed and he listened, he could sense or hear nothing +on their trail. + + + + +8 + +AIRLIFT + + +They were air-borne once more, but Raf was not pleased. In the seat +beside him, which Captain Hobart should be occupying, there now +squirmed an alien warrior who apparently was uncomfortable in the +chair-like depression so different from the low stools he was +accustomed to. Soriki was still in the second passenger place, but he, +too, shared that with another of the men from the city who rested +across bony knees a strange weapon rather like a Terran rifle. + +No, the spacemen were not prisoners. According to the official +statement they were allies. But, Raf wondered, as against his will he +followed the globe in a northeastern course, how long would that +fiction last if they refused to fall in with any suggestions the +aliens might make? He did not doubt that there was on board the globe +some surprise which could shoot the flitter out of the air, if, for +example, he adjusted the controls before him and bore west toward the +mountains and the safety of the space ship. Either of the aliens he +now transported could bring him under control by using those weapons, +which might do anything from boiling a man in some unknown ray to +smothering him in gas. He had not seen the arms in action, and he did +not want to. + +Yet Hobart and Lablet did not, as far as he could tell, share his +suspicions. Lablet was eager to see the mysterious storehouse, and the +captain was either moved by the same desire or else had long since +deduced the folly of trying to make a break for it Thus they were now +heading seaward with the captain and Lablet sharing quarters with the +leaders of the expedition on board the globe, and Raf and the +com-tech, with companions--or guards--bringing up the rear. The aliens +had even insisted on stripping the flitter of much of its Terran +equipment before they left the city, pointing out that the cleared +storage space would be filled with salvage when they made the return +voyage. + +The globe had been trailing along the coastline, and now it angled out +to glide over a long finger of cape, rocky and waterworn, which +pointed at almost a right angle into the sea. This dwindled into a +reef of rock, like the nail on a finger. The sea ahead was no unbroken +expanse. Instead there was a series of islands, some merely tops of +reefs over which the waves broke, others more substantial, rising well +above the threatening water, and one or two showing the green of +vegetation. + +The chain of islets extended so far out that when the flitter passed +over the last one the main continent was out of sight. Now only water +stretched beneath them. The globe skidded on as if its pilot had given +it an extra burst of power, and Raf accelerated in turn, having no +desire to lose his guide. But they were not to make the ocean-wide +trip in one jump. + +At midday he saw again a break in the smooth carpet of waves, another +island, or perhaps the southern tip of a northern continent for the +land swept in that direction as far as he could see. The globe +spiraled down to make a neat landing on a flat plateau, and Raf +prepared to join it. When the undercarriage of the flitter jarred +lightly on the rock, he saw signs that this was a man-or +alien-fashioned place which must have had much use in the dim past +when his new companions ruled all their native world. + +The rock had been smoothed off to a flat surface, and at its perimeter +were several small domed buildings. Yet, as there had been in the +countryside and in the city, except at its very heart, there was an +aura of desertion at the site. + +Both his alien passengers jumped out of the flitter, as if only too +pleased at their release from the Terran flyer. For the first time Raf +was shaken out of his own preoccupation with his dislike for the +aliens to wonder if they could be moved by a similar distaste for +Terrans. Lablet might be interested in that as a scientific +problem--the pilot only knew how he felt and that was not comfortable. + +Soriki got out and walked across the rock, stretching. But for a long +moment Raf remained where he was, behind the controls of the flyer. He +was as cramped and tired of travel as the com-tech, perhaps even more +so since the responsibility of the flight had been his. And had they +landed in open country he would have liked to have thrown himself down +on the ground, taking off his helmet and unhooking his tunic collar to +let the fresh wind blow through his hair and across his skin. Perhaps +that would take away the arid dust of centuries, which, to his mind, +had grimed him since their hours in the city. But here was no open +country, only a landing space which reminded him too much of the roof +of the building in the metropolis. + +A half-dozen of the breastplated warriors filed out of the globe and went +to the nearest dome, returning with heavy boxes. Fuel--supplies--Raf +shrugged off the problem. The pilot was secretly relieved when Captain +Hobart dropped out of the hatch in the globe and made his way over to the +flitter. + +"Everything running smoothly?" he asked with a glance at the two +aliens who were Raf's passengers. + +"Yes, sir. Any idea how much farther--?" Raf questioned. + +Hobart shrugged. "Until we work out basic language difficulties," he +muttered, "who knows anything? There is at least one more of these way +stations. They don't run on atomics, need some kind of fuel, and they +have to have new supplies every so often. Their head man can't +understand why it isn't necessary for us to do the same." + +"Has he suggested that his techneers want a look at our motors, sir?" + +Hobart unbent a little. It was as if in that question he had read +something which pleased him. "So far we've managed not to understand +that. And if anyone tries it on his own, refer him to me--understand?" + +"Yes, sir!" Some of the relief in Raf's tone came through, and he saw +that the captain was watching him narrowly. + +"You don't like these people, Kurbi?" + +The pilot replied with the truth. "I don't feel easy with them, sir. +Not that they've shown any unfriendliness. Maybe it's because they're +alien--" + +He had said the wrong thing and knew it immediately. + +"That sounds like prejudice, Kurbi!" Hobart's voice carried the snap +of a reprimand. + +"Yes, sir," Raf said woodenly. That had done it as far as the captain +was concerned. The fierce racial and economical prejudices which had +been the keystones of the structure of Pax had left their shadow on +Terra's thinking. Nowadays a man would better be condemned for murder +than for prejudice against another--it was the unforgivable crime. And +in that unconsidered answer Raf had rendered unreliable in the eyes of +authority any future report on the aliens which he might be forced to +make. + +Silently cursing his lack of judgment, Raf made a careful check of the +flyer, which might not be necessary but going through the motions of +doing his duty gave him some relief. Once the idea struck him of +claiming some trouble that would take them back to the spacer for +repairs. But Hobart was too good a mechanic himself not to see through +that. + +They covered the second stage of their flight by evening, this time +putting down on an island where, by some ancient and titanic feat of +labor, the top had been sheared off a central mountain to make a base. +A ring of reefs cut off the land from the action of the waves. At once +a party of aliens left the main company and made their way down the +mountain to prowl along the shore. They made a discovery of sorts, for +Raf saw them ring in some object they had pulled up on the sand. What +it was and what meaning it had for them they did not try to explain to +the Terrans. + +The party spent the night there, the four spacemen wrapped in their +sleeping rolls by the flitter, the aliens in their globe ship. The +Terrans did not miss the fact that the others had unobtrusively posted +guards at the only two places where the mountain could be climbed. And +each of those guards cradled in the crook of his arm one of the rifle +weapons. + +They were aroused shortly after dawn. As far as Raf could see the +island was barren of life, or else any creature native to it kept +prudently out of the way while the flyers were there. They took off, +the globe rising like a balloon into the morning sky, the flitter +waiting until it was air-borne before scaling after it. + +The mountainous island where they had based was the sea sentinel of an +archipelago, which they saw spread out below them as if someone had +flung a handful of pebbles into a shallow pool. Most of the islands +were merely rocky crags. But there were two which showed the green of +small open fields, and Raf thought he caught a glimpse of a dome house +on the last. + +They were now over a region thick with islands, the first collection +giving way to a second and then a third. Raf, expecting no sudden move +on the part of the globe he trailed, was startled when the alien ship +made a downward swoop. At the same time the warrior seated beside him +tugged at the sleeve of his tunic and jabbed a finger toward the +ground, clearly an order to follow. Raf cut speed and cautiously lost +altitude, determined that he was not going to be rushed into any move +for which he did not know the reason. + +The globe was hovering over a small island set a little apart from the +others. A moment later Soriki's excited voice drew Raf's attention +from his controls to what was going on below. + +"There's, people down there! Look at them run!" + +They were too far away to be sure of the nature of the brown-gray +things so close to the color of the sea-washed rock that they could +only be detected when they moved. But it was evident that they were +alive, and as Raf brought the flitter closer, he was also certain that +they ran on their two hind feet instead of on an animal's four pads. + +From the under part of the globe ship licked a tongue of fire. With +the force of a whiplash it coursed across the rock and in its passing +embrace, the creatures below writhed and withered to charred heaps. +They had no chance under that methodical blasting. The alien beside +Raf signaled again for a drop. He patted the weapon that he held and +motioned for Raf to release the covering of the windshield. But the +pilot shook his head firmly. + +This might be war. The aliens could have a very good reason for their +deadly attack on the creatures surprised below. But he wanted no part +of it, nor did he want to get any closer to the scene of slaughter. +And he made an emphatic gesture that the windshield could not be +opened while the flitter was air-borne. + +But as he did so they glided down, and he caught a single good look at +what was going on on the rock--a look which remained to haunt his +dreams for long years to come. For now he saw clearly the creatures +who ran fruitlessly for safety. Some reached the edge of the cliff and +leaped to what was an easier death in the sea. But too many others +could not make it and died in flaming agony. And they were not all of +one size! + +Children! There was no mistaking the infant in its mother's arms, the +two small ones who fled hand in hand until one stumbled and the +burning lash caught them both as the other strove to pull the fallen +to its feet. Raf gagged. He triggered the controls and soared up and +away, fighting the heaving in his middle, shaking off with one savage +jerk the insistent pawing hand of the alien who wanted to join in the +fun. + +"Did you see that?" he demanded of Soriki. + +For once the com-tech sounded subdued. "Yes," he replied shortly. + +"Those were children," Raf hammered home the point. + +"Young ones anyway," the com-tech conceded. "Maybe they aren't people. +They had fur all over them--" + +Raf grinned mirthlessly. Should he now accuse Soriki of prejudice? +What did it matter if a thinking creature was clothed in a space suit, +silken bandages, or natural fur--it was still a thinking creature. And +he was sure that those had been intelligent creatures he had just seen +blasted without a chance to fight back. If these were the enemy the +aliens feared, he could understand the vicious cruelty of the attack +which had killed the man he had been shown back in the city. Fire +against primitive spears was not equal, and when the spears got their +chance they must make up for much to balance the scales of justice. + +He did not even wonder why his emotions were so wholeheartedly +enlisted upon the side of the furred people. Nor did he try to analyze +his feelings. He was only sure that more than ever he wanted to be +free of the aliens and out of this whole venture. + +The warrior sharing his seat was sulking now, twisting about to look +back at the island as Raf circled in ever-widening glides to get away +from the site and yet not lose track of the globe when it would have +finished its dirty business and take once more to the air. But the +alien ship was in no hurry to leave. + +"They are making sure," Soriki reported. "Giving the whole island a +fire bath. I wonder what that stuff is--" + +"I'd just as soon not know," Raf returned from between set teeth. "If +that is one of their pieces of precious knowledge, we're as well off +without it--" he stopped short. Perhaps he had said too much. But +Terra had been racked by the torrid horror of atomic war, until all +his kind had been so revolted that it was bred into them not to meddle +again with such weapons. And war by fire aroused in them that old +horror. Surely Soriki must feel it too, and when the com-tech did not +comment, Raf was sure of that. He hoped that the slaughter had made +some impression on the captain and on Lablet into the bargain. + +But when, as if sated with killing, the globe rose again from its +position over the island, moving almost sluggishly into the fresh sky, +he had to follow it on. More islands were below, and he feared that +each one might show some sign of life and tempt the killers to a +second hunting. + +Luckily that did not happen. The chains of islands became a cape as +they had on the coast of the western continent. And now the globe +swung to the south, trailing the shore line. Forests made green +splotches with bluish overtones running from the sea cliffs back to +carpet the land. So far no signs of civilization were to be seen. This +land was as untouched as that where the spacer had landed. + +Then they saw the bay, stretching out wide arms to engulf the sea. It +could have harbored a whole fleet. And marching down to its waters +were broad levels of buildings, a giant's staircase leading from sea +to cliff tops. + +"They had it here--!" + +Raf saw what Soriki meant by that outburst. Destruction had struck. He +had seen the atomic ruins of his own world, those which were free +enough from radiation to explore. But he had never seen anything like +these chilling scars. In long strips the very stone which provided +foundation for the tiered city had been churned and boiled, had run in +rivulets of lava down to the sea, enclosing narrow tongues of still +untouched structures. The fire whip the globe had used, magnified to +some infinitely greater extent--? It could be. + +The alien at his side pressed tightly against the windshield gazing +down at the ruins. And now he mouthed a gabble of words which was +echoed by his fellow sitting with Soriki. Their excitement must mean +that this was their goal. Raf slacked speed, waiting for the globe to +point a way to a landing. + +But to his surprise the alien ship shot forward inland. The long day +was almost over as they came to a second city with a river knotting a +ribbon through its middle. Here were no traces of the fury which had +laded the seaport with havoc. This collection of buildings seemed +whole and perfect. + +There was, oddly enough, no landing strip within the city. The globe +coasted over the rough oval and came down in open fields to the west. +It was a maneuver which Raf copied, though he first dropped a flare as +a precaution and brought the flier down in its red glare, with the +warrior expressing shrill disapproval. + +"I don't think they like fireworks," Soriki remarked. + +Raf snorted. "So they don't like fireworks! Well, I don't like +crack-ups, and I'm the pilot!" But he didn't believe that the com-tech +was really protesting. Soriki had been very quiet since they had +witnessed the attack on the island. + +"Grim-looking place," was his second comment as they touched ground. + +Since Raf privately had held that opinion of all the alien settlements +he had so far seen, he agreed. Their two alien passengers were out of +the flitter as soon as he opened the bubble shield. And as they stood +by the Terran flyer, they held their weapons ready, facing out into +the dusk as if they half expected trouble. After the earlier episode +that day, Raf did not wonder at their preparedness. Terror begets +terror, and ruthlessness arouses retaliation in kind. + +"Kurbi! Soriki!" Hobart's voice sounded out of the shadows. "Stay +where you are for the present." + +Soriki settled deeper in his seat. "He doesn't have to tell me to +brake jets," he muttered. "I like it here--" + +Raf did not need to echo that. He had a strong surmise that had he +been tempted to roam away from the flitter the move would not have +been encouraged by the alien guardsmen. If this was their treasure +city, they would not welcome any independent investigation by +strangers. + +When the captain joined them, he was accompanied by the officer who +had first shown Raf the globe. And the warrior was either disturbed or +angry, for he was talking in a steady stream and his hands were +whirling in explanatory gestures. + +"They didn't like that flare," Hobart remarked. But there was no +reproof in his words. As a spacer pilot he knew that Raf had only done +what duty demanded. "We're to remain here--for the night." + +"Where's Lablet?" Soriki wanted to know. + +"He's staying with Yussoz, the alien commander. He thinks he has the +language problem about solved." + +"Good enough." Soriki pulled out his bed roll. "We're out of touch +with the ship--" + +There was a second of silence, unduly prolonged it seemed to Raf. Then +Hobart spoke: + +"We couldn't expect to keep in call forever. The best com has its +range. When did you lose contact?" + +"Just before these wrapped-up heroes played with fire back there. I +gave the boys all I knew up until then. They know we were headed west, +and they had us beamed as long as they could." + +So it wasn't too bad, thought Raf. But he didn't like it, even with +that mitigating factor. To all purposes the four Terrans were now +surrounded by some twenty times their number, in an unknown country, +out of all communication with the rest of their kind. It could add up +to disaster. + + + + +9 + +SEA GATE + + +"What is it?" Dalgard asked his question as Sssuri, his attention still +on their back trail, stole along cautiously on a retracing of their +path. + +But that retreat ended abruptly with the merman plastered against the +wall, his whole shadowy form a tense warning which stopped Dalgard +short. In that moment the answer flashed from mind to mind. + +"There are those which follow--" + +"Snake-devils? Those Others?" The colony scout supplied the only two +explanations he had, sending his own thought out questing. But as +usual he could not hope to equal the more sensitive merman whose race +had always used that form of communication. + +"Those who have long haunted the darkness," was the only reply he +could get. + +But Sssuri's actions were far more indicative of danger. For the +merman turned and caught at Dalgard, pulling the larger colonist along +a step or two with the urgency of his grip. + +"We cannot return this way--and we must travel fast!" + +For Sssuri who would face and had faced up to a snake-devil with a +spear his sole weapon, this timidity was new. Dalgard was wise enough +to accept his verdict of the wisdom of flight. Together they ran along +the underground corridor, soon putting a mile between them and the +point where the merman had first taken alarm. + +"From what do we flee?" As the merman began to slacken pace, Dalgard +sent that query. + +"There are those who live in this darkness. By one, or by two, we +could speedily remove them from life. But they hunt in packs and they +are as greedy for the kill as are the snake-devils scenting meat. Also +they are intelligent. Once, long before the days of burning, they +served Those Others as hunters of game. And Those Others tried to make +them ever more intelligent and crafty so they might be sent to hunt +without a huntsman. At last they grew too knowing for their masters. +Then Those Others, realizing their menace, tried to kill them all with +traps and tricks. But only the most stupid and the slowest were so +disposed of. The others withdrew into underground ways such as this, +venturing forth only in the dark of night." + +"But if they are intelligent," countered the scout, "why can they not +be reached by the mind touch?" + +"Through the years they have developed their own ways of thought. And +these are not the simple creatures of the sun, or such as the runners. +Once they were taught to answer only to Those Others. Now they answer +only to each other. But"--he spread out his hands in one of his quick, +nervous gestures--"to those who are cornered by one of their packs, +they are sudden death!" + +Since they could not, by Sssuri's reckoning, turn back, there was only +one course before them, to follow the passage they had chanced upon. +The merman was certain that it underran the river and that eventually +they would reach the sea--unless some side turn before that point +would make them free in the countryside once more. + +Dalgard doubted if it had ever been a well-used way. And the presence +of earth falls here and there, over which they stumbled and clawed +their way, led him to consider the wisdom of keeping on to what might +be a dead end. But his trust in Sssuri's judgment was great, and as +the merman plowed forward with every appearance of confidence, he +continued to trot along without complaint. + +They snatched moments of rest, taking turns at guard. But the walls +about them were so unchanging that it was hard to measure time or +distance. Dalgard chewed at his emergency rations, a block of dried +meat and fruit pounded together to an almost rocklike consistency, and +tried to make the crumbs he sucked loose satisfy his growing hunger. + +The passageway was growing damper; water trickled down the walls and +gathered in fetid pools on the floor. Dalgard's dislike of the place +grew. His shoulders hunched involuntarily as he strode along, for his +imagination pictured the rock above them giving away to dump tons of +the oily river water down to engulf them. But though Sssuri avoided +splashing through the pools wherever he might, he did not appear to +find anything upsetting about the moisture. + +At last the human could stand it no longer. "How much farther to the +sea?" he asked without any hope of a real answer. + +As he had expected him to do, Sssuri shrugged. "We should be close. +But having never trod this way before, how can I tell you?" + +Once more they rested, choosing a stretch which was reasonably dry, +munching their dried food and drinking sparingly from the stoppered +duocorn horns which swung from their belts. A man would have to be +dying of thirst, Dalgard thought, before he would palm up any of the +stagnant water from the passage pools. + +He drifted off into a troubled sleep in which he fled beneath a sky +which was a giant lid in the hand of an unseen enemy, a lid which was +slowly lowered to crush him flat. He awoke with a start to find +Sssuri's cool, scaled fingers stroking his shoulder. + +"Dream demons walk these roads." The words drifted into his half-awake +mind. + +"They do indeed," he roused to answer. + +"It is always so where Those Others have been. They leave behind them +the thoughts which breed such dreams to trouble the sleep of those who +are not of their kind. Let us go. I would like to be out of this place +under the clean sky, where no ancient wickedness hangs to poison the +air and thought." + +Either the merman had miscalculated the direction of their route or +the river mouth was much farther from the inland city than they had +believed, for, though they pushed on for what seemed like weary hours, +they came to no upward slope, no exit to the world they knew. + +Instead Dalgard began to realize that just the opposite was true. At +last he could stand it no longer and broke out with what he feared, +hoping that Sssuri would deny that fear. + +"We are going downhill!" + +To his disappointment the merman agreed. "It has been so for the last +thousand of our paces. It is my belief that this leads not to the sun +but out under the sea." + +Dalgard missed a step. To Sssuri the sea was home and perhaps the +thought of being under its floor was not disturbing. The land-born +human was not so prepared. If he had experienced discomfort under the +river, what would it be like under the ocean? His terrifying dream of +a lid being pressed down upon him flashed back into his mind. But his +companion was continuing: + +"There will be doors, perhaps into the sea itself." + +"For you," Dalgard pointed out, "but I am no dweller in the depths." + +"Neither were Those Others, yet they used these ways. And I tell +you"--in his earnestness the merman laid his hand once more on +Dalgard's arm--"to turn back now is out of the question. The death +which haunts the darkness is still sniffing out our trail." + +Dalgard glanced involuntarily over his shoulder. By the faint and +limited light of the purple disks he could see little or nothing. An +army might creep there undetected. + +"But--" His protest was in answer to the merman's seeming unconcern. + +Sssuri at the first intimation that the hunters were behind them had +shown wariness. Now he did not appear to care. + +"They had fed," he replied. "Scouts follow because we are something +new and thus suspect. When hunger rises once more in them, and their +scouts report that we are meat, then is the time to draw knives and +prepare for battle. But before that hour we may have won free. Let us +search for the gate we now need." + +However confident the merman might be, Dalgard could not match that +confidence. In the open air he would have faced a snake-devil four +times his size without any more emotion than a hunter's instinctive +caution. But here in the dark, unable to rid himself of the belief +that thousands of tons of sea water hung over his head, he found +himself starting at any sound, his knife bare and ready in his +sweating hand. + +He noted that Sssuri had stepped up the pace, passing into his +sure-footed glide which made Dalgard exert himself to keep up. Before +them the corridor stretched without a break. The merman's promised +exit, if it existed, was still out of sight. + +It was difficult to gauge time in this dark hall, but Dalgard thought +that they were at least an hour farther on their way when Sssuri +paused abruptly once more, his head cocked in a listening attitude, as +if he caught some whisper of sound too rarefied for his human +companion. + +"Now--" the thought hissed as if he spat the words, "they hunger--and +they hunt!" + +He bounded forward with a spurt, which Dalgard copied, and they ran +lightly, the dust undisturbed in years puffing up beneath the merman's +bare, scaled feet and Dalgard's hide boots. Still the unbroken walls, +the feeble patches of violet in the ceiling. But no exit. And what +good would any exit do him, Dalgard thought, if it opened under the +sea? + +"There are islands off the coast--many islands--" Sssuri caught him +up. "It is in my mind that we shall find our door on one of those. +But--run now, knife brother, for those at our heels awake and thirst +for flesh and blood. They have decided that we are not to be feared +but may be run down for their pleasure." + +Dalgard weighed his knife in his hand. "They shall find us with +fangs," he promised grimly. + +"It will be better if they do not find us at all," returned Sssuri. + +A burning arch of pain encased Dalgard's lower ribs, and his breath +came in gusts of hastily sucked air as their flight kept on, down the +endless corridor. Sssuri was also showing signs of the grueling pace, +his round head bent forward, his furred legs pumping as if only his +iron will kept them moving. And the determination which kept him going +was communicated to the scout as a graver warning than any thought +message of fear. + +They were passing under one of the infrequent violet lights when +Dalgard got something else--a mental thrust so quick and sharp it was +as if a sword had cut through the daze of fatigue to reach his brain. +Yet that had not come from Sssuri, for it was totally alien, wavering +on a band so near the extreme edge of his consciousness that it +pricked, receded, and pricked again as a needle might. + +This was no message of fear or warning, but of implacable stubbornness +and ravening hunger. And in that instant Dalgard knew that it came +from what was sniffing out their trail, and he no longer wondered that +the hunters were immune to other mental contact. One could not reason +with--that! + +He spurted forward, matching the merman's acceleration of speed. But +to Dalgard's horror he saw that his companion now ran with one hand +brushing along the wall, as if he needed that support. + +"Sssuri!" + +His thought met a wall of concentration through which he could not +break. In a way he was reassured--for a moment, until another of those +stabs from their pursuers struck him. He longed to look back, to see +what hunted them. But he dared not break stride to do that. + +"Ahhhh!" The welcoming cry from Sssuri brought his attention back to +his companion as the merman broke into a wild run. + +Dalgard summoned up his last rags of energy and coursed after him. +Sssuri had halted before a dark lump which protruded from the side of +the corridor. + +"A sea lock!" Sssuri's claws were clicking over the surface of the +hatch, seeking the secret of its latch. + +Panting, Dalgard leaned against the opposite wall. Just as a protest +formed in his mind he heard something else, the pad of feet, many +feet, echoing down the corridor. And somehow he was able now to look. + +Round spots of light, dull, greenish, close to the ground, as if +someone had flung a handful of phosphorescence into the dark. But this +was no phosphorescence! Eyes! Eyes--he tried to count and knew it was +impossible to so reckon the number of the pack that ran mute but +ready. Nor could he distinguish more than a very shadowy glimpse of +forms which glided close to the ground with an unpleasant sinuosity. + +"Ahhhhh!" Again Sssuri's paean of triumph. + +There was the grate of unwilling metal forced to move, a puff of air +redolent with the sea striking their bodies in chill threat, the +brightness of violet light stepped up to a point far beyond the lamps +in the corridor. + +With it came no rush of drowning water as Dalgard had half expected, +and when the merman clambered through the hatch he prepared to follow, +well aware that the eyes, and the pattering feet which bore them, were +now almost within range. + +There was a snarl from the passage, and a black thing sprang at the +scout. Without clear sight of what he was fighting, he struck down +with his knife and felt it slit flesh. The snarl was a scream of rage +as the creature twisted in midair for a second try at him. In that +instant Sssuri, leaning halfway out of the hatch, struck in his turn, +thrusting his bone knife into shadows which now boiled with life. + +Dalgard leaped for the lock door, kicking out swiftly and feeling the +toe of his boot contact with a crunch against one of those darting +shades, sending it back end over end into the press where its fellows +turned snapping upon it. Then Sssuri grabbed at him, bringing him in, +and together they slammed the hatch, feeling it shake with the shock +of thudding bodies as the pack outside went mad in their frustration. + +While the merman fastened the locking bar, bringing out of the +long-motionless metal another protesting screech, Dalgard had a chance +to look about him. They were in a room some eight or nine feet long, +the violet light showing up well tangles of equipment hanging from +pegs on the walls, a pile of small cylinders on the floor. At the far +end of the chamber was another hatch door, locked with the same type +of bar as Sssuri had just lowered to seal the inner one. The merman +nodded to it. + +"The sea--" + +Dalgard slid his knife back into its sheath. So the sea lay beyond. He +did not welcome the thought of passing through that door. Like all of +his race he could swim--perhaps his feats in the water would have +astonished the men of the planet from which his tribe had emigrated. +But unlike the mermen, he was not sea-born, nor equipped by nature +with a secondary breathing apparatus to make him as free in the world +of water as he was on land. Sssuri might crawl through that hatch +without fear. For Dalgard it was as big a test as to turn and face +what now raged in the corridor on the inner side. + +"There is no hope that they will go now," Sssuri answered his vague +question. "They are stubborn. And hours--or even days--will mean +nothing. Also they can leave a guard there and rove at will, to return +upon signal. That is their way." + +This left only the sea door. Sssuri padded across the chamber and +reached up to free one of the strange objects dangling from the wall +pegs. Like all things made of the marvelous substance used by Those +Others for any article which might be exposed to the elements, it +seemed as perfect as on the day it had first been hung there, though +that date might be a hundred or more Astran years earlier. The merman +uncoiled a length of thin, flexible piping which joined a two-foot +canister with a flat piece of metallic fabric. + +"Those Others could not breathe under the water, as you cannot," he +explained as he worked deftly and swiftly. "Within my own memory we +have trapped their scouts wearing aids such as these so that they +might spy upon our safe places. But their last foray was some years +ago and at that time we taught them such a lesson that they have not +dared to return. Since they are not unlike you in body and since you +breathe the same air aboveground, there is no reason why this should +not take you out of here." + +Dalgard accepted the apparatus. A couple of elastic metal bands +fastened the canister to the chest of the wearer. The fabric molded +into a perfect, tight face mask as it touched the skin. + +Sssuri went to the pile of cylinders. Choosing one he tinkered with +its pointed cone, to be rewarded with a thin hiss. + +"Ahhhh--" again his recognition of the rightness of things. "These +still contain air." He tested two more and then brought all three back +to where Dalgard stood, the canister strapped into place, the mask +ready in his hand. With infinite care the merman fitted two of the +cylinders into the canister and then was forced to set the other +aside. + +"We could not change them while under water anyway," he explained. "So +it will do little good to take extra supplies with us." + +Trying not to speculate on the amount of air he could carry in the +cylinders, Dalgard fastened on the mask, adjusted the air tube, and +sucked. Air flowed--he could breathe! Only--for how long? + +Sssuri, seeing that his companion was fully provided for, worked at +the bar locking the sea hatch. But in the end it took their combined +strength to spring that barrier and win through to a small cubby which +was the actual sea lock. + +Dalgard knew one moment of resistance as the merman closed the hatch +behind them. For an instant it seemed that the dubious safety of the +dressing chamber and a faint hope of the hunters' giving up their +vigil was better than what might lie before them now. But Sssuri +pushed shut the hatch, and Dalgard stood quietly, without offering any +visible protest. + +He tried to draw even breaths--slowly--as the merman activated the +lock. When the water curled in from hidden openings, rising from ankle +to calf and then to knee, its chill striking through flesh to bone, he +kept to the same stolid waiting, though this seemed almost worse than +a sudden gush of water sweeping them out in its embrace. + +The liquid swirled about Dalgard's waist now, tugging at his belt, his +arrow quiver, tapping on the bottom of the canister which held his +precious air supply. His brow, shielded from the wet by its casing, +was swallowed up inch by inch. + +As the water lapped at his chin, the outer door opened with a slow +inward push which suggested that the machinery controlling it had +grown sluggish with the years. Sssuri, perfectly at home, darted out +as soon as the opening was large enough to afford him an exit. And his +thought came back to reassure the more clumsy landsman. + +"We are in the shallows--land rises ahead. The roots of an island. +There is nothing to fear--" The word ended abruptly in what was like a +mental gasp of either astonishment or fear. + +Knowing all the menaces which might lie in wait, even in the shallows +of the sea, Dalgard drew his knife once more as he plowed through +water--ready to rescue or at least to offer what aid he could. + + + + +10 + +THE DEAD GUARDIANS + + +The spacemen spent a cramped and almost sleepless night. Although in +his training on Terra, on his trial trips to Mars and the harsh Lunar +valleys, Raf had known weird surroundings and climates, inimical to +his kind, he had always been able to rest almost by the exercise of +his will. But now, curled in his roll, he was alert to every sound out +of the moonless night, finding himself listening--for what he did not +know. + +Though there were sounds in plenty. The whistling call of some night +bird, the distant lap, lap of water which he associated with the river +curving through the long-deserted city, the rustle of grass as either +the wind or some passing animal disturbed it. + +"Not the best place in the world for a nap," Soriki observed out of +the dark as Raf wriggled, trying to find a more comfortable position. +"I'll be glad to see these bandaged boys on the ground waving good-bye +as we head away from them--fast--" + +"Those weren't animals they killed--back on that island." Raf brought +out what was at the heart of his trouble. + +"They wore fur instead of clothing." Soriki's reply was delivered in a +colorless, even voice. "We have apes on Terra, but they are not men." + +Raf stared up at the sky in which stars were sprinkled like carelessly +flung dust motes. "What is a 'man'?" he returned, repeating the +classical question which was a debating point in all the space +training centers. + +For so long his kind had wondered that. Was a "man" a biped with +certain easily recognized physical characteristics? Well, by that +ruling the furry things which had fled fruitlessly from the flames of +the globe might well qualify. Or was "man" a certain level of +intelligence, no matter what form housed that intelligence? They were +supposed to accept the latter definition. Though, in spite of the +horror of prejudice, Raf could not help but believe that too many +Terrans secretly thought of "man" only as a creature in their own +general image. By that prejudiced rule it was correct to accept the +aliens as "men" with whom they could ally themselves, to condemn the +furry people because they were not smooth-skinned, did not wear +clothing, nor ride in mechanical transportation. + +Yet somewhere within Raf at that moment was the nagging feeling that +this was all utterly wrong, that the Terrans had not made the right +choice. And that now "men" were _not_ standing together. But he had no +intention of spilling that out to Soriki. + +"Man is intelligence." The com-tech was answering the question Raf had +almost forgotten that he had asked the moment before. Yes, the proper +conventional reply. Soriki was not going to be caught out with any +claim of prejudice. + +Odd--when Pax had ruled, there were thought police and the cardinal +sin was to be a liberal, to experiment, to seek knowledge. Now the +wheel had turned--to be conservative was suspect. To suggest that some +old ways were better was to exhibit the evil signs of prejudice. Raf +grinned wryly. Sure, he had wanted to reach the stars, had fought +doggedly to come to the very spot where he now was. So why was he +tormented now with all these second thoughts? Why did he feel every +day less akin to the men with whom he had shared the voyage? He had +had wit enough to keep his semirebellion under cover, but since he had +taken the flitter into the morning sky above the landing place of the +spacer, that task of self-discipline was becoming more and more +difficult. + +"Did you notice," the com-tech said, going off on a new track, "that +these painted boys were not too quick about blasting along to their +strongbox? I'd say that they thought some bright rocket jockey might +have rigged a surprise for them somewhere in there--" + +Now that Soriki mentioned it, Raf remembered that the alien party who +had gone into the city had huddled together, and that several of the +black-and-white warriors had fanned out ahead as scouts might in enemy +territory. + +"They didn't go any farther than that building to the west either." + +That Raf had not noticed, but he was willing to accept Soriki's +observation. The com-tech had a ready eye for details. He'd better pay +closer attention himself. This was no time to explore the why and +wherefore of his present position. So, if they went no farther than +that building, it would argue that the aliens themselves didn't care +to go about here after nightfall. For he was certain that the isolated +structure Soriki had pointed out was not the treasure house they had +come to loot. + +The night wore on and sometime during it Raf fell asleep. But the two +or three hours of restless, dream-filled unconsciousness was not what +he needed, and he blinked in the dawn with eyes which felt as if they +were filled with hot sand. In the first gray light a covey of winged +things, which might or might not have been birds, arose from some +roosting place within the city, wheeled three times over the building, +and then vanished out over the countryside. + +Raf pulled himself out of his roll, made a sketchy toilet with the +preparations in a belt kit, and looked about with little favor for +either the scene or his part in it. The globe, sealed as if ready for +a take-off, was some distance away, but installed about halfway +between it and the flitter were two of the alien warriors. Perhaps +they had changed watches during the night. If they had not, they could +go without sleep to an amazing degree, for as Raf walked in a circle +about the flyer to limber up, they watched him closely, nor did their +grips on their odd weapons loosen. And he had a very clear idea that +if he stepped over some invisible boundary he would be in for trouble. + +When he came back to the flitter, Soriki was awake and stretching. + +"Another day," the com-tech drawled. "And I could do with something +besides field rations." He made a face at the small tin of +concentrates he had dug out of the supply compartment. + +"We'd do well to be headed west," Raf ventured. + +"Now you can come in with that on the com again!" Soriki answered with +unwonted emphasis. "The sooner I see the old girl standing on her pins +in the middle distance, the better I'll feel. You know"--he looked up +from his preoccupation with the ration package and gazed out over the +city--"this place gives me the shivers. That other town was bad +enough. But at least there were people living there. Here's nothing at +all--at least nothing I want to see." + +"What about all the wonders they've promised to show us?" countered +Raf. + +Soriki grinned. "And how much do we understand of their mouth-and-hand +talk? Maybe they were promising us wonders, maybe they were offering to +take us to where we could have our throats cut more conveniently--for them! +I tell you, if I go for a walk with any of these painted faces, I'm going +to have at least three of my fingers resting on the grip of my stun gun. +And I'd advise you to do the same--if I didn't know that you were already +watching these blast-happy harpies out of the corner of your eye. +Ha--company. Oh, it's the captain--" + +The hatch of the globe had opened, and a small party was descending +the ladder, conspicuous among them the form and uniform of Captain +Hobart. The aliens remained in a cluster at the foot of the ladder +while the Terran commander crossed to the flitter. + +"You"--he pointed to Raf--"are to come along with us." + +"Why, sir?" "What about me, sir?" The questions from the two at the +flitter came together. + +"I said that one of you had to remain by the machine. Then they said +that you, in particular, must come along, Kurbi." + +"But I'm the pilot--" Raf began and then realized that it was just +that fact which had made the aliens attach him to the exploring party. +If they believed that the Terran flitter was immobilized when he, and +he alone, was not behind its controls, this was just the move they +would make. But there they were wrong. Soriki might not be able to +repair or service the motor, but in a pinch he could take it up, send +it westward, and land it beside the spacer. Each and every man aboard +the _RS 10_ had that much training. + +Now the com-tech was scowling. He had grasped the significance of that +arrangement as quickly as Raf. "How long do I wait for you, sir?" he +asked in a voice which had lost its usual good-humored drawl. + +And at that inquiry Captain Hobart showed signs of irritation. "Your +suspicions are not founded on facts," he stated firmly. "These people +have displayed no signs of wanting to harm us. And an attitude of +distrust at this point might be fatal for future friendly contact. +Lablet is sure that they have a highly complex society, probably +advanced beyond Terran standards, and that their technical skills will +be of vast benefit to us. As it happens we have come at just the right +moment in their history, when they are striving to get back on their +feet after a disastrous series of wars. It is as if a group of +off-world explorers had allied themselves with us after the Burn-Off. +We can exchange information which will be of mutual benefit." + +"If any off-world explorers had set down on Terra after the Burn-Off," +observed Soriki softly, "they would have come up against Pax. And just +how long would they have lasted?" + +Hobart had turned away. If he heard that half-whisper, he did not +choose to acknowledge it. But the truth in the com-tech's words made +an impression on Raf, a crew of aliens who had been misguided enough +to seek out and try to establish friendly relations with the officials +of Pax would have had a short and most unhappy shrift. If all the +accounts of that dark dictatorship were true, they would have vanished +from Terra, and not in their ships either. What if something like Pax +ruled here? They had no way of knowing for sure. + +Raf's eyes met Soriki's, and the com-tech's hand dropped to hook +fingers in his belt within touching distance of his side arm. The +flitter pilot nodded. + +"Kurbi!" Hobart's impatient call sent him on his way. But there was +some measure of relief in knowing that Soriki was left behind and that +they had this slender link with escape. + +He had tramped the streets of that other alien city. There there had +been some semblance of habitation; here was abandonment. Earth drifted +in dunes to half block the lanes, and here and there climbing vines +had broken down masonry and had dislodged blocks of the paved sideways +and courtyards. + +The party threaded their way from one narrow lane to another, seeming +to avoid the wider open stretches of the principal thoroughfares, Raf +became aware of an unpleasant odor in the air which he vaguely +associated with water, and a few minutes afterward he caught glimpses +of the river between the buildings which fronted on it. Here the party +turned abruptly at a right angle, heading westward once more, passing +vast, blank-walled structures which might have been warehouses. + +One of the aliens just ahead of Raf in the line of march suddenly +swung around, his weapon pointing up, and from its nose shot a beam of +red-yellow light which brought an answering shrill scream as a large, +winged creature came fluttering down. The killer kicked at the +crumpled thing as he passed. As far as Raf could see there had been no +reason for that wanton slaying. + +The head of the party had reached a doorway, sealed shut by what +looked like a solid slab of material. He placed both palms flat down +on its surface at shoulder height and leaned forward against it, +almost as if he were whispering some secret formula. Raf watched the +muscles stand up on his slender arms as he exerted strength. And then +the door split in two, and his fellows helped him push the separate +halves back into the wall. + +Lablet, Hobart, and Raf were among the last to enter. It was as if +their companions had now forgotten them, for the aliens were pushing +on at a pace which took them down an empty corridor at a quickening +trot. + +The corridor ended in a ramp which did not slope in one straight reach +but curled around itself, so that in some places only the presence of +a handrail, to which they all clung, kept them from losing balance. +Then they gathered in a vaulted room, one of which opened a complete +circle of closed doors. + +There was some argument among the aliens, a dispute of sorts over +which of those doors was to be opened first, and the Terrans drew a +little apart, unable to follow the twittering words and +lightning-swift gestures. + +Raf tried to work out the patterns of color which swirled and looped +over each door and around the walls, only to discover that too long an +examination of any one band, or an attempt to trace its beginning or +end, awoke a sick sensation which approached inner turmoil the longer +he looked. At last he had to rest his eyes by studying the gray +flooring under his boots. + +The aliens finally made up their minds, or else one group was able to +outargue the other, for they converged upon a door directly opposite +the ramp. Once more they went through the process of unsealing the +panels, while the Terrans, drawn by curiosity, were close behind them +as they entered the long room beyond. Here were shelves in solid tiers +along the walls, crowded with such an array of strange objects that +Raf, after one mystified look, thought that it might well take months +to sort them all out. + +In addition, long tables divided the chamber into aisles. Halfway down +one of these narrow passageways the aliens had gathered in a group as +silent and intent now as they had been noisy outside. Raf could see +nothing to so rivet their attention but a series of scuffed marks in +the dust which covered the floor. But an alien, whom he recognized as +the officer who had taken him to inspect the globe, moved carefully +along that trail, following it to a second door. And as Raf pushed +down another aisle, paralleling his course, he was conscious of a +sickly sweet, stomach-churning stench. Something was very, very dead +and not too far away. + +The officer must have come to the same conclusion, for he hurried to +open the other door. Before them now was a narrow hall broken by slit +windows, near the roof, through which entered sunlight. And one such +beam fully illuminated a carcass as large as that of a small elephant, +or so it seemed to Raf's startled gaze. + +It was difficult to make out the true appearance of the creature, +though guessing from the scaled strips of skin it had been reptilian, +for the body had been found by scavengers and feasting had been in +progress. + +The alien officer skirted the corpse gingerly. Raf though that he +would like to investigate the body closely but could not force himself +to that highly disagreeable task. There was a chorus of excited +exclamation from the doorway as others crowded there. + +But the officer, having circled the carcass, turned his attention to +the dusty floor again. If there had been any trail there, it was now +muddled past their reading, for remnants of the grisly meal had been +dragged back and forth. The alien picked his way fastidiously through +the noxious debris to the end of the long room. Raf, with the same +care, toured the edge of the chamber in his wake. + +They were out in a smaller passageway, which was taking them +underground, the Terran estimated. Then there was a large space with +barred cells about it and a second corridor. The stench of the death +chamber either clung to them, or was wafted from another point, and +Raf gagged as an especially foul blast caught him full in the face. He +kept a sharp look about him for signs of those feasters. The feast had +not been finished--it might have been that their entrance into the +storeroom had disturbed the scavengers. And things formidable enough +to drag down that scaled horror were not foes he would choose to meet +in these unlighted ways. + +The passage began to slope upward once more, and Raf saw a half-moon +of light ahead, brilliant light which could only come from the sun. +The alien was outlined there as he went out; then he himself was +scuffing through sand close upon another death scene. The dead +monster had had its counterparts, and here they were, sprawled out, +mangled, and torn. Raf remained by the archway, for even the open air +and the morning winds could not destroy the reek which seemed as +deadly as a gas attack. + +It must have disturbed the officer too, for he hesitated. Then with +visible effort he advanced toward the hunks of flesh, casting back and +forth as if to find some clue to the manner of their death. He was +still so engaged when a second alien burst out of the archway, a +splintered length of white held out before him as if he had made some +important discovery. + +The officer grabbed that shaft away from him, turning it around in his +hands. And though expression was hard to read on those thin features +under the masking face paint, the emotion his whole attitude expressed +was surprise tinged with unbelief--as if the object his subordinate +had brought was the last he expected to find in that place. + +Raf longed to inspect it, but both aliens brushed by him and pattered +back down the corridor, the discoverer pouring forth a volume of words +to which the officer listened with great intentness. And the Terran +pilot had to hurry to keep up with them. + +Something he had seen just before he had left the arena remained in +his mind: a forearm flung out from the supine body of what appeared to +be the largest of the dead things--and on that forearm a bracelet of +metal. Were those things pets! Watchdogs? Surely they were not +intelligent beings able to forge and wear such ornaments of their own +accord. And if they were watchdogs--whom did they serve? He was +inclined to believe that the aliens must be their masters, that the +monsters had been guardians of the treasure, perhaps. But dead +guardians suggested a rifled treasure house. Who and what--? + +His mind filled with speculations and questions, Raf trotted behind +the others back to the chamber where they had found the first reptile. +The alien who had brought the discovery to his commander stepped +gingerly through the litter and laid the white rod in a special spot, +apparently the place where it had been found. + +At a barked order from the officer, two of the others came forward and +tugged at the creature's mangled head, which had been freed from the +serpent neck, rolling it over to expose the underparts. There was a +broad tear there in the flesh, but Raf could see little difference +between it and those left by the feasters. However the officer, +holding a strip of cloth over his nose, bent stiffly above it for a +closer look and then made some statement which sent his command into a +babbling clamor. + +Four of the lower ranks separated from the group and, with their hand +weapons at alert, swung into action, retracing the way back toward the +arena. It looked to Raf as if they now expected an attack from that +direction. + +Under a volley of orders the rest went back to the storeroom, and the +officer, noting that Raf still lingered, waved him impatiently after +them. + +Inside the men spread out, going from shelf to table, selecting things +with a speed which suggested that they had been rehearsed in this task +and had only a limited time in which to accomplish it. Some took piles +of boxes or other containers which were so light that they could +manage a half-dozen in an armload, while two or three others struggled +pantingly to move a single piece of weird machinery from its bed to +the wheeled trolley they had brought. There was to be no lingering on +this job--that was certain. + + + + +11 + +ESPIONAGE + + +Intent upon joining Sssuri, Dalgard left the lock, forgetting his +earlier unwillingness, stepping from the small chamber down to the sea +bottom, or endeavoring to, although instinctively he had begun to swim +and so forged ahead at a different rate of speed. + +Waving fronds of giant water plants, such as were found only in the +coastal shallows, grew forest fashion but did not hide rocks which +stretched up in a sharp rise not too far ahead. The scout could not +see the merman, but as he held onto one of those fronds he caught the +other's summons: + +"Here--by the rocks--!" + +Pushing his way through the drifting foliage, Dalgard swam ahead to +the foot of the rocky escarpment. And there he saw what had so excited +his companion. + +Sssuri had just driven away an encircling collection of sand-dwelling +scavengers, and what he was on his knees studying intently was an +almost clean-picked skeleton of one of his own race. But there was +something odd--Dalgard brushed aside a tendril of weed which cut his +line of vision and so was able to see clearly. + +White and clean most of those bones were, but the skull was blackened, +and similar charring existed down one arm and shoulder. That merman +had not died from any mishap in the sea! + +"It is so," Sssuri replied to his thought. "_They_ have come once more +to give the flaming death--" + +Dalgard, startled, looked up that slope which must lead to the island +top above the waves. + +"Long dead?" he asked tentatively, already guessing what the other's +answer would be. + +"The pickers move fast," Sssuri indicated the sand dwellers. "Perhaps +yesterday, perhaps the day before--but no longer than that." + +"And _they_ are up there now?" + +"Who can tell? However, _they_ do not know the sea, nor the islands--" + +It was plain that the merman intended to climb to investigate what +might be happening above. Dalgard had no choice but to follow. And it +was true that the merpeople had no peers or equals when it came to +finding their ways about the sea and the coasts. He was confident that +Sssuri could get to the island top and discover just what he wished to +learn without a single sentry above, if they had stationed sentries, +being the wiser. Whether he himself could operate as efficiently was +another matter. + +In the end they half climbed, half swam upward, detouring swiftly once +to avoid the darting attack of a rock hornet, harmless as soon as they +moved out of the reach of its questing stinger, for it was anchored +for its short life to the rough hollow in which it had been hatched. + +Dalgard's head broke water as he rolled through the surf onto a scrap +of beach in the lee of a row of tooth-pointed outcrops. It was late +evening by the light, and he clawed the mask off his face to draw +thankful lungfuls of the good outer air. Sssuri, his fur sleeked tight +to his body, waded ashore, shook himself free of excess water, and +turned immediately to study the wall of the cliff which guarded the +interior of the island. + +This was one of a chain of such isles, Dalgard noted, now that he had +had time to look about him. And with their many-creviced walls they +were just the type of habitations which appealed most strongly to the +merpeople. Here could be found the dry inner caves with underwater +entrances, which they favored for their group homes. And in the sea +were kelp beds for harvesting. + +The cliffs did not present too much of a climbing problem. Dalgard +divested himself of the diving equipment, tucking it into a hollow +which he walled up with stones that he thought the waves would not +scour out in a hurry. He might need it again. Then, hitching his belt +tighter, pressing what water he could out of his clothing, and +settling his bow and quiver to the best advantage at his back, he +crossed to where Sssuri was already marking claw holds. + +"We may be seen--" Dalgard craned his neck, trying to make out details +of what might be waiting above. + +The merman shook his head with a quick jerk of negation. "_They_ are +gone. Behind them remains only death--much death--" And the bleakness +of his thoughts reached the scout. + +Dalgard had known Sssuri since he was a toddler and the other a cub +coming to see the wonders of dry land for the first time. Never, +during all their years of close association since, had he felt in the +other a desolation so great. And to that emotional blast he could make +no answer. + +In the twilight, with the last red banners across the sky at their +back, they made the climb. And it was as if the merman had closed off +his mind to his companion. Flesh fingers touched scaled ones as they +moved from one hold to the next, but Sssuri might have been half a +world away for all the communication between them. Never had Dalgard +been so shut out and with that his sensitivity to the night, to the +world about him, was doubly acute. + +He realized--and it worried him--that perhaps he had come to depend +too much on Sssuri's superior faculty of communication. It was time +that he tried to use his own weaker powers to the utmost extent. So, +while he climbed, Dalgard sent questing thoughts into the gloom. He +located a nest of duck-dogs, those shy waterline fishers living in +cliff holes. They were harmless and just settling down for the night. +But of higher types of animals from which something might be +learned--hoppers, runners--there were no traces. For all he was able +to pick up, they might be climbing into blank nothingness. + +And that in itself was ominous. Normally he should have been able to +mind touch more than duck-dogs. The merpeople lived in peace with most +of the higher fauna of their world, and a colony of hoppers, even a +covey of moth birds, would settle in close by a mer tribe to garner in +the remnants of feasts and for protection from the flying dragons and +the other dangers they must face. + +"_They_ hunt all life," the first break in Sssuri's self-absorption +came. "Where _they_ walk the little, harmless peoples face only death. +And so it has been here." He had pulled himself over the rim of the +cliff, and through the dark Dalgard could hear him panting with the +same effort which made his own lungs labor. + +Just as the stench of the snake-devil's lair had betrayed its site, +here disaster and death had an odor of its own. Dalgard retched before +he could control throat and stomach muscles. But Sssuri was unmoved, +as if he had expected this. + +Then, to Dalgard's surprise the merman set up the first real call he +had ever heard issue from that furred throat, a plaintive whistle +which had a crooning, summoning note in it, akin to the mind touch in +an odd fashion, yet audible. They sat in silence for a long moment, +the human's ears as keen for any sound out of the night as those of +his companion. Why did Sssuri not use the customary noiseless greeting +of his race? When he beamed that inquiry, he met once again that +strange, solid wall of non-acceptance which had enclosed the merman as +they climbed. As if now there was danger to be feared from following +the normal ways. + +Again Sssuri whistled, and in that cry Dalgard heard a close +resemblance to the flute tone of the night moth birds. Up the scale +the notes ran with mournful persistence. When the answer came, the +scout at first thought that the imitation had lured a moth bird, for +the reply seemed to ripple right above their heads. + +Sssuri stood up, and his hand dropped on Dalgard's shoulder, applying +pressure which was both a warning and a summons, bringing the scout to +his feet with as little noise as possible. The horrible smell caught +at his throat, and he was glad when the merman did not head inland +toward the source of that odor, but started off along the edge of the +cliff, one hand in Dalgard's to draw him along. + +Twice more Sssuri paused to whistle, and each time he was answered by +a signing note or two which seemed to reassure him. + +Against the lighter expanse which was the sea, Dalgard saw the loom of +a peak which projected above file general level of the island. Though +he knew that the merpeople did not build aboveground, being adept in +turning natural caves and crevices into the kind of living quarters +they found most satisfactory, the barrenness of this particular rock +top was forbidding. + +Led by Sssuri, he threaded a tangled patch among outcrops, +once-squeezing through a gap which scraped the flesh on his arms as he +wriggled. Then the sky was blotted out, the last winking star +disappeared, and he realized that he must have entered a cave of +sorts, or was at least under an overhang. + +The merman did not pause but padded on, tugging Dalgard along, the +scout's boots scraping on the rough footing. The colonist was +conscious now that they were on an incline, heading down into the +heart of the island. They came to a stretch where Sssuri set his hands +on holds, patiently shoved his feet into hollowed places, finding for +him the ladder steps he could not see, which took him through a +sweating, fearful journey of yards to another level, another sloping, +downward way. + +Here at long last was a fraction of light, not the violet glimmer +which had illuminated the underground ways of those Others, but a +ghostly radiance which he recognized as the lamps of the +mermen--living creatures from the sea depths imprisoned in laboriously +fashioned globes of crystal and kept in the caves for the light they +yielded. + +But still no mind touch! Never had Dalgard penetrated into the cave +cities of the sea folk before without inquiries and open welcome +lapping about him. Were they entering a place of massacre where no +living merman remained? Yet there was that whistling which had led +Sssuri to this place.... + +And at that moment a shrill keening note arose from the depths to ring +in Dalgard's ears, startling him so that he almost lost his footing. +Once again Sssuri made answer vocally--but no mind touch. + +Then they rounded a curve, and the scout was able to see into the +heart of the amphibian territory. This was a natural cave, as were all +the merman's dwellings, but its walls had been smoothed and hung with +the garlands of shells which they wove in their leisure into strange +pictures. Silver-gray sand, smooth and dust-fine, covered the floor to +the depth of a foot or more. And opening off the main chamber were +small nooks, each marking the private storage place and holding of +some family clan. It was a large place, and with a quick estimate +Dalgard thought that it had been fashioned to harbor close to a +hundred inhabitants, at least the nooks suggested that many. But +gathered at the foot of the ledge they were descending, spears poised, +were perhaps ten males, some hardly past cubhood, others showing the +snowy shine of fur which was the badge of age. And behind them, drawn +knives in their ready hands, were half again as many merwomen, forming +a protecting wall before a crouching group of cubs. + +Sssuri spoke to Dalgard. "Spread out your hands--empty--so that they +may see them clearly!" + +The scout obeyed. In the limited light his ten fingers were fans, and +it was then that he understood the reason for such a move. If these +mermen had not seen a colonist before, he might resemble Those Others +in their eyes. But only his species on all Astra had five fingers, +five toes, and that physical evidence might insure his safety now. + +"Why do you bring a destroyer among us? Or do you offer him for our +punishment, so that we can lay upon him the doom that his kind have +earned?" + +The question came with arrow force, and Dalgard held out his hands, +hoping they would see the difference before one of those spears from +below tore through his flesh. + +"Look upon the hands of this--my knife brother--look upon his face. He +is not of the race of those you hate, but rather one from the south. +Have you of the northern reaches not heard of Those-Who-Help, +Those-Who-Came-From-the-Stars?" + +"We have heard." But there was no relaxing of tension, not a spear +point wavered. + +"Look upon his hands," Sssuri insisted. "Come into his mind, for he +speaks with us so. And do _they_ do that?" + +Dalgard tried to throw open his mind, awaiting the trial. It came +quickly, traces of inimical, alien thought, which changed as they +touched his mind, reading there only all the friendliness he and his +held for the sea people. + +"He is not of _them_." The admission was grudging. As if they did not +want to believe that. "Why comes one from the south to this +place--now?" + +There was an inflection to that "now" which was disturbing. + +"After the manner of his people he seeks new things so that he may +return and report to his Elders. Then he will receive the spear of +manhood and be ready for the choosing of mates," Sssuri translated the +reason for Dalgard's quest into the terms of his own people. "He has +been my knife brother since we were cubs together, and so I journey +with him. But here in the north we have found evil--" + +His flow of thought was submerged by a band of hate so red that its +impact upon the mind was almost a blow. Dalgard shook his head. He had +known that the merpeople, aroused, were deadly fighters, fearless and +crafty, and with a staying power beyond that of any human. But their +rage was something he had not met before. + +"_They_ come once again--_they_ burn with the fire--_They_ are among +our islands--" + +A cub whimpered and a merwoman stooped to pat it to silence. + +"Here they have killed with the fire--" + +They did not elaborate upon that statement, and Dalgard had no wish +for them to do so. He was still very glad that it had been dark when +he had climbed to the top of that cliff, that he had not been able to +see what his imagination told him lay there. + +"Do _they_ stay?" That was Sssuri. + +"Not so. In their sky traveler they go to the land where lies the dark +city. There they make much evil against the day when this shall be +their land once more." + +"But these lie if they think that." Another strong thought broke +across the current of communication. "_We_ are not now penned for +their pleasure. We may flee into the sea once more, and there live as +did our fathers' fathers, and they dare not follow us there--" + +"Who knows?" It was Sssuri who raised that objection. "With their +ancient knowledge once more theirs, even the depths of the sea may not +be ours much longer. Do they not know how to ride upon the air?" + +The knot of mer-warriors stirred. Several spears thudded butt down +into the sand. And Sssuri accepted that as an invitation to descend, +summoning Dalgard after him with a beckoning finger. + +Later they sat in a circle in the cushioning gray powder, the two from +the south eating dried fish and sea kelp, while Sssuri related, +between mouthfuls, their recent adventures. + +"Three times have _they_ flown across these islands on their way to +that city," the Elder of the pitifully decimated merman tribe told the +explorers. + +"But this time," broke in one of his companions, "they had with them a +new ship--" + +"A new ship?" Sssuri pounced upon that scrap of information. + +"Yes. The ships of the air in which _they_ travel are fashioned +so"--with his knife point he drew a circle in the sand--"but this one +was smaller and more in the likeness of a spear with a heavy +point--thus"--he made a second sketch beside the first, and Dalgard +and Sssuri leaned over to study it. + +"That is unlike any of their ships that I have heard of," Sssuri +agreed. "Even in the old tales of the Days Before the Burning there is +nothing spoken of like that." + +"It is true. Therefore we wait now for the coming of our scouts, who +were set in hiding upon _their_ sea rock of resting, that they may +tell us more concerning this new ship. They should be here within this +time of sleeping. Now, go you to rest, which you plainly have need of, +and we shall call you when they come." + +Dalgard was willing enough to stretch out in the sand in the shadows +of the far end of the cave. Beyond him three cubs slumbered together, +their arms about each other, and a feeling of peace was there such as +he had not known since he left the stronghold of Homeport. + +The weird glow of the imprisoned sea monsters gave light to the main +part of the cave, and it might still have been night when the scout +was shaken awake once more. A group of the merpeople were sitting +together, and their thoughts interrupted each other as their +excitement arose. Their spies must have returned. + +Dalgard crossed to join that group, but it seemed to him that his +welcome was not unqualified, and that some of the openness of the +early hours of the night was lacking. He might have been once more +under suspicion. + +"Knife brother"--to Dalgard's sensitive mind that form of address from +Sssuri was used for a special purpose: to underline the close bond +between them--"listen to the words of Sssim who is a Hider-to-Watch on +the island where _they_ rest their ships during the voyage from one +land to another." He drew Dalgard down beside him to face a young +merman who was staring round-eyed at the colony scout. + +"He is like--yet unlike"--his first wisp of thought meant nothing to +the scout. "The strangers wear many coverings on their bodies as do +_they_, and they had also coverings upon their heads. They were +bigger. Also from their minds I learned that they are not of this +world--" + +"Not of this world!" Dalgard burst out in his own speech. + +"There!" The spy was triumphant. "So did they talk to one another, not +with the mind but by making mouth noises, different mouth noises from +those that _they_ make. Yes, they are like--but unlike this one." + +"And these strangers flew the ship we have not seen before?" + +"It is so. But they did not know the way and were guided by the globe. +And at least one among them was distrustful of _those_ and wished to +be free to return to his own place. He walked by the rocks near my +hiding place, and I read his thoughts. No, they were with _them_, but +they are not _them_!" + +"And now they have gone on to the city?" Sssuri probed. + +"It was the way their ship flew." + +"Like me," Dalgard repeated, and then the truth which might lie behind +that exploded within his brain. "Terrans!" he breathed the word. Men +of Pax perhaps who had come to hunt down the outlaws who had +successfully eluded their rule on earth? But how had the colonists +been traced? And why? Or were they other fugitives like themselves? So +much, so very much of what the colonists should know of their past +had been erased during the time of the Great Sickness twenty years +after their landing. Then three fourths of the original immigrants had +died. Only the children of the second generation and a handful of +weakened Elders had remained. Knowledge was lost and some distorted by +failing memories, old skills were gone. But if the new Terrans were in +that city.... He had to know--to know and be able to warn his people. +For the darkness of Pax was a memory they had _not_ lost! + +"I must see them," he said. + +"That is true. And only you can tell us what manner of folk these +strangers be," the merman chief agreed. "Therefore you shall go ashore +with my warriors and look upon them--to tell us the truth. Also we +must learn what _they_ do here." + +It was decided that using waterways known to the merpeople, one which +Dalgard could also take wearing the diving equipment, a scouting party +would head shoreward the next day, with the river itself providing the +entrance into the heart of the forbidden territory. + + + + +12 + +ALIEN PATROL + + +Raf leaned back against the wall. Long since the actions of the aliens +in the storage house had ceased to interest him, since they would not +allow any of the Terrans to approach their plunder and he could not +ask questions. Lablet continued to follow the officer about, vainly +trying to understand his speech. And Hobart had taken his place by the +upper entrance, his hand held stiffly across his body. The pilot knew +that the captain was engaged in photographing all this activity with a +wristband camera, hoping to make something of it later. + +But Raf's own inclination was to slip out and do some exploring in +those underground corridors beyond. Having remained where he was for a +wearisome time, he noticed that his presence was now taken for granted +by the hurrying aliens who brushed about him intent upon their +assignments. And slowly he began to edge along the wall toward the +other doorway. Once he froze as the officer strode by, Lablet in +attendance. But what the painted warrior was looking for was a crystal +box on a shelf to Raf's left. When he had pointed that out to an +underling he was off again, and Raf was free to continue his crab's +progress. + +Luck favored him, for, as he reached the moment when he must duck out +the portal, there was a sudden flurry at the other end of the chamber +where four of the aliens, under a volley of orders, strove to move an +unwieldy piece of intricate machinery. + +Raf dodged around the door and flattened back against the wall of the +room beyond. The moving bars of sun said that it was midday. But the +room was empty save for the despoiled carcass, and there was no sign +of the aliens who had been sent out to scout. + +The Terran ran lightly down the narrow room to the second door, which +gave on the lower pits beneath and the way to the arena. As he took +that dark way, he drew his stun gun. Its bolt was intended to render +the victim unconscious, not to kill. But what effect it might have on +the giant reptiles was a question he hoped he would not be forced to +answer, and he paused now and then to listen. + +There were sounds, deceptive sounds. Noises as regular as footfalls, +like a distant padded running. The aliens returning? Or the things +they had gone to hunt? Raf crept on--out into the sunshine which +filled the arena. + +For the first time he studied the enclosure and recognized it for what +it was--a place in which savage and bloody entertainments could be +provided for the population of the city--and it merely confirmed his +opinion of the aliens and all their ways. + +The temptation to explore the city was strong. He eyed the grilles +speculatively. They could be climbed--he was sure of that. Or he could +try some other of the various openings about the sanded area. But as +he hesitated over his choice, he heard something from behind. This was +no unidentifiable noise, but a scream which held both terror and pain. +It jerked him around, sent him running back almost before he thought. + +But the scream did not come again. However there were other +sounds--snuffing whines--a scrabbling-- + +Raf found himself in the round room walled by the old prison cells. +Stabs of light shot through the gloom, thrusting into a roiling black +mass which had erupted through one of the entrances and now held at +bay one of the alien warriors. Three or four of the black creatures +ringed the alien in, moving with speed that eluded the bolts of light +he shot from his weapon, keeping him cornered and from escape, while +their fellows worried another alien limp and defenseless on the floor. + +It was impossible to align the sights of his stun gun with any of +those flitting shadows, Raf discovered. They moved as quickly as a +ripple across a pond. He snapped the button on the hand grip to +"spray" and proceeded to use the full strength of the charge across +the group on the floor. + +For several seconds he was afraid that the stun ray would prove to +have no effect on the alien metabolism of the creatures, for their +weaving, tearing activity did not cease. Then one after another +dropped away from the center mass and lay unmoving on the floor. +Seeing that he could control them, Raf turned his attention to the +others about the standing warrior. + +Again he sent the spray wide, and they subsided. As the last curled on +the pavement, the alien moved forward and, with a snarl, deliberately +turned the full force of his beam weapon on each of the attackers. But +Raf plowed on through the limp pile to the warrior they had pulled +down. + +There was no hope of helping him--death had come with a wide tear in +his throat. Raf averted his eyes from the body. The other warrior was +methodically killing the stunned animals. And his action held such +vicious cruelty that Raf did not want to watch. + +When he looked again at the scene, it was to find the narrow barrel of +the strange weapon pointed at him. Paying no attention to his dead +comrade, the alien was advancing on the Terran as if in Raf he saw +only another enemy to be burned down. + +Moves drilled in him by long hours of weary practice came almost +automatically to the pilot. The stun gun faced the alien rifle sight +to sight. And it seemed that the warrior had developed a hearty +respect for the Terran arm during the past few minutes, for he slipped +his weapon back to the crook of his arm, as if he did not wish Raf to +guess he had used it to threaten. + +The pilot had no idea what to do now. He did not wish to return to the +storehouse. And he believed that the alien was not going to let him go +off alone. The ferocity of the creatures now heaped about them had +been sobering, an effective warning against venturing alone in these +underground ways. + +His dilemma was solved by the entrance of a party of aliens from +another doorway. They stopped short at the sight of the battlefield, +and their leader descended upon the surviving scout for an +explanation, which was made with gestures Raf was able to translate in +part. + +The alien had been far down one of the neighboring corridors with his +dead companion when they had been tracked by the pack and had managed +to reach this point before they were attacked. For some reason Raf +could not understand, the aliens had preferred to flee rather than to +face the menace of the hunters. But they had not been fast enough and +had been trapped here. The gesturing hands then indicated Raf, acted +out the battle which had ensued. + +Crossing to the Terran pilot, the alien officer held out his hand and +motioned for Raf to surrender his weapon. The pilot shook his head. +Did they think him so simple that he would disarm himself at the mere +asking? Especially since the warrior had rounded on him like that only +a few moments before? Nor did he holster his gun. If they wanted to +take it by force just let them try such a move! + +His determination to resist must have gotten across to the leader, for +he did not urge obedience to his orders. Instead he waved the Terran +to join his own party. And since Raf had no reason not to, he did. +Leaving the dead, both alien and enemy, where they had fallen, the +warriors took another way out of the underground maze, a way which +brought them out into a street running to the river. + +Here the party spread out, paying close attention to the pavement, as +if they were engaged in tracking something. Raf saw impressed in one +patch of earth a print dried by the sun, left by one of the reptiles. +And there were smaller tracks he could not identify. All were +inspected carefully, but none of them appeared to be what his +companions sought. + +They trotted up and down along the river bank, and from what he had +already observed concerning the aliens, Raf thought that the leader, +at least, was showing exasperation and irritation. They expected to +find something--it was not there--but it had to be! And they were fast +reaching the point where they wanted to produce it themselves to +justify the time spent in hunting for it. + +Ruthlessly they rayed to death any creature their dragnet drove into +the open, leaving feebly kicking bodies of the furry, long-legged +beasts Raf had first seen after the landing of the spacer. He could +not understand the reason for such wholesale extermination, since +certainly the rabbitlike rodents were harmless. + +In the end they gave up their quest and circled back to come out near +the field where the flitter and the globe rested. When the Terran +flyer came into sight, Raf left the party and hurried toward it. +Soriki waved a welcoming hand. + +"'Bout time one of you showed up. What are they doing--toting half the +city here to load into that thing?" + +Raf looked along the other's pointing finger. A party of aliens towing +a loaded dolly were headed for the gaping hatch of the globe, while a +second party and an empty conveyance passed them on the way back to +the storehouse. + +"They are emptying a warehouse, or trying to." + +"Well, they act as if Old Time himself was heating their tails with a +rocket flare. What's the big hurry?" + +"Somebody's been here." Swiftly Raf outlined what he had seen in the +city, and ended by describing the hunt in which he had taken an +unwilling part. "I'm hungry," he ended and went to burrow for a ration +pack. + +"So," mused Soriki as Raf chewed the stuff which never had the flavor +of fresh provisions, "somebody's been trying to beat the painted lads +to it. The furry people?" + +"It was a spear shaft they found broken with the dead lizard thing," +Raf commented. "And some of those on the island were armed with +spears--" + +"Must be good fighters if, armed with spears, they brought down a +reptile as big as you say. It was big, wasn't it?" + +Raf stared at the city, a square of half-eaten concentrate in his +fingers. Yes, that was a puzzler. The dead monster would be more than +_he_ would care to tackle without a blaster. And yet it was dead, with +a smashed spear for evidence as to the manner of killing. + +All those others dead in the arena, too. How large a party had invaded +the city? Where were they now? + +"I'd like to know," he was speaking more to himself than to the +com-tech, "how they _did_ do it. No other bodies--" + +"Those could have been taken away by their friends," Soriki +suggested. "But if they're still hanging about, I hope they won't +believe that we're bigger and better editions of the painted lads. I +don't want a spear through me!" + +Raf, remembering the maze of lanes and streets--bordered by buildings +which could provide hundreds of lurking places for attackers--which he +had threaded with the confidence of ignorance earlier that day, began +to realize why the aliens had been so nervous. Had a sniper with a +blast rifle been stationed at a vantage point somewhere on the roofs +today none of them would ever have returned to this field. And even a +few spacemen with good cover and accurate throwing aim could have cut +down their number a quarter or a third. He was developing a strong +distaste for those structures. And he had no intention of returning to +the city again. + +He lounged about with Soriki for the rest of the afternoon, watching +the ceaseless activity of the aliens. It was plain that they were +intent upon packing into the cargo hold of their ship everything they +could wrest from the storage house. As if they must make this trip +count double. Was that because they had discovered that their treasure +house was no longer inviolate? + +In the late afternoon Hobart and Lablet came back with one of the work +teams. Lablet was still excited, full of what he had seen, deduced, or +guessed during the day. But the captain was very quiet and sober, and +he unstrapped the wrist camera as soon as he reached the flitter, +turning it over to Soriki. + +"Run that through the ditto," he ordered. "I want two records as soon +as we can get them!" + +The com-tech's eyebrows slid up, "Think you might lose one, sir?" + +"I don't know. Anyway, we'll play it safe with double records." He +accepted the ration pack Raf had brought out for him. But he did not +unwrap it at once; instead he stared at the globe, digging the toe of +his space boot into the soil as if he were grinding something to +powder. + +"They're operating under full jets," he commented. "As if they were +about due to be jumped--" + +"They told us that this was territory now held by their enemies," +Lablet reminded him. + +"And who are these mysterious enemies?" the captain wanted to know. +"Those animals back on that island?" + +Raf wanted to say yes, but Lablet broke in with a question concerning +what had happened to him, and the pilot outlined his adventures of the +day, not forgetting to give emphasis to the incident in the celled +room when the newly rescued alien had turned upon him. + +"Naturally they are suspicious," Lablet countered, "but for a people +who lack space flight, I find them unusually open-minded and ready to +accept us, strange as we must seem to them." + +"Ditto done, Captain." Soriki stepped out of the flitter, the wrist +camera dangling from his fingers. + +"Good." But Hobart did not buckle the strap about his arm once more, +neither did he pay any attention to Lablet. Instead, apparently coming +to some decision, he swung around to face Raf. + +"You went out with that scouting party today. Think you could join +them again, if you see them moving for another foray?" + +"I could try." + +"Sure," Soriki chuckled, "they couldn't do any more than pop him back +at us. What do you think about them, sir? Are they fixing to blast +us?" + +But the captain refused to be drawn. "I'd just like to have a record +of any more trips they make." He handed the camera to Raf. "Put that +on and don't forget to trigger it if you do go. I don't believe +they'll go out tonight. They aren't too fond of being out in the open +in darkness. We saw that last night. But keep an eye on them in the +morning--" + +"Yes, sir." Raf buckled on the wristband. He wished that Hobart would +explain just what he was to look for, but the captain appeared to +think that he had made everything perfectly plain. And he walked off +with Lablet, heading to the globe, as if there was nothing more to be +said. + +Soriki stretched. "I'd say we'd better take it watch and watch," he +said slowly. "The captain may think that they won't go off in the +dark, but we don't know everything about them. Suppose we just keep an +eye on them, and then you'll be ready to tail--" + +Raf laughed. "Tailing would be it. I don't think I'll have a second +invitation and if I get lost--" + +But Soriki shook his head. "That you won't. At least if you do--I'm +going to make a homer out of you. Just tune in your helmet buzzer." + +It needed a com-tech to think of a thing like that! A small adjustment +to the earphones built into his helmet, and Soriki, operating the +flitter com, could give him a guide as efficient as the spacer's +radar! He need not fear being lost in the streets should he lose touch +with those he was spying upon. + +"You're on course!" He pulled off his helmet and then glanced up to +find Soriki smiling at him. + +"Oh, we're not such a bad collection of space bums. Maybe you'll find +that out someday, boy. They breezed you into this flight right out of +training, didn't they?" + +"Just about," Raf admitted cautiously, on guard as ever against +revealing too much of himself. After all, his experience was part of +his record, which was open to anyone on board the spacer. Yes, he was +not a veteran; they must all know that. + +"Someday you'll lose a little of that suspicion," the com-tech +continued, "and find out it isn't such a bad old world after all. +Here, let's see if you're on the beam." He took the helmet out of +Raf's hands and, drawing a small case of delicate instruments from his +belt pouch, unscrewed the ear plates of the com device and made some +adjustments. "Now that will keep you on the buzzer without bursting +your eardrums. Try it." + +Raf fastened on the helmet and started away from the flitter. The +buzzer which he had expected to roar in his ears was only a faint +drone, and above it he could easily hear other sounds. Yet it was +there, and he tested it by a series of loops away from the flyer. Each +time as he came on the true beam he was rewarded by a deepening of the +muted note. Yes, he could be a homer with that, and at the same time +be alert to any other noise in his vicinity. + +"That's it!" He paid credit where it was due. But he was unable to +break his long habit of silence. Something within him still kept him +wary of the com-tech's open friendliness. + +None of the aliens approached the flitter as the shadows began to draw +in. The procession of moving teams stopped, and most of the +burden-bearing warriors withdrew to the globe and stayed there. Soriki +pointed this out. + +"They're none too sure, themselves. Look as if they are closing up for +the night." + +Indeed it did. The painted men had hauled up their ramp, the hatch in +the globe closed with a definite snap. Seeing that, the com-tech +laughed. + +"We have a double reason for a strict watch. Suppose whatever they've +been looking for jumps _us_? They're not worrying over that it now +appears." + +So they took watch and watch, three hours on and three hours in rest. +When it came Raf's turn he did not remain sitting in the flitter, +listening to the com-tech's heavy breathing, but walked a circular +beat which took him into the darkness of the night in a path about the +flyer. Overhead the stars were sharp and clear, glittering gem points. +But in the dead city no light showed, and he was sure that no aliens +camped there tonight. + +He was sleeping when Soriki's grasp on his shoulder brought him to +that instant alertness he had learned on field maneuvers half the +Galaxy away. + +"Business," the com-tech's voice was not above a whisper as he leaned +over the pilot. "I think they are on the move." + +The light was the pale gray of pre-dawn. Raf pulled himself up with +caution to look at the globe. The com-tech was right. A dark opening +showed on the alien ship; they had released their hatch. He fastened +his tunic, buckled on his equipment belt and helmet, strapped his +boots. + +"Here they come!" Soriki reported. "One--two--five--no, six of them. +And they're heading for the city. No dollies with them, but they're +all armed." + +Together the Terrans watched that patrol of alien warriors, their +attitude suggesting that they hoped to pass unseen, hurry toward the +city. Then Raf slipped out of the flyer. His dark clothing in this +light should render him largely invisible. + +Soriki waved encouragingly and the pilot answered with a quick salute +before he sped after his quarry. + + + + +13 + +A HOUND IS LOOSED + + +Dalgard's feet touched gravel; he waded cautiously to the bank, where +a bridge across the river made a concealing shadow on the water. None +of the mermen had accompanied him this far. Sssuri, as soon as his +human comrade had started for the storage city, had turned south to +warn and rally the tribes. And the merpeople of the islands had +instituted a loose chain of communication, which led from a clump of +water reeds some two miles back to the seashore, and so out to the +islands. Better than any of the now legendary coms of his Terran +forefathers were these minds of the spies in hiding, who could pick +up the racing thoughts beamed to them and pass them on to their +fellows. + +Although there were no signs of life about the city, Dalgard moved +with the same care that he would have used in penetrating a +snake-devil's lair. In the first hour of dawn he had contacted a +hopper. The small beast had been frightened almost out of coherent +thought, and Dalgard had had to spend some time in allaying that +terror to get a fractional idea of what might be going on in this +countryside. + +Death--the hopper's terror had come close to insanity. Killers had +come out of the sky, and they were burning--burning--All living things +were fleeing before them. And in that moment Dalgard had been forced +to give up his plan for an unseen spy ring, which would depend upon +the assistance of the animals. His information must come via his own +eyes and ears. + +So he kept on, posting the last of the mermen in his mental relay well +away from the city, but swimming upstream himself. Now that he was +here, he could see no traces of the invaders. Since they could not +have landed their sky ships in the thickly built-up section about the +river, it must follow that their camp lay on the outskirts of the +metropolis. + +He pulled himself out of the water. Bow and arrows had been left +behind with the last merman; he had only his sword-knife for +protection. But he was not there to fight, only to watch and wait. +Pressing the excess moisture out of his scant clothing, he crept along +the shore. If the strangers were using the streets, it might be well +to get above them. Speculatively he eyed the buildings about him as he +entered the city. + +Dalgard continued to keep at street level for two blocks, darting from +doorway to shadowed doorway, alert not only to any sound but to any +flicker of thought. He was reasonably sure, however, that the aliens +would be watching and seeking only for the merpeople. Though they +were not telepathic as their former slaves, Those Others were able to +sense the near presence of a merman, so that the sea people dared not +communicate while within danger range of the aliens without betraying +themselves. It was the fact that he was of a different species, +therefore possibly immune to such detection, which had brought Dalgard +into the city. + +He studied the buildings ahead. Among them was a cone-shaped structure +which might have been the base of a tower that had had all stories +above the third summarily amputated. It was ornamented with a series +of bands in high relief, bands bearing the color script of the aliens. +This was the nearest answer to his problem. However the scout did not +move toward it until after a long moment of both visual and mental +inspection of his surroundings. But that inspection did not reach some +twelve streets away where another crouched to watch. Dalgard ran +lightly to the tower at the same moment that Raf shifted his weight +from one foot to the other behind a parapet as he spied upon the knot +of aliens gathered below him in the street.... + +The pilot had followed them since that early morning hour when Soriki +had awakened him. Not that the chase had led him far in distance. Most +of the time he had spent in waiting just as he was doing now. At first +he had believed that they were searching for something, for they had +ventured into several buildings, each time to emerge conferring, only +to hunt out another and invade it. Since they always returned with +empty hands, he could not believe that they were out for further loot. +Also they moved with more confidence than they had shown the day +before. That confidence led Raf to climb above them so that he could +watch them with less chance of being seen in return. + +It had been almost noon when they had at last come into this section. +If two of them had not remained idling on the street as the long +moments crept by, he would have believed that they had given him the +slip, that he was now a cat watching a deserted mouse hole. But at the +moment they were coming back, carrying something. + +Raf leaned as far over the parapet as he dared, trying to catch a +better look at the flat, boxlike object two of them had deposited on +the pavement. Whatever it was either needed some adjustment or they +were attempting to open it with poor success, for they had been busied +about it for what seemed an unusually long time. The pilot licked dry +lips and wondered what would happen if he swung down there and just +walked in for a look-see. That idea was hardening into resolution when +suddenly the group below drew quickly apart, leaving the box sitting +alone as they formed a circle about it. + +There was a puff of white vapor, a protesting squawk, and the thing +began to rise in jerks as if some giant in the sky was pulling at it +spasmodically. Raf jumped back. Before he could return to his vantage +point, he saw it rise above the edge of the parapet, reach a level +five or six feet above his head, hovering there. It no longer climbed; +instead it began to swing back and forth, describing in each swing a +wider stretch of space. + +Back and forth--watching it closely made him almost dizzy. What was +its purpose? Was it a detection device, to locate him? Raf's hand went +to his stun gun. What effect its rays might have on the box he had no +way of knowing, but at that moment he was sorely tempted to try the +beam out, with the oscillating machine as his target. + +The motion of the floating black thing became less violent, its swoop +smoother as if some long-idle motor was now working more as its +builders had intended it to perform. The swing made wide circles, +graceful glides as the thing explored the air currents. + +Searching--it was plainly searching for something. Just as plainly it +could not be hunting for him, for his presence on that roof would +have been uncovered at once. But the machine was--it must be--out of +sight of the warriors in the street. How could they keep in touch with +it if it located what they sought? Unless it had some built-in +signaling device. + +Determined to keep it in sight, Raf risked a jump from the parapet of +the building where he had taken cover to another roof beyond, running +lightly across that as the hound bobbed and twisted, away from its +masters, out across the city in pursuit of some mysterious quarry.... + + * * * * * + +The climb which had looked so easy from the street proved to be more +difficult when Dalgard actually made it. His hours of swimming in the +river, the night of broken rest, had drained his strength more than he +had known. He was panting as he flattened himself against the wall, +his feet on one of the protruding bands of colored carving, content to +rest before reaching for another hold. To all appearances the city +about him was empty of life and, except for the certainty of the +merpeople that the alien ship and its strange companion had landed +here, he would have believed that he was on a fruitless quest. + +Grimly, his lower lip caught between his teeth, the scout began to +climb once more, the sun hot on his body, drawing sweat to dampen his +forehead and his hands. He did not pause again but kept on until he +stood on the top of the shortened tower. The roof here was not flat +but sloped inward to a cuplike depression, where he could see the +outline of a round opening, perhaps a door of sorts. But at that +moment he was too winded to do more than rest. + +There was a drowsiness in that air. He was tempted to curl up where he +sat and turn his rest into the sleep his body craved. It was in that +second or so of time when he was beginning to relax, to forget the +tenseness which had gripped him since his return to this ill-omened +place, that he touched-- + +Dalgard stiffened as if one of his own poisoned arrows had pricked his +skin. Rapport with the merpeople, with the hoppers and the runners, +was easy, familiar. But this was no such touch. It was like contacting +something which was icy cold, inimical from birth, something which he +could never meet on a plain of understanding. He snapped off mind +questing at that instant and huddled where he was, staring up into the +blank turquoise of the sky, waiting--for what he did not know. Unless +it was for that other mind to follow and ferret out his hiding place, +to turn him inside out and wring from him everything he ever knew or +hoped to learn. + +As time passed in long breaths, and he was not so invaded, he began to +think that while he had been aware of contact, the other had not. And, +emboldened, he sent out a tracer. Unconsciously, as the tracer groped, +he pivoted his body. It lay--there! + +At the second touch he withdrew in the same second, afraid of +revelation. But as he returned to probe delicately, ready to flee at +the first hint that the other suspected, his belief in temporary +safety grew. To his disappointment he could not pierce beyond the +outer wall of identity. There was a living creature of a high rate of +intelligence, a creature alien to his own thought processes, not too +far away. And though his attempts to enter into closer communication +grew bolder, he could not crack the barrier which kept them apart. He +had long known that contact with the merpeople was on a lower, a far +lower, band than they used when among themselves, and that they were +only able to "talk" with the colonists because for generations they +had exchanged thought symbols with the hoppers and other unlike +species. They had been frank in admitting that while Those Others +could be aware of their presence through telepathic means, they could +not exchange thoughts. So now, his own band, basically strange to this +planet, might well go unnoticed by the once dominant race of Astra. + +They--or him--or it--were over in that direction, Dalgard was sure of +that. He faced northwest and saw for the first time, about a mile +away, the swelling of the globe. If the strange flyer reported by the +merpeople was beside it, he could not distinguish it from this +distance. Yet he was sure the mind he had located was closer to him +than that ship. + +Then he saw it--a black object rising by stiff jerks into the air as +if it were being dragged upward against its inclination. It was too +small to be a flyer of any sort. Long ago the colonists had patched +together a physical description of Those Others which had assured them +that the aliens were close to them in general characteristics and +size. No, that couldn't be carrying a passenger. Then what--or why? + +The object swung out in a gradually widening circle. Dalgard held to +the walled edge of the roof. Something within him suggested that it +would be wiser to seek some less open space, that there was danger in +that flying box. He released his hold and went to the trap door. It +took only a minute to fit his fingers into round holes and tug. Its +stubborn resistance gave, and stale air whooshed out in his face as it +opened. + +In his battle with the door Dalgard had ignored the box, so he was +startled when, with a piercing whistle, almost too high on the scale +for his ears to catch, the thing suddenly swooped into a screaming +dive, apparently heading straight for him. Dalgard flung himself +through the trap door, luckily landing on one of the steep, curved +ramps. He lost his balance and slid down into the dark, trying to +brake his descent with his hands, the eerie screech of the box +trumpeting in his ears. + +There was little light in this section of the cone building, and he +was brought up with bruising force against a blank wall two floors +below where he had so unceremoniously entered. As he lay in the dark +trying to gasp some breath back into his lungs, he could still hear +the squeal. Was it summoning? There was no time to be lost in getting +away. + +On his hands and knees the scout crept along what must have been a +short hall until he found a second descending ramp, this one less +steep than the first, so that he was able to keep to his feet while +using it. And the gloom of the next floor was broken by odd scraps of +light which showed through pierced portions of the decorative bands. +The door was there, a locking bar across it. + +Dalgard did not try to shift that at once, although he laid his hands +upon it. If the box was a hound for hunters, had it already drawn its +masters to this building? Would he open the door only to be faced by +the danger he wished most to avoid? Desperately he tried to probe with +the mind touch. But he could not find the alien band. Was that because +the hunters could control their minds as they crept up? His kind knew +so little of Those Others, and the merpeople's hatred of their ancient +masters was so great that they tended to avoid rather than study them. + +The scout's sixth sense told him that nothing waited outside. But the +longer he lingered with that beacon overhead the slimmer his chances +would be. He must move and quickly. Sliding back the bar, he opened +the door a crack and looked out into a deserted street. There was +another doorway to take shelter in some ten feet or so farther along, +beyond that an alley wall overhung by a balcony. He marked these +refuges and went out to make his first dash to safety. + +Nothing stirred, and he sprinted. There came again that piercing +shriek to tear his ears as the floating box dived at him. He swerved +away from the doorway to dart on under the balcony, sure now that he +must keep moving, but under cover so that the black thing could not +pounce. If he could find some entrance into the underground ways such +as those that ran from the arena--But now he was not even sure in +which direction the arena stood, and he dared no longer climb to look +over the surrounding territory. + +He touched the alien mind! They _were_ moving in, following the lead +of their hound. He must not allow himself to be cornered. The scout +fought down a surge of panic, attempted to battle the tenseness which +tied his nerves. He must not run mindlessly either. That was probably +just what they wanted him to do. So he stood under the balcony and +tried not to listen to the shrilling of the box as he studied the +strip of alley. + +This was a narrow side way, and he had not made the wisest of choices +in entering it, for not much farther ahead it was bordered with smooth +walls protecting what had once been gardens. He had no way of telling +whether the box would actually attack him if he were caught in the +open--to put that to the test was foolhardy--nor could he judge its +speed of movement. + +The walls.... A breeze which blew up the lane carried with it the +smell of the river. There was a slim chance that it might end in +water, and he had a feeling that if he could reach the stream he would +be able to baffle the hunters. He did not have long to make up his +mind--the aliens were closer. + +Lightly Dalgard ran under the length of the balcony, turned sharply as +he reached the end of its protecting cover, and leaped. His fingers +gripped the ornamental grillwork, and he was able to pull himself up +and over to the narrow runway. A canopy was still over his head, and +there came a bump against it as the baffled box thumped. So it would +try to knock him off if it could get the chance! That was worth +knowing. + +He looked over the walls. They guarded masses of tangled vegetation +grown through years of neglect into thick mats. And those promised a +way of escape, if he could reach them. He studied the windows, the +door opening onto the balcony. With the hilt of his sword-knife he +smashed his way into the house, to course swiftly through the rooms +to the lower floor, and find the entrance to the garden. + +Facing that briary jungle on the ground level was a little daunting. +To get through it would be a matter of cutting his way. Could he do it +and escape that bobbing, shrilling thing in the air? A trace of +pebbled path gave him a ghost of a chance, and he knew that these +shrubs tended to grow upward and not mass until they were several feet +above the ground. + +Trusting to luck, Dalgard burrowed into the green mass, slashing with +his knife at anything which denied him entrance. He was swallowed up +in a strange dim world wherein dead shrubs and living were twined +together to form a roof, cutting off the light and heat of the sun. +From the sour earth, sliming his hands and knees, arose an +overpowering stench of decay and disturbed mold. In the dusk he had to +wait for his eyes to adjust before he could mark the line of the old +path he had taken for his guide. + +Fortunately, after the first few feet, he discovered that the tunneled +path was less obstructed than he had feared. The thick mat overhead +had kept the sun from the ground and killed off all the lesser plants +so that it was possible to creep along a fairly open strip. He was +conscious of the chitter of insects, but no animals lingered here. +Under him the ground grew more moist and the mold was close to mud in +consistency. He dared to hope that this meant he was either +approaching the river or some garden stream feeding into the larger +flood. + +Somewhere the squeal of the hunter kept up a steady cry, but, unless +the foliage above him was distorting that sound, Dalgard believed that +the box was no longer directly above him. Had he in some way thrown it +off his trail? + +He found his stream, a thread of water, hardly more than a series of +scummy pools with the vegetation still meeting almost solidly over it. +And it brought him to a wall with a drain through which he was sure +he could crawl. Disliking to venture into that cramped darkness, but +seeing no other way out, the scout squirmed forward in slime and muck, +feeling the rasp of rough stone on his shoulders as he made his worm's +progress into the unknown. + +Once he was forced to halt and, in the dark, loosen and pick out +stones embedded in the mud bottom narrowing the passage. On the other +side of that danger point, he was free to wriggle on. Could the box +trace him now? He had no idea of the principle on which it operated; +he could only hope. + +Then before him he saw the ghostly gray of light and squirmed with +renewed vigor--to be faced then by a grille, beyond which was the open +world. Once more his knife came into use as he pried and dug at the +barrier. He worked for long moments until the grille splashed out into +the sluggish current a foot or so below, and then he made ready to +lower himself into the same flood. + +It was only because he was a trained hunter that he avoided death in +that moment. Some instinct made him dodge even as he slipped through, +and the hurtling black box did not strike true at the base of his +brain but raked along his scalp, tearing the flesh and sending him +tumbling unconscious into the brown water. + + + + +14 + +THE PRISONER + + +Raf was two streets away from the circling box but still able to keep +it in sight when its easy glide stopped, and, in a straight line, it +swooped toward a roof emitting a shrill, rising whistle. It rose again +a few seconds later as if baffled, but it continued to hover at that +point, keening forth its warning. The pilot reached the next +building, but a street still kept him away from the conical structure +above which the box now hung. + +Undecided, he stayed where he was. Should he go down to street level +and investigate? Before he had quite made up his mind he saw the +foremost of the alien scouting party round into the thoroughfare below +and move purposefully at the cone tower, weapons to the fore. Judging +by their attitude, the box had run to earth there the prey they had +been searching for. + +But it wasn't to be so easy. With another eerie howl the machine +soared once more and bobbed completely over the cone to the street +which must lie beyond it. Raf knew that he could not miss the end of +the chase and started on a detour along the roof tops which should +bring him to a vantage point. By the time he had made that journey he +found himself on a warehouse roof which projected over the edge of the +river. + +From a point farther downstream a small boat was putting out. Two of +the aliens paddled while a third crouched in the bow. A second party +was picking its way along the bank some distance away, both groups +seemingly heading toward a point a building or two to the left of the +one where Raf had taken cover. + +He heard the shrilling of the box, saw it bobbing along a line toward +the river. But in that direction there was only a mass of green. The +end to the weird chase came so suddenly that he was not prepared, and +it was over before he caught a good look at the quarry. Something +moved down on the river bank and in that same instant the box hurtled +earthward as might a spear. It struck, and the creature who had just +crawled out--out of the ground as far as Raf could see--toppled into +the stream. As the waters closed over the body, the box slued around +and came to rest on the bank. The party in the boat sent their small +craft flying toward the spot where the crawler had sunk. + +One of the paddlers abandoned his post and slipped over the side, +diving into the oily water. He made two tries before he was successful +and came to the surface with the other in tow. They did not try to +heave the unconscious captive into the boat, merely kept the lolling +head above water as they turned downstream once more and vanished from +Raf's sight around the end of a pier, while the second party on the +bank reclaimed the now quiet box and went off. + +But Raf had seen enough to freeze him where he was for a moment. The +creature which had popped out of the ground only to be struck by the +box and knocked into the river--he would take oath on the fact that it +was not one of the furred animals he had seen on the sea island. +Surely it had been smooth-skinned, not unlike the aliens in +conformation--one of their own kind they had been hunting down, a +criminal or a rebel? + +Puzzled, the pilot moved along from roof to roof, trying to pick up +the trail of the party in the boat, but as far as he could now see, +the river was bare. If they had come ashore anywhere along here, they +had simply melted into the city. At last he was forced to use the +homing beam, and it guided him back across the deserted metropolis to +the field. + +There was still activity about the globe; they were bringing in the +loot from the warehouse, but Lablet and Hobart stood by the flitter. +As the pilot came up to them, the captain looked up eagerly. + +"What happened?" + +Raf sensed that there had been some change during his absence, that +Hobart was looking to him for an explanation to make clear happenings +here. He told his story of the hunt and its ending, the capture of the +stranger. Lablet nodded as he finished. + +"That is the reason for this, you may depend upon it, Captain. One of +their own people is at the bottom of it." + +"Of what?" Raf wanted to ask, but Soriki did it for him. + +Hobart smiled grimly. "We are all traveling back together. Take off in +the early morning. For some reason they wanted us out of the globe in +a hurry--practically shoved us out half an hour ago." + +Though the Terrans kept a watch on the larger ship as long as the +light lasted, the darkness defeated them. They did not see the +prisoner being taken aboard. Yet none of them doubted that sometime +during the dusky hours it had been done. + +It was barely dawn when the globe took off the next day, and Raf +brought the flitter up on its trail, heading westward into the sea +wind. Below them the land held no signs of life. They swept over the +deserted, terraced city that was the gateway to the guarded interior, +flew back over the line of sea islands. Raf climbed higher, not caring +to go too near the island where the aliens had wrought their terrible +vengeance on the trip out. And all four of the Terrans knew relief, +though they might not admit it to each other, when once more Soriki +was able to establish contact with the distant spacer. + +"Turn north, sir?" the pilot suggested. "I could ride her beam in from +here--we don't have to follow them home." He wanted to do that so +badly it was almost a compulsion to make his hand move on the +controls. And when Hobart did not answer at once, he was sure that the +captain would give that very order, taking them out of the company of +those he had never trusted. + +But Lablet spoiled that. "We have their word, Captain. That anti-grav +unit that they showed us last night alone--" + +So Hobart shook his head, and they meekly continued on the path set by +the globe across the ocean. + +As the hours passed Raf's inner uneasiness grew. For some queer reason +which he could not define to himself or explain to anyone else, he was +now possessed by an urgency to trail the globe which transcended and +then erased his dislike of the aliens. It was as if some appeal for +help was being broadcast from the other ship, drawing him on. It was +then that he began to question his assumption that the prisoner was +one of them. + +Over and over again in his mind he tried to re-picture the capture as +he had witnessed it from the building just too far away and at +slightly the wrong angle for a clear view. He would swear that the +body he had seen tumble into the flood had not been furred, that much +he was sure of. But clothing, yes, there had been clothing. Not--his +mind suddenly produced that one scrap of memory--not the bandage +windings of the aliens. And hadn't the skin been fairer? Was there +another race on this continent, one they had not been told about? + +When they at last reached the shore of the western continent and +finally the home city of the aliens, the globe headed back to its +berth, not in the roof cradle from which it had arisen, but sinking +into the building itself. Raf brought the flitter down on a roof as +close to the main holding of the painted people as he could get. None +of the aliens came near them. It seemed that they were to be ignored. +Hobart paced along the flat roof, and Soriki sat in the flyer, nursing +his com, intent upon the slender thread of beam which tied them to the +parent ship so many miles away. + +"I don't understand it." Lablet's voice arose almost plaintively. +"They were so very persuasive about our accompanying them. They were +eager to have us see their treasures--" + +Hobart swung around. "Somehow the balance of power has changed," he +observed, "in their favor. I'd give anything to know more about that +prisoner of theirs. You're sure it wasn't one of the furry people?" he +asked Raf, as if hoping against hope that the pilot would reply in +doubt. + +"Yes, sir." Raf hesitated. Should he air his suspicions, that the +captive was not of the same race as his captors either? But what +proof had he beyond a growing conviction that he could not +substantiate? + +"A rebel, a thief--" Lablet was ready to dismiss it as immaterial. +"Naturally they would be upset if they were having trouble with one of +their own men. But to leave now, just when we are on the verge of new +discoveries--That anti-gravity unit alone is worth our whole trip! +Imagine being able to return to earth with the principle of that!" + +"Imagine being able to return to earth with our skins on our backs," +was Soriki's whispered contribution. "If we had the sense of a +Venusian water nit, we'd blast out of here so quick our tail fumes'd +take off with us!" + +Privately Raf concurred, but the urge to know more about the +mysterious prisoner was still pricking at him, until he, contrary to +his usual detachment, felt driven to discover all that he could. It +was almost, but Raf shied away from that wild idea, it was almost as +if he were hearing a voiceless cry for aid, as if his mind was one of +Soriki's coms tuned in on an unknown wave length. He was angrily +impatient with himself for that fantastic supposition. At the same +time, another part of his mind, as he walked to the edge of the roof +and looked out at the buildings he knew were occupied by the aliens, +was busy examining the scene as if he intended to crawl about on roof +tops on a second scouting expedition. + +Finally the rest decided that Lablet and Hobart were to try to +establish contact with the aliens once more. After they had gone, Raf +opened a compartment in the flitter, the contents of which were his +particular care. He squatted on his heels and surveyed the neatly +stowed objects inside thoughtfully. A survival kit depended a great +deal on the type of terrain in which the user was planning to +survive--an aquatic world would require certain basic elements, a +frozen tundra others--but there were a few items common to every +emergency, and those were now at Raf's fingertips. The blast bombs, +sealed into their pexilod cases, guaranteed to stop all the attackers +that Terran explorers had so far met on and off worlds, a coil of rope +hardly thicker than a strand of knitting yarn but of inconceivable +toughness and flexibility, an aid kit with endurance drugs and pep +pills which could keep a man on his feet and going long after food and +water failed. He had put them all in their separate compartments. + +For a long moment he hunkered there, studying the assortment. And +then, almost as if some will other than his own was making a choice, +he reached out. The rope curled about his waist under his tunic so +tautly that its presence could not be detected without a search, blast +bombs went into the sealed seam pocket on his breast, and two flat +containers with their capsules were tucked away in his belt pouch. He +snapped the door shut and got to his feet to discover Soriki watching +him. Only for a moment was Raf disconcerted. He knew that he would not +be able to explain why he must do what he was going to do. There was +no reason why he should. Soriki, except for being a few years his +senior, had no authority over him. He was not under the com-tech's +orders. + +"Another trip into the blue?" + +The pilot replied to that with a nod. + +"Somehow, boy, I don't think anything's going to stop you, so why +waste my breath? But use your homer--and your eyes!" + +Raf paused. There was an unmistakable note of friendliness in the +com-tech's warning. Almost he was tempted to try and explain. But how +could one make plain feelings for which there was no sensible reason? +Sometimes it was better to be quiet. + +"Don't dig up more than you can rebury." That warning, in the slang +current when they had left Terra, was reassuring simply because it was +of the earth he knew. Raf grinned. But he did not head toward the roof +opening and the ramp inside the building. Instead he set a course he +had learned in the other city, swinging down to the roof of the +neighboring structure, intent on working away from the inhabited +section of the town before he went into the streets. + +Either the aliens had not set any watch on the Terrans or else all +their interest was momentarily engaged elsewhere. Raf, having gone +three or four blocks in the opposite direction to his goal, made his +way through a silent, long-deserted building to the street without +seeing any of the painted people. In his ear buzzed the comforting hum +of the com, tying him with the flitter and so, in a manner, to safety. + +He knew that the alien community had gathered in and around the +central building they had visited. To his mind the prisoner was now +either in the headquarters of the warriors, where the globe had been +berthed, or had been taken to the administration building. Whether he +could penetrate either stronghold was a question Raf did not yet face +squarely. + +But the odd something which tugged at him was as persistent as the +buzz in his earphones. And an idea came. If he _were_ obeying some +strange call for assistance, couldn't that in some way lead him to +what he sought? The only difficulty was that he had no way of being +more receptive to the impulse than he now was. He could not use it as +a compass bearing. + +In the end he chose the Center as his goal, reasoning that if the +prisoner were to be interviewed by the leaders of the aliens, he would +be taken to those rulers, they would not go to him. From a concealed +place across from the open square on which the building fronted, the +pilot studied it carefully. It towered several stories above the +surrounding structures, to some of which it was tied by the ways above +the streets. To use one of those bridges as a means of entering the +headquarters would be entirely too conspicuous. + +As far as the pilot was able to judge, there was only one entrance on +the ground level, the wide front door with the imposing +picture-covered gates. Had he had free use of the flitter he might +have tried to swing down from the hovering machine after dark. But he +was sure that Captain Hobart would not welcome the suggestion. + +Underground? There had been those ways in that other city, a city +which, though built on a much smaller scale, was not too different in +general outline from this one. The idea was worth investigation. + +The doorway, which had afforded him a shelter from which to spy out +the land, yielded to his push, and he went through three large rooms +on the ground floor, paying no attention to the strange groups of +furnishings, but seeking something else, which he had luck to find in +the last room, a ramp leading down. + +It was in the underground that he made his first important find. They +had seen ground vehicles in the city, a few still in operation, but +Raf had gathered that the fuel and extra parts for the machines were +now so scarce that they were only used in emergencies. Here, however, +was a means of transportation quite different, a tunnel through which +ran a ribbon of belt, wide enough to accommodate three or four +passengers at once. It did not move, but when Raf dared to step out +upon its surface, it swung under his weight. Since it ran in the +general direction of the Center he decided to use it. It trembled +under his tread, but he found that he could run along it making no +sound. + +The tunnel was not in darkness, for square plates set in the roof gave +a diffused violet light. However, not too far ahead, the light was +brighter, and it came from one side, not the roof. Another station on +this abandoned way? The pilot approached it with caution. If his bump +of direction was not altogether off, this must be either below the +Center or very close to it. + +The second station proved to be a junction where more than one of the +elastic paths met. Though he crouched to listen for a long moment +before venturing out into that open space, he could hear or see +nothing which suggested that the aliens ever came down now to these +levels. + +They had provided an upward ramp, and Raf climbed it, only to meet his +first defeat at its top. For here was no opening to admit him to the +ground floor of what he hoped was the Center. Baffled by the smooth +surface over which he vainly ran his hands seeking for some clue to +the door, he decided that the aliens had, for some purpose of their +own, walled off the lower regions. Discouraged, he returned to the +junction level. But he was not content to surrender his plans so +easily. Slowly he made a circuit of the platform, examining the walls +and celling. He found an air shaft, a wide opening striking up into +the heart of the building above. + +It was covered with a grille and it was above his reach but.... + +Raf measured distances and planned his effort. The mouth of a junction +tunnel ran less than two feet away from that grille. The opening was +outlined with a ledge, which made a complete arch from the floor. He +stopped and triggered the gravity plates in his space boots. Made to +give freedom of action when the ship was in free fall, they might just +provide a weak suction here. And they did! He was able to climb that +arch and, standing on it, work loose the grille which had been +fashioned to open. Now.... + +The pilot flashed his hand torch up into that dark well. He had been +right--and lucky! There were holds at regular intervals, something +must have been serviced by workmen in here. This was going to be easy. +His fingers found the first hold, and he wormed his way into the +shaft. + +It was not a difficult climb, for there were niches along the way +where the alien mechanics who had once made repairs had either rested +or done some of their work. And there were also grilles on each level +which gave him at least a partial view of what lay beyond. + +His guess was right; he recognized the main hall of the Center as he +climbed past the grid there, heading up toward those levels where he +was sure the leaders of the aliens had their private quarters. Twice +he paused to look in upon conferences of the gaudily wrapped and +painted civilians, but, since he could not understand what they were +saying, it was a waste of time to linger. + +He was some eight floors up when chance, luck, or that mysterious +something which had brought him into this venture, led him to the +right place at the right time. There was one of those niches, and he +had just settled into it, peering out through the grid, when he saw +the door at the opposite end of the room open and in marched a party +of warriors with a prisoner in their midst. + +Raf's eyes went wide. It was the captive he sought; he had no doubt of +that. But who--what--was that prisoner? + +This was no fur-covered half-animal, nor was it one of the +delicate-boned, decadent, painted creatures such as those who now +ringed in their captive. Though the man had been roughly handled and +now reeled rather than walked, Raf thought for one wild instant that +it was one of the crew from the spacer. The light hair, showing rings +of curl, the tanned face which, beneath dirt and bruises, displayed a +very familiar cast of features, the body hardly covered by rags of +clothing--they were all so like those of his own kind that his mind at +first refused to believe that this was _not_ someone he knew. Yet as +the party moved toward his hiding place he knew that he was facing a +total stranger. + +Stranger or no, Raf was sure that he saw a Terran. Had another ship +made a landing on this planet? One of those earlier ships whose fate +had been a mystery on their home world? Who--and when--and why? He +huddled as close to the grid as he could get, alert to the slightest +movement below as the prisoner faced his captors. + + + + +15 + +ARENA + + +The dull pain which throbbed through Dalgard's skull with every beat +of his heart was confusing, and it was hard to think clearly. But the +colony scout, soon after he had fought his way back to consciousness, +had learned that he was imprisoned somewhere in the globe ship. Just +as he now knew that he had been brought across the sea from the +continent on which Homeport was situated and that he had no hope of +rescue. + +He had seen little of his captors, and the guards, who had hustled him +from one place of imprisonment to another, had not spoken to him, nor +had he tried to communicate with them. At first he had been too sick +and confused, then too wary. These were clearly Those Others and the +conditioning which had surrounded him from birth had instilled in him +a deep distrust of the former masters of Astra. + +Now Dalgard was more alert, and his being brought to this room in what +was certainly the center of the alien civilization made him believe +that he was about to meet the rulers of the enemy. So he stared +curiously about him as the guards jostled him through the door. + +On a dais fashioned of heaped-up rainbow-colored pads were three +aliens, their legs folded under them at what seemed impossible angles. +One wore the black wrappings, the breastplate of the guards, but the +other two had indulged their love of color in weird, eye-disturbing +combinations of shades in the bandages wrapping the thin limbs and +paunchy bodies. They were, as far as he could see through the thick +layers of paint overlaying their skins, older than their officer +companion. But nothing in their attitude suggested that age had +mellowed them. + +Dalgard was brought to stand before the trio as before a tribunal of +judges. His sword-knife had been taken from his belt before he had +regained his senses, his hands were twisted behind his back and locked +together in a bar and hoop arrangement. He certainly could offer +little threat to the company, yet they ringed him in, weapons ready, +watching his every move. The scout licked cracked lips. There was one +thing they could not control, could not prevent him from doing. +Somewhere, not too far away, was help ... + +Not from the merpeople, but he was sure that he had been in contact +with another friendly mind. Since the hour of his awakening on board +the globe ship, when he had half-consciously sent out an appeal for +aid over the band which united him with Sssuri's race, and had touched +that other consciousness--not the cold alien stream about him--he had +been sure that somewhere within the enemy throng there was a potential +savior. Was it among those who manned the strange flyer, those the +merpeople had spied upon but whom he had not yet seen? + +Dalgard had striven since that moment of contact to keep in touch with +the nebulous other mind, to project his need for help. But he had been +unable to enter in freely as he could with his own kind, or with +Sssuri and the sea people. Now, even as he stood in the heart of the +enemy territory completely at the mercy of the aliens, he felt, more +strongly than ever before, that another, whose mind he could not enter +and yet who was in some queer way sensitive to his appeal, was close +at hand. He searched the painted faces before him trying to probe +behind each locked mask, but he was certain that the one he sought was +not there. Only--he must be! The contact was so strong--Dalgard's +startled eyes went to the wall behind the dais, tried vainly to trace +what could only be felt. He would be willing to give a knife oath that +the stranger was within seeing, listening distance at this minute! + +While he was so engrossed in his own problem, the guard had moved. The +hooped bar which locked his wrists was loosened, and his arms, each +tight in the grip of one of the warriors were brought out before him. +The officer on the dais tossed a metal ring to one of the guards. + +Roughly the warrior holding Dalgard's left arm forced the band over +his hand and jerked it up his forearm as far as it would go. As it +winked in the light the scout was reminded of a similar bracelet he +had seen--where? On the front leg of the snake-devil he had shot! + +The officer produced a second ring, slipping it smoothly over his own +arm, adjusting it to touch bare skin and not the wrappings which +served him as a sleeve. Dalgard thought he understood. A device to +facilitate communication. And straightway he was wary. When his +ancestors had first met the merpeople, they had established a means of +speech through touch, the palm of one resting against the palm of the +other. In later generations, when they had developed their new senses, +physical contact had not been necessary. However, here--Dalgard's eyes +narrowed, the line along his jaw was hard. + +He had always accepted the merpeople's estimate of Those Others, that +their ancient enemies were all-seeing and all-knowing, with mental +powers far beyond their own definition or description. Now he half +expected to be ruthlessly mind-invaded, stripped of everything the +enemy desired to know. + +So he was astonished when the words which formed in his thoughts were +simple, almost childish. And while he prepared to answer them, another +part of him watched and listened, waiting for the attack he was sure +would come. + +"You--are--who--what?" + +He forced a look of astonishment. Nor did he make the mistake of +answering that mentally. If Those Others did not know he could use +the mind speech, why betray his power? + +"I am of the stars," he answered slowly, aloud, using the speech of +Homeport. He had so little occasion to talk lately that his voice +sounded curiously rusty and harsh in his own ears. Nor had he the +least idea of the impression those few archaically accented words +would have on one who heard them. + +To Dalgard's inner surprise the answer did not astonish his +interrogator. The alien officer might well have been expecting to hear +just that. But he pulled off his own arm band before he turned to his +fellows with a spurt of the twittering speech they used among +themselves. While the two civilians were still trilling, the officer +edged forward an inch or so and stared at Dalgard intently as he +replaced the band. + +"You not look--same--as others--" + +"I do not know what you mean. Here are not others like me." + +One of the civilians twitched at the officer's sleeve, apparently +demanding a translation, but the other shook him off impatiently. + +"You come from sky--now?" + +Dalgard shook his head, then realized that gesture might not mean +anything to his audience. "Long ago before I was, my people came." + +The alien digested that, then again took off his band before he +relayed it to his companions. The excited twitter of their speech +scaled up. + +"You travel with the beasts--" the alien's accusation came crisply +while the others gabbled. "That which hunts could not have tracked you +had not the stink of the beast things been on you." + +"I know no beasts," Dalgard faced up to that squarely. "The sea people +are my friends!" + +It was hard to read any emotion on these lacquered and bedaubed faces, +but before the officer once more broke bracelet contact, Dalgard did +sense the other's almost hysterical aversion. The scout might just +have admitted to the most revolting practices as far as the alien was +concerned. After he had translated, all three of those on the dais +were silent. Even the guards edged away from the captive as if in some +manner they might be defiled by proximity. One of the civilians made +an emphatic statement, got creakily to his feet, and walked always as +if he would have nothing more to do with this matter. After a second +or two of hesitation his fellow followed his example. + +The officer turned the bracelet around in his fingers, his dark eyes +with their slitted pupils never leaving Dalgard's face. Then he came +to a decision. He pushed the ring up his arm, and the words which +reached the prisoner were coldly remote, as if the captive were no +longer judged an intelligent living creature but something which had +no right of existence in a well-ordered universe. + +"Beast friends with beast. As the beasts--so shall you end. It is +spoken." + +One of the guards tore the bracelet from Dalgard's arm, trying not to +touch the scout's flesh in the process. And those who once more +shackled his wrists ostentatiously wiped their hands up and down the +wrappings on their thighs afterwards. + +But before they jabbed him into movement with the muzzles of their +weapons, Dalgard located at last the source of that disturbing mental +touch, not only located it, but in some manner broke through the +existing barrier between the strange mind and his and communicated as +clearly with it as he might have with Sssuri. And the excitement of +his discovery almost led to self-betrayal! + +Terran! One of those who traveled with the aliens? Yet he read clearly +the other's distrust of that company, the fact that he lay in +concealment here without their knowledge. And he was not +unfriendly--surely he could not be a Peaceman of Pax! Another fugitive +from a newly-come colony ship--? Dalgard beamed a warning to the +other. If he who was free could only reach the merpeople! It might +mean the turning point in their whole venture! + +Dalgard was furiously planning, simplifying, trying to impress the +most imperative message on that other mind as he stumbled away in the +midst of the guards. The stranger was confused, apparently Dalgard's +arrival, his use of the mind touch, had been an overwhelming surprise. +But if he could only make the right move--would make it--The scout +from Homeport had no idea what was in store for him, but with one of +his own breed here and suspicious of the aliens he had at least a slim +chance. He snapped the thread of communication. Now he must be ready +for any opportunity-- + +Raf watched that amazing apparition go out of the room below. He was +shaking with a chill born of no outside cold. First the shock of +hearing that language, queerly accented as the words were, then that +sharp contact, mind to mind. He was being clearly warned against +revealing himself. The stranger was a Terran, Raf would swear to that. +So somewhere on this world there was a Terran colony! One of those +legendary ships of outlaws, who had taken to space during the rule of +Pax, had made the crossing safely and had here established a foothold. + +While one part of Raf's brain fitted together the jigsaw of bits and +patches of information, the other section dealt with that message of +warning the other had beamed to him. The pilot knew that the captive +must be in immediate danger. He could not understand all that had +happened in that interview with the aliens, but he was left with the +impression that the prisoner had been not only tried but condemned. +And it was up to him to help. + +But how? By the time he got back to the flitter or was able to find +Hobart and the others, it might already be too late. _He_ must make +the move, and soon, for there had been unmistakable urgency in the +captive's message. Raf's hands fumbled at the grid before him, and +then he realized that the opening was far too small to admit him to +the room on the other side of the wall. + +To return to the underground ways might be a waste of time, but he +could see no other course open to him. What if he could not find the +captive later? Where in the maze of the half-deserted city could he +hope to come across the trail again? Even as he sorted out all the +points which could defeat him, Raf's hands and feet felt for the +notched steps which would take him down. He had gone only two floors +when he was faced with a grille opening which was much larger. On +impulse he stopped to measure it, sure he could squeeze through here, +if he could work loose the grid. + +Prying with one hand and a tool from his belt pouch, he struggled not +only against the stubborn metal but against time. That strange mental +communication had ceased. Though he was sure that he still received a +trace of it from time to time, just enough to reassure him that the +prisoner was still alive. And each time it touched him Raf redoubled +his efforts on the metal clasps of the grid. At last his determination +triumphed, and the grille swung out, to fall with an appalling clatter +to the floor. + +The pilot thrust his feet through the opening and wriggled +desperately, expecting any moment to confront a reception committee +drawn by the noise. But when he reached the floor, the hallway was +still vacant. In fact, he was conscious of a hush in the whole +building, as if those who made their homes within its walls were +elsewhere. That silence acted on him as a spur. + +Raf ran along the corridor, trying to subdue the clatter of his space +boots, coming to a downward ramp. There he paused, unable to decide +whether to go down--until he caught sight of a party of aliens below, +walking swiftly enough to suggest that they too were in a hurry. + +This small group was apparently on its way to some gathering. And in +it for the first time the Terran saw the women of the aliens, or at +least the fully veiled, gliding creatures he guessed were the females +of the painted people. There were four of them in the group ahead, +escorted by two of the males, and the high fluting of their voices +resounded along the corridor as might the cheeping of birds. If the +males were colorful in their choice of body wrappings, the females +were gorgeous beyond belief, as cloudy stuff which had the changing +hues of Terran opals frothed about them to completely conceal their +figures. + +The harsher twittering of the men had an impatient note, and the whole +party quickened pace until their glide was close to an undignified +trot. Raf, forced to keep well behind lest his boots betray him, +fumed. + +They did not go into the open, but took another way which sloped down +once more. Luckily the journey was not a long one. Ahead was light +which suggested the outdoors. + +Raf sucked in his breath as he came out a goodly distance behind the +aliens. Established in what was once a court surrounded by the towers +and buildings of the city was a miniature of that other arena where he +had seen the dead lizard things. The glittering, gayly dressed aliens +were taking their places on the tiers of seats. But the place which +had been built to accommodate at least a thousand spectators now +housed less than half the number. If this was the extent of the alien +nation, it was the dregs of a dwindling race. + +Directly below where Raf lingered in an aisle dividing the tiers of +seats, there was a manhole opening with a barred gate across it, an +entrance to the sand-covered enclosure. And fortunately the aliens +were all clustered close to the oval far from that spot. + +Also the attention of the audience was firmly riveted on events below. +A door at the sand level had been flung open, and through it was now +hustled the prisoner. Either the aliens still possessed some idea of +fair play or they hoped to prolong a contest to satisfy their own +pleasure, for the captive's hands were unbound and he clutched a +spear. + +Remembering far-off legends of earlier and more savage civilizations +on his own world, Raf was now sure that the lone man below was about +to fight for his life. The question was, against what? + +Another of the mouthlike openings around the edge of the arena opened, +and one of the furry people shambled out, weaving weakly from side to +side as he came, a spear in his scaled paws. He halted a step or two +into the open, his round head swinging from side to side, spittle +drooling from his gaping mouth. His body was covered with raw sores +and bare patches from which the fur had been torn away, and it was +apparent that he had long been the victim of ill-usage, if not +torture. + +Shrill cries arose from the alien spectators as the furred one blinked +in the light and then sighted the man some feet away. He stiffened, +his arm drew back, the spear poised. Then as suddenly it dropped to +his side, and he fell on his knees before wriggling across the sand, +his paws held out imploringly to his fellow captive. + +The cries from the watching aliens were threatening. Several rose in +their seats gesturing to the two below. And Raf, thankful for their +absorption, sped down to the manhole, discovering to his delight it +could be readily opened from his side. As he edged it around, there +was another sound below. This was no high-pitched fluting from aliens +deprived of their sport, but a hissing nightmare cry. + +Raf's line of vision, limited by the door, framed a portion of scaled +back, as it looked, immediately below him. His hand went to the blast +bombs as he descended the runway, and his boots hit the sand just as +the drama below reached its climax. + +The furred one lay prone in the sand, uncaring. Above that mistreated +body, the human stood in the half-crouch of a fighting man, the puny +spear pointed up bravely at a mark it could not hope to reach, the +soft throat of one of the giant lizards. The reptile did not move to +speedily destroy. Instead, hissing, it reared above the two as if +studying them with a vicious intelligence. But there was no time to +wonder how long it would delay striking. + +Raf's strong teeth ripped loose the tag end of the blast bomb, and he +lobbed it straight with a practiced arm so that the ball spiraled +across the arena to come to rest between the massive hind legs of the +lizard. He saw the man's eyes widen as they fastened on him. And then +the human captive flung himself to the earth, half covering the body +of the furred one. The reptile grabbed in the same instant, its +grasping claws cutting only air, and before it could try a second time +the bomb went off. + +Literally torn apart by the explosion, the creature must have died at +once. But the captive moved. He was on his feet again, pulling his +companion up with him, before the startled spectators could guess what +had happened. Then half carrying the other prisoner, he ran, not +onward to the waiting Raf, but for the gate through which he had come +into the arena. At the same time a message beat into the Terran's +brain-- + +"This way!" + +Avoiding bits of horrible refuse, Raf obeyed that order, catching up +in a couple of strides with the other two and linking his arm through +the dangling one of the furred creature to take some of the strain +from the stranger. + +"Have you any more of the power things?" the words came in the archaic +speech of his own world. + +"Two more bombs," he answered. + +"We may have to blow the gate here," the other panted breathlessly. + +Instead Raf drew his stun gun. The gate was already opening, a wedge +of the painted warriors heading through, flame-throwers ready. He +sprayed wide, and on the highest level. A spout of fire singed the +cloth of his tunic across the top of his shoulder as one of the last +aliens fired before his legs buckled and he went down. Then, +opposition momentarily gone, the two with their semiconscious charge +stumbled over the bodies of the guards and reached the corridor +beyond. + + + + +16 + +SURPRISE ATTACK + + +So much had happened so quickly during the past hour that Dalgard had +no chance to plan or even sort out impressions in his mind. He had no +guess as to where this stranger, now taking some of the burden of the +wounded merman from him, had sprung from. The other's clothing, the +helmet covering his head were more akin to those worn by the aliens +than they were to the dress of the colonist. Yet the man beneath those +trappings was of the same breed as his own people. And he could not +believe he was a Peaceman of Pax--all he had done here spoke against +those legends of dark Terran days Dalgard had heard from childhood. +But where had he come from? The only answer could be another outlaw +colony ship. + +"We are in the inner ways," Dalgard tried to reach the mind of the +merman as they pounded on into the corridors which led from the arena. +"Do you know these--" He had a faint hope that the sea man because of +his longer captivity might have a route of escape to suggest. + +"--down to the lower levels--" the thought came slowly, forced out by +a weakening will. "Lower--levels--roads to the sea--" + +That was what Dalgard had been hoping for, some passage which would +run seaward and so to safety, such as he had found with Sssuri in that +other city. + +"What are we hunting?" the stranger broke in, and Dalgard realized +that perhaps the other did not follow the mind talk. His words had an +odd inflection, a clipped accent which was new. + +"A lower way," he returned in the speech of his own people. + +"To the right." The merman, struggling against his own weakness, had +raised his head and was looking about as one who searches for a +familiar landmark. + +There was a branching way to the right, and Dalgard swung into it, +bringing the other two after him. This was a narrow passage, and twice +they brushed by sealed doors. It brought them up against a blank wall. +The stranger wheeled, his odd weapon ready, for they could hear the +shouts of pursuers behind them. But the merman pulled free of Dalgard +and went down on the floor to dig with his taloned fingers at some +depressions there. + +"Open here," the thought came clearly, "then down!" + +Dalgard went down on one knee, able now to see the outline of a trap +door. It must be pried up. His sword-knife was gone, the spear they +had given him for the arena he had dropped when he dragged the merman +out of danger. He looked to the stranger. About the other's narrow +hips was slung a belt from which hung pouches and tools the primitive +colonist could not evaluate. But there was also a bush knife, and he +reached for it. + +"The knife--" + +The stranger glanced down at the blade he wore in surprise, as if he +had forgotten it. Then with one swift movement he drew it from its +sheath and flipped it to Dalgard. + +On the track behind the clamor was growing, and the colony scout +worked with concentration at his task of fitting the blade into the +crack and freeing the door. As soon as there was space enough, the +merman's claws recklessly slid under, and he added what strength he +could to Dalgard's. The door arose and fell back onto the pavement +with a clang, exposing a dark pit. + +"Got 'em!" the words burst from the stranger. He had pressed the +firing button of his weapon. Where the passage in which they stood met +the main corridor, there was an agitated shouting and then sudden +silence. + +"Down--" The merman had crawled to the edge of the opening. From it +rose a dank, fetid smell. Now that the noise in the corridor was +stilled Dalgard could hear something: the sound of water. + +"How do we get down?" he questioned the merman. + +"It is far, there are no climbing holds--" + +Dalgard straightened. Well, he supposed, even a leap into that was +better than to be taken a second time by Those Others. But was he +ready for such a desperate solution? + +"A long way down?" The stranger leaned over to peer into the well. + +"He says so," Dalgard nodded at the merman. "And there are no climbing +holds." + +The stranger plucked at the front of his tunic with one hand, still +holding his weapon with the other. From an opening he drew a line, and +Dalgard grabbed it eagerly, testing the first foot with a sharp jerk. +He had never seen such stuff, so light of weight and yet so tough. His +delight reached the merman, who sat up to gaze owlishly at the coils +the stranger pulled from concealment. + +They used the door of the well for the lowering beam, hitching the +cord about it. Then the merman noosed one end about him, and Dalgard, +the door taking some of the strain, lowered him. The end of the cord +was perilously close to the scout's fingers when there was a signaling +pull from below, and he was free to reel in the loose line. He turned +to the stranger. + +"You go. I'll watch them." The other waved his weapon to the +corridor. + +There was some sense to that, Dalgard had to agree. He made fast the +end of the cord and went in his turn into the dark, burning the palm +of one hand before he was able to slacken the speed of his descent. +Then he landed thigh-deep in water, from which arose an unpleasant +smell. + +"All right--Come--" he put full force into the thought he beamed at +the stranger above. When the other did not obey, Dalgard began to +wonder if he should climb to his aid. Had the aliens broken through +and overwhelmed the other? Or what had happened? The rope whisked up +out of his hands. And a moment later a voice rang eerily overhead. + +"Clear below! Coming down!" + +Dalgard scrambled out of the space under the opening, heading on into +the murk where the merman waited. There was a splash as the stranger +hit the stream, and the rope lashed down behind him at their united +jerk. + +"Where do we go from here?" The voice carried through the dark. + +Scaled fingers hooked about Dalgard's right hand and tugged him on. He +reached back in turn and locked grip with the stranger. So united the +three splashed on through the rancid liquid. In time they came out of +the first tunnel into a wider section, but here the odor was worse, +catching in their throats, making them sway dizzily. There seemed to +be no end to these ways, which Raf guessed were the drains of the +ancient city. + +Only the merman appeared to have a definite idea of where they were +going, though he halted once or twice when they came to a side passage +as if thinking out their course. Since the man from the arena accepted +the furred one's guidance, Raf depended upon it too. Though he +wondered if they would ever find their way out into the open once +more. + +He was startled by sudden pain as the hand leading him tightened its +grip to bone-bruising force. They had stopped, and the liquid washed +about them until Raf wondered if he would ever feel clean again. When +they started on, they moved much more swiftly. His companions were in +a hurry, but Raf was unprepared for the sight which broke as they came +out in a high-roofed cavern. + +There was an odd, cold light there--but that light was not all he saw. +Drawn up on a ledge rising out of the contaminated stream were rows of +the furred people, all sitting in silence, bone spears resting across +their knees, long knives at their belts. They watched with round, +unblinking eyes the three who had just come out of the side passage. +The rescued merman loosened his grip on Dalgard's hand and waded +forward to confront that quiet, waiting assembly. Neither he nor his +fellows made any sound, and Raf guessed that they had some other form +of communication, perhaps the same telepathic ability to broadcast +messages which this amazing man beside him displayed. + +"They are of his tribe," the other explained, sensing that Raf could +not understand. "They came here to try to save him, for he is one of +their Speakers-for-Many." + +"Who are they? Who are you?" Raf asked the two questions which had +been with him ever since the wild adventure had begun. + +"They are the People-of-the-Sea, our friends, our knife brothers. And +I am of Homeport. My people came from the stars in a ship, but not a +ship of this world. We have been here for many years." + +The mermen were moving now. Several had waded forward to greet their +chief, aiding him ashore. But when Raf moved toward the ledge, Dalgard +put out a restraining hand. + +"Until we are summoned--no. They have their customs. And this is a +party-for-war. This tribe knows not my people, save by rumor. We +wait." + +Raf looked over the ranks of the sea folk. The light came from globes +borne by every twentieth warrior, a globe in which something that +gave off phosphorescent gleams swam around and around. The spears +which each merman carried were slender and wickedly barbed, the knives +almost sword length. The pilot remembered the flame-throwers of the +aliens and could not see any victory for the merman party. + +"No, knife blade against the fire--that is not equal." + +Raf started, amazed and then irritated that the other had read his +thoughts so easily. + +"But what else can be done? Some stand must be taken, even if a whole +tribe goes down to the Great Dark because they do it." + +"What do you mean?" Raf demanded. + +"Is it not the truth that Those Others went across the sea to plunder +their forgotten storehouse of knowledge?" countered the other. He +spoke slowly as if he found difficulty in clothing thoughts with +words. "Sssuri said that was why they came." + +Raf, remembering what he had seen--the stripping of shelves and tables +of the devices that were stored on them--could only nod. + +"Then it is also true that soon they will have worse than fire with +which to hunt us down. And they shall turn against your colony as they +will against Homeport. For the mermen, and their own records, have +taught us that it is their nature to rule, that they can live in peace +only when all living things on this world are their slaves." + +"My colony?" Raf was momentarily diverted. "I'm one of a spacer's +crew, not the member of any colony!" + +Dalgard stared at the stranger. His guess had been right. A new ship, +another ship which had recently crossed deep space to find them had +flown the dark wastes even as the First Elders had done! It must be +that more outlaws had come to find a new home! This was wonderful +news, news he must take to Homeport. Only, it was news which must +wait. For the sea people had come to a decision of their own. + +"What are they going to do now?" Raf asked. + +The mermen were not retreating, instead they were slipping from the +ledge in regular order, forming somewhat crooked ranks in the water. + +Dalgard did not reply at once, making mind touch not only to ask but +to impress his kinship on the sea people. They were united in a +single-minded purpose, with failure before them--unless--He turned to +the stranger. + +"They go to war upon Those Others. He who guided us here knows also +that the new knowledge they have brought into the city is danger. If +an end is not put to it before they can use it, then"--he +shrugged--"the mermen must retreat into the depths. And we, who can +not follow them--" He made a quick, thrusting gesture as if using a +knife on his own throat. "For a time Those Others have been growing +fewer in number and weaker. Their children are not many and sometimes +there are years when none are born at all. And they have forgotten so +much. But now, perhaps they can increase once more, not only in wisdom +and strength of arms, but in numbers. The mermen have kept a watch on +them, content to let matters rest, sure that time would defeat them. +But now, time no longer fights on our side." + +Raf watched the furred people with their short spears, their knives. +He recalled that rocky island where the aliens had unleashed the fire. +The expeditionary force would not have a chance against that. + +"But _your_ weapons would." The words addressed to him were clear, +though they had not been spoken aloud. Raf's hand went to the pocket +where two more of the blast bombs rested. "And this is your battle as +much as ours!" + +But it wasn't his fight! Dalgard had gone too far with that +suggestion. Raf had no ties on this world, the _RS 10_ was waiting to +take him away. It was strictly against all orders, all his training, +for him to become involved in alien warfare. The pilot's hand went +back to his belt. He was not going to allow himself to be pushed onto +anything foolish, whether this "colonist" could read his mind or not. + +The first ranks of the mermen had already waded past them, heading +into the way down which the escaping prisoners had come. To Raf's eyes +none of them paid any attention to the two humans as they went, though +they were probably in mental touch with his companion. + +"You are already termed one of us in _their_ eyes," Dalgard was +careful to use oral speech this time. "When you came to our rescue in +the arena they believed that you were of our kind. Do you think you +can return to walk safely through the city? So"--he drew a hissing +breath of surprise when the thought which leaped into Raf's mind was +plain to Dalgard also--"you have--there are more of you there! But +already Those Others may be moving against them because of what you +have done!" + +Raf who had been about to join the mermen stopped short. That aspect +had not struck him before. What had happened to Soriki and the +flitter, to the captain and Lablet, who had been in the heart of the +enemy territory when he had challenged the aliens? It would be only +logical that the painted people would consider them all dangerous now. +He must get out of here, back to the flitter, try to help where +unwittingly he had harmed-- + +Dalgard caught up with him. He had been able to read a little of what +had passed through the other's mind. Though it was difficult to sort +order out of the tangled thoughts. The longer he was with the +stranger, the more aware he became of the differences between them. +Outwardly they might appear of the same species, but inwardly--Dalgard +frowned--there was something that he must consider later, when they +had a thinking space. But now he could understand the other's +agitation. It was very true that Those Others might turn on the +stranger's fellows in retaliation for his deeds. + +Together they joined the mermen. There was no talk, nothing to break +the splashing sound of bodies moving against the current. As they +pressed on, Raf was sure that this was not the same way they had come. +And once more Dalgard answered his unspoken question. + +"We seek another door into the city, one long known to these +tribesmen." + +Raf would gladly have run, but he could not move faster than his +guides, and while their pace seemed deliberate, they did not pause to +rest. The whole city, he decided, must be honeycombed with these +drains. After traversing a fourth tunnel, they climbed out of the +flood onto a dry passage, which wormed along, almost turning on itself +at times. + +Side passages ran out from this corridor like rootlets from a parent +root, and small parties of mermen broke from the regiment to follow +certain ones, leaving without orders or farewells. At the fifth of +these Dalgard touched Raf's arm and drew him aside. + +"This is our way." Tensely the scout waited. If the stranger refused, +then the one plan the scout had formed during the past half-hour would +fail. He still held to the hope that Raf, with what Raf carried, could +succeed in the only project which would mean, perhaps not his safety +nor the safety of the tribe he now marched among, but the eventual +safety of Astra itself, the safety of all the harmless people of the +sea, the little creatures of the grass and the sky, of his own land at +Homeport. He would have to force Raf into action if need be. He did +not use the mind touch; he knew now the unspoken resentment which +followed that. If it became necessary--Dalgard's hands balled into +fists--he would strike down the stranger--take from him--Swiftly he +turned his thoughts from that. It might be easy, now that he had +established mental contact with this off-worlder, for the other to +pick up a thought as vivid as that. + +But luckily Raf obediently turned into the side passage with the six +mermen who were to attack at this particular point. The way grew +narrower until they crept on hands and knees between rough walls which +were not of the same construction as the larger tunnels. The smaller +mermen had no difficulty in getting through, but twice Raf's equipment +belt caught on projections and he had to fight his way free. + +They crawled one by one into a ventilation shaft much like the one he +had climbed at the Center. Dalgard's whisper reached him. + +"We are now in the building which houses their sky ship." + +"I know that one," Raf returned almost eagerly, glad at last to be +back so close to familiar territory. He climbed up the hand-and +footholds the sea-monster lamp disclosed, wishing the mermen ahead +would speed up. + +The grille at the head of the shaft had been removed, and the invaders +arose one by one into a dim and dusty place of motionless machinery, +which, by all tangible evidence, had not been entered for some time. +But the cautious manner in which the sea people strung out to approach +the far door argued that the same might not be true beyond. + +For the first time Raf noticed that his human companion now held one +of the knives of the merpeople, and he drew his stun gun. But he could +not forget the flame-throwers which might at that very moment be +trained upon the other side of that door by the aliens. They might be +walking into a trap. + +He half expected one of those disconcerting thought answers from +Dalgard. But the scout was playing safe--nothing must upset the +stranger. Confronted by what had to be done, he might be influenced +into acting for them. So Dalgard strode softly ahead, apparently not +interested in Raf. + +One of the mermen worked at the door, using the point of his spear as +a lever. Here again was a vista of machinery. But these machines were +alive; a faint hum came from their casings. The mermen scattered, +taking cover, a move copied by the two humans. + +The pilot remained in hiding, but he saw one of the furred people +running on as light-footedly as a shadow. Then his arm drew back, and +he cast his spear. Raf fancied he could hear a faint whistle as the +weapon cut the air. There was a cry, and the merman ran on, vanishing +into the shadows, to return a second or two later wiping stains from +his weapon. Out of their places of concealment, his fellows gathered +about him. And the humans followed. + +Now they were fronted by a ramp leading up, and the mermen took it +quickly, their bare, scaled feet setting up a whispering echo which +was drowned by the clop of Raf's boots. Once more the party was alert, +ready for trouble, and taking his cue from them, he kept his stun gun +in his hand. + +But the maneuver at the head of the ramp surprised him. For, though he +had heard no signal, all the party but one plastered their bodies back +against the wall, Dalgard pulling Raf into position beside him, the +scout's muscular bare arm pinning the pilot into a narrow space. One +merman stood at the crack of the door at the top of the ramp. He +pushed the barrier open and crept in. + +Meanwhile those who waited poised their spears, all aimed at that +door. Raf fingered the button on his gun to "spray" as he had when he +had faced the attack of the scavengers in the arena tunnels. + +There was a cry, a shout with a summons in it. And the venturesome +merman thudded back through the door. But he was not alone. Two of the +black guardsmen, their flamers spitting fiery death, ran behind him, +and the curling lash of one of those flames almost wreathed the runner +before he swung aside. Raf fired without consciously aiming. Both of +the sentries fell forward, to slide limply down the ramp. + +Then Dalgard pulled him on. "The way is open," he said. "This is it!" +There was an excited exultation in his voice. + + + + +17 + +DESTRUCTION UNLEASHED + + +The space they now entered must be the core of the building, Raf +thought a little dazedly. For there, towering over them was the round +bulb of the globe. And about its open hatch were piles of the material +which he had last seen in the warehouse on the other continent. The +unloading of the alien ship had been hastily interrupted. + +Since neither the merman nor Dalgard took cover, Raf judged that they +did not fear attack now. But when he turned his attention away from +the ship, he found not only the colony scout but most of the sea +people gathered about him as if waiting for some action on his part. + +"What is it?" He could feel it, that strong pressure, that band +united, in willing him into some move. His stubborn streak of +independence made his reaction contrary. He was not going to be pushed +into anything. + +"In this hour," Dalgard spoke aloud, avoiding the mind touch which +might stiffen Raf's rebellion. He wished that some older, wiser Elder +from Homeport were there. So little time--Yet this stranger with +practically no effort might accomplish all they had come to do, if he +could only be persuaded into action. "In this hour, here is the heart +of what civilization remains to Those Others. Destroy it, and it will +not matter whether they kill us. For in the days to come they will +have nothing left." + +Raf understood. This was why he had been brought here. They wanted +him to use the blast bombs. And one part of him _was_ calculating the +best places to set his two remaining bombs for the wildest possible +destruction. That part of him could accept the logic of Dalgard's +reasoning. He doubted if the aliens could repair the globe if it were +damaged, and he was sure that much which they had brought back from +the eastern continent was irreplaceable. The bombs had not been +intended for such a use. They were defensive, anti-personal weapons to +be employed as he had done against the lizard in the arena. But placed +properly--Without thinking his hands went to the sealed pocket in the +breast of his tunic. + +Dalgard saw that gesture and inside him some taut cord began to +unwind. Then the stranger's hands dropped, and he swung around to face +the colony scout squarely, a scowl twisting his black brows almost +together. + +"This isn't my fight," he stated flatly. "I've got to get back to the +flitter, to my spacer--" + +What was the matter? Dalgard tried to understand. If the aliens won +now, this stranger was in as great a danger as were the rest of them. +Did he believe that Those Others would allow any colony to be +established on a world they ruled? + +"There will be no future for you here," he spoke slowly, trying with +all his power to get through to the other. "They will not allow you to +found another Homeport. You will have no colony--" + +"Will you get it into your thick head," burst out the pilot, "that I'm +not here to start a colony! We can take off from this blasted planet +whenever we want to. We didn't come here to stay!" + +Beneath the suntan, Dalgard's face whitened. The other had come from +no outlaw ship, seeking a refuge across space, as his own people had +fled to a new life from tyranny. His first fears had been correct! +This was a representative of Pax, doubtless sent to hunt down the +descendants of those who had escaped its throttling dictatorship. The +slender strangely garbed Terran might be of the same blood as his own, +but he was as great an enemy as Those Others! + +"Pax!" He did not know that he had said that word aloud. + +The other laughed. "You are living back in history. Pax has been dead +and gone almost two centuries. I'm of the Federation of Free Men--" + +"Will the stranger use his fire now?" The question formed in Dalgard's +mind. The mermen were growing impatient, as well they might. This was +no time for talk, but for action. Could Raf be persuaded to aid them? +A Federation of Free Men--Free Men! That was what they were fighting +for here and now. + +"You are free," he said. "The sea people won their freedom when Those +Others fought among themselves. My people came across the star void in +search of freedom, paying in blood to win it. But these, these are not +the weapons of the free." He pointed to the supplies about the globe, +to the globe itself. + +The mermen were waiting no longer. With the butts of their spears they +smashed anything breakable. But the damage one could do by hand in the +short space of time granted them--Raf was surprised that a guard was +not already down upon them--was sharply limited. The piled-up secrets +of an old race, a race which had once ruled a planet. He thought +fleetingly of Lablet's preoccupation with this spoil, of Hobart's hope +of gaining knowledge they could take back with them. But would the +aliens keep their part of the bargain? He no longer believed that. + +Why not give these barbarians a chance, and the colonists. Sure, he +was breaking the stiffest rule of the Service. But, perhaps by now the +flitter was gone, he might never reach the _RS 10_. It was not his +war, right enough. But he'd give the weaker side a fighting chance. + +Dalgard followed him into the globe ship, climbing the ladders to the +engine level, watching with curious eyes as Raf inspected the driving +power of the ship and made the best disposition possible of one of the +bombs. + +Then they were on the ladder once more as the ship shook under them, +plates buckling as a great wound tore three decks apart. Raf laughed +recklessly. Now that he was committed to this course, he had a +small-boy delight in the destruction. + +"They won't raise her again in a hurry," he confided to Dalgard. But +the other did not share his triumph. + +"They come--we must move fast," the scout urged. + +When they jumped from the hatch, they discovered that the mermen had +been busy in their turn. As many of the supplies as they could move +had been pushed and piled into one great mass. Broken crystal littered +the floor in shards and puddles of strange chemicals mingled smells to +become a throat-rasping fog. Raf eyed those doubtfully. Some of those +fumes might combine in the blast-- + +Once again Dalgard read his mind and waved the mermen back, sending +them through the door to the ramp and the lower engine room. Raf stood +in the doorway, the bomb in his hand, knowing that it was time for him +to make the most accurate cast of his life. + +The sphere left his fingers, was a gleam in the murky air. It struck +the pile of material. Then the whole world was hidden by a blinding +glare. + +It was dark--black dark. And he was swinging back and forth through +this total darkness. He was a ball, a blast bomb being tossed from +hand to hand through the dark by painted warriors who laughed shrilly +at his pain, tossed through the dark. Fear such as he had never known, +even under the last acceleration pressure of the take-off from Terra, +beat through Raf's veins away from his laboring heart. He was helpless +in the dark! + +"Not alone--" the words came out of somewhere, he didn't know whether +he heard them, or, in some queer way, felt them. "You are safe--not +alone." + +That brought a measure of comfort. But he was still in the dark, and +he was moving--he could not will his hands to move--yet he was moving. +He was being carried! + +The flitter--he was back on the flitter! They were air-borne. But who +was piloting? + +"Captain! Soriki!" he appealed for reassurance. And then was aware +that there was no familiar motor hum, none of that pressure of rushing +air to which he had been so long accustomed that he missed it only +now. + +"You are safe--" Again that would-be comfort. But Raf tried to move +his arms, twist his body, be sure that he rested in the flitter. Then +another thought, only vaguely alarming at first, but which grew +swiftly to panic proportions--He was in the alien globe--He was a +prisoner! + +"You are safe!" the words beat in his mind. + +"But where--where?" he felt as if he were screaming that at the full +power of his lungs. He must get out of this dark envelope, be free. +Free! Free Men--He was Raf Kurbi of the Federation of Free Men, member +of the crew of the Spacer _RS 10_. But there had been something else +about free men-- + +Painfully he pulled fragments of pictures out of the past, assembled a +jigsaw of wild action. And all of it ended in a blinding flash, +blinding! + +Raf cowered mentally if not physically, as his mind seized upon that +last word. The blinding flash, then this depth of darkness. Had he +been--? + +"You are safe." + +Maybe he was safe, he thought, with an anger born of honest fear, but +was he--blind? And where was he? What had happened to him since that +moment when the blast bomb had exploded? + +"I am blind," he spat out, wanting to be told that his fears were only +fears and not the truth. + +"Your eyes are covered," the answer came quickly enough, and for a +short space he was comforted until he realized that the reply was not +a flat denial of his statement. + +"Soriki?" he tried again. "Captain? Lablet?" + +"Your companions"--there was a moment of hesitation, and then came +what he was sure was the truth--"have escaped. Their ship took to the +air when the Center was invaded." + +So, he wasn't on the flitter. That was Raf's first reaction. Then, he +must still be with the mermen, with the young stranger who claimed to +be one of a lost Terran colony. But they couldn't leave him behind! +Raf struggled against the power which held him motionless. + +"Be quiet!" That was not soothing; it had the snap of a command, so +sharp and with such authority in it that he obeyed. "You have been +hurt; the gel must do its work. Sleep now. It is good to sleep--" + +Dalgard walked by the hammock, using all the quieting power he +possessed to ease the stranger, who now bore little resemblance to the +lithe, swiftly moving, other-worldly figure of the day before. +Stripped of his burned rags of clothing, coated with the healing stuff +of the merpeople--that thick jelly substance which was their bulwark +against illness and hurt--lashed into a hammock of sea fibers, he had +the outward appearance of a thick bundle of supplies. The scout had +seen miracles of healing performed by the gel, he could only hope for +one now. "Sleep--" he made the soothing suggestion over and over and +felt the other begin to relax, to sink into the semicoma in which he +must rest for at least another day. + +It was true that they had watched the strange flying machine take off +from a roof top. And none of the mermen who had survived the battle +which had raged through the city had seen any of the off-worlder's +kind among the living or the dead of the alien forces. Perhaps, +thinking Raf dead, they had returned to their space ship. + +Now there were other, more immediate, problems to be met. They had +done everything that they could to insure the well-being of the +stranger, without whom they could not have delivered that one +necessary blow which meant a new future for Astra. + +The aliens were not all dead. Some had gone down under the spears of +the mermen, but more of the sea people had died by the superior +weapons of their foes. To the aliens, until they discovered what had +happened to the globe and its cargo, it would seem an overwhelming +triumph, for less than a quarter of the invading force fought its way +back to safety in the underground ways. Yes, it would appear to be a +victory for Those Others. But--now time was on the other side of the +scales. + +Dalgard doubted if the globe would ever fly again. And the loss of the +storehouse plunder could never be repaired. By its destruction they +had insured the future for their people, the mermen, the slowly +growing settlement at Homeport. + +They were well out of the city, in the open country, traveling along a +rocky gorge, through which a river provided a highway to the sea. +Dalgard had no idea as yet how he could win back across the waste of +water to his own people. While the mermen with whom he had stormed the +city were friendly, they were not of the tribes he knew, and their own +connection with the eastern continent was through messages passed +between islands and the depths. + +Then there was the stranger--Dalgard knew that the ship which had +brought him to this planet was somewhere in the north. Perhaps when he +recovered, they could travel in that direction. But for the moment it +was good just to be free, to feel the soft winds of summer lick his +skin, to walk slowly under the sun, carrying the little bundle of +things which belonged to the stranger, with a knife once more at his +belt and friends about him. + +But within the quarter-hour their peace was broken. Dalgard heard it +first, his landsman's ears serving him where the complicated sense +which gave the sea people warning did not operate. That shrill +keening--he knew it of old. And at his warning the majority of the +mermen plunged into the stream, becoming drifting shadows below the +surface of the water. Only the four who were carrying the hammock +stood their ground. But the scout, having told them to deposit their +burden under the shelter of an overhanging ledge of rock, waved them +to join their fellows. Until that menace in the sky was beaten, they +dare not travel overland. + +Was it still after him alone, hunting him by some mysterious built-in +sense as it had overseas? He could see it now, moving in circles back +and forth across the gorge, probably ready to dive on any prey +venturing into the open. + +Had it not been for the stranger, Dalgard could have taken to the +water almost as quickly and easily as his companions. But they could +not float the pilot down the stream, thus dissolving the thick coating +of gel which was healing his terrible flash burns. And Those Others, +were they following the trail of their mechanical hound as they had +before? + +Dalgard sent out questing tendrils of thought. Nowhere did he +encounter the flashes which announced the proximity of Those Others. +No, it would appear that they had unleashed the hound to do what +damage it could, perhaps to serve them as a marker for a future +counterattack. At present it was alone. And he relayed that +information to the mermen. + +If they could knock out the hound--his hand went to the tender scrape +on his own scalp where that box had left its glancing mark--if they +could knock out the hound--But how? As accurate marksmen as the mermen +were with their spears, he was not sure they could bring down the box. +Its sudden darts and dips were too erratic. Then what? Because as long +as it bobbed there, he and the stranger were imprisoned in this +pocket of the gorge wall. + +Dalgard sat down, the bundle of the stranger's belongings beside him. +Then, he carefully unfastened the scorched cloth which formed that bag +and examined its contents. There was the belt with its pouches, +sheaths, and tool case. And the weapon which the stranger had used to +such good effect during their escape from the arena. Dalgard took up +the gun. It was light in weight, and it fitted into his hand almost as +if it had been molded to his measure. + +He aimed at the hovering box, pressed the button as he had seen the +other do, with no results. The stun ray, which had acted upon living +creatures, could not govern the delicate mechanism in the hound's +interior. Dalgard laid it aside. There were no more of the bombs, nor +would they have been effective against such a target. As far as he +could see, there was nothing among Raf's possessions which could help +them now. + +One of the black shadows in the water moved to shore. The box swooped, +death striking at the merman who ran to shelter. A second followed +him, eluding the attack of the hound by a matter of inches. Now the +box buzzed angrily. + +Dalgard, catching their thoughts, hurried to aid them. They undid the +knots of the hammock about the helpless stranger, leaving about him +only the necessary bandage ties. Now they had a crude net, woven, as +Dalgard knew, of undersea fibers strong enough to hold captive +plunging monsters a dozen times the size of the box. If they could net +it! + +He had seen the exploits of the mermen hunters, knew their skill with +net and spear. But to scoop a flying thing out of the air was a new +problem. + +"Not so!" the thought cut across his. "They have used such as this to +hunt us before, long ago. We had believed they were all lost. It must +be caught and broken, or it will hunt and kill and hunt again, for it +does not tire nor can it be beaten from any trail it is set upon. +Now--" + +"I will do that, for you have the knowledge--" the scout cut in +quickly. After his other meeting with the hound he had no liking for +the task he had taken on, but there must be bait to draw the box +within striking distance. + +"Stand upright and move toward those rocks." The mermen changed +position, the net, now with stones in certain loops to weigh it, +caught in their three-fingered hands. + +Dalgard moved, fighting against hunching his shoulders, against +hurrying the pace. He saw the shadow of the flitting death, and flung +himself down beside the boulder the mermen had pointed out. Then he +rolled over, half surprised not to be struck. + +The hound was still in the air but over it now was draped the net, the +rocks in its fringes weighing it down in spite of its jerky attempts +to rise. In its struggles to be free, it might almost have led the +watcher to believe that it had intelligence of a sort. Now the mermen +were coming out of the stream, picking up rocks as they advanced. And +a hail of stones flew through the air, while others of the sea people +sprang to catch the dangling ends of the net and drag the captive to +earth. + +In the end they smashed it completely, burying the remains under a +pile of rocks. Then, retrieving their net, they once more fastened Raf +into it and turned downstream, as intent as ever upon reaching the +sea. Dalgard wondered whether Those Others would ever discover what +had become of their hound. Or had it in some way communicated with its +masters, so that now they were aware that it had been destroyed. But +he was sure they had nothing more to fear, that the way to the sea was +open. + +In mid-morning of the second day they came out upon shelving sand and +saw before them the waves which promised safety and escape to the +mermen. Dalgard sat down in the blue-gray sand beside Raf. The sea +people had assured him that the stranger was making a good recovery, +that within a matter of hours he could be freed from his cocoon of +healing. + +Dalgard squinted at the sun sparkling on the waves. Where now? To the +north where the space ship waited? If what he read in Raf's mind was +true the other wanted to leave Astra, to voyage back to that other +world which was only a legend to Dalgard, and a black, unhappy legend +at that. If the Elders were here, had a chance to contact these men +from Terra--Dalgard's eyes narrowed, would they choose to? Another +chain of thought had been slowly developing in his mind during these +past hours when he had been so closely companioned with the stranger. +And almost he had come to a decision which would have seemed very odd +even days before. + +No, there was no way of suddenly bringing the Elders here, of +transferring his burden of decision to them. Dalgard cupped his chin +in his hand and tried to imagine what it would be like to shut oneself +up in a small metal-walled spacer and set out blindly to leave one +world for another. His ancestors had done that, and they had traveled +in cold sleep, ignorant of whether they would ever reach their goal. +They had been very brave, or very desperate, men. + +But--Dalgard measured sand, sun, and sky, watching the mermen sporting +in the waves--but for him Astra was enough. He wanted nothing but this +land, this world. There was nothing which drew him back. He would try +to locate the spacer for the sake of the stranger; Astra owed Raf all +they could manage to give him. But the ship was as alien to Homeport +as it now existed as the city's globe might have been. + + + + +18 + +NOT YET-- + + +Raf lay on his back, cushioned in the sand, his face turned up to the +sky. Moisture smarted in his eyes, trickled down his cheeks as he +tried to will himself to _see_! The yellow haze which had been his day +had faded into grayness and now to the dark he feared so much that he +dared not even speak of it. Somewhere over him the stars were icy +points of light--but he could not see them. They were very far away, +but no farther than he was from safety, from comfort (now the spacer +seemed a haven of ease), from the expert treatment which might save, +save his sight! + +He supposed he should be thankful to that other one who was a slow +voice speaking out of the mist, a thought now and then when his inner +panic brought him almost to the breaking point. In some manner he had +been carried out of the reach of the aliens, treated for his searing +wounds, and now he was led along, fed, tended--Why didn't they go away +and leave him alone! He had no chance of reaching the spacer-- + +It was so easy to remember those mountains, the heights over which he +had lifted the flitter. There wasn't one chance in a million of his +winning over those and across the miles of empty plains beyond to +where the _RS 10_ stood waiting, ready to rise again. The crew must +believe him dead. His fists clenched upon sand, and it gritted between +his fingers, sifted away. Why wasn't he dead! Why had that barbarian +dragged him here, continued to coax him, put food into his hands, +those hands which were only vague shapes when he held them just before +his straining, aching eyes. + +"It is not as bad as you think," the words came again out of the fog, +spoken with a gentleness which rasped Raf's nerves. "Healing is not +done in a second, or even in a day. You cannot force the return of +strength--" + +A hand, warm, vibrant with life, pressed on his forehead--a human, +flesh-covered hand, not one of the cool, scaled paws of the furred +people. Though those hands, too, had been laid upon him enough during +the past few days, steadying him, leading him, guiding him to food and +water. Now, under that firm, knowing touch he felt some of the +ever-present fear subside, felt a relaxation. + +"My ship--They will take off without me!" He could not help but voice +that plaint, as he had so many times before during that foggy, +nightmare journey. + +"They have not done so yet." + +He struggled up, flung off that calming hand, turned angrily toward +where he thought the other was. "How can you be sure?" + +"Word has come. The ship is still there, though the small flyer has +returned to it." + +This assurance was something new. Raf's suspicions could not stand up +against the note of certainty in the other's voice. He got awkwardly +to his feet. If the ship was still here, then they must still think +him alive--They might come back! He had a chance--a real chance! + +"Then they are waiting for me--They'll come!" + +He could not see the soberness with which Dalgard listened to that. +The star ship had not lifted, that message had found its way south, +passed along by hopper and merman. But the scout doubted if the +explorers were waiting for the return of Raf. He believed that they +would not have left the city had they not thought the pilot already +dead. + +As to going north now--His picture of the land ahead had been built up +from reports gained from the sea people. It could be done, but with +Raf to be nursed and guided, lacking even the outrigger Dalgard had +used in home waters, it would take days--weeks, probably--to cover +the territory which lay between them and the plains where the star +ship had planeted. + +But he owed Raf a great deal, and it was summer, the season of warm +calms. So far he had not been able to work out any plan for a return +to his own land. It might be that they were both doomed to exile. But +it was not necessary to face that drear future yet, not until they had +expended every possible effort. So now he said willingly enough, "We +are going north." + +Raf sat down again in the sand. He wanted to run, to push on until his +feet were too tired to carry him any farther. But now he fought that +impulse, lay down once more. Though he doubted if he could sleep. + +Dalgard watched the stars, sketched out a map of action for the +morning. They must follow the shore line where they could keep in +touch with the mermen, though along this coast the sea people did not +come to land with the freedom their fellows showed on the eastern +continent--they had lived too long in fear of Those Others. + +But since the war party had reached the coast, there had been no sign +of any retaliation, and as several days passed, Dalgard had begun to +believe that they had little to fear. Perhaps the blow they had struck +at the heart of the citadel had been more drastic than they had hoped. +He had listened since that hour in the gorge for the shrilling of one +of the air hounds. And when it did not come the thought that maybe it +was the last of its kind had been heartening. + +At last the scout lay down beside the off-world man, listening to the +soft hiss of waves on sand, the distant cluttering of night insects. +And his last waking thought was a wish for his bow. + +There was another day of patient plodding; two, three. Raf, led by the +hand, helped over rocks and obstacles which were only dark blurs to +his watering eyes, raged inwardly and sometimes outwardly, against the +slowness of their advance, his own helplessness. His fear grew until +he refused to credit the fact that the blurs were sharpening in +outline, that he could now count five fingers on the hand he sometimes +waved despairingly before his face. + +When he spoke of the future, he never said "if we reach the ship" but +always "when," refusing to admit that perhaps they would not be in +time. And Dalgard by his anxiety, tried to get more news from the +north. + +"When we get there, will you come back to earth with us?" the pilot +asked suddenly on the fifth day. + +It was a question Dalgard had once asked himself. But now he knew the +answer; there was only one he dared give. + +"We are not ready--" + +"I don't understand what you mean." Raf was almost querulous. "It is +your home world. Pax is gone; the Federation would welcome you +eagerly. Just think what it would mean--a Terran colony among the +stars!" + +"A Terran colony." Dalgard put out a hand, steadied Raf over a stretch +of rough shingle. "Yes, once we were a Terran colony. But--can you now +truthfully swear that I am a Terran like yourself?" + +Raf faced the misty figure, trying to force his memory to put features +there, to sharpen outlines. The scout was of middle height, a little +shorter in stature than the crewmen with whom the pilot had lived so +long. His hair was fair, as was his skin under its sun tan. He was +unusually light on his feet and possessed a wiry strength Raf could +testify to. But there was that disconcerting habit of mind reading and +other elusive differences. + +Dalgard smiled, though the other could not see that. + +"You see," deliberately he used the mind touch as if to accent those +differences the more, "once our roots were the same, but now from +these roots different plants have grown. And we must be left to +ourselves a space before we mingle once more. My father's father's +father's father was a Terran, but I am--what? We have something that +you have not, just as you have developed during centuries of +separation qualities of mind and body we do not know. You live with +machines. And, since we could not keep machines in this world, having +no power to repair or rebuild, we have been forced to turn in other +directions. To go back to the old ways now would be throwing away +clues to mysteries we have not yet fully explored, turning aside from +discoveries ready to be made. To you I am a barbarian, hardly higher +in the scale of civilization than the mermen--" + +Raf flushed, would have given a quick and polite denial, had he not +known that his thoughts had been read. Dalgard laughed. His amusement +was not directed against the pilot, rather it invited him to share the +joke. And reluctantly, Raf's peeling lips relaxed in a smile. + +"But," he offered one argument the other had not cited, "what if you +do go down this other path of yours so far that we no longer have any +common meeting ground?" He had forgotten his own problem in the +other's. + +"I do not believe that will ever happen. Perhaps our bodies may +change; climate, food, ways of life can all influence the body. Our +minds may change; already my people with each new generation are +better equipped to use the mind touch, can communicate more clearly +with the animals and the mermen. But those who were in the beginning +born of Terra shall always have a common heritage. There are and will +be other lost colonies among the stars. We could not have been the +only outlaws who broke forth during the rule of Pax, and before the +blight of that dictatorship, there were at least two expeditions that +went forth on Galactic explorations. + +"A thousand years from now stranger will meet with stranger, but when +they make the sign of peace and sit down with one another, they shall +find that words come more easily, though one may seem outwardly +monstrous to the other. Only, _now_ we must go our own way. We are +youths setting forth on our journey of testing, while the Elders wish +us well but stand aside." + +"You don't want what we have to offer?" This was a new idea to Raf. + +"Did you truly want what the city people had to offer?" + +That caught the pilot up. He could remember with unusual distinctness +how he had disliked, somehow feared the things they had brought from +the city storehouse, how he had privately hoped that Hobart and Lablet +would be content to let well enough alone and not bring that knowledge +of an alien race back with them. If he had not secretly known that +aversion, he would not have been able to destroy the globe and the +treasures piled about it. + +"But"--his protest was hot, angry--"we are not _them_! We can do much +for you." + +"Can you?" The calm question sank into his mind as might a stone into +a troubled pool, and the ripples of its passing changed an idea or +two. "I wish that you might see Homeport. Perhaps then it would be +easier for you to understand. No, your knowledge is not corrupt, it +would not carry with it the same seeds of disaster as that of Those +Others. But it would be too easy for us to accept, to walk a softer +road, to forget what we have so far won. Just give us time--" + +Raf cupped his palms over his watering eyes. He wanted badly to see +clearly the other's face, to be able to read his expression. Yet it +seemed that somehow he _was_ able to see that sober face, as sincere +as the words in his mind. + +"You will come again," Dalgard said with certainty. "And we shall be +waiting because you, Raf Kurbi, made it possible." There was something +so solemn about that that Raf looked up in surprise. + +"When you destroyed the core of Those Other's holding, you gave us our +chance. For had you not done that we, the mermen, the other harmless, +happy creatures of this world, would have been wiped out. There would +be no new beginning here, only a dark and horrible end." + +Raf blinked; to his surprise that other figure standing in the direct +sunlight did not waver, and beyond the proudly held head was a stretch +of turquoise sky. He could see the color! + +"Yes, you shall see with your eyes--and with your mind," now Dalgard +spoke aloud. "And if the Spirit which rules all space is kind, you +shall return to your own people. For you have served His cause well." + +Then, as if he were embarrassed by his own solemnity, Dalgard ended +with a most prosaic inquiry: "Would you like shellfish for eating?" + +Moments later, wading out into the water-swirled sand, his boots +kicked off, his toes feeling for the elusive shelled creatures no one +could see, Raf felt happier, freer than he could ever remember having +been before. It was going to be all right. He could _see_! He would +find the ship! He laughed aloud at nothing and heard an answering +chuckle and then a whoop of triumph from the scout stooping to claw +one of their prey out of hiding. + +It was after they had eaten that Dalgard asked another question, one +which did not seem important to Raf. "You have a close friend among +the crew of your ship?" + +Raf hesitated. Now that he was obliged to consider the point, did he +have any friends--let alone a close one--among the crew of the _RS +10_? Certainly he did not claim Wonstead who had shared his +quarters--he honestly did not care if he never saw him again. The +officers, the experts such as Lablet--quickly face and character of +each swept through his mind and was as swiftly discarded. There was +Soriki--He could not claim the com-tech as any special friend, but at +least during their period together among the aliens he had come to +know him better. + +Now, as if Dalgard had read his mind--and he probably had, thought +Raf with a flash of the old resentment--he had another question. + +"And what was he--is he like?" + +Though the pilot could see little reason for this he answered as best +he could, trying to build first a physical picture of the com-tech and +then doing a little guessing as to what lay under the other's +space-burned skin. + +Dalgard lay on his back, gazing up into the blue-green sky. Yet Raf +knew that he was intent on every word. A merman padded up, settled +down cross-legged beside the scout, as if he too were enthralled by +the pilot's halting description of a man he might never see again. +Then a second of the sea people came and a third, until Raf felt that +some sort of a noiseless council was in progress. His words trailed +away, and then Dalgard offered an explanation. + +"It will take us many, many days to reach the place where your ship +is. And before we are able to complete that journey your friends may +be gone. So we shall try something else--with your aid." + +Raf fingered the little bundle of his possessions. Even his helmet +with its com phone was missing. + +"No," again Dalgard read his mind. "Your machines are of no use to you +now. We shall try _our_ way." + +"How?" Wild thoughts of a big signal fire--But how could that be +sighted across a mountain range. Of some sort of an improvised com +unit-- + +"I said _our_ way." There was a smile on Dalgard's face, visible to +Raf's slowly clearing vision. "We shall provide another kind of +machine, and these"--he waved at the mermen--"will give us the power, +or so we hope. Lie here," he gestured to the sand beside him, "and +think only of your friend in the ship, in his natural surroundings. +Try to hold that picture constant in your mind, letting no other +thought trouble it." + +"Do you mean--send a message to him mentally!" Raf's reply was half +protest. + +"Did I not so reach you when we were in the city--even before I knew +of you as an individual?" the scout reminded him. "And such messages +are doubly possible when they are sent from friend to friend." + +"But we were close then." + +"That is why--" again Dalgard indicated the mermen. "For them this is +the natural means of communication. They will pick up your reaching +thought, amplify it with their power, beam it north. Since your friend +deals with matters of communication, let us hope that he will be +sensitive to this method." + +Raf was only half convinced that it might work But he remembered how +Dalgard had established contact with him, before, as the scout had +pointed out, they had met. It was that voiceless cry for aid which had +pulled him into this adventure in the first place. It was only fitting +that something of the same process give _him_ help in return. + +Obediently he stretched out on the sand and closed his dim eyes, +trying to picture Soriki in the small cabin which held the com, +slouched in his bucket seat, his deceptive posture that of a lax +idler, as he had seen him so many times. Soriki--his broad face with +its flat cheekbones, its wide cheerful mouth, its heavy-lidded eyes. +And having fixed Soriki's face, he tried to believe that he was now +confronting the com-tech, speaking directly to him. + +"Come--come and get me--south--seashore--Soriki come and get me!" The +words formed a kind of chant, a chant aimed at that familiar face in +its familiar surroundings. "South--come and get me--" Raf struggled to +think only of that, to allow nothing to break through that chant or +disturb his picture of the scene he had called from memory. + +How long that attempt at communication lasted the pilot could not +tell, for somehow he slipped from the deep concentration into sleep, +dreamless and untroubled, from which he awoke with the befogged +feeling that something important had happened. But had he gotten +through? + +The ring of mermen was gone, and it was dawn, gray, chill with the +forewarnings of rain in the air. He was reassured because he was +certain that in spite of the gloom his sight was a fraction clearer +than it had been the day before. But had they gotten through? As he +arose, brushing the sand from him, he saw the scout splashing out of +the sea, a fish impaled on his spear. + +"Did we get through?" Raf blurted out. + +"Since your friend cannot reply with the mind touch, we do not know. +But later we shall try again." To Raf's peering gaze Dalgard's face +had a drawn, gaunt look as if he had been at hard labor during the +hours just past. He walked up the beach slowly, without the springing +step Raf had come to associate with him. As he settled down to gut the +fish with one of the bone knives, the scout repeated, "We can try +again--!" + +Half an hour later, as the rain swept in from the sea, Raf knew that +they would not have to try. His head went up, his face eager. He had +known that sound too long and too well ever to mistake it--the drone +of a flitter motor cutting through the swish of the falling water. +Some trick of the cliffs behind them must be magnifying and projecting +the sound, for he could not sight the machine. But it was coming. He +whirled to Dalgard, only to see that the other was on his feet and had +taken up his spear. + +"It is the flitter! Soriki heard--they're coming!" Raf hastened to +assure him. + +For the last time he saw Dalgard's slow, warm smile, clearer than he +had ever seen it before. Then the scout turned and trotted away, +toward a fringing rock wall. Before he dropped out of sight behind +that barrier he raised the spear in salute. + +"Swift and fortunate voyaging!" He gave the farewell of Homeport. + +Then Raf understood. The colonist meant just what he had said: he +wanted no contact with the space ship. To Raf he had owed a debt and +now that was paid. But the time was not yet when the men of Astra and +the men of Terra should meet. A hundred years from now perhaps--or a +thousand--but not yet. And remembering what had summoned the flitter +winging toward him, Raf drew a deep breath. What would the men of +Astra accomplish in a hundred years? What could those of Terra do to +match them in knowledge? It was a challenge, and he alone knew just +how much of a challenge. Homeport must remain his own secret. He had +been guided to this place, saved by the mermen alone. Dalgard and his +people must not exist as far as the crew of the _RS 10_ were +concerned. + +For the last time he experienced the intimacy of the mind touch. "That +is it--brother!" Then the sensation was gone as the black blot of the +flitter buzzed out of the clouds. + +From behind the rocks Dalgard watched the pilot enter the strange +machine. For a single moment he had an impulse to shout, to run +forward, to surrender to his desire to see the others, the ship which +had brought them through space and would, they confidently believed, +take them back to the Terra he knew only as a legend of the past. But +he mastered that desire. He had been right. The road had already +forked and there was no going back. He must carry this secret all the +rest of his life--he must be strong-willed enough so that Homeport +would never know. Time--give them time to be what they could be. Then +in a hundred years--or a thousand--But not yet! + + * * * * * + + +"Nobody today is telling better stories of straight-forward interstellar +adventure." + + --_New York Herald-Tribune_ + + When Raf Kurbi's Terran spaceship burst into unexplored skies + of the far planet Astra and was immediately made welcome by + the natives of a once-mighty metropolis, Kurbi was unaware of + three vital things: + + One was that Astra already harbored an Earth + colony--descended from refugees from the world of the + previous century. + + Two was that these men and women were facing the greatest + danger of their existence from a new outburst of the inhuman + fiends who had once tyrannized Astra. + + Three was that the natives who were buying Kurbi's science + know-how were those very fiends--and their intentions were + implacably deadly for all humans, whether Earth born or STAR + BORN. + + _It's an Andre Norton space adventure--and therefore the tops + in its field!_ + + * * * * * + + +Quotes from the reviews: + +"All science-fiction fans will thrill to these new adventures created by +Andre Norton.... All who enjoy a good adventure about the unknown parts +of our galaxy will find this an enchanting story." + + --_Jackson _(_Tenn._) _Sun_ + +"Superb science-fiction." + + --_Montgomery Advertiser_ + +"Andre Norton adds another star to her literary laurels." + + --_Cleveland Press_ + +"A good, clearly thought-out story." + + --_New York Times_ + +"Exciting and adventure-laden." + + --_Library Journal_ + +"Suspense and excitement.... A storyteller of the first class, this is +one of her best." + + --_Fantasy & Science Fiction_ + + * * * * * + + +NOW AVAILABLE AGAIN! + +PERRY RHODAN + +95¢ each + +#1 Enterprise Stardust Scheer & Ernsting +#2 The Radiant Dome Scheer & Ernsting +#3 Galactic Alarm Mahr & Shols +#4 Invasion from Space Ernsting & Mahr +#5 The Vega Sector Scheer & Mahr +#6 Secret of the Time Vault Darlton +#7 Fortress of the Six Moons Scheer +#8 The Galactic Riddle Darlton +#9 Quest through Space and Time Darlton +#10 The Ghosts of Gol Mahr +#11 Planet of the Dying Sun Mahr +#12 Rebels of Tuglan Darlton +#13 The Immortal Unknown Darlton +#14 Venus in Danger Mahr +#15 Escape To Venus Mahr +#16 Secret Barrier X Shols +#17 The Venus Trap Mahr +#18 Menace of the Mutant Master Darlton +#19 Mutants vs. Mutants Darlton +#20 The Thrall of Hypno Darlton + +_Available wherever paperbacks an sold or use this coupon._ + + * * * * * + +ace books, (Dept. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Star Born + +Author: Andre Norton + +Release Date: May 27, 2006 [EBook #18458] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STAR BORN *** + + + + +Produced by Jason Isbell, Greg Weeks, Sankar Viswanathan, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + +<p class="tr">Transcriber's note: <br /> + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the copyright +on this publication was renewed.</p> + +<p class="center"><img src="images/image_03.jpg" alt="Cover" width="650" height="508" /></p> +<p> </p> +<h2>ANDRE + NORTON</h2> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h1>STAR BORN</h1> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><img src="images/image_01.jpg" alt="Seal" width="75" height="68" /></p> +<h3>ace books</h3> +<h3>A Division of Charter Communications Inc.</h3> +<h4>1120 Avenue of the Americas</h4> +<h3>New York, N.Y. 10036</h3> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"What of our children—the second and third generations born +on this new world? They will have no memories of Terra's +green hills and blue seas. Will they be Terrans—or +something else?"</p></div> + +<p class="sig">—<span class="smcap">Tas Kordov</span>, <i>Record of the First Years</i></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>1</h2> + +<h3>SHOOTING STAR</h3> +<p>The travelers had sighted the cove from the sea—a narrow bite into +the land, the first break in the cliff wall which protected the +interior of this continent from the pounding of the ocean. And, +although it was still but midafternoon, Dalgard pointed the outrigger +into the promised shelter, the dip of his steering paddle swinging in +harmony with that wielded by Sssuri in the bow of their narrow, +wave-riding craft.</p> + +<p>The two voyagers were neither of the same race nor of the same +species, yet they worked together without words, as if they had +established some bond which gave them a rapport transcending the need +for speech.</p> + +<p>Dalgard Nordis was a son of the Colony; his kind had not originated on +this planet. He was not as tall nor as heavily built as those Terran +outlaw ancestors who had fled political enemies across the Galaxy to +establish a foothold on Astra, and there were other subtle differences +between his generation and the parent stock.</p> + +<p>Thin and wiry, his skin was brown from the gentle toasting of the +summer sun, making the fairness of his closely cropped hair even more +noticeable. At his side was his long bow, carefully wrapped in +water-resistant flying-dragon skin, and from the belt which supported +his short breeches of tanned duocorn hide swung a two-foot blade—half +wood-knife, half sword. To the eyes of his Terran forefathers he would +have presented a barbaric picture. In his own mind he was amply clad +and armed for the man-journey which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> was both his duty and his +heritage to make before he took his place as a full adult in the +Council of Free Men.</p> + +<p>In contrast to Dalgard's smooth skin, Sssuri was covered with a fluffy +pelt of rainbow-tipped gray fur. In place of the human's steel blade, +he wore one of bone, barbed and ugly, as menacing as the spear now +resting in the bottom of the outrigger. And his round eyes watched the +sea with the familiarity of one whose natural home was beneath those +same waters.</p> + +<p>The mouth of the cove was narrow, but after they negotiated it they +found themselves in a pocket of bay, sheltered and calm, into which +trickled a lazy stream. The gray-blue of the seashore sand was only a +fringe beyond which was turf and green stuff. Sssuri's nostril flaps +expanded as he tested the warm breeze, and Dalgard was busy +cataloguing scents as they dragged their craft ashore. They could not +have found a more perfect place for a camp site.</p> + +<p>Once the canoe was safely beached, Sssuri picked up his spear and, +without a word or backward glance, waded out into the sea, +disappearing into the depths, while his companion set about his share +of camp tasks. It was still early in the summer—too early to expect +to find ripe fruit. But Dalgard rummaged in his voyager's bag and +brought out a half-dozen crystal beads. He laid these out on a +flat-topped stone by the stream, seating himself cross-legged beside +it.</p> + +<p>To the onlooker it would appear that the traveler was meditating. A +wide-winged living splotch of color fanned by overhead; there was a +distant yap of sound. Dalgard neither looked nor listened. But perhaps +a minute later what he awaited arrived. A hopper, its red-brown fur +sleek and gleaming in the sun, its eternal curiosity drawing it, +peered cautiously from the bushes. Dalgard made mind touch. The +hoppers did not really think—at least not on the levels where +communication was possible for the colonists—but sen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>sations of +friendship and good will could be broadcast, primitive ideas +exchanged.</p> + +<p>The small animal, its humanlike front pawhands dangling over its +creamy vest, came out fully into the open, black eyes flicking from +the motionless Dalgard to the bright beads on the rock. But when one +of those paws shot out to snatch the treasure, the traveler's hand was +already cupped protectingly over the hoard. Dalgard formed a mental +picture and beamed it at the twenty-inch creature before him. The +hopper's ears twitched nervously, its blunt nose wrinkled, and then it +bounded back into the brush, a weaving line of moving grass marking +its retreat.</p> + +<p>Dalgard withdrew his hand from the beads. Through the years the Astran +colonists had come to recognize the virtues of patience. Perhaps the +mutation had begun before they left their native world. Or perhaps the +change in temperament and nature had occurred in the minds and bodies +of that determined handful of refugees as they rested in the frozen +cold sleep while their ship bore them through the wide, uncharted +reaches of deep space for centuries of Terran time. How long that +sleep had lasted the survivors had never known. But those who had +awakened on Astra were different.</p> + +<p>And their sons and daughters, and the sons and daughters of two more +generations were warmed by a new sun, nourished by food grown in alien +soil, taught the mind contact by the amphibian mermen with whom the +space voyagers had made an early friendship—each succeeding child +more attuned to the new home, less tied to the far-off world he had +never seen or would see. The colonists were not of the same breed as +their fathers, their grandfathers, or great-grandfathers. So, with +other gifts, they had also a vast, time-consuming patience, which +could be a weapon or a tool, as they pleased—not forgetting the +instantaneous call to action which was their older heritage.</p> + +<p>The hopper returned. On the rock beside the shin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>ing things it +coveted, it dropped dried and shriveled fruit. Dalgard's fingers +separated two of the gleaming marbles, rolled them toward the animal, +who scooped them up with a chirp of delight. But it did not leave. +Instead it peered intently at the rest of the beads. Hoppers had their +own form of intelligence, though it might not compare with that of +humans. And this one was enterprising. In the end it delivered three +more loads of fruit from its burrow and took away all the beads, both +parties well pleased with their bargains.</p> + +<p>Sssuri splashed out of the sea with as little ado as he had entered. +On the end of his spear twisted a fish. His fur, slicked flat to his +strongly muscled body, began to dry in the air and fluff out while the +sun awoke prismatic lights on the scales which covered his hands and +feet. He dispatched the fish and cleaned it neatly, tossing the offal +back into the water, where some shadowy things arose to tear at the +unusual bounty.</p> + +<p>"This is not hunting ground." His message formed in Dalgard's mind. +"That finned one had no fear of me."</p> + +<p>"We were right then in heading north; this is new land." Dalgard got +to his feet.</p> + +<p>On either side, the cliffs, with their alternate bands of red, blue, +yellow, and white strata, walled in this pocket. They would make far +better time keeping to the sea lanes, where it was not necessary to +climb. And it was Dalgard's cherished plan to add more than just an +inch or two to the explorers' map in the Council Hall.</p> + +<p>Each of the colony males was expected to make his man-journey of +discovery sometimes between his eighteenth and twentieth year. He went +alone or, if he formed an attachment with one of the mermen near his +own age, accompanied only by his knife brother. And from knowledge so +gained the still-small group<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> of exiles added to and expanded their +information about their new home.</p> + +<p>Caution was drilled into them. For they were not the first masters of +Astra, nor were they the masters now. There were the ruins left by +Those Others, the race who had populated this planet until their own +wars had completed their downfall. And the mermen, with their +traditions of slavery and dark beginnings in the experimental pens of +the older race, continued to insist that across the sea—on the +unknown western continent—Those Others still held onto the remnants +of a degenerate civilization. Thus the explorers from Homeport went +out by ones and twos and used the fauna of the land as a means of +gathering information.</p> + +<p>Hoppers could remember yesterday only dimly, and instinct took care of +tomorrow. But what happened today sped from hopper to hopper and could +warn by mind touch both merman and human. If one of the dread +snake-devils of the interior was on the hunting trail, the hoppers +sped the warning. Their vast curiosity brought them to the fringe of +any disturbance, and they passed the reason for it along. Dalgard knew +there were a thousand eyes at his service whenever he wanted them. +There was little chance of being taken by surprise, no matter how +dangerous this journey north might be.</p> + +<p>"The city—" He formed the words in his mind even as he spoke them +aloud. "How far are we from it?"</p> + +<p>The merman hunched his slim shoulders in the shrug of his race. "Three +days' travel, maybe five. And it"—though his furred face displayed no +readable emotion, the sensation of distaste was plain—"was one of the +accursed ones. To such we have not returned since the days of falling +fire—"</p> + +<p>Dalgard was well acquainted with the ruins which lay not many miles +from Homeport. And he knew that that sprawling, devastated metropolis +was not taboo to the merman. But this other mysterious settlement he +had recently heard of was still shunned by the sea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> people. Only +Sssuri and a few others of youthful years would consider a journey to +explore the long-forbidden section their traditions labeled as +dangerous land.</p> + +<p>The belief that he was about to venture into questionable territory +had made Dalgard evasive when he reported his plans to the Elders +three days earlier. But since such trips were, by tradition, always +thrusts into the unknown, they had not questioned him too much. All in +all, Dalgard thought, watching Sssuri flake the firm pink flesh from +the fish, he might deem himself lucky and this quest ordained. He went +off to hack out armloads of grass and fashion the sleep mats for the +sun-warmed ground.</p> + +<p>They had eaten and were lounging in content on the soft sand just +beyond the curl of the waves when Sssuri lifted his head from his +folded arms as if he listened. Like all those of his species, his +vestigial ears were hidden deep in his fur and no longer served any +real purpose; the mind touch served him in their stead. Dalgard caught +his thought, though what had aroused his companion was too rare a +thread to trouble his less acute senses.</p> + +<p>"Runners in the dark—"</p> + +<p>Dalgard frowned. "It is still sun time. What disturbs them?"</p> + +<p>To the eye Sssuri was still listening to that which his friend could +not hear.</p> + +<p>"They come from afar. They are on the move to find new hunting +grounds."</p> + +<p>Dalgard sat up. To each and every scout from Homeport the unusual was +a warning, a signal to alert mind and body. The runners in the +night—that furred monkey race of hunters who combed the moonless dark +of Astra when most of the higher fauna were asleep—were very +distantly related to Sssuri's species, though the gap between them was +that between highly civilized man and the jungle ape. The runners were +harmless and shy, but they were noted also for clinging stubbornly to +one particular district genera<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>tion after generation. To find such a +clan on the move into new territory was to be fronted with a puzzle it +might be well to investigate.</p> + +<p>"A snake-devil—" he suggested tentatively, forming a mind picture of +the vicious reptilian danger which the colonists tried to kill on +sight whenever and wherever encountered. His hand went to the knife at +his belt. One met with weapons only that hissing hatred motivated by a +brainless ferocity which did not know fear.</p> + +<p>But Sssuri did not accept that explanation. He was sitting up, facing +inland where the thread of valley met the cliff wall. And seeing his +absorption, Dalgard asked no distracting questions.</p> + +<p>"No, no snake-devil—" after long moments came the answer. He got to +his feet, shuffling through the sand in the curious little half dance +which betrayed his agitation more strongly than his thoughts had done.</p> + +<p>"The hoppers have no news," Dalgard said.</p> + +<p>Sssuri gestured impatiently with one outflung hand. "Do the hoppers +wander far from their own nest mounds? Somewhere there—" he pointed +to the left and north, "there is trouble, bad trouble. Tonight we +shall speak with the runners and discover what it may be."</p> + +<p>Dalgard glanced about the camp with regret. But he made no protest as +he reached for his bow and stripped off its protective casing. With +the quiver of heavy-duty arrows slung across his shoulder he was ready +to go, following Sssuri inland.</p> + +<p>The easy valley path ended less than a quarter of a mile from the sea, +and they were fronted by a wall of rock with no other option than to +climb. But the westering sun made plain every possible hand and foot +hold on its surface.</p> + +<p>When they stood at last on the heights and looked ahead, it was across +a broken stretch of bare rock with the green of vegetation beckoning +from at least a mile beyond. Sssuri hesitated for only a moment or +two,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> his round, almost featureless head turning slowly, until he +fixed on a northeasterly course—striking out unerringly as if he +could already sight the goal. Dalgard fell in behind, looking over the +country with a wary eye. This was just the type of land to harbor +flying dragons. And while those pests were small, their +lightning-swift attack from above made them foes not to be +disregarded. But all the flying things he saw were two moth birds of +delicate hues engaging far over the sun-baked rock in one of their +graceful winged dances.</p> + +<p>They crossed the heights and came to the inland slope, a drop toward +the central interior plains of the continent. As they plowed through +the high grasses Dalgard knew they were under observation. Hoppers +watched them. And once through a break in a line of trees he saw a +small herd of duocorns race into the shelter of a wood. The presence +of those two-horned creatures, so like the pictures he had seen of +Terran horses, was insurance that the snake-devils did not hunt in +this district, for the swift-footed duocorns were never found within a +day's journey of their archenemies.</p> + +<p>Late afternoon faded into the long summer twilight and still Sssuri +kept on. As yet they had come across no traces of Those Others. Here +were none of the domed farm buildings, the monorail tracks, the other +relics one could find about Homeport. This wide-open land could have +been always a wilderness, left to the animals of Astra for their own. +Dalgard speculated upon that, his busy imagination supplying various +reasons for such tract. Then the voiceless communication of his +companion provided an explanation.</p> + +<p>"This was barrier land."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>Sssuri turned his head. His round eyes which blinked so seldom stared +into Dalgard's as if by the intensity of that gaze he could drive home +deeper his point.</p> + +<p>"What lies to the north was protected in the days before the falling +fire. Even <i>Those</i>"—the distorted mer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>men symbol for Those Others was +sharpened by the very hatred of all Sssuri's kind, which had not paled +during the generations since their escape from slavery to Astra's +one-time masters—"could not venture into some of their own private +places without special leave. It is perhaps true that the city we are +seeking is one of those restricted ones and that this wilderness is a +boundary for it."</p> + +<p>Dalgard's pace slowed. To venture into a section of land which had +been used as a barrier to protect some secret of Those Others was a +highly risky affair. The first expedition sent out from Homeport after +the landing of the Terran refugee ship had been shot down by +robot-controlled guns still set against some long-dead invader. Would +this territory be so guarded? If so they had better go carefully now—</p> + +<p>Sssuri suddenly struck off at an angle, heading not northeast now, but +directly north. The brush lands along the foot of the cliffs gave way +to open fields, bare except for the grass rippled by the wind. It was +not the type of country to attract the night runners, and Dalgard +wondered a little. They should discover water, preferably a shallow +stream, if they wanted to find what the monkey creatures liked best.</p> + +<p>Within a quarter-hour he knew that Sssuri was not going wrong. Cradled +in a sudden dip in the land was the stream Dalgard had been looking +for. A hopper lifted a dripping muzzle from the shore ripples and +stared at them. Dalgard contacted the animal. It was its usual curious +self, nothing had alarmed or excited its interest. And he did not try +to establish more than a casual contact as they made their way down +the bank to the edge of the stream, Sssuri splashing in ankle-deep for +the sheer pleasure of feeling liquid curl about his feet and legs once +more.</p> + +<p>Water dwellers fled from their passing and insects buzzed and hovered. +Otherwise they moved through a deserted world. The stream bed widened +and small islands of gravel, swept together in untidy piles by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> the +spring floods, arose dry topped, some already showing the green of +venturesome plants.</p> + +<p>"Here—" Sssuri stopped, thrusting the butt of his spear into the +shore of one such islet. He dropped cross-legged on his choice, there +to remain patiently until those he sought would come with the dark. +Dalgard withdrew a little way downstream and took up a similar post. +The runners were shy, not easy to approach. And they would come more +readily if Sssuri were alone.</p> + +<p>Here the murmur of the stream was loud, rising above the rustle of the +wind-driven grass. And the night was coming fast as the sun, hidden by +the cliff wall, sank into the sea. Dalgard, knowing that his night +sight was far inferior to that of the native Astran fauna, resignedly +settled himself for an all-night stay, not without a second regretful +memory of the snug camp by the shore.</p> + +<p>Twilight and then night. How long before the runners would make their +appearance? He could pick up the sparks of thought which marked the +coming and going of hoppers, most hurrying off to their mud-plastered +nests, and sometimes a flicker from the mind of some other night +creature. Once he was sure he touched the avid, raging hunger which +marked a flying dragon, though they were not naturally hunters by +darkness.</p> + +<p>Dalgard made no move to contact Sssuri. The merman must be left +undisturbed in his mental quest for the runners.</p> + +<p>The scout lay back on his miniature island and stared up into the sky, +trying to sort out all the myriad impressions of life about him. It +was then that he saw it....</p> + +<p>An arrow of fire streaking across the black bowl of Astra's night sky. +A light so vivid, so alien, that it brought him to his feet with a +chill prickle of apprehension along his spine. In all his years as a +scout and woodsman, in all the stories of his fellows and his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> elders +at Homeport—he had never seen, never heard of the like of that!</p> + +<p>And through his own wonder and alert alarm, he caught Sssuri's added +puzzlement.</p> + +<p>"Danger—" The merman's verdict fed his own unease.</p> + +<p>Danger had crossed the night, from east to west. And to the west lay +what they had always feared. What was going to happen now?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>2</h2> + +<h3>PLANETFALL</h3> +<p>Raf Kurbi, flitter pilot and techneer, lay on the padded shock cushion +of his assigned bunk and stared with wide, disillusioned eyes at the +stretch of stark, gray metal directly overhead. He tried to close his +ears to the mutter of meaningless words coming from across the narrow +cabin. Raf had known from the moment his name had been drawn as crew +member that the whole trip would be a gamble, a wild gamble with the +odds all against them. <i>RS 10</i>—those very numbers on the nose of the +ship told part of the story. Ten exploring fingers thrust in turn out +into the blackness of space. <i>RS 3</i>'s fate was known—she had +blossomed into a pinpoint of flame within the orbit of Mars. And <i>RS +7</i> had clearly gone out of control while instruments on Terra could +still pick up her broadcasts. Of the rest—well, none had returned.</p> + +<p>But the ships were built, manned by lot from the trainees, and sent +out, one every five years, with all that had been learned from the +previous job, each refinement the engineers could discover +incorporated into the latest to rise from the launching cradle.</p> + +<p><i>RS 10</i>—Raf closed his eyes with weary distaste. After months of +being trapped inside her ever-vibrating shell, he felt that he knew +each and every rivet, seam,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> and plate in her only too well. And there +was no reason yet to believe that the voyage would ever end. They +would just go on and on through empty space until dead men manned a +drifting hulk—</p> + +<p>There—to picture that was a danger signal. Whenever his thoughts +reached that particular point, Raf tried to think of something else, +to break the chain of dismal foreboding. How? By joining in Wonstead's +monologue of complaint and regret? Raf had heard the same words over +and over so often that they no longer had any meaning—except as a +series of sounds he might miss if the man who shared this pocket were +suddenly stricken dumb.</p> + +<p>"Should never have put in for training—" Wonstead's whine went up the +scale.</p> + +<p>That was unoriginal enough. They had all had that idea the minute +after the sorter had plucked their names for crew inclusion. No matter +what motive had led them into the stiff course of training—the +fabulous pay, a real interest in the project, the exploring fever—Raf +did not believe that there was a single man whose heart had not sunk +when he had been selected for flight. Even he, who had dreamed all his +life of the stars and the wonders which might lie just beyond the big +jump, had been honestly sick on the day he had shouldered his bag +aboard and had first taken his place on this mat and waited, dry +mouthed and shivering, for blast-off.</p> + +<p>One lost all sense of time out here. They ate sparingly, slept when +they could, tried to while away the endless hours artificially divided +into set periods. But still weeks might be months, or months weeks. +They could have been years in space—or only days. All they knew was +the unending monotony which dragged upon a man until he either lapsed +into a dreamy rejection of his surroundings, as had Hamp and Floy, or +flew into murderous rages, such as kept Morris in solitary confinement +at present. And no foreseeable end to the flight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>Raf breathed shallowly. The air was stale, he could almost taste it. +It was difficult now to remember being in the open air under a sky, +with fresh winds blowing about one. He tried to picture on that dull +strip of metal overhead a stretch of green grass, a tree, even the +blue sky and floating white clouds. But the patch remained stubbornly +gray, the murmur of Wonstead went on and on, a drone in his aching +ears, the throb of the ship's life beat through his own thin body.</p> + +<p>What had it been like on those legendary early flights, when the +secret of the overdrive had not yet been discovered, when any who +dared the path between star and star had surrendered to sleep, perhaps +to wake again generations later, perhaps never to rouse again? He had +seen the few documents discovered four or five hundred years ago in +the raided headquarters of the scientific outlaws who had fled the +regimented world government of Pax and dared space on the single hope +of surviving such a journey in cold sleep, the secret of which had +been lost. At least, Raf thought, they had escaped the actual +discomfort of the voyage.</p> + +<p>Had they found their new world or worlds? The end of their ventures +had been debated thousands of times since those documents had been +made public, after the downfall of Pax and the coming into power of +the Federation of Free Men.</p> + +<p>In fact it was the publication of the papers which had given the +additional spur to the building of the <i>RS</i> armada. What man had dared +once he could dare anew. And the pursuit of knowledge which had been +so long forbidden under Pax was heady excitement for the world. +Research and discovery became feverish avenues of endeavor. Even the +slim hope of a successful star voyage and the return to Terra with +such rich spoils of information was enough to harness three quarters +of the planet's energy for close to a hundred years.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> And if the <i>RS +10</i> was not successful, there would be <i>11</i>, <i>12</i>, more—flaming into +the sky and out into the void, unless some newer and more intriguing +experiment developed to center public imagination in another +direction.</p> + +<p>Raf's eyes closed wearily. Soon the gong would sound and this period +of rest would be officially ended. But it was hardly worth rising. He +was not in the least hungry for the concentrated food. He could repeat +the information tapes they carried dull word for dull word.</p> + +<p>"Nothing to see—nothing but these blasted walls!" Again Wonstead's +voice arose in querulous protest.</p> + +<p>Yes, while in overdrive there was nothing to see. The ports of the +ship would be sealed until they were in normal space once more. That +is, if it worked and they were not caught up forever within this thick +trap where there was no time, light, or distance.</p> + +<p>The gong sounded, but Raf made no move to rise. He heard Wonstead +move, saw from the corner of his eye the other's bulk heave up +obediently from the pad.</p> + +<p>"Hey—mess gong!" He pointed out the obvious to Raf.</p> + +<p>With a sigh the other levered himself up on his elbows. If he did not +move, Wonstead was capable of reporting him to the captain for strange +behavior, and they were all too alert to a divagation which might mean +trouble. He had no desire to end in confinement with Morris.</p> + +<p>"I'm coming," Raf said sullenly. But he remained sitting on the edge +of the pad until Wonstead left the cabin, and he followed as slowly as +he could.</p> + +<p>So he was not with the others when a new sound tore through the +constant vibrating hum which filled the narrow corridors of the ship. +Raf stiffened, the icy touch of fear tensing his muscles. Was that the +red alarm of disaster?</p> + +<p>His eyes went to the light at the end of the short<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> passage. But no +blink of warning red shown there. Not danger—then what—?</p> + +<p>It took him a full moment to realize what he had heard, not the signal +of doom, but the sound which was to herald the accomplishment of their +mission—the sound which unconsciously they had all given up any hope +of ever hearing. They had made it!</p> + +<p>The pilot leaned weakly against the wall, and his eyes smarted, his +hands were trembling. In that moment he knew that he had never really, +honestly, believed that they would succeed. But they had! <i>RS 10</i> had +reached the stars!</p> + +<p>"Strap down for turnout—strap down for turnout—!" The disembodied +voice screaming through the ship's speecher was that of Captain +Hobart, but it was almost unrecognizable with emotion. Raf turned and +stumbled back to his cabin, staggered to throw himself once more on +his pad as he fumbled with the straps he must buckle over him.</p> + +<p>He heard rather than saw Wonstead blunder in to follow his example, +and for the first time in months the other was dumb, not uttering a +word as he stowed away for the breakthrough which should take them +back into normal space and the star worlds. Raf tore a nail on a +fastening, muttered.</p> + +<p>"Condition red—condition red—Strap down for breakthrough—" Hobart +chanted at them from the walls. "One, two, three"—the count swung on +numeral by numeral; then—"ten—Stand by—"</p> + +<p>Raf had forgotten what breakthrough was like. He had gone through it +the first time when still under take-off sedation. But this was worse +than he remembered, so much worse. He tried to scream out his protest +against the torture which twisted mind and body, but he could not +utter even a weak cry. This, this was unbearable—a man could go mad +or die—die—die....</p> + +<p>He aroused with the flat sweetness of blood on his tongue, a splitting +pain behind the eyes he tried to focus on the too familiar scrap of +wall. A voice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> boomed, receded, and boomed again, filling the air and +at last making sense, in it a ring of wild triumph!</p> + +<p>"Made it! This is it, men, we've made it; Sol-class sun—three +planets. We'll set an orbit in—"</p> + +<p>Raf licked his lips. It was still too much to swallow in one mental +gulp. So, they had made it—half of their venture was accomplished. +They had broken out of their own solar system, made the big jump, and +before them lay the unknown. Now it was within their reach.</p> + +<p>"D'you hear that, kid?" demanded Wonstead, his voice no longer an +accusing whine, more steady than Raf ever remembered hearing it. "We +got through! We'll hit dirt again! Dirt—" his words trailed away as +if he were sinking into some blissful daydream.</p> + +<p>There was a different feeling to the ship herself. The steady drone +which had ached in their ears, their bones, as she bored her way +through the alien hyper-space had changed to a purr as if she, too, +were rejoicing at the success of their desperate try. For the first +time in weary weeks Raf remembered his own duties which would begin +when the <i>RS 10</i> came in to a flame-cushioned landing on a new world. +He was to assemble and ready the small exploration flyer, to man its +controls and take it up and out. Frowning, he began to run over in his +mind each step in the preparations he must make as soon as they +planeted.</p> + +<p>Information came down from control, where now the ports were open on +normal space and the engines were under control of the spacer's pilot. +Their goal was to be the third planet, one which showed signs of +atmosphere, of water and earth ready and waiting.</p> + +<p>Those who were not on flight duty crowded into the tiny central cabin, +where they elbowed each other before the viewer. The ball of alien +earth grew from a pinpoint to the size of an orange. They forgot time +in the wonder which none had ever thought in his heart he would see on +the screen. Raf knew that in control every second of this was being +recorded as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> they began to establish a braking orbit, which with luck +would bring them down on the surface of the new world.</p> + +<p>"Cities—those must be cities!" Those in the cabin studied the plate +with awe as the information filtered through the crew. Lablet, their +xenobiologist, sat with his fingers rigid on the lower bar of the visa +plate, so intent that nothing could break his vigil, while the rest +speculated wildly. Had they really seen cities?</p> + +<p>Raf went down the corridor to the door of the sealed compartment that +held the machine and the supplies for which he was responsible. These +last hours of waiting were worse with their nagging suspense than all +the time which had gone before. If they could only set down!</p> + +<p>He had, on training trips which now seemed very far in the past, trod +the rust-red desert country of Mars, waddled in a bulky protective +suit across the peaked ranges of the dead Moon, known something of the +larger asteroids. But how would it feel to tread ground warmed by the +rays of another sun? Imagination with which his superiors did not +credit him began to stir. Traits inherited from a mixture of races +were there to be summoned. Raf retreated once more into his cabin and +sat on his bunk pad, staring down at his own capable mechanic's hands +without seeing them, picturing instead all the wonders which might lie +just beyond the next few hours' imprisonment in this metallic shell he +had grown to hate with a dull but abiding hatred.</p> + +<p>Although he knew that Hobart must be fully as eager as any of them to +land, it seemed to Raf, and the other impatient crew members, that +they were very long in entering the atmosphere of the chosen world. It +was only when the order came to strap down for deceleration that they +were in a measure satisfied. Pull of gravity, ship beaming in at an +angle which swept it from night to day or night again as it encircled +that unknown globe. They could not watch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> their objective any longer. +The future depended entirely upon the skill of the three men in +control—and last of all upon Hobart's judgment and skill.</p> + +<p>The captain brought them down, riding the flaming counter-blasts from +the ship's tail to set her on her fins in an expert point landing, so +that the <i>RS 10</i> was a finger of light into the sky, amid wisps of +smoke from brush ignited by her landing.</p> + +<p>There was another wait which seemed endless to the restless men +within, a wait until the air was analyzed, the countryside surveyed. +But when the go-ahead signal was given and the ramp swung out, those +first at the hatch still hesitated for an instant or so, though the +way before them was open.</p> + +<p>Beyond the burnt ground about the ship was a rolling plain covered +with tall grass which rippled under the wind. And the freshness of +that wind cleansed their lungs of the taint of the ship.</p> + +<p>Raf pulled off his helmet, held his head high in that breeze. It was +like bathing in air, washing away the smog of those long days of +imprisonment. He ran down the ramp, past the little group of those who +had preceded him, and fell on his knees in the grass, catching at it +with his hands, a little over-awed at the wonder of it all.</p> + +<p>The wide sweep of sky above them was not entirely blue, he noted. +There was the faintest suggestion of green, and across it moved clouds +of silver. But, save for the grass, they might be in a dead and empty +world. Where were the cities? Or had those been born of imagination?</p> + +<p>After a while, when the wonder of this landing had somewhat worn away, +Hobart summoned them back to the prosaic business of setting up base. +And Raf went to work at his own task. The sealed storeroom was opened, +the supplies slung by crane down from the ship. The compact assembly, +streamlined for this purpose, was all ready for the morrow.</p> + +<p>They spent the night within the ship, much against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> their will. After +the taste of freedom they had been given, the cramped interior weighed +upon them, closing like a prison. Raf lay on his pad unable to sleep. +It seemed to him that he could hear, even through the heavy plates, +the sigh of that refreshing wind, the call of the open world lying +ready for them. Step by step in his mind, he went through the process +for which he would be responsible the next day. The uncrating of the +small flyer, the assembling of frame and motor. And sometime in the +midst of that survey he did fall asleep, so deeply that Wonstead had +to shake him awake in the morning.</p> + +<p>He bolted his food and was out at his job before it was far past dawn. +But eager as he was to get to work, he paused just to look at the +earth scuffed up by his boots, to stare for a long moment at a stalk +of tough grass and remember with a thrill which never lessened that +this was not native earth or grass, that he stood where none of his +race, or even of his kind, had stood before—on a new planet in a new +solar system.</p> + +<p>Raf's expert training and instruction paid off. By evening he had the +flitter assembled save for the motor which still reposed on the +turning block. One party had gone questing out into the grass and +returned with the story of a stream hidden in a gash in the plain, and +Wonstead carried the limp body of a rabbit-sized furred creature he +had knocked over at the waterside.</p> + +<p>"Acted tame." Wonstead was proud of his kill. "Stupid thing just stood +and watched me while I let fly with a stone."</p> + +<p>Raf picked up the little body. Its fur was red-brown, plush-thick, and +very soft to the touch. The breast was creamy white and the forepaws +curiously short with an uncanny resemblance to his own hands. Suddenly +he wished that Wonstead had not killed it, though he supposed that +Chou, their biologist, would be grateful. But the animal looked +particularly defenseless. It would have been better not to mark their +first day on this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> new world with a killing—even if it were the +knocking over of a stupid rabbit thing. The pilot was glad when Chou +bore it off and he no longer had to look at it.</p> + +<p>It was after the evening meal that Raf was called into consultation by +the officers to receive his orders. When he reported that the flitter, +barring unexpected accidents, would be air-borne by the following +afternoon, he was shown an enlarged picture from the records made +during the descent of the <i>RS 10</i>.</p> + +<p>There was a city, right enough—showing up well from the air. Hobart +stabbed a finger down into the heart of it.</p> + +<p>"This lies south from here. We'll cruise in that direction."</p> + +<p>Raf would have liked to ask some questions of his own. The city +photographed was a sizable one. Why then this deserted land here? Why +hadn't the inhabitants been out to investigate the puzzle of the space +ship's landing? He said slowly, "I've mounted one gun, sir. Do you +want the other installed? It will mean that the flitter can only carry +three instead of four—"</p> + +<p>Hobart pulled his lower lip between his thumb and forefinger. He +glanced at his lieutenant then to Lablet, sitting quietly to one side. +It was the latter who spoke first.</p> + +<p>"I'd say this shows definite traces of retrogression." He touched the +photograph. "The place may even be only a ruin."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Leave off the other gun," Hobart ordered crisply. "And be +ready to fly at dawn day after tomorrow with full field kit. You're +sure she'll have at least a thousand-mile cruising radius?"</p> + +<p>Raf suppressed a shrug. How could you tell what any machine would do +under new conditions? The flitter had been put through every possible +test in his home world. Whether she would perform as perfectly here +was another matter.</p> + +<p>"They thought she would, sir," he replied. "I'll take<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> her up for a +shakedown run tomorrow after the motor is installed."</p> + +<p>Captain Hobart dismissed him with a nod, and Raf was glad to clatter +down ladders into the cool of the evening once more. Flying high in a +formation of two lanes were some distant birds, at least he supposed +they were birds. But he did not call attention to them. Instead he +watched them out of sight, lingering alone with no desire to join +those crew members who had built a campfire a little distance from the +ship. The flames were familiar and cheerful, a portion, somehow, of +their native world transported to the new.</p> + +<p>Raf could hear the murmur of voices. But he turned and went to the +flitter. Taking his hand torch, he checked the work he had done during +the day. To-morrow—tomorrow he could take her up into the blue-green +sky, circle out over the sea of grass for a short testing flight. That +much he wanted to do.</p> + +<p>But the thought of the cruise south, of venturing toward that +sprawling splotch Hobart and Lablet identified as a city was somehow +distasteful, and he was reluctant to think about it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>3</h2> + +<h3>SNAKE-DEVIL'S TRAIL</h3> +<p>Dalgard drew the waterproof covering back over his brow, making a +cheerful job of it, preparatory to their pushing out to sea once more. +But he was as intent upon what Sssuri had to tell as he was on his +occupation of the moment.</p> + +<p>"But that is not even a hopper rumor," he was protesting, breaking +into his companion's flow of thought.</p> + +<p>"No. But, remember, to the runners yesterday is very far away. One +night is like another; they do not reckon time as we do, nor lay up +memories for future<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> guidance. They left their native hunting grounds +and are drifting south. And only a very great peril would lead the +runners into such a break. It is against all their instincts!"</p> + +<p>"So, long ago—which may be months, weeks, or just days—there came +death out of the sea, and those who lived past its coming fled—" +Dalgard repeated the scanty information Sssuri had won for them the +night before by patient hour-long coaxing. "What kind of death?"</p> + +<p>Sssuri's great eyes, somber and a little tired, met his. "To us there +is only one kind of death to be greatly feared."</p> + +<p>"But there are the snake-devils—" protested the colony scout.</p> + +<p>"To be hunted down by snake-devils is death, yes. But it is a quick +death, a death which can come to any living thing that is not swift or +wary enough. For to the snake-devils all things that live and move are +merely meat to fill the aching pit in their swollen bellies. But there +were in the old days other deaths, far worse than what one meets under +a snake-devil's claws and fangs. And those are the deaths we fear." He +was running the smooth haft of his spear back and forth through his +fingers as if testing the balance of the weapon because the time was +not far away when he must rely upon it.</p> + +<p>"Those Others!" Dalgard shaped the words with his lips as well as in +his mind.</p> + +<p>"Just so." Sssuri did not nod, but his thought was in complete +agreement.</p> + +<p>"Yet they have not come before—not since the ship of my fathers +landed here," Dalgard protested, not against Sssuri's judgment but +against the whole idea.</p> + +<p>The merman got to his feet, sweeping his arm to indicate not only the +cove where they now sheltered but the continent behind it.</p> + +<p>"Once they held all this. Then they warred and killed, until but a +handful lay in cover to lick their wounds<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> and wait. It has been many +threes of seasons since they left that cover. But now they come +again—to loot their place of secrets—Perhaps in the time past they +have forgotten much so that now they must renew their knowledge."</p> + +<p>Dalgard stowed the bow in the bottom of the outrigger. "I think we had +better go and see," he commented, "so that we may report true tidings +to our Elders—something more than rumors learned from night runners."</p> + +<p>"That is so."</p> + +<p>They paddled out to sea and turned the prow of the light craft north. +The character of the land did not change. Cliffs still walled the +coast, in some places rising sheer from the water, in others broken by +a footing of coarse beach. Only flying things were to be sighted over +their rocky crowns.</p> + +<p>But by midday there was an abrupt alteration in the scene. A wide +river cut through the heights and gave birth to a fan-shaped delta +thickly covered with vegetation. Half hidden by the riot of growing +things was a building of the dome shape Dalgard knew so well. Its +windowless, doorless surface reflected the sunlight with a glassy +sheen, and to casual inspection it was as untouched as it had been on +the day its masters had either died within it or left it for the last +time, perhaps centuries before.</p> + +<p>"This is one way into the forbidden city," Sssuri announced. "Once +they stationed guards here."</p> + +<p>Dalgard had been about to suggest a closer inspection of the dome but +that remark made him hesitate. If it had been one of the +fortifications rimming in a forbidden ground, there was more than an +even chance that unwary invaders, even this long after, might stumble +into some trap still working automatically.</p> + +<p>"Do we go upriver?" He left it to Sssuri, who had the traditions of +his people to guide him, to make the decision.</p> + +<p>The merman looked at the dome; it was evident<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> from his attitude that +he had no wish to examine it more closely. "They had machines which +fought for them, and sometimes those machines still fight. This river +is the natural entrance for an enemy. Therefore it would have been +well defended."</p> + +<p>Under the sun the green reach of the delta had a most peaceful +appearance. There was a family of duck-dogs fishing from the beach, +scooping their broad bills into the mud to locate water worms. And +moth birds danced in the air currents overhead. Yet Dalgard was ready +to agree with his companion—beware the easy way. They dipped their +paddles deep and cut across the river current toward the cliffs to the +north.</p> + +<p>Two days of steady coastwise traveling brought them to a great bay. +And Dalgard gasped as the full sight of the port confronting them +burst into view.</p> + +<p>Tiers of ledges had been cut and blasted in the native rock, extending +from the sea back into the land in a series of giant steps. Each of +them was covered with buildings, and here the ancient war had left its +mark. The rock itself had been brought to a bubbling boil and sent in +now-frozen rivers down that stairway in a half-dozen places, +overwhelming all structures in its path, and leaving crystallized +streams to reflect the sun blindingly.</p> + +<p>"So this is your secret city!"</p> + +<p>But Sssuri shook his round head. "This is but the sea entrance to the +country," he corrected. "Here struck the day of fire, and we need not +fear the machines which doubtless lie in wait elsewhere."</p> + +<p>They beached the outrigger and hid it in the shell of one of the +ruined buildings on the lowest level. Dalgard sent out a questing +thought, hoping to contact a hopper or even a duck-dog. But seemingly +the ruins were bare of animal life, as was true in most of the other +towns and cities he had explored in the past. The fauna of Astra was +shy of any holding built by Those Others, no matter how long it may +have been left to the wind, and cleansing rain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> + +<p>With difficulty and detours to avoid the rivers of once-molten rock, +they made their way slowly from ledge to ledge up that giant's +staircase, not stopping to explore any of the buildings as they +passed. There was a taint of alien age about the city which repelled +Dalgard, and he was eager to get out of it into the clean countryside +once more. Sssuri sped on silent feet, his shoulders hunched, his +distaste for the structures to be read in every line of his supple +body.</p> + +<p>When they reached the top, Dalgard turned to gaze down to the restless +sea. What a prospect! Perhaps Those Others had built thus for reasons +of defense, but surely they, too, must have paused now and then to be +proud of such a feat. It was the most impressive site he had yet seen, +and his report of it would be a worthy addition to the Homeport +records.</p> + +<p>A road ran straight from the top of the stair, stabbing inland without +taking any notice of the difficulties of the terrain, after the usual +arrogant manner of the alien engineers. But Sssuri did not follow it. +Instead he struck off to the left, avoiding that easy path, choosing +to cross through tangles which had once been gardens or through open +fields.</p> + +<p>They were well out of the sight of the city before they flushed their +first hopper, a full-grown adult with oddly pale fur. Instead of +displaying the usual fearless interest in strangers, the animal took +one swift look at them and fled as if a snake-devil had snorted at its +thumping heels. And Dalgard received a sharp impression of terror, as +if the hopper saw in him some frightening menace.</p> + +<p>"What—?" Honestly astounded, he looked to Sssuri for enlightenment.</p> + +<p>The hoppers could be pests. They stole any small bright object which +aroused their interest. But they could also be persuaded to trade, and +they usually had no fear of either colonist or merman.</p> + +<p>Sssuri's furred face might not convey much emotion, but by all the +signs Dalgard <i>could</i> read he knew that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> the merman was as startled as +he by the strange behavior of the grass dweller.</p> + +<p>"He is afraid of those who walk erect as we do," he made answer.</p> + +<p><i>Those who walk erect</i>—Dalgard was quick to interpret that.</p> + +<p>He knew that Those Others were biped, quasi-human in form, closer in +physical appearance to the colonists than to the mermen. And since +none of Dalgard's people had penetrated this far to the north, nor had +the mermen invaded this taboo territory until Sssuri had agreed to +come, that left only the aliens. Those strange people whom the +colonists feared without knowing why they feared them, whom the mermen +hated with a hatred which had not lessened with the years of freedom. +The faint rumor carried by the migrating runners must be true, for +here was a hopper afraid of bipeds. And it must have been recently +provided with a reason for such fear, since hoppers' memories were +very short and such terror would have faded from its mind in a matter +of weeks.</p> + +<p>Sssuri halted in a patch of grass which reached to his waist belt. "It +is best to wait until the hours of dark."</p> + +<p>But Dalgard could not agree. "Better for you with your night sight," +he objected, "but I do not have your eyes in my head."</p> + +<p>Sssuri had to admit the justice of that. He could travel under the +moonless sky as sure-footed as under broad sunlight. But to guide a +blundering Dalgard through unknown country was not practical. However, +they could take to cover and that they did as speedily as possible, +using a zigzag tactic which delayed their advance but took them from +one bit of protecting brush or grove of trees to the next, keeping to +the fields well away from the road.</p> + +<p>They camped that night without fire in a pocket near a spring. And +while Dalgard was alert to all about them, he knew that Sssuri was +mind questing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> in a far wider circle, trying to contact a hopper, a +runner, any animal that could answer in part the inquiries they had. +When Dalgard could no longer hold open weary eyes, his last waking +memory was that of his companion sitting statue-still, his spear +across his knees, his head leaning a trifle forward as if what he +listened to was as vocal as the hum of night insects.</p> + +<p>When the colony scout roused in the morning, his companion was +stretched full length on the other side of the spring, but his head +came up as Dalgard moved.</p> + +<p>"We may go forward without fear," he shaped the assurance. "What has +troubled this land has gone."</p> + +<p>"A long time ago?"</p> + +<p>Dalgard was not surprised at Sssuri's negative answer. "Within days +<i>they</i> have been here. But they have gone once more. It will be wise +for us to learn what they wanted here."</p> + +<p>"Have they come to establish a base here once more?" Dalgard brought +into the open the one threat which had hung over his own clan since +they first learned that a few of Those Others still lived—even if +overseas.</p> + +<p>"If that is their plan, they have not yet done it." Sssuri rolled over +on his back and stretched. He had lost that tenseness of a hound in +leash which had marked him the night before. "This was one of their +secret places, holding much of their knowledge. They may return here +on quest for that learning."</p> + +<p>All at once Dalgard was conscious of a sense of urgency. Suppose that +what Sssuri suggested was the truth, that Those Others were attempting +to recover the skills which had brought on the devastating war that +had turned this whole eastern continent into a wilderness? Equipped +with even the crumbs of such discoveries, they would be enemies +against which the Terran colonists could not hope to stand. The few +weapons their outlaw ancestors had brought with them on their +desperate flight to the stars were long since useless, and they had +had no way of duplicating them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> Since childhood Dalgard had seen no +arms except the bows and the sword-knives carried by all venturing +away from Homeport. And what use would a bow or a foot or two of +sharpened metal be against things which could kill from a distance or +turn rock itself into a flowing, molten river?</p> + +<p>He was impatient to move on, to reach this city of forgotten knowledge +which Sssuri was sure lay before them. Perhaps the colonists could +draw upon what was stored there as well as Those Others could.</p> + +<p>Then he remembered—not only remembered but was corrected by Sssuri. +"Think not of taking <i>their</i> weapons into your hands." Sssuri did not +look up as he gave that warning. "Long ago your fathers' fathers knew +that the knowledge of Those Others was not for their taking."</p> + +<p>A dimly remembered story, a warning impressed upon him during his +first guided trips into the ruins near Homeport flashed into Dalgard's +mind. Yes, he knew that some things had been forbidden to his kind. +For one, it was best not to examine too closely the bands of color +patterns which served Those Others as a means of written record. Tapes +of the aliens' records had been found and stored at Homeport. But not +one of the colonists had ventured to try to break the color code and +learn what lay locked in those bands. Once long ago such an experiment +had led to the brink of disaster, and such delvings were now +considered too dangerous to be allowed.</p> + +<p>But there was no harm in visiting this city, and certainly he must +make some report to the Council about what might be taking place here, +especially if Those Others were in residence or visited the site.</p> + +<p>Sssuri still kept to the fields, avoiding the highway, until +mid-morning, and then he made an abrupt turn and brought them out on +the soil-drifted surface of the road. The land here was seemingly +deserted. No moth birds performed their air ballets overhead, and they +did not see a single hopper. That is, they did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> not until the road +dipped before them and they started down into a cupped hollow filled +with buildings. The river, whose delta they had earlier seen, made a +half loop about the city, lacing it in. And here were no signs of the +warfare which had ruined the port.</p> + +<p>But in the middle of the road lay a bloody bunch of fur and splintered +bone, insects busy about it. Sssuri used the point of his spear to +straighten out the small corpse, displaying its headlessness. And +before they reached the outer buildings of the city they found four +more hoppers all mangled.</p> + +<p>"Not a snake-devil," Dalgard deduced. As far as he knew only the huge +reptiles or their smaller flying-dragon cousins preyed upon animals. +But a snake-devil would have left no remains of anything as small as a +hopper, one mouthful which could not satisfy its gnawing hunger. And a +flying dragon would have picked the bones clean.</p> + +<p>"<i>Them</i>!" Sssuri's reply was clipped. "They hunt for sport."</p> + +<p>Dalgard felt a little sick. To his mind, hoppers were to be treated +with friendship. Only against the snake-devils and the flying dragons +were the colonists ever at war. No wonder that hopper had run from +them back on the plain during yesterday's journey!</p> + +<p>The buildings before them were not the rounded domes of the isolated +farms, but a series of upward-pointing shafts. They walked through a +tall gap which must have supported a now-disappeared barrier gate, and +their passing was signaled by a whispering sound as they shuffled +through the loose sand and soil drifted there in a miniature dune.</p> + +<p>This city was in a better state of preservation than any Dalgard had +previously visited. But he had no desire to enter any of the gaping +doorways. It was as if the city rejected him and his kind, as if to +the past that brooded here he was no more than a curious hopper or a +fluttering, short-lived moth bird.</p> + +<p>"Old—old and with wisdom hidden in it—" he caught<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> the trail of +thought from Sssuri. And he was certain that the merman was no more at +ease here than he himself was.</p> + +<p>As the street they followed brought them into an open space surrounded +by more imposing buildings, they made another discovery which blotted +out all thoughts of forbidden knowledge and awakened them to a more +normal and everyday danger.</p> + +<p>A fountain, which no longer played but gave birth to a crooked stream +of water, was in the center. And in the muddy verge of the stream, +pressed deep, was the fresh track of a snake-devil. Almost full grown, +Dalgard estimated, measuring the print with his fingers. Sssuri +pivoted slowly, studying the circle of buildings about them.</p> + +<p>"An hour—maybe two—" Dalgard gave a hunter's verdict on the age of +the print. He, too, eyed those buildings. To meet a snake-devil in the +open was one thing, to play hide-and-seek with the cunning monster in +a warren such as this was something else again. He hoped that the +reptile had been heading for the open, but he doubted it. This mass of +buildings would provide just the type of shelter which would appeal to +it for a lair. And snake-devils did not den alone!</p> + +<p>"Try by the river," Sssuri gave advice. Like Dalgard, he accepted the +necessity of the chase. No intelligent creature ever lost the chance +to kill a snake-devil when fortune offered it. And he and the scout +had hunted together on such trails before. Now they slipped into +familiar roles from long practice.</p> + +<p>They took a route which should lead them to the river, and within a +matter of yards, came across evidence proving that the merman had +guessed correctly; a second claw print was pressed deep in a patch of +drifted soil.</p> + +<p>Here the buildings were of a new type, windowless, perhaps +storehouses. But what pleased Dalgard most was the fact that most of +them showed tightly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> closed doors. There was no chance for their prey +to lurk in wait.</p> + +<p>"We should smell it." Sssuri picked that worry out of the scout's mind +and had a ready answer for it.</p> + +<p>Sure—they should smell the lair; nothing could cloak the horrible +odor of a snake-devil's home. Dalgard sniffed vigorously as he padded +along. Though odd smells clung to the strange buildings none of them +were actively obnoxious—yet.</p> + +<p>"River—"</p> + +<p>There was the river at the end of the way they had been following, a +way which ended in a wharf built out over the oily flow of water. +Blank walls were on either side. If the snake-devil had come this way, +he had found no hiding place.</p> + +<p>"Across the river—"</p> + +<p>Dalgard gave a resigned grunt. For some reason he disliked the thought +of swimming that stream, of having his skin laved by the turgid water +with its brown sheen.</p> + +<p>"There is no need to swim."</p> + +<p>Dalgard's gaze followed Sssuri's pointing finger. But what he saw +bobbing up and down, pulled a little downstream by the current, did +not particularly reassure him. It was manifestly a boat, but the form +was as alien as the city around them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>4</h2> + +<h3>CIVILIZATION</h3> +<p>Raf surveyed the wide sweep of prairie where dawn gave a gray tinge to +soften the distance and mark the rounded billows of the ever-rippling +grass. He tried to analyze what it was about this world which made it +seem so untouched, so fresh and new. There were large sections of his +own Terra which had been aban<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>doned after the Big Burn-Off and the +atomic wars, or later after the counterrevolution which had defeated +the empire of Pax, during which mankind had slipped far back on the +road to civilization. But he had never experienced this same feeling +when he had ventured into those wildernesses. Almost he could believe +that the records Hobart had showed him were false, that this world had +never known intelligent life herding together in cities.</p> + +<p>He walked slowly down the ramp, drawing deep breaths of the crisp air. +The day would grow warmer with the rising sun. But now it was just the +sort of morning which led him to be glad he was alive—and young! +Maybe part of it was because he was free of the ship and at last not +just excess baggage but a man with a definite job before him.</p> + +<p>Spacemen tended to be young. But until this moment Raf had never felt +the real careless freedom of youth. Now he was moved by a desire to +disobey orders—to take the flitter up by himself and head off into +the blue of the brightening sky for more than just a test flight, not +to explore Hobart's city but to cruise over the vast sea of grass and +find out its wonders for himself.</p> + +<p>But the discipline which had shaped him almost since birth sent him +now to check the flyer and wait, inwardly impatient, for Hobart, +Lablet, and Soriki, the com-tech, to join him.</p> + +<p>The wait was not a long one since the three others, with equipment +hung about, tramped down the ramp as Raf settled himself behind the +control board of the flyer. He triggered the shield which snapped over +them for a windbreak and brought the flitter up into the spreading +color of the morning. Beside him Hobart pressed the button of the +automatic recorder, and in the seat behind, Soriki had the headset of +the com clamped over his ears. They were not only making a record of +their trip, they were continuing in constant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> communication with the +ship—now already a silver pencil far to the rear.</p> + +<p>It was some two hours later that they discovered what was perhaps one +reason for the isolation of the district in which the <i>RS 10</i> had set +down. Rolling foothills rose beneath them and miles ahead the +white-capped peaks of a mountain range made a broken outline against +the turquoise sky. The broken lands would be a formidable barrier for +any foot travelers: there were no easy roads through that series of +sharp lifts and narrow valleys. And the one stream they followed for a +short space descended from the heights in spectacular falls. Twice +they skimmed thick growths of trees, so tightly packed that from the +air they resembled a matted carpet of green-blue. And to cut through +such a forest would be an impossible task.</p> + +<p>The four in the flitter seldom spoke. Raf kept his attention on the +controls. Sudden currents of air were tricky here, and he had to be +constantly alert to hold the small flyer on an even keel. His glimpses +of what lay below were only snatched ones.</p> + +<p>At last it was necessary to zoom far above the vegetation of the lower +slopes, to reach an altitude safe enough to clear the peaks ahead. +Since the air supply within the windshield was constant they need not +fear lack of oxygen. But Raf was privately convinced, as they soared, +that the range might well compare in height with those Asian mountains +which dominated all the upflung reaches of his native world.</p> + +<p>When they were over the sharp points of that chain disaster almost +overtook them. A freakish air current caught the flitter as if in a +giant hand, and Raf fought for control as they lost altitude past the +margin of safety. Had he not allowed for just such a happening they +might have been smashed against one of the rock tips over which they +skimmed to a precarious safety. Raf, his mouth dry, his hands sweating +on the controls, took them up—higher than was necessary—to coast +above the last of that rocky spine to see below<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> the beginning of the +downslopes leading to the plains the range cut in half. He heard +Hobart draw a hissing breath.</p> + +<p>"That was a close call." Lablet's precise, lecturer's voice cut +through the drone of the motor.</p> + +<p>"Yeah," Soriki echoed, "looked like we might be sandwich meat there +for a while. The kid knows his stuff after all."</p> + +<p>Raf grinned a little sourly, but he did not answer that. He <i>ought</i> to +know his trade. Why else would he be along? They were each specialists +in one or two fields. But he had good sense enough to keep his mouth +shut. That way the less one had to regret minutes—or hours—later.</p> + +<p>The land on the south side of the mountains was different in character +to the wild northern plains.</p> + +<p>"Fields!"</p> + +<p>It did not require that identification from Lablet to point out what +they had already seen. The section below was artificially divided into +long narrow strips. But the vegetation growing on those strips was no +different from the northern grass they had seen about the spacer.</p> + +<p>"Not cultivated now," the scientist amended his first report. "It's +reverting to grassland—"</p> + +<p>Raf brought the flitter closer to the ground so that when a domed +structure arose out of a tangle of overgrown shrubs and trees they +were not more than fifty feet above it. There was no sign of life +about the dwelling, if dwelling it was, and the unkempt straggle of +growing things suggested that it had been left to itself through more +than one season. Lablet wanted to set down and explore, but the +captain was intent upon reaching the city. A solitary farm was of +little value compared with what they might learn from a metropolis. +So, rather to Raf's relief, he was ordered on.</p> + +<p>He could not have explained why he shrank from such investigation. +Where earlier that morning he had wanted to take the flitter and go +off by himself to ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>plore the world which seemed so bright and new, +now he was glad that he was only the pilot of the flyer and that the +others were not only in his company but ready to make the decisions. +He had a queer distaste for the countryside, a disinclination to land +near that dome.</p> + +<p>Beyond the first of the deserted farms they came to the highway and, +since the buckled and half-buried roadway ran south, Hobart suggested +that they use it as a visible guide. More isolated dome houses showed +in the course of an hour. And their fields were easy to map from the +air. But nowhere did the Terrans see any indication that those fields +were in use. Nor were there any signs of animal or bird life. The +weird desolation of the landscape began to work its spell on the men +in the flitter. There was something unnatural about the country, and +with every mile the flyer clocked off, Raf longed to be heading in the +opposite direction.</p> + +<p>The domes drew closer together, made a cluster at crossroads, gathered +into a town in which all the buildings were the same shape and size, +like the cells of a wasp nest. Raf wondered if those who had built +them had not been humanoid at all, but perhaps insects with a hive +mind. And because that thought was unpleasant he resolutely turned his +attention to the machine he piloted.</p> + +<p>They passed over four such towns, all marking intersections of roads +running east and west, north and south, with precise exactness. The +sun was at noon or a little past that mark when Captain Hobart gave +the order to set down so that they could break out rations and eat.</p> + +<p>Raf brought the flitter down on the cracked surface of the road, +mistrusting what might lie hidden in the field grass. They got out and +walked for a space along pavement which had once been smooth.</p> + +<p>"High-powered traffic—" That was Lablet. He had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> gone down on one +knee and was tracing a finger along the substance.</p> + +<p>"Straight—" Soriki squinted against the sun. "Nothing stopped them, +did it? We want a road here and we'll get it! That sort of thing. Must +have been master engineers."</p> + +<p>To Raf the straight highways suggested something else. Master +engineering, certainly. But a ruthlessness too, as if the builders, +who refused to accept any modifications of their original plans from +nature, might be as arrogant and self-assured in other ways. He did +not admire this relic of civilization; in fact it added to his vague +uneasiness.</p> + +<p>The land was so still, under the whisper of the wind. He discovered +that he was listening—listening for the buzz of an insect, the squeak +of some grass dweller, anything which would mean that there was life +about them. As he chewed on the ration concentrate and drank sparingly +from his canteen, Raf continued to listen. Without result.</p> + +<p>Hobart and Lablet were engrossed in speculation about what might lie +ahead. Soriki had gone back to the flitter to make his report to the +ship. The pilot sat where he was, content to be forgotten, but eager +to see an animal peering at him from cover, a bird winging through the +air.</p> + +<p>"—if we don't hit it by nightfall—But we can't be that far away! +I'll stay out and try tomorrow." That was Hobart. And since he was +captain what he said was probably what they would do. Raf shied away +from the thought of spending the night in this haunted land. Though, +on the other hand, he would be utterly opposed to lifting the flitter +over those mountains again except in broad daylight.</p> + +<p>But the problem did not arise, for they found their city in the +midafternoon, the road bringing them straight to an amazing collection +of buildings, which appeared doubly alien to their eyes since it did +not include any of the low domes they had seen heretofore.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> + +<p>Here were towers of needle slimness, solid blocks of almost windowless +masonry looking twice as bulky beside those same towers, archways +stringing at dizzy heights above the ground from one skyscraper to the +next. And here time and nature had been at work. Some of the towers +were broken off, a causeway displayed a gap—Once it had been a +breathtaking feat of engineering, far more impressive than the +highway, now it was a slowly collapsing ruin.</p> + +<p>But before they had time to take it all in Soriki gave an exclamation. +"Something coming through on our wave band, sir!" He leaned forward to +dig fingers into Hobart's shoulder. "Message of some kind—I'd swear +to it!"</p> + +<p>Hobart snapped into action. "Kurbi—set down—there!"</p> + +<p>His choice of a landing place was the flat top of a near-by building, +one which stood a little apart from its neighbors and, as Raf could +see, was not overlooked except by a ruined tower. He circled the +flitter. The machine had been specially designed to land and take off +in confined spaces, and he knew all there was possible to learn about +its handling on his home world. But he had never tried to bring it +down on a roof, and he was very sure that now he had no margin for +error left him, not with Hobart breathing impatiently beside him, his +hands moving as if, as a pilot of a spacer, he could well take over +the controls here.</p> + +<p>Raf circled twice, eyeing the surface of the roof in search of any +break which could mean a crack-up at landing. And then, though he +refused to be hurried by the urgency of the men with him, he came in, +cutting speed, bringing them down with only a slight jar.</p> + +<p>Hobart twisted around to face Soriki. "Still getting it?"</p> + +<p>The other, cupping his earphones to his head with his hands, nodded. +"Give me a minute or two," he told them, "and I'll have a fix. They're +excited about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> something—the way this jabber-jabber is coming +through—"</p> + +<p>"About us," Raf thought. The ruined tower topped them to the south. +And to the east and west there were buildings as high as the one they +were perched on. But the town he had seen as he maneuvered for a +landing had held no signs of life. Around them were only signs of +decay.</p> + +<p>Lablet got out of the flitter and walked to the edge of the roof, +leaning against the parapet to focus his vision glasses on what lay +below. After a moment Raf followed his example.</p> + +<p>Silence and desolation, windows like the eye pits in bone-picked +skulls. There were even some small patches of vegetation rooted and +growing in pockets erosion had carved in the walls. To the pilot's +uninformed eyes the city looked wholly dead.</p> + +<p>"Got it!" Soriki's exultant cry brought them back to the flitter. As +if his body was the indicator, he had pivoted until his outstretched +hand pointed southwest. "About a quarter of a mile that way."</p> + +<p>They shielded their eyes against the westering sun. A block of solid +masonry loomed high in the sky, dwarfing not only the building they +were standing on but all the towers around it. Its imposing lines made +clear its one-time importance.</p> + +<p>"Palace," mused Lablet, "or capitol. I'd say it was just about the +heart of the city."</p> + +<p>He dropped his glasses to swing on their cord, his eyes glistening as +he spoke directly to Raf.</p> + +<p>"Can you set us down on that?"</p> + +<p>The pilot measured the curving roof of the structure. A crazy fool +might try to make a landing there. But he was no crazy fool. "Not on +that roof!" he spoke with decision.</p> + +<p>To his relief the captain confirmed his verdict with a slow nod. +"Better find out more first." Hobart could be cautious when he wanted +to. "Are they still broadcasting, Soriki?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> + +<p>The com-tech had stripped the earphones from his head and was rubbing +one ear. "Are they!" he exploded. "I'd think you could hear them clear +over there, sir!"</p> + +<p>And they could. The gabble-gabble which bore no resemblance to any +language Terra knew boiled out of the phones.</p> + +<p>"Someone's excited," Lablet commented in his usual mild tone.</p> + +<p>"Maybe they've discovered us." Hobart's hand went to the weapon at his +belt. "We must make peaceful contact—if we can."</p> + +<p>Lablet took off his helmet and ran his fingers through the scrappy +ginger-and-gray fringe receding from his forehead. "Yes—contact will +be necessary—" he said thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>Well, he was supposed to be their expert on that. Raf watched the +older man with something akin to amusement. The pilot had a suspicion +that none of the other three, Lablet included, was in any great hurry +to push through contact with unknown aliens. It was a case of dancing +along on shore before having to plunge into the chill of autumn sea +waves. Terrans had explored their own solar system, and they had +speculated learnedly for generations on the problem of intelligent +alien life. There had been all kinds of reports by experts and +would-be experts. But the stark fact remained that heretofore mankind +as born on the third planet of Sol had <i>not</i> encountered intelligent +alien life. And just how far did speculations, reports, and arguments +go when one was faced with the problem to be solved practically—and +speedily?</p> + +<p>Raf's own solution would have been to proceed with caution and yet +more caution. Under his technical training he had far more imagination +than any of his officers had ever realized. And now he was certain +that the best course of action was swift retreat until they knew more +about what was to be faced.</p> + +<p>But in the end the decision was taken out of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> hands. A muffled +exclamation from Lablet brought them all around to see that distant +curving roof crack wide open. From the shadows within, a flyer +spiraled up into the late afternoon sky.</p> + +<p>Raf reached the flitter in two leaps. Without orders he had the spray +gun ready for action, on point and aimed at the bobbing machine +heading toward them. From the earphones Soriki had left on the seat +the gabble had risen to a screech and one part of Raf's brain noted +that the sounds were repetitious: was an order to surrender being +broadcast? His thumb was firm on the firing button of the gun and he +was about to send a warning burst to the right of the alien when an +order from Hobart stopped him cold.</p> + +<p>"Take it easy, Kurbi."</p> + +<p>Soriki said something about a "gun-happy flitter pilot," but, Raf +noted with bleak eyes, the com-tech kept his own hand close to his +belt arm. Only Lablet stood watching the oncoming alien ship with +placidity. But then, as Raf had learned through the long voyage of the +spacer, a period of time which had left few character traits of any of +the crew hidden from their fellows, the xenobiologist was a fatalist +and strictly averse to personal combat.</p> + +<p>The pilot did not leave his seat at the gun. But within seconds he +knew that they had lost the initial advantage. As the tongue-shaped +stranger thrust at them and then swept on to glide above their heads +so that the weird shadow of the ship licked them from light to dark +and then to light again, Raf was certain that his superiors had made +the wrong decision. They should have left the city as soon as they +picked up those signals—if they could have gone then. He studied the +other flyer. Its lines suggested speed as well as mobility, and he +began to doubt if they <i>could</i> have escaped with that craft trailing +them.</p> + +<p>Well, what would they do now? The alien flyer could not land here, not +without coming down flat upon the flitter. Maybe it would cruise +overhead as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> a warning threat until the city dwellers were able to +reach the Terrans in some other manner. Tense, the four spacemen stood +watching the graceful movements of the flyer. There were no visible +portholes or openings anywhere along its ovoid sides. It might be a +robot-controlled ship, it might be anything, Raf thought, even a bomb +of sorts. If it was being flown by some human—or nonhuman—flyer, he +was a master pilot.</p> + +<p>"I don't understand," Soriki moved impatiently. "They're just +shuttling around up there. What do we do now?"</p> + +<p>Lablet turned his head. He was smiling faintly. "We wait," he told the +com-tech. "I should imagine it takes time to climb twenty flights of +stairs—if they have stairs—"</p> + +<p>Soriki's attention fell from the flyer hovering over their heads to +the surface of the roof. Raf had already looked that over without +seeing any opening. But he did not doubt the truth of Lablet's +surmise. Sooner or later the aliens were going to reappear. And it did +not greatly matter to the marooned Terrans whether they would drop +from the sky or rise from below.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>5</h2> + +<h3>BANDED DEVIL</h3> +<p>Familiar only with the wave-riding outriggers, Dalgard took his seat +in the alien craft with misgivings. And oddly enough it also bothered +him to occupy a post which earlier had served not a nonhuman such as +Sssuri, whom he admired, but a humanoid whom he had been taught from +childhood to avoid—if not fear. The skiff was rounded at bow and +stern with very shallow sides and displayed a tendency to whirl about +in the current, until Sssuri, with his instinctive knowledge of +watercraft, used one of the queerly shaped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> paddles tucked away in the +bottom to both steer and propel them. They did not strike directly +across the river but allowed the current to carry them in a diagonal +path so that they came out on the opposite bank some distance to the +west.</p> + +<p>Sssuri brought them ashore with masterly skill where a strip of sod +angled down to the edge of the water, marking, Dalgard decided, what +had once been a garden. The buildings on this side of the river were +not set so closely together. Each, standing some two or three stories +high, was encircled by green, as if this had been a section of private +dwellings.</p> + +<p>They pulled the light boat out of the water and Sssuri pointed at the +open door of the nearest house. "In there—"</p> + +<p>Dalgard agreed that it might be well to hide the craft against the +return. Although as yet they had found no physical evidence, other +than the dead hoppers, that they might not be alone in the city, he +wanted a means of escape ready if such a flight would be necessary. In +the meantime there was the snake-devil to track, and that wily +creature, if it had swum the river, might be lurking at present in the +next silent street—or miles away.</p> + +<p>Sssuri, spear ready, was trotting along the paved lane, his head up as +he thought-quested for any hint of life about them. Dalgard tried to +follow that lead. But he knew that it would be Sssuri's stronger power +which would warn them first.</p> + +<p>They cast east from where they had landed, studying the soil of each +garden spot, hunting for the unmistakable spoor of the giant reptile. +And within a matter of minutes they found it, the mud still moist as +Dalgard proved with an exploring fingertip. At the same time Sssuri +twirled his spear significantly. Before them the lane ran on between +two walls without any breaks. Dalgard uncased his bow and strung it. +From his quiver he chose one of the powerful arrows, the points of +which were kept capped until use.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> + +<p>A snake-devil, with its nervous system controlled not from the tiny, +brainless head but from a series of auxiliary "brains" at points along +its powerful spine, could and would go on fighting even after that +head was shorn away, as the first colonists had discovered when they +depended on the deadly ray guns fatal to any Terran life. But the +poison-tipped arrow Dalgard now handled, with confidence in its +complete efficiency, paralyzed within moments and killed in a +quarter-hour one of the scaled monstrosities.</p> + +<p>"Lair—"</p> + +<p>Dalgard did not need that warning thought from his companion. There +was no mistaking that sickly sweet stench born of decaying animal +matter, which was the betraying effluvium of a snake-devil's lair. He +turned to the right-hand wall and with a running leap reached its +broad top. The lane curved to end in an archway cut through another +wall, which was higher than Dalgard's head even when he stood on his +present elevation. But bands of ornamental patterning ran along the +taller barrier, and he was certain that it could be climbed. He +lowered a hand to Sssuri and hoisted the merman up to join him.</p> + +<p>But Sssuri stood for a long moment looking ahead, and Dalgard knew +that the merman was disturbed, that the wall before them had some +terrifying meaning for the native Astran. So vivid was the impression +of what could only be termed horror—that Dalgard dared to ask a +question:</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>The merman's yellow eyes turned from the wall to his companion. Behind +his hatred of this place there was another emotion Dalgard could not +read.</p> + +<p>"This is the place of sorrow, the place of separation. But <i>they</i> +paid—oh, how they paid—after that day when the fire fell from the +sky." His scaled and taloned feet moved in a little shuffling war +dance, and his spear spun and quivered in the sunlight, as Dalgard had +seen the spears of the mer-warriors move in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> the mock combats of their +unexplained, and to his kind unexplainable, rituals. "Then did our +spears drink, and knives eat!" Sssuri's fingers brushed the hilt of +the wicked blade swinging from his belt. "Then did the People make +separations and sorrows for <i>them</i>! And it was accomplished that we +went forth into the sea to be no longer bond but free. And <i>they</i> went +down into the darkness and were no more—" In Dalgard's head the chant +of his friend skirled up in a paean of exultation. Sssuri shook his +spear at the wall.</p> + +<p>"No more the beast and the death," his thoughts swelled, a shout of +victory. "For where are <i>they</i> who sat and watched many deaths? <i>They</i> +are gone as the wave smashes itself upon the coast rocks and is no +more. But the People are free and never more shall Those Others put +bonds upon them! Therefore do I say that this is a place of nothing, +where evil has turned in upon itself and come to nothing. Just as +Those Others will come to nothing since their own evil will in the end +eat them up!"</p> + +<p>He strode forward along the wall until he came to the barrier, +seemingly oblivious of the carrion reek which told of a snake-devil's +den somewhere about. And he raised his arm high, bringing the point of +his spear gratingly along the carved surface. Nor did it seem to +Dalgard a futile gesture, for Sssuri lived and breathed, stood free +and armed in the city of his enemies—and the city was dead.</p> + +<p>Together they climbed the barrier, and then Dalgard discovered that it +was the rim of an arena which must have seated close to a thousand in +the days of its use. It was a perfect oval in shape with tiers of +seats now forming a staircase down to the center, where was a section +ringed about by a series of archways. A high stone grille walled this +portion away from the seats as if to protect the spectators from what +might enter through those portals.</p> + +<p>Dalgard noted all this only in passing, for the arena<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> was occupied, +very much occupied. And he knew the occupiers only too well.</p> + +<p>Three full-grown snake-devils were stretched at pulpy ease, their +filled bellies obscenely round, their long necks crowned with their +tiny heads flat on the sand as they napped. A pair of half-grown +monsters, not yet past the six-foot stage, tore at some indescribable +remnants of their elders' feasting, hissing at each other and aiming +vicious blows whenever they came within possible fighting distance. +Three more, not long out of their mothers' pouches scrabbled in the +earth about the sleeping adults.</p> + +<p>"A good catch," Dalgard signaled Sssuri, and the merman nodded.</p> + +<p>They climbed down from seat to seat. This could not rightfully be +termed hunting when the quarry might be picked off so easily without +risk to the archer. But as Dalgard notched his first arrow, he sighted +something so surprising that he did not let the poisoned dart fly.</p> + +<p>The nearest sleeping reptile which he had selected as his mark +stretched lazily without raising its head or opening its small eyes. +And the sun caught on a glistening band about its short foreleg just +beneath the joint of the taloned pawhands. No natural scales could +reflect the light with such a brilliant glare. It could be only one +thing—metal! A metal bracelet about the tearing arm of a snake-devil! +Dalgard looked at the other two sleepers. One was lying on its belly +with its forearms gathered under it so that he could not see if it, +also, were so equipped. But the other—yes, it was banded!</p> + +<p>Sssuri stood at the grille, one hand on its stone divisions. His +surprise equaled Dalgard's. It was not in his experience either that +the untamed snake-devils, regarded by merman and human alike as so +dangerous as to be killed on sight, could be banded—as if they were +personal pets!</p> + +<p>For a moment or two a wild idea crossed Dalgard's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> mind. How long was +the natural life span of a snake-devil? Until the coming of the +colonists they had been the undisputed rulers of the deserted +continent, stupid as they were, simply because of their strength and +ferocity. A twelve-foot, scale-armored monster, that could tear apart +a duocorn with ease, might not be successfully vanquished by any of +the fauna of Astra. And since the monsters did not venture into the +sea, contact between them and the mermen had been limited to casual +encounters at rare intervals. So, how long did a snake-devil live? +Were these creatures sprawled here in sleep ones that had known the +domination of Those Others—though the fall of the master race of +Astra must have occurred generations, hundreds of years in the past?</p> + +<p>"No," Sssuri's denial cut through that. "The smaller one is not yet +full-grown. It lacks the second neck ring. Yet it is banded."</p> + +<p>The merman was right. That unpleasant wattle of armored flesh which +necklaced the serpent throat of the devil Dalgard had picked as his +target was thin, not the thick roll of fat such as distinguished its +two companions. It was not fully adult, yet the band was plain to see +on the foreleg now stretched to its full length as the sun bored down +to supply the heavy heat the snake-devils relished next to food.</p> + +<p>"Then—" Dalgard did not like to think of what might be the answer to +that "then."</p> + +<p>Sssuri shrugged. "It is plain that these are not wild roamers. They +are here for a purpose. And that purpose—" Suddenly his arm shot out +so that his fingers protruded through the slits in the stone grille. +"See?"</p> + +<p>Dalgard had already seen, in seeing he knew hot and terrible anger. +Out of the filthy mess in which the snake-devils wallowed, something +had rolled, perhaps thrown about in play by the unspeakable offspring. +A skull, dried scraps of fur and flesh still clinging to it, stared +hollow-eyed up at them. At least one mer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>man had fallen prey to the +nightmares who ruled the arena.</p> + +<p>Sssuri hissed and the red rage in his mind was plain to Dalgard. "Once +more they deal death here—" His eyes went from the skull to the +monsters. "Kill!" The command was imperative and sharp.</p> + +<p>Dalgard had qualified as a master bowman before he had first gone +roving. And the killing of snake-devils was a task which had been set +every colonist since their first brush with the creatures.</p> + +<p>He snapped the cap off the glass splinter point, designed to pin and +then break off in the hide so that any clawing foot which tore out an +arrow could not rid the victim of the poisonous head. The archer's +mark was under the throat where the scales were soft and there was a +chance of piercing the skin with the first shot.</p> + +<p>The growls of the two feeding youngsters covered the snap of the bow +cord as Dalgard shot. And he did not miss. The brilliant scarlet +feather of the arrow quivered in the baggy roll of flesh.</p> + +<p>With a scream which tore at the human's eardrums, the snake-devil +reared to its hind feet. It made a tearing motion with the banded +forearm which scraped across the back of one of its companions. And +then it fell back to the blood-stained sand, limp, a greenish foam +drooling from its fangs.</p> + +<p>As the monster that the dead devil had raked roused, Dalgard had his +chance for another good mark. And the second scarlet shaft sped +straight to the target.</p> + +<p>But the third creature which had been sleeping belly down on the sand +presented only its armored back, a hopeless surface for an arrow to +pierce. It had opened its eyes and was watching the now motionless +bodies of its fellows. But it showed no disposition to move. It was +almost as if it somehow understood that as long as it remained in its +present position it was safe.</p> + +<p>"The small ones—"</p> + +<p>Dalgard needed no prompting. He picked off easily<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> enough the two +half-grown ones. The infants were another problem. Far less sluggish +than their huge elders they sensed that they were in danger and fled. +One took refuge in the pouch of its now-dead parent, and the others +moved so fast that Dalgard found them difficult targets. He killed one +which had almost reached an archway and at length nicked the second in +the foot, knowing that, while the poison would be slower in acting, it +would be as sure.</p> + +<p>Through all of this the third adult devil continued to lie motionless, +only its wicked eyes giving any indication that it was alive. Dalgard +watched it impatiently. Unless it would move, allow him a chance to +aim at the soft underparts, there was little chance of killing it.</p> + +<p>What followed startled both hunters, versed as they were in the usual +mechanics of killing snake-devils. It had been an accepted premise, +through the years since the colonists had known of the monsters, that +the creatures were relatively brainless, mere machines which fought, +ate, and killed, incapable of any intelligent reasoning, and therefore +only dangerous when one was surprised by them or when the hunter was +forced to face them inadequately armed.</p> + +<p>This snake-devil was different, as it became increasingly plain to the +two behind the grille. It had remained safe during the slaughter of +its companions because it had not moved, almost as if it had wit +enough <i>not</i> to move. And now, when it did change position, its +maneuvers, simple as they were, underlined the fact that this one +creature appeared to have thought out a solution to its situation—as +rational a solution as Dalgard might have produced had it been his +problem.</p> + +<p>Still keeping its soft underparts covered, it edged about in the sand +until its back, with the impenetrable armor plates, was facing the +grille behind which the hunters stood. Retracting its neck between its +shoulders and hunching its powerful back limbs under it, it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> rushed +from that point of danger straight for one of the archways.</p> + +<p>Dalgard sent an arrow after it. Only to see the shaft scrape along the +heavy scales and bounce to the sand. Then the snake-devil was gone.</p> + +<p>"Banded—" The word reached Dalgard. Sssuri had been cool enough to +note that while the human hunter had been only bewildered by the +untypical actions of his quarry.</p> + +<p>"It must be intelligent." The scout's statement was more than half +protest.</p> + +<p>"Where <i>they</i> are concerned, one may expect many evil wonders."</p> + +<p>"We've got to get that devil!" Dalgard was determined on that. Though +to run down, through this maze of deserted city, an enraged +snake-devil—above all, a snake-devil which appeared to have some +reasoning powers—was not a prospect to arouse any emotion except grim +devotion to duty.</p> + +<p>"It goes for help."</p> + +<p>Dalgard, startled, stared at his companion. Sssuri was still by the +grille, watching that archway through which the devil had disappeared.</p> + +<p>"What kind of help?" For a moment Dalgard pictured the monster +returning at the head of a regiment of its kind, able to tear out this +grille and get at their soft-fleshed enemies behind it.</p> + +<p>"Safety—protection," Sssuri told him. "And I think that the place to +which it now flees is one we should know."</p> + +<p>"Those Others?" The sun had not clouded, it still streamed down in the +torrid heat of early afternoon, warm on their heads and shoulders. Yet +Dalgard felt as chill as if some autumn wind had laid its lash across +the small of his back.</p> + +<p>"<i>They</i> are not here. But they have been—and it is possible that they +return. The devil goes to where it expects to find them."</p> + +<p>Sssuri was already on his way, running about the arena's curve to +reach the point above the archway<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> through which the snake-devil had +raced. Dalgard padded after him, bow in hand. He trusted Sssuri +implicitly when it came to tracking. If the merman said that the +snake-devil had a definite goal in view, he was right. But the scout +was still a little bemused by a monster who was able to have any goal +except the hunting and devouring of meat. Either the one who fled was +a freak among its kind or—There were several possibilities which +could answer that "or," and none of them were very pleasant to +consider.</p> + +<p>They reached the section above the archway and climbed the tiers of +seat benches to the top of the wall. Only to see no exit below them. +In fact nothing but a wide sweep of crushed brown tangle which had +once been vegetation. It was apparent that there was no door below.</p> + +<p>Sssuri sped down again. He climbed the grille and was on his way to +the sand when Dalgard caught up with him. Together they ventured into +the underground passage which the snake-devil had chosen.</p> + +<p>The stench of the lair was thick about them. Dalgard coughed, sickened +by the foul odor. He was reluctant to advance. But, to his growing +relief, he discovered that it was not entirely dark. Set in the roof +at intervals were plates which gave out a violet light, making a dim +twilight which was better than total darkness.</p> + +<p>It was a straight passage without any turns or openings. But the +horrible odor was constant, and Dalgard began to think that they might +be running head-on into another lair, perhaps one as well populated as +that they had left behind them. It was against nature for the +snake-devils he had known to lair under cover; they preferred narrow +rocky places where they could bask in the sun. But then the devil they +now pursued was no ordinary one.</p> + +<p>Sssuri reassured him. "There is no lair, only the smell because they +have come this way for many years."</p> + +<p>The passage opened into a wide room and here the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> violet light was +stronger, bright enough to make plain the fact that alcoves opened off +it, each and every one with a barred grille for a door. There was no +mistaking that once this had been a prison of sorts.</p> + +<p>Sssuri did no exploring but crossed the room at his shuffling trot, +which Dalgard matched. The way leading out on the opposite side +slanted up, and he judged it might bring them out at ground level.</p> + +<p>"The devil waits," Sssuri warned, "because it fears. It will turn on +us when we come. Be ready—"</p> + +<p>They were at another door, and before them was a long corridor with +tall window openings near the ceiling which gave admittance to the +sunlight. After the gloom of the tunnel, Dalgard blinked. But he was +aware of movement at the far end, just as he heard the hissing scream +of the monster they trailed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>6</h2> + +<h3>TREASURE HUNT</h3> +<p>Raf, squatting on a small, padded platform raised some six inches from +the floor, tried to study the inhabitants of the room without staring +offensively. At the first glance, in spite of their strange clothing +and their odd habit of painting their faces with weird designs, the +city people might have been of his own species. Until one saw their +too slender hands with the three equal-length fingers and thumb, or +caught a glimpse, under the elaborate head coverings, of the stiff, +spiky substance which served them for hair.</p> + +<p>At least they did not appear to be antagonistic. When they had reached +the roof top where the Terrans had landed their flitter, they had come +with empty hands, making gestures of good will and welcome. And they +had had no difficulty in persuading at least three of the exploring +party to accompany them to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> their own quarters, though Raf had been +separated from the flyer only by the direct order of Captain Hobart, +an order he still resented and wanted to disobey.</p> + +<p>The Terrans had been offered refreshment—food and drink. But knowing +the first rule of stellar exploration, they had refused, which did not +mean that the hosts must abstain. In fact, Raf thought, watching the +aliens about him, they ate as if such a feast were novel. His two +neighbors had quickly divided his portion between them and made it +disappear as fast, if not faster, than their own small servings.</p> + +<p>At the other end of the room Lablet and Hobart were trying to +communicate with the nobles about them, while Soriki, a small palm +recorder in his hand, was making a tape strip of the proceedings.</p> + +<p>Raf glanced from one of his neighbors to the other. The one on his +right had chosen to wear a sight-torturing shade of crimson, and the +material was wound in strips about his body as if he were engulfed in +an endless bandage. Only his fluttering hands, his three-toed feet and +his head were free of the supple rolls. Having selected red for his +clothing, he had picked a brilliant yellow paint for his facial +makeup, and it was difficult for the uninitiated to trace what must be +his normal features under that thick coating of stuff which fashioned +a masklike strip across his eyes and a series of circles outlining his +mouth, circles which almost completely covered his beardless cheeks. +More twists of woven fabric, opalescent and changing color as his head +moved, made a turban for his head.</p> + +<p>Most of the aliens about the room wore some variation of the same +bandage dress, face paint, and turban. An exception, one of three +such, was the feaster on Raf's left.</p> + +<p>His face paint was confined to a conservative set of bars on each +cheek, those a stark black and white. His sinewy arms were bare to the +shoulder, and he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> wore a shell of some metallic substance as a +breast-and back-plate, not unlike the very ancient body armor of Raf's +own world. The rest of his body was covered by the bandage strips, but +they were of a dead black, which, because of the natural thinness of +his limbs, gave him a rather unpleasant resemblance to a spider. +Various sheaths and pockets hung from a belt pulled tight about his +wasp middle, and a helmet of the metal covered his head. Soldier? Raf +was sure that his guess was correct.</p> + +<p>The officer, if officer he was, caught Raf's gaze. His small round +mouth gaped, and then his hands, with a few quick movements which Raf +followed, fascinated, pantomimed a flyer in the air. With those +talking fingers, he was able to make plain a question: was Raf the +pilot of the flitter?</p> + +<p>The pilot nodded. Then he pointed to the officer and forced as +inquiring an expression as he could command.</p> + +<p>The answer was sketched quickly and readably: the alien, too, was +either a pilot or had some authority over flyers. For the first time +since he had entered this building, Raf knew a slight degree of +relaxation.</p> + +<p>The wrinkleless, too smooth skin of the alien was a darkish yellow. +His painted face was a mask to frighten any sensible Terran child; his +general appearance was not attractive. But he was a flyer, and he +wanted to talk shop, as well as they could with no common speech. +Since the scarlet-wound nobleman on Raf's right was completely +engrossed in the feast, pursuing a few scraps avidly about the dish, +the Terran gave all his attention to the officer.</p> + +<p>Twittering words poured in a stream from the warrior's lips. Raf shook +his head regretfully, and the other jerked his shoulders in almost +human impatience. Somehow that heartened Raf.</p> + +<p>With many guesses to cover gaps, probably more than half of which were +wrong, Raf gathered that the officer was one of a very few who still +retained the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> almost forgotten knowledge of how to pilot the remaining +airworthy craft in this crumbling city. On their way to the building +with the curved roof, Raf had noted the evidences that the inhabitants +of this metropolis could not be reckoned as more than a handful and +that most of these now lived either within the central building or +close to it. A pitiful collection of survivors lingering on in the +ruins of their past greatness.</p> + +<p>Yet he was impressed now by no feeling that the officer, eagerly +trying to make contact, was a degenerate member of a dying race. In +fact, as Raf glanced at the aliens about the room, he was conscious of +an alertness, of a suppressed energy which suggested a young and +vigorous people.</p> + +<p>The officer was now urging him to go some place, and Raf, his dislike +for being in the heart of the strangers' territory once more aroused, +was about to shake his head in a firm negative when a second idea +stopped him. He had resisted separation from the flitter. Perhaps he +could persuade the alien, under the excuse of inspecting a strange +machine, to take him back to the flyer. Once there he would stay. He +did not know what Captain Hobart and Lablet thought they could +accomplish here. But, as for himself, Raf was sure that he was not +going to feel easy again until he was across the northern mountain +chain and coming in for a landing close by the <i>RS 10</i>.</p> + +<p>It was as if the alien officer had read his thoughts, for the warrior +uncrossed his black legs and got nimbly to his feet with a lithe +movement, which Raf, cramped by sitting in the unfamiliar posture, +could not emulate. No one appeared to notice their withdrawal. And +when Raf hesitated, trying to catch Hobart's eye and make some +explanation, the alien touched his arm lightly and motioned toward one +of the curtained doorways. Conscious that he could not withdraw from +the venture now, Raf reluctantly went out.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> + +<p>They were in a hall where bold bands of color interwove in patterns +impossible for Terran eyes to study. Raf lowered his gaze hurriedly to +the gray floor under his boots. He had discovered earlier that to try +to trace any thread of that wild splashing did weird things to his +eyesight and awakened inside him a sick panic. His space boots, with +the metal, magnetic plates set in the soles, clicked loudly on the +pavement where his companion's bare feet made no whisper of sound.</p> + +<p>The hall gave upon a ramp leading down, and Raf recognized this. His +confidence arose. They were on their way out of the building. Here the +murals were missing so that he could look about him for reference +points.</p> + +<p>He was sure that the banquet hall was some ten stories above street +level. But they did not go down ten ramps now. At the foot of the +third the officer turned abruptly to the left, beckoning Raf along. +When the Terran remained stubbornly where he was, pointing in the +direction which, to him, meant return to the flitter, the other made +gestures describing an aircraft in flight. His own probably.</p> + +<p>Raf sighed. He could see no way out unless he cut and ran. And long +before he reached the street from this warren they could pick him up. +Also, in spite of all the precautions he had taken to memorize their +way here, he was not sure he could find his path back to the flyer, +even if he were free to go. Giving in, he went after the officer.</p> + +<p>Their way led out on one of the spider-web bridges which tied building +and tower into the complicated web which was the city. Raf, as a pilot +of flitter, had always believed that he had no fear of heights. But he +discovered that to coast above the ground in a flyer was far different +than to hurry at the pace his companion now set across one of these +narrow bridges suspended high above the street. And he was sure that +the surface under them vibrated as if the slightest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> extra poundage +would separate it from its supports and send it, and them, crashing +down.</p> + +<p>Luckily the distance they had to cover was relatively short, but Raf +swallowed a sigh of relief as they reached the door at the other end. +They were now in a tower which, unluckily, proved to be only a way +station before another swing out over empty space on a span which +sloped down! Raf clutched at the guide rail, the presence of which +suggested that not all the users of this road were as nonchalant as +the officer who tripped lightly ahead. This must explain the other's +bare feet—on such paths they were infinitely safer than his own +boots.</p> + +<p>The downward sloping bridge brought them to a square building which +somehow had an inhabited look which those crowding around it lacked. +Raf gained its door to become aware of a hum, a vibration in the wall +he touched to steady himself, hinting at the drive of motors, the +throb of machinery inside the structure. But within, the officer +passed along a corridor to a ramp which brought them out, after what +was for Raf a steep climb, upon the roof. Here was not one of the +tongue-shaped craft such as had first met them in the city, but a +gleaming globe. The officer stopped, his eyes moving from the Terran +to the machine, as if inviting Raf to share in his own pride. To the +pilot's mind it bore little resemblance to any form of aircraft past +or present with which he had had experience in his own world. But he +did not doubt that it was the present acme of alien construction, and +he was eager to see it perform.</p> + +<p>He followed the officer through a hatch at the bottom of the globe, +only to be confronted by a ladder he thought at first he could not +climb, for the steps were merely toe holds made to accommodate the +long, bare feet of the crew. By snapping on the magnetic power of his +space boots, Raf was able to get up, although at a far slower speed +than his guide. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> passed several levels of cabins before coming +out in what was clearly the control cabin of the craft.</p> + +<p>To Raf the bank of unfamiliar levers and buttons had no meaning, but +he paid strict attention to the gestures of his companion. This was +not a space ship he gathered. And he doubted whether the aliens had +ever lifted from their own planet to their neighbors in this solar +system. But it was a long-range ship with greater cruising power than +the other flyer he had seen. And it was being readied now for a voyage +of some length.</p> + +<p>The Terran pilot squatted down on the small stool before the controls. +Before him a visa plate provided a clear view of the sky without and +the gathering clouds of evening. Raf shifted uncomfortably. That +signal of the passing of time triggered his impatience to be +away—back to the <i>RS 10</i>. He did not want to spend the night in this +city. Somehow he must get the officer to take him back to the +flitter—to be there would be better than shut up in one of the alien +dwellings.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile he studied the scene on the visa plate, trying to find the +roof on which they had left the flitter. But there was no point he was +able to recognize.</p> + +<p>Raf turned to the officer and tried to make clear the idea of +returning to his own ship. Either he was not as clever at the sign +language as the other, or the alien did not wish to understand. For +when they left the control cabin, it was only to make an inspection +tour of the other parts of the globe, including the space which held +the motors of the craft and which, at another time, would have kept +Raf fascinated for hours.</p> + +<p>In the end the Terran broke away and climbed down the thread of ladder +to stand on the roof under the twilight sky. Slowly he walked about +the broad expanse of the platform, attempting to pick out some +landmark. The central building of the city loomed high, and there were +any number of towers about it. But which was the one that guarded the +roof where the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> flitter rested? Raf's determination to get back to his +ship was a driving force.</p> + +<p>The alien officer had watched him, and now a three-fingered hand was +laid on Raf's sleeve while its owner looked into Raf's face and +mouthed a trilling question.</p> + +<p>Without much hope the pilot sketched the set of gestures he had used +before. And he was surprised when the other led the way down into the +building. This time they did not go back to the bridge, which had +brought them across the canyons of streets, but kept on down ramps +within the building.</p> + +<p>There was a hum of activity in the place. Aliens, all in tight black +wrappings and burnished metal breastplates, their faces barred with +black and white paint, went on errands through the halls or labored at +tasks Raf could not understand. It now seemed as if his guide were +eager to get him away.</p> + +<p>It was when they reached the street level that the officer did pause +by one door, beckoning Raf imperiously to join him. The Terran obeyed +reluctantly—and was almost sick.</p> + +<p>He was staring down at a dead, very dead body. By the stained rags +still clinging to it, it was one of the aliens, a noble, not one of +the black-clad warriors. The gaping wounds which had almost torn the +unfortunate apart were like nothing Raf had ever seen.</p> + +<p>With a guttural sound which expressed his feelings as well as any +words, the officer picked up from the floor a broken spear, the barbed +head of which was dyed the same reddish yellow as the blood still +seeping from the torn body. Swinging the weapon so close to Raf that +the Terran was forced to retreat a step or two to escape contact with +the grisly relic, the officer burst into an impassioned speech. Then +he went back to the gestures which were easier for the spaceman to +understand.</p> + +<p>This was the work of a deadly enemy, Raf gathered. And such a fate +awaited any one of them who ventured beyond certain bounds of safety. +Unless this ene<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>my were destroyed, the city—life itself—was no +longer theirs—</p> + +<p>Seeing those savage wounds which suggested that an insane fury had +driven the attacker, Raf could believe that. But surely a primitive +spear was no equal to the weapons his guide could command.</p> + +<p>When he tried to suggest that, the other shook his head as if +despairing of making plain his real message, and again beckoned Raf to +come with him. They were out on the littered street, heading away from +the central building where the rest of the Terran party must still be. +And Raf, seeing the lengthening shadows, the pools of dusk gathering, +and remembering that spear, could not resist glancing back over his +shoulder now and then. He wondered if the metallic click of his boot +soles on the pavement might not draw attention to them, attention they +would not care to meet. His hand was on his stun gun. But the officer +gave no sign of being worried; he walked along with the assurance of +one who has nothing to fear.</p> + +<p>Then Raf caught sight of a patch of color he had seen before and +relaxed. They <i>were</i> on their way back to the flitter! He had come +down this very street earlier. And he did not mind the long climb +back, ramp by steep ramp, which brought him out at last beside the +flyer. His relief was so great that he put out his hand to draw it +along the sleek side of the craft as he might have caressed a +well-loved pet.</p> + +<p>"Kurbi?"</p> + +<p>At Hobart's bark he stiffened. "Yes, sir!"</p> + +<p>"We camp here tonight. Have to make some plans."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir." He agreed with that. To attempt passage of the mountains +in the dark was a suicide mission which he would have refused. On the +other hand, to his mind, they would sleep more soundly if they were +out of the city. He speculated whether he dared suggest that they use +the few remaining moments of twilight to head into the open and +establish a camp somewhere in the countryside.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> + +<p>The alien officer made some comment in his slurred speech and faded +away into the shadows. Raf saw that the others had already dragged out +their blanket rolls and were spreading them in the shelter of the +flitter while Soriki busied himself at the com, sending back a message +to the <i>RS 10</i>.</p> + +<p>"... should not be too difficult to establish a common speech form," +Lablet was saying as Raf climbed into the flitter to tug loose his own +roll. "Color and pitch both seem to carry meaning. But the basic +pattern is there to study. And with the scanner to sort out those +record strips—did you adjust them, Soriki?"</p> + +<p>"They're all ready for you to push the button. If the scanner can read +them, it will. I got all that speech the chief, or king, or whatever +he was, made just before we left."</p> + +<p>"Good, very good!" In the light of the portable lamp by Soriki's com, +Lablet settled down, plugged the scanner tubes in his ears, absently +accepting a ration bar the captain handed him to chew on while he +listened to the playback of the record the com-tech had made that +afternoon.</p> + +<p>Hobart turned to Raf. "You went off with that officer. What did he +have to show you?"</p> + +<p>The pilot described the globe and the body he had been shown and then +added what he had deduced from the sketchy explanations he had been +given. The captain nodded.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they have aircraft, have been using them, too. But I think that +there's only one of the big ones. And they're fighting a war all +right. We didn't see the whole colony, but I'll wager that there are +only a handful of them left. They're holed up here, and they need help +or the barbarians will finish them off. They talked a lot about that."</p> + +<p>Lablet pulled the ear plugs from his ears. In the lamplight there was +an excited expression on his face. "You were entirely right, Captain! +They were offering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> us a bargain there at the last! They are offering +us the accumulated scientific knowledge of this world!"</p> + +<p>"What?" Hobart sounded bewildered.</p> + +<p>"Over there"—Lablet made a sweep with his arm which might indicate +any point to the east—"there is a storehouse of the original learning +of their race. It's in the heart of the enemy country. But the enemy +as yet do not know of it. They've made two trips over to bring back +material and their ship can only go once more. They offer us an equal +share if we'll make the next trip in their company and help them clean +out the storage place—"</p> + +<p>Hobart's answer was a whistle. There was an avid hunger on Lablet's +lean face. No more potent bribe could have been devised to entice him. +But Raf, remembering the spear-torn body, wondered.</p> + +<p><i>In the heart of the enemy country</i>, he repeated to himself.</p> + +<p>Lablet added another piece of information. "After all, the enemy they +face is only dangerous because of superior numbers. They are only +animals—"</p> + +<p>"Animals don't carry spears!" Raf protested.</p> + +<p>"Experimental animals that escaped during a world-wide war generations +ago," reported the other. "It seems that the species have evolved to a +semi-intelligent level. I must see them!"</p> + +<p>Hobart was not to be hurried. "We'll think it over," he decided. "This +needs a little time for consideration."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>7</h2> + +<h3>MANY EYES, MANY EARS</h3> +<p>This was not the first time Dalgard had faced the raging fury of a +snake-devil thirsting for a kill. The slaying he had done in the arena +was an exception to the rule, not the usual hunter's luck. And now +that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> he saw the creature crouched at the far end of the hall he was +ready. Sssuri, also, followed their familiar pattern, separating from +his companion and slipping along the wall toward the monster, ready to +attract its attention at the proper moment.</p> + +<p>Only one doubt remained in Dalgard's mind. This devil had not acted in +the normal brainless fashion of its kin. What if it was able to assess +the very simple maneuvers, which always before had completely baffled +its species, and attacked not the moving merman but the waiting +archer?</p> + +<p>It was backed against another door, a closed one, as if it had fled +for refuge to some aid it had expected and did not find. But as Sssuri +moved, its long neck straightened until it was almost at right angles +with its narrow shoulders, and from its snake's jaws proceeded a +horrific hissing which arose to a scream as its leg muscles tensed for +a spring.</p> + +<p>At just the right moment Sssuri's arm went back, his spear sang +through the air. And the snake-devil, with an incredible twist of its +neck, caught the haft of the weapon between its teeth, crunching the +iron-hard substance into powder. But with that move it exposed its +throat, and the arrow from Dalgard's bow was buried head-deep in the +soft inner flesh.</p> + +<p>The snake-devil spat out the spear and tried to raise its head. But +the muscles were already weakening. It fought the poison long enough +to take a single step forward, its small red eyes alight with +brainless hate. Then it crashed and lay twisting. Dalgard lowered his +bow. There was no need for a second shot.</p> + +<p>Sssuri regarded the remains of his spear unhappily. Not only was it +the product of long hours of work, but no merman ever felt fully +equipped to face the world without such a weapon to hand. He salvaged +the barbed head and broke it free of the shred of haft the snake-devil +had left. Knotting it at his belt he turned to Dalgard.</p> + +<p>"Shall we see what lies beyond?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> + +<p>Dalgard crossed the hall to test the door. It did not yield to an +inward push, but rolled far enough into the wall to allow them +through.</p> + +<p>On the other side was a room which amazed the scout. The colonists had +their laboratory, their workshops, in which they experimented and +tried to preserve the remnants of knowledge their forefathers had +brought across space, as well as to discover new. But the extent of +this storehouse with its bewildering mass of odd machines, tanks, +bales, and stocked shelves and tables, was too much to be taken in +without a careful and minute examination.</p> + +<p>"We are not the first to walk here." Sssuri had given little attention +to what was stacked about him. Instead he bent over the disturbed dust +in one aisle. Dalgard noted as he went to join the merman that there +were gaps on those tables which ran the full length of the room, lines +left in the grimy deposit of years which told of things recently +moved. And then he saw what had interested Sssuri: tracks, some +resembling those which his own bare feet might leave, except that +there were only three toes!</p> + +<p>"<i>They.</i>"</p> + +<p>Dalgard who had been a hunter and a tracker before he was an explorer +crouched for a clearer view. Yes, they were recent, yet not made today +or even yesterday; there was a thin film of dust resettled in each.</p> + +<p>"Some days ago. They are not in the city now," the merman declared +with certainty. "But they will come again."</p> + +<p>"How do you know that?"</p> + +<p>Sssuri's hand swept about to include the wealth around them. "They +have taken some, perhaps to them the most needful. But they will not +be able to resist gathering the rest. Surely they will return, perhaps +not once but many times. Until—"</p> + +<p>"Until they come to stay." Dalgard was grim as he completed that +sentence for the other.</p> + +<p>"That is what they will work for. This land was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> once under their +mastery. This world was theirs before they threw it away warring among +themselves. Yes, they dream of holding all once more. But"—Sssuri's +yellow eyes took on some of the fire which had shone in those of the +snake-devil during its last seconds of life—"that must not be so!"</p> + +<p>"If they take the land, you have the sea," Dalgard pointed out. The +mermen had a means of escape. But what of his own clansmen? Large +families were unknown among the Terran colonists. In the little more +than a century they had been on this planet their numbers, from the +forty-five survivors of the voyage, had grown to only some two hundred +and fifty, of which only a hundred and twenty were old enough or young +enough to fight. And for them there was no retreat or hiding place.</p> + +<p>"We do not go back to the depths!" There was stern determination in +that declaration from Sssuri. His tribe had been long hunted, and it +wasn't until they had made a loose alliance with the Terran colonists +that they had dared to leave the dangerous ocean depths, where they +were the prey of monsters more ferocious and cunning than any +snake-devil, to house their families in the coast caves and on the +small islands off-shore, to increase in numbers and develop new skills +of civilization. No, knowing the stubbornness which was bred into +their small, furry bodies, Dalgard did not believe that many of the +sea people would willingly go back into the sunless depths. They would +not surrender tamely to the rulership of the loathed race.</p> + +<p>"I don't see," Dalgard spoke aloud, half to himself, as he studied the +tables closely packed, the machines standing on bases about the walls, +the wealth of alien technology, "what we can do to stop them."</p> + +<p>The restriction drilled into him from early childhood, that the +knowledge of Those Others was not for his race and in some way +dangerous, gave him an uneasy feeling of guilt just to be standing +there. Danger, dan<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>ger which was far worse than physical, lurked +there. And he could bring it to life by merely putting out his hand +and picking up any one of those fascinating objects which lay only +inches away. For the pull of curiosity was warring inside him against +the stern warnings of his Elders.</p> + +<p>Once when Dalgard had been very small he had raided his father's trip +bag after the next to the last exploring journey the elder Nordis had +made. And he had found a clear block of some kind of greenish crystal, +in the heart of which threadlike lines of color wove patterns which +were utterly strange. When he had turned the block in his hand, those +lines had whirled and changed to form new and intricate designs. And +when he had watched them intently it had seemed that something +happened inside his mind and he knew, here and there, a word, a +fragment of alien thought—just as he normally communicated with the +cub who was Sssuri or the hoppers of the field. And his surprise had +been so great that he had gone running to his father with the cube and +the story of what happened when one watched it.</p> + +<p>But there had been no praise for his discovery. Instead he had been +hurried off to the chamber where an old, old man, the son of the Great +Man who had planned to bring them across space, lay in his bed. And +Forken Kordov himself had talked to Dalgard in his old voice, a voice +as withered and thin as the hands crossed helplessly on his shrunken +body, explaining in simple, kindly words that the knowledge which lay +in the cubes, in the oddly shaped books which the Terrans sometimes +came across in the ruins, was not for them. That his own +great-grandfather Dard Nordis, who had been one of the first of the +mutant line of sensitives, had discovered that. And Dalgard, impressed +by Forken, by his father's concern, and by all the circumstances of +that day, had never forgotten nor lost that warning.</p> + +<p>"<i>We</i> cannot hope to stop them," Sssuri pointed out.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> "But we must +learn when they will come again and be waiting for them—with your +people and mine. For I tell you now, brother of the knife, they must +not be allowed to rise once more!"</p> + +<p>"And how can we foretell their coming?" Dalgard wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps that alone we cannot do. But when they come they will not +leave speedily. They have stayed here before without harm, and their +distrust has been lulled. When next they come, it will be only +according to their natures that they will wish to stay longer. Not +snatching up the closest to hand of these treasures of theirs, but +choosing out with care those things which will give them the best +results. Therefore they may make a camp, and we can summon others to +aid us."</p> + +<p>"To return to Homeport will take several days even if we push," +pointed out the scout.</p> + +<p>"Word can pass swifter than man," the merman returned, with confidence +in his own plan of action. "We shall put other eyes, other ears, many +eyes, many ears, to service for us. Be assured we are not the only +ones to fear the return of Those Others from overseas."</p> + +<p>Dalgard caught his meaning. Yes, it would not be the first time the +hoppers and other small animals living in the grasslands, the runners +and even the moth birds that only the mermen could mind touch, would +relay a message across the land. It might not be an accurate +message—to transmit that by small animal brains was impossible—but +the meaning would reach both merman and colony Elders: trouble in the +north, help needed there. And since Dalgard was the only explorer at +present who had chosen the northern trails, his people would know that +he had sent that warning and would act upon it, as Sssuri's message +would in turn be heeded by the warriors of his tribe.</p> + +<p>Yes, it could be done. But what of the traces they had left here—the +slaughtered snake-devils—?</p> + +<p>Sssuri had an answer for that also. "Let them believe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> that one of my +race came here, or that a party of us ventured to explore inland. We +can make it appear that way. But they must not know of you. I do not +believe that they ever learned of you or how your fathers came from +the sky. And so that may swing the battle in our favor if it comes to +open warfare."</p> + +<p>What the merman said was sensible enough, and Dalgard was willing to +obey orders. As he left the storehouse, Sssuri trailed him, scuffing +each dusty print the scout left. Perhaps a master of trailcraft could +unravel that spoor, but the colonist was ready to believe that no such +master existed in the ranks of Those Others.</p> + +<p>In the outer hall the merman approached the now dead snake-devil and +jerked from its loose skin the arrow which had killed it. Loosing the +head of his ruined spear from his belt, he dug and gouged at the small +wound, tearing it so that its original nature was concealed forever. +Then they retraced their way through the underground passages until +they reached the sanded arena. Already insects buzzed hungrily about +the hulks of the dead monsters.</p> + +<p>There was a shrill squeal as the remaining infant reptile fled from +the pouch where it had hidden. Sssuri hurled his knife, and the blade +caught the small devil above the shoulder line, half cutting, half +snapping its tender neck, so that it bounded aimlessly on to crash +against the wall and fall back squirming feebly.</p> + +<p>They collected the darts which had killed the others. Dalgard took the +opportunity to study those bands on the forearms of the adults. To his +touch they had the slick smoothness of metal, yet he was unfamiliar +with the material. It possessed the ruddy fire of copper, but through +it ran small black veins. He would have liked to have taken one with +him for investigation, but it was out of the question to pry it off +that scaled limb.</p> + +<p>Sssuri straightened up from his last gruesome bit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> of stage-setting +with a sigh of relief. "Go ahead." He pointed to one of the other +archways. "I will confuse the trail."</p> + +<p>Dalgard obeyed, treading as lightly as he could, avoiding all +stretches in which he could leave a clear print. Sssuri ran lightly +back and forth mixing the few impressions to the best of his ability.</p> + +<p>They backtracked to the river, retrieved the boat and recrossed, to +leave the city behind and strike into the open country beyond its +sinister walls. Night was falling, and Dalgard was very glad that he +was not to spend the time of darkness within those haunted buildings. +But he knew that it was more than a dislike for being shut up in the +alien dwellings which had brought Sssuri out into the fields. The +second part of their plan must be put into operation.</p> + +<p>While Dalgard willed his body motionless, the merman lay relaxed upon +the ground before him as he might have floated upon his beloved waves +in some secluded cove. His brilliant eyes were closed. Yet Dalgard +knew that Sssuri was far from asleep, and with all his own power he +tried to join in the broadcast: that urgency which should send some +hopper, some night runner, on to spread the rumor that there was +trouble in the north, that danger existed and must be investigated. +They had already met one colony of runners ranging southward to +escape. But if they could send another such tribe traveling, arouse +and aim south a hopper exodus, the story would spread until the fringe +would reach the animals who lived in peace within touch of Homeport.</p> + +<p>The sun was gone, the dark gathered fast. Dalgard could not even see +the clustered buildings of the city now. And since he lacked Sssuri's +range and staying power, he had no idea whether their efforts had met +with even a shadow of success. He shivered in the bite of the wind and +dared to lay his hand on Sssuri's shoulder, feeling anew the electric +shock of warmth and bursting life which was always there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> + +<p>Having so broken the other's absorption he asked a question: "Would it +not be well, brother of the knife, if with the rising sun you returned +to the sea and struck out to join your tribesmen, leaving me here to +watch until you return?"</p> + +<p>Sssuri's answer came with a speed which suggested that he, too, had +been considering that problem. "We shall see what happens with the +sun's rising. It is true that in the sea I can travel with greater +speed, that there are hunting parties of my people striking into these +waters. But they will not come to this city without good reason. It is +an accursed place."</p> + +<p>With the early morning the city drew them once more. Dalgard's +curiosity pulled him to that storehouse. He could not stifle the hope +that with luck he might find something there which would solve their +problem for them. If there could only be a way to avoid open conflict +with Those Others, some solution whereby the aliens need never know of +the existence of the Colony. For so many generations, even centuries, +the aliens had been confined, or had confined themselves, safely +overseas on the western continent. Perhaps if now they were faced by +some new catastrophe, they would never attempt to come east again. He +had visions of discovering and activating some trap set to protect +their treasures which could be turned against them. But he realized +that he lacked the technical knowledge which would have aided him in +the search for such a weapon.</p> + +<p>The remnants of Terran science and mechanics, which the outlaws had +brought with them from their native world, had been handed on; the +experiments they had managed since with crude equipment had been +carefully recorded, and he was acquainted with the outlines of most of +them. But the few destructive arms they had imported were long since +worn out or lacked charges, and they had not been able to duplicate +them. Just as they had torn asunder the ship in which they had crossed +space, to use its parts for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> building of Homeport, so had they +hoarded all else they had brought. But they were limited by lack of +materials on Astra, and their fear of the knowledge of the aliens had +kept them from experimenting with things found in the ruins.</p> + +<p>There might be hundreds of objects on the shelves of that storage +place, which, properly used, would reduce not only just the room and +its contents to glowing slag, but take half the city with it. But he +had no idea which, or which combination, would do it.</p> + +<p>And here Sssuri could be no help. The mermen had made great strides +forward in biological and mental sciences, but mechanics was a closed +section of learning because of their enforced habitat under the sea, +and of machines they knew less than the colonists.</p> + +<p>"I have been thinking—" Sssuri broke into his companion's chain of +reasoning, "of what we may do. And perhaps there is a way to reach the +sea more swiftly than by returning overland."</p> + +<p>"Downriver? But you said that way may have its watching devices."</p> + +<p>"Which would be centered on objects coming upstream, not down. But in +this city there should be yet another way—"</p> + +<p>He did not enlarge upon that, but since he apparently knew what he was +doing, Dalgard let him play guide once more. They recrossed the +sluggish river, the scout looking into its murky depths with little +relish for it as a means of transportation. Though it had an oily, +flowing current, there was a suggestion of stagnant water with +unpleasant surprises waiting beneath its turgid surface.</p> + +<p>For the second time they entered the arena. Avoiding the bodies, +Sssuri made a circuit of the sanded floor. He did not turn in at the +archway which led to the storage place, but paused before another as +if there lay what he had been searching for.</p> + +<p>Dalgard's less sensitive nostrils picked up a new scent, the +not-to-be-missed fetor of damp underground<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> ways where water stood. +The merman edged around a barred gate as Dalgard sniffed again. The +smell of damp was crossed by other and even less appetizing odors, but +he did not catch the stench of the snake-devils. And, relying on +Sssuri's judgment, he followed the merman into the dark.</p> + +<p>Once again patches of violet light glimmered over their heads as the +passage narrowed and sloped downward. Dalgard tried to remember the +general geography of the section which was above them now. He had +assumed that this way with its dank chill must give on the river. But +when they had pattered on for a long distance, he knew that either +they had passed beneath the stream or that he was totally lost as to +direction.</p> + +<p>As their eyes adjusted to the gloom of the passage the violet light +grew stronger. So Dalgard saw clearly when Sssuri whirled and faced +back along the way they had come, his body in a half crouch, his knife +ready in his hand.</p> + +<p>Dalgard, his bow useless in the damp, drew his own sword-knife. But, +though his mind probed and he listened, he could sense or hear nothing +on their trail.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>8</h2> + +<h3>AIRLIFT</h3> +<p>They were air-borne once more, but Raf was not pleased. In the seat +beside him, which Captain Hobart should be occupying, there now +squirmed an alien warrior who apparently was uncomfortable in the +chair-like depression so different from the low stools he was +accustomed to. Soriki was still in the second passenger place, but he, +too, shared that with another of the men from the city who rested +across bony knees a strange weapon rather like a Terran rifle.</p> + +<p>No, the spacemen were not prisoners. According to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> the official +statement they were allies. But, Raf wondered, as against his will he +followed the globe in a northeastern course, how long would that +fiction last if they refused to fall in with any suggestions the +aliens might make? He did not doubt that there was on board the globe +some surprise which could shoot the flitter out of the air, if, for +example, he adjusted the controls before him and bore west toward the +mountains and the safety of the space ship. Either of the aliens he +now transported could bring him under control by using those weapons, +which might do anything from boiling a man in some unknown ray to +smothering him in gas. He had not seen the arms in action, and he did +not want to.</p> + +<p>Yet Hobart and Lablet did not, as far as he could tell, share his +suspicions. Lablet was eager to see the mysterious storehouse, and the +captain was either moved by the same desire or else had long since +deduced the folly of trying to make a break for it Thus they were now +heading seaward with the captain and Lablet sharing quarters with the +leaders of the expedition on board the globe, and Raf and the +com-tech, with companions—or guards—bringing up the rear. The aliens +had even insisted on stripping the flitter of much of its Terran +equipment before they left the city, pointing out that the cleared +storage space would be filled with salvage when they made the return +voyage.</p> + +<p>The globe had been trailing along the coastline, and now it angled out +to glide over a long finger of cape, rocky and waterworn, which +pointed at almost a right angle into the sea. This dwindled into a +reef of rock, like the nail on a finger. The sea ahead was no unbroken +expanse. Instead there was a series of islands, some merely tops of +reefs over which the waves broke, others more substantial, rising well +above the threatening water, and one or two showing the green of +vegetation.</p> + +<p>The chain of islets extended so far out that when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> the flitter passed +over the last one the main continent was out of sight. Now only water +stretched beneath them. The globe skidded on as if its pilot had given +it an extra burst of power, and Raf accelerated in turn, having no +desire to lose his guide. But they were not to make the ocean-wide +trip in one jump.</p> + +<p>At midday he saw again a break in the smooth carpet of waves, another +island, or perhaps the southern tip of a northern continent for the +land swept in that direction as far as he could see. The globe +spiraled down to make a neat landing on a flat plateau, and Raf +prepared to join it. When the undercarriage of the flitter jarred +lightly on the rock, he saw signs that this was a man-or +alien-fashioned place which must have had much use in the dim past +when his new companions ruled all their native world.</p> + +<p>The rock had been smoothed off to a flat surface, and at its perimeter +were several small domed buildings. Yet, as there had been in the +countryside and in the city, except at its very heart, there was an +aura of desertion at the site.</p> + +<p>Both his alien passengers jumped out of the flitter, as if only too +pleased at their release from the Terran flyer. For the first time Raf +was shaken out of his own preoccupation with his dislike for the +aliens to wonder if they could be moved by a similar distaste for +Terrans. Lablet might be interested in that as a scientific +problem—the pilot only knew how he felt and that was not comfortable.</p> + +<p>Soriki got out and walked across the rock, stretching. But for a long +moment Raf remained where he was, behind the controls of the flyer. He +was as cramped and tired of travel as the com-tech, perhaps even more +so since the responsibility of the flight had been his. And had they +landed in open country he would have liked to have thrown himself down +on the ground, taking off his helmet and unhooking his tunic collar to +let the fresh wind blow through his hair and across his skin. Perhaps +that would take away the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> arid dust of centuries, which, to his mind, +had grimed him since their hours in the city. But here was no open +country, only a landing space which reminded him too much of the roof +of the building in the metropolis.</p> + +<p>A half-dozen of the breastplated warriors filed out of the globe and +went to the nearest dome, returning with heavy boxes. +Fuel—supplies—Raf shrugged off the problem. The pilot was secretly +relieved when Captain Hobart dropped out of the hatch in the globe and +made his way over to the flitter.</p> + +<p>"Everything running smoothly?" he asked with a glance at the two +aliens who were Raf's passengers.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. Any idea how much farther—?" Raf questioned.</p> + +<p>Hobart shrugged. "Until we work out basic language difficulties," he +muttered, "who knows anything? There is at least one more of these way +stations. They don't run on atomics, need some kind of fuel, and they +have to have new supplies every so often. Their head man can't +understand why it isn't necessary for us to do the same."</p> + +<p>"Has he suggested that his techneers want a look at our motors, sir?"</p> + +<p>Hobart unbent a little. It was as if in that question he had read +something which pleased him. "So far we've managed not to understand +that. And if anyone tries it on his own, refer him to me—understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir!" Some of the relief in Raf's tone came through, and he saw +that the captain was watching him narrowly.</p> + +<p>"You don't like these people, Kurbi?"</p> + +<p>The pilot replied with the truth. "I don't feel easy with them, sir. +Not that they've shown any unfriendliness. Maybe it's because they're +alien—"</p> + +<p>He had said the wrong thing and knew it immediately.</p> + +<p>"That sounds like prejudice, Kurbi!" Hobart's voice carried the snap +of a reprimand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," Raf said woodenly. That had done it as far as the captain +was concerned. The fierce racial and economical prejudices which had +been the keystones of the structure of Pax had left their shadow on +Terra's thinking. Nowadays a man would better be condemned for murder +than for prejudice against another—it was the unforgivable crime. And +in that unconsidered answer Raf had rendered unreliable in the eyes of +authority any future report on the aliens which he might be forced to +make.</p> + +<p>Silently cursing his lack of judgment, Raf made a careful check of the +flyer, which might not be necessary but going through the motions of +doing his duty gave him some relief. Once the idea struck him of +claiming some trouble that would take them back to the spacer for +repairs. But Hobart was too good a mechanic himself not to see through +that.</p> + +<p>They covered the second stage of their flight by evening, this time +putting down on an island where, by some ancient and titanic feat of +labor, the top had been sheared off a central mountain to make a base. +A ring of reefs cut off the land from the action of the waves. At once +a party of aliens left the main company and made their way down the +mountain to prowl along the shore. They made a discovery of sorts, for +Raf saw them ring in some object they had pulled up on the sand. What +it was and what meaning it had for them they did not try to explain to +the Terrans.</p> + +<p>The party spent the night there, the four spacemen wrapped in their +sleeping rolls by the flitter, the aliens in their globe ship. The +Terrans did not miss the fact that the others had unobtrusively posted +guards at the only two places where the mountain could be climbed. And +each of those guards cradled in the crook of his arm one of the rifle +weapons.</p> + +<p>They were aroused shortly after dawn. As far as Raf could see the +island was barren of life, or else any creature native to it kept +prudently out of the way while the flyers were there. They took off, +the globe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> rising like a balloon into the morning sky, the flitter +waiting until it was air-borne before scaling after it.</p> + +<p>The mountainous island where they had based was the sea sentinel of an +archipelago, which they saw spread out below them as if someone had +flung a handful of pebbles into a shallow pool. Most of the islands +were merely rocky crags. But there were two which showed the green of +small open fields, and Raf thought he caught a glimpse of a dome house +on the last.</p> + +<p>They were now over a region thick with islands, the first collection +giving way to a second and then a third. Raf, expecting no sudden move +on the part of the globe he trailed, was startled when the alien ship +made a downward swoop. At the same time the warrior seated beside him +tugged at the sleeve of his tunic and jabbed a finger toward the +ground, clearly an order to follow. Raf cut speed and cautiously lost +altitude, determined that he was not going to be rushed into any move +for which he did not know the reason.</p> + +<p>The globe was hovering over a small island set a little apart from the +others. A moment later Soriki's excited voice drew Raf's attention +from his controls to what was going on below.</p> + +<p>"There's, people down there! Look at them run!"</p> + +<p>They were too far away to be sure of the nature of the brown-gray +things so close to the color of the sea-washed rock that they could +only be detected when they moved. But it was evident that they were +alive, and as Raf brought the flitter closer, he was also certain that +they ran on their two hind feet instead of on an animal's four pads.</p> + +<p>From the under part of the globe ship licked a tongue of fire. With +the force of a whiplash it coursed across the rock and in its passing +embrace, the creatures below writhed and withered to charred heaps. +They had no chance under that methodical blasting. The alien beside +Raf signaled again for a drop. He patted the weapon that he held and +motioned for Raf<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> to release the covering of the windshield. But the +pilot shook his head firmly.</p> + +<p>This might be war. The aliens could have a very good reason for their +deadly attack on the creatures surprised below. But he wanted no part +of it, nor did he want to get any closer to the scene of slaughter. +And he made an emphatic gesture that the windshield could not be +opened while the flitter was air-borne.</p> + +<p>But as he did so they glided down, and he caught a single good look at +what was going on on the rock—a look which remained to haunt his +dreams for long years to come. For now he saw clearly the creatures +who ran fruitlessly for safety. Some reached the edge of the cliff and +leaped to what was an easier death in the sea. But too many others +could not make it and died in flaming agony. And they were not all of +one size!</p> + +<p>Children! There was no mistaking the infant in its mother's arms, the +two small ones who fled hand in hand until one stumbled and the +burning lash caught them both as the other strove to pull the fallen +to its feet. Raf gagged. He triggered the controls and soared up and +away, fighting the heaving in his middle, shaking off with one savage +jerk the insistent pawing hand of the alien who wanted to join in the +fun.</p> + +<p>"Did you see that?" he demanded of Soriki.</p> + +<p>For once the com-tech sounded subdued. "Yes," he replied shortly.</p> + +<p>"Those were children," Raf hammered home the point.</p> + +<p>"Young ones anyway," the com-tech conceded. "Maybe they aren't people. +They had fur all over them—"</p> + +<p>Raf grinned mirthlessly. Should he now accuse Soriki of prejudice? +What did it matter if a thinking creature was clothed in a space suit, +silken bandages, or natural fur—it was still a thinking creature. And +he was sure that those had been intelligent creatures he had just seen +blasted without a chance to fight back. If these were the enemy the +aliens feared, he could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> understand the vicious cruelty of the attack +which had killed the man he had been shown back in the city. Fire +against primitive spears was not equal, and when the spears got their +chance they must make up for much to balance the scales of justice.</p> + +<p>He did not even wonder why his emotions were so wholeheartedly +enlisted upon the side of the furred people. Nor did he try to analyze +his feelings. He was only sure that more than ever he wanted to be +free of the aliens and out of this whole venture.</p> + +<p>The warrior sharing his seat was sulking now, twisting about to look +back at the island as Raf circled in ever-widening glides to get away +from the site and yet not lose track of the globe when it would have +finished its dirty business and take once more to the air. But the +alien ship was in no hurry to leave.</p> + +<p>"They are making sure," Soriki reported. "Giving the whole island a +fire bath. I wonder what that stuff is—"</p> + +<p>"I'd just as soon not know," Raf returned from between set teeth. "If +that is one of their pieces of precious knowledge, we're as well off +without it—" he stopped short. Perhaps he had said too much. But +Terra had been racked by the torrid horror of atomic war, until all +his kind had been so revolted that it was bred into them not to meddle +again with such weapons. And war by fire aroused in them that old +horror. Surely Soriki must feel it too, and when the com-tech did not +comment, Raf was sure of that. He hoped that the slaughter had made +some impression on the captain and on Lablet into the bargain.</p> + +<p>But when, as if sated with killing, the globe rose again from its +position over the island, moving almost sluggishly into the fresh sky, +he had to follow it on. More islands were below, and he feared that +each one might show some sign of life and tempt the killers to a +second hunting.</p> + +<p>Luckily that did not happen. The chains of islands became a cape as +they had on the coast of the western continent. And now the globe +swung to the south, trail<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>ing the shore line. Forests made green +splotches with bluish overtones running from the sea cliffs back to +carpet the land. So far no signs of civilization were to be seen. This +land was as untouched as that where the spacer had landed.</p> + +<p>Then they saw the bay, stretching out wide arms to engulf the sea. It +could have harbored a whole fleet. And marching down to its waters +were broad levels of buildings, a giant's staircase leading from sea +to cliff tops.</p> + +<p>"They had it here—!"</p> + +<p>Raf saw what Soriki meant by that outburst. Destruction had struck. He +had seen the atomic ruins of his own world, those which were free +enough from radiation to explore. But he had never seen anything like +these chilling scars. In long strips the very stone which provided +foundation for the tiered city had been churned and boiled, had run in +rivulets of lava down to the sea, enclosing narrow tongues of still +untouched structures. The fire whip the globe had used, magnified to +some infinitely greater extent—? It could be.</p> + +<p>The alien at his side pressed tightly against the windshield gazing +down at the ruins. And now he mouthed a gabble of words which was +echoed by his fellow sitting with Soriki. Their excitement must mean +that this was their goal. Raf slacked speed, waiting for the globe to +point a way to a landing.</p> + +<p>But to his surprise the alien ship shot forward inland. The long day +was almost over as they came to a second city with a river knotting a +ribbon through its middle. Here were no traces of the fury which had +laded the seaport with havoc. This collection of buildings seemed +whole and perfect.</p> + +<p>There was, oddly enough, no landing strip within the city. The globe +coasted over the rough oval and came down in open fields to the west. +It was a maneuver which Raf copied, though he first dropped a flare as +a precaution and brought the flier down in its red glare, with the +warrior expressing shrill disapproval.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't think they like fireworks," Soriki remarked.</p> + +<p>Raf snorted. "So they don't like fireworks! Well, I don't like +crack-ups, and I'm the pilot!" But he didn't believe that the com-tech +was really protesting. Soriki had been very quiet since they had +witnessed the attack on the island.</p> + +<p>"Grim-looking place," was his second comment as they touched ground.</p> + +<p>Since Raf privately had held that opinion of all the alien settlements +he had so far seen, he agreed. Their two alien passengers were out of +the flitter as soon as he opened the bubble shield. And as they stood +by the Terran flyer, they held their weapons ready, facing out into +the dusk as if they half expected trouble. After the earlier episode +that day, Raf did not wonder at their preparedness. Terror begets +terror, and ruthlessness arouses retaliation in kind.</p> + +<p>"Kurbi! Soriki!" Hobart's voice sounded out of the shadows. "Stay +where you are for the present."</p> + +<p>Soriki settled deeper in his seat. "He doesn't have to tell me to +brake jets," he muttered. "I like it here—"</p> + +<p>Raf did not need to echo that. He had a strong surmise that had he +been tempted to roam away from the flitter the move would not have +been encouraged by the alien guardsmen. If this was their treasure +city, they would not welcome any independent investigation by +strangers.</p> + +<p>When the captain joined them, he was accompanied by the officer who +had first shown Raf the globe. And the warrior was either disturbed or +angry, for he was talking in a steady stream and his hands were +whirling in explanatory gestures.</p> + +<p>"They didn't like that flare," Hobart remarked. But there was no +reproof in his words. As a spacer pilot he knew that Raf had only done +what duty demanded. "We're to remain here—for the night."</p> + +<p>"Where's Lablet?" Soriki wanted to know.</p> + +<p>"He's staying with Yussoz, the alien commander. He thinks he has the +language problem about solved."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good enough." Soriki pulled out his bed roll. "We're out of touch +with the ship—"</p> + +<p>There was a second of silence, unduly prolonged it seemed to Raf. Then +Hobart spoke:</p> + +<p>"We couldn't expect to keep in call forever. The best com has its +range. When did you lose contact?"</p> + +<p>"Just before these wrapped-up heroes played with fire back there. I +gave the boys all I knew up until then. They know we were headed west, +and they had us beamed as long as they could."</p> + +<p>So it wasn't too bad, thought Raf. But he didn't like it, even with +that mitigating factor. To all purposes the four Terrans were now +surrounded by some twenty times their number, in an unknown country, +out of all communication with the rest of their kind. It could add up +to disaster.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>9</h2> + +<h3>SEA GATE</h3> +<p>"What is it?" Dalgard asked his question as Sssuri, his attention still +on their back trail, stole along cautiously on a retracing of their +path.</p> + +<p>But that retreat ended abruptly with the merman plastered against the +wall, his whole shadowy form a tense warning which stopped Dalgard +short. In that moment the answer flashed from mind to mind.</p> + +<p>"There are those which follow—"</p> + +<p>"Snake-devils? Those Others?" The colony scout supplied the only two +explanations he had, sending his own thought out questing. But as +usual he could not hope to equal the more sensitive merman whose race +had always used that form of communication.</p> + +<p>"Those who have long haunted the darkness," was the only reply he +could get.</p> + +<p>But Sssuri's actions were far more indicative of dan<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>ger. For the +merman turned and caught at Dalgard, pulling the larger colonist along +a step or two with the urgency of his grip.</p> + +<p>"We cannot return this way—and we must travel fast!"</p> + +<p>For Sssuri who would face and had faced up to a snake-devil with a +spear his sole weapon, this timidity was new. Dalgard was wise enough +to accept his verdict of the wisdom of flight. Together they ran along +the underground corridor, soon putting a mile between them and the +point where the merman had first taken alarm.</p> + +<p>"From what do we flee?" As the merman began to slacken pace, Dalgard +sent that query.</p> + +<p>"There are those who live in this darkness. By one, or by two, we +could speedily remove them from life. But they hunt in packs and they +are as greedy for the kill as are the snake-devils scenting meat. Also +they are intelligent. Once, long before the days of burning, they +served Those Others as hunters of game. And Those Others tried to make +them ever more intelligent and crafty so they might be sent to hunt +without a huntsman. At last they grew too knowing for their masters. +Then Those Others, realizing their menace, tried to kill them all with +traps and tricks. But only the most stupid and the slowest were so +disposed of. The others withdrew into underground ways such as this, +venturing forth only in the dark of night."</p> + +<p>"But if they are intelligent," countered the scout, "why can they not +be reached by the mind touch?"</p> + +<p>"Through the years they have developed their own ways of thought. And +these are not the simple creatures of the sun, or such as the runners. +Once they were taught to answer only to Those Others. Now they answer +only to each other. But"—he spread out his hands in one of his quick, +nervous gestures—"to those who are cornered by one of their packs, +they are sudden death!"</p> + +<p>Since they could not, by Sssuri's reckoning, turn back, there was only +one course before them, to fol<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>low the passage they had chanced upon. +The merman was certain that it underran the river and that eventually +they would reach the sea—unless some side turn before that point +would make them free in the countryside once more.</p> + +<p>Dalgard doubted if it had ever been a well-used way. And the presence +of earth falls here and there, over which they stumbled and clawed +their way, led him to consider the wisdom of keeping on to what might +be a dead end. But his trust in Sssuri's judgment was great, and as +the merman plowed forward with every appearance of confidence, he +continued to trot along without complaint.</p> + +<p>They snatched moments of rest, taking turns at guard. But the walls +about them were so unchanging that it was hard to measure time or +distance. Dalgard chewed at his emergency rations, a block of dried +meat and fruit pounded together to an almost rocklike consistency, and +tried to make the crumbs he sucked loose satisfy his growing hunger.</p> + +<p>The passageway was growing damper; water trickled down the walls and +gathered in fetid pools on the floor. Dalgard's dislike of the place +grew. His shoulders hunched involuntarily as he strode along, for his +imagination pictured the rock above them giving away to dump tons of +the oily river water down to engulf them. But though Sssuri avoided +splashing through the pools wherever he might, he did not appear to +find anything upsetting about the moisture.</p> + +<p>At last the human could stand it no longer. "How much farther to the +sea?" he asked without any hope of a real answer.</p> + +<p>As he had expected him to do, Sssuri shrugged. "We should be close. +But having never trod this way before, how can I tell you?"</p> + +<p>Once more they rested, choosing a stretch which was reasonably dry, +munching their dried food and drinking sparingly from the stoppered +duocorn horns which swung from their belts. A man would have to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> be +dying of thirst, Dalgard thought, before he would palm up any of the +stagnant water from the passage pools.</p> + +<p>He drifted off into a troubled sleep in which he fled beneath a sky +which was a giant lid in the hand of an unseen enemy, a lid which was +slowly lowered to crush him flat. He awoke with a start to find +Sssuri's cool, scaled fingers stroking his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Dream demons walk these roads." The words drifted into his half-awake +mind.</p> + +<p>"They do indeed," he roused to answer.</p> + +<p>"It is always so where Those Others have been. They leave behind them +the thoughts which breed such dreams to trouble the sleep of those who +are not of their kind. Let us go. I would like to be out of this place +under the clean sky, where no ancient wickedness hangs to poison the +air and thought."</p> + +<p>Either the merman had miscalculated the direction of their route or +the river mouth was much farther from the inland city than they had +believed, for, though they pushed on for what seemed like weary hours, +they came to no upward slope, no exit to the world they knew.</p> + +<p>Instead Dalgard began to realize that just the opposite was true. At +last he could stand it no longer and broke out with what he feared, +hoping that Sssuri would deny that fear.</p> + +<p>"We are going downhill!"</p> + +<p>To his disappointment the merman agreed. "It has been so for the last +thousand of our paces. It is my belief that this leads not to the sun +but out under the sea."</p> + +<p>Dalgard missed a step. To Sssuri the sea was home and perhaps the +thought of being under its floor was not disturbing. The land-born +human was not so prepared. If he had experienced discomfort under the +river, what would it be like under the ocean? His terrifying dream of +a lid being pressed down upon him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> flashed back into his mind. But his +companion was continuing:</p> + +<p>"There will be doors, perhaps into the sea itself."</p> + +<p>"For you," Dalgard pointed out, "but I am no dweller in the depths."</p> + +<p>"Neither were Those Others, yet they used these ways. And I tell +you"—in his earnestness the merman laid his hand once more on +Dalgard's arm—"to turn back now is out of the question. The death +which haunts the darkness is still sniffing out our trail."</p> + +<p>Dalgard glanced involuntarily over his shoulder. By the faint and +limited light of the purple disks he could see little or nothing. An +army might creep there undetected.</p> + +<p>"But—" His protest was in answer to the merman's seeming unconcern.</p> + +<p>Sssuri at the first intimation that the hunters were behind them had +shown wariness. Now he did not appear to care.</p> + +<p>"They had fed," he replied. "Scouts follow because we are something +new and thus suspect. When hunger rises once more in them, and their +scouts report that we are meat, then is the time to draw knives and +prepare for battle. But before that hour we may have won free. Let us +search for the gate we now need."</p> + +<p>However confident the merman might be, Dalgard could not match that +confidence. In the open air he would have faced a snake-devil four +times his size without any more emotion than a hunter's instinctive +caution. But here in the dark, unable to rid himself of the belief +that thousands of tons of sea water hung over his head, he found +himself starting at any sound, his knife bare and ready in his +sweating hand.</p> + +<p>He noted that Sssuri had stepped up the pace, passing into his +sure-footed glide which made Dalgard exert himself to keep up. Before +them the corridor stretched without a break. The merman's promised +exit, if it existed, was still out of sight.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was difficult to gauge time in this dark hall, but Dalgard thought +that they were at least an hour farther on their way when Sssuri +paused abruptly once more, his head cocked in a listening attitude, as +if he caught some whisper of sound too rarefied for his human +companion.</p> + +<p>"Now—" the thought hissed as if he spat the words, "they hunger—and +they hunt!"</p> + +<p>He bounded forward with a spurt, which Dalgard copied, and they ran +lightly, the dust undisturbed in years puffing up beneath the merman's +bare, scaled feet and Dalgard's hide boots. Still the unbroken walls, +the feeble patches of violet in the ceiling. But no exit. And what +good would any exit do him, Dalgard thought, if it opened under the +sea?</p> + +<p>"There are islands off the coast—many islands—" Sssuri caught him +up. "It is in my mind that we shall find our door on one of those. +But—run now, knife brother, for those at our heels awake and thirst +for flesh and blood. They have decided that we are not to be feared +but may be run down for their pleasure."</p> + +<p>Dalgard weighed his knife in his hand. "They shall find us with +fangs," he promised grimly.</p> + +<p>"It will be better if they do not find us at all," returned Sssuri.</p> + +<p>A burning arch of pain encased Dalgard's lower ribs, and his breath +came in gusts of hastily sucked air as their flight kept on, down the +endless corridor. Sssuri was also showing signs of the grueling pace, +his round head bent forward, his furred legs pumping as if only his +iron will kept them moving. And the determination which kept him going +was communicated to the scout as a graver warning than any thought +message of fear.</p> + +<p>They were passing under one of the infrequent violet lights when +Dalgard got something else—a mental thrust so quick and sharp it was +as if a sword had cut through the daze of fatigue to reach his brain. +Yet that had not come from Sssuri, for it was totally alien,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> wavering +on a band so near the extreme edge of his consciousness that it +pricked, receded, and pricked again as a needle might.</p> + +<p>This was no message of fear or warning, but of implacable stubbornness +and ravening hunger. And in that instant Dalgard knew that it came +from what was sniffing out their trail, and he no longer wondered that +the hunters were immune to other mental contact. One could not reason +with—that!</p> + +<p>He spurted forward, matching the merman's acceleration of speed. But +to Dalgard's horror he saw that his companion now ran with one hand +brushing along the wall, as if he needed that support.</p> + +<p>"Sssuri!"</p> + +<p>His thought met a wall of concentration through which he could not +break. In a way he was reassured—for a moment, until another of those +stabs from their pursuers struck him. He longed to look back, to see +what hunted them. But he dared not break stride to do that.</p> + +<p>"Ahhhh!" The welcoming cry from Sssuri brought his attention back to +his companion as the merman broke into a wild run.</p> + +<p>Dalgard summoned up his last rags of energy and coursed after him. +Sssuri had halted before a dark lump which protruded from the side of +the corridor.</p> + +<p>"A sea lock!" Sssuri's claws were clicking over the surface of the +hatch, seeking the secret of its latch.</p> + +<p>Panting, Dalgard leaned against the opposite wall. Just as a protest +formed in his mind he heard something else, the pad of feet, many +feet, echoing down the corridor. And somehow he was able now to look.</p> + +<p>Round spots of light, dull, greenish, close to the ground, as if +someone had flung a handful of phosphorescence into the dark. But this +was no phosphorescence! Eyes! Eyes—he tried to count and knew it was +impossible to so reckon the number of the pack that ran mute but +ready. Nor could he distinguish more than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> a very shadowy glimpse of +forms which glided close to the ground with an unpleasant sinuosity.</p> + +<p>"Ahhhhh!" Again Sssuri's paean of triumph.</p> + +<p>There was the grate of unwilling metal forced to move, a puff of air +redolent with the sea striking their bodies in chill threat, the +brightness of violet light stepped up to a point far beyond the lamps +in the corridor.</p> + +<p>With it came no rush of drowning water as Dalgard had half expected, +and when the merman clambered through the hatch he prepared to follow, +well aware that the eyes, and the pattering feet which bore them, were +now almost within range.</p> + +<p>There was a snarl from the passage, and a black thing sprang at the +scout. Without clear sight of what he was fighting, he struck down +with his knife and felt it slit flesh. The snarl was a scream of rage +as the creature twisted in midair for a second try at him. In that +instant Sssuri, leaning halfway out of the hatch, struck in his turn, +thrusting his bone knife into shadows which now boiled with life.</p> + +<p>Dalgard leaped for the lock door, kicking out swiftly and feeling the +toe of his boot contact with a crunch against one of those darting +shades, sending it back end over end into the press where its fellows +turned snapping upon it. Then Sssuri grabbed at him, bringing him in, +and together they slammed the hatch, feeling it shake with the shock +of thudding bodies as the pack outside went mad in their frustration.</p> + +<p>While the merman fastened the locking bar, bringing out of the +long-motionless metal another protesting screech, Dalgard had a chance +to look about him. They were in a room some eight or nine feet long, +the violet light showing up well tangles of equipment hanging from +pegs on the walls, a pile of small cylinders on the floor. At the far +end of the chamber was another hatch door, locked with the same type +of bar as Sssuri had just lowered to seal the inner one. The merman +nodded to it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The sea—"</p> + +<p>Dalgard slid his knife back into its sheath. So the sea lay beyond. He +did not welcome the thought of passing through that door. Like all of +his race he could swim—perhaps his feats in the water would have +astonished the men of the planet from which his tribe had emigrated. +But unlike the mermen, he was not sea-born, nor equipped by nature +with a secondary breathing apparatus to make him as free in the world +of water as he was on land. Sssuri might crawl through that hatch +without fear. For Dalgard it was as big a test as to turn and face +what now raged in the corridor on the inner side.</p> + +<p>"There is no hope that they will go now," Sssuri answered his vague +question. "They are stubborn. And hours—or even days—will mean +nothing. Also they can leave a guard there and rove at will, to return +upon signal. That is their way."</p> + +<p>This left only the sea door. Sssuri padded across the chamber and +reached up to free one of the strange objects dangling from the wall +pegs. Like all things made of the marvelous substance used by Those +Others for any article which might be exposed to the elements, it +seemed as perfect as on the day it had first been hung there, though +that date might be a hundred or more Astran years earlier. The merman +uncoiled a length of thin, flexible piping which joined a two-foot +canister with a flat piece of metallic fabric.</p> + +<p>"Those Others could not breathe under the water, as you cannot," he +explained as he worked deftly and swiftly. "Within my own memory we +have trapped their scouts wearing aids such as these so that they +might spy upon our safe places. But their last foray was some years +ago and at that time we taught them such a lesson that they have not +dared to return. Since they are not unlike you in body and since you +breathe the same air aboveground, there is no reason why this should +not take you out of here."</p> + +<p>Dalgard accepted the apparatus. A couple of elas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>tic metal bands +fastened the canister to the chest of the wearer. The fabric molded +into a perfect, tight face mask as it touched the skin.</p> + +<p>Sssuri went to the pile of cylinders. Choosing one he tinkered with +its pointed cone, to be rewarded with a thin hiss.</p> + +<p>"Ahhhh—" again his recognition of the rightness of things. "These +still contain air." He tested two more and then brought all three back +to where Dalgard stood, the canister strapped into place, the mask +ready in his hand. With infinite care the merman fitted two of the +cylinders into the canister and then was forced to set the other +aside.</p> + +<p>"We could not change them while under water anyway," he explained. "So +it will do little good to take extra supplies with us."</p> + +<p>Trying not to speculate on the amount of air he could carry in the +cylinders, Dalgard fastened on the mask, adjusted the air tube, and +sucked. Air flowed—he could breathe! Only—for how long?</p> + +<p>Sssuri, seeing that his companion was fully provided for, worked at +the bar locking the sea hatch. But in the end it took their combined +strength to spring that barrier and win through to a small cubby which +was the actual sea lock.</p> + +<p>Dalgard knew one moment of resistance as the merman closed the hatch +behind them. For an instant it seemed that the dubious safety of the +dressing chamber and a faint hope of the hunters' giving up their +vigil was better than what might lie before them now. But Sssuri +pushed shut the hatch, and Dalgard stood quietly, without offering any +visible protest.</p> + +<p>He tried to draw even breaths—slowly—as the merman activated the +lock. When the water curled in from hidden openings, rising from ankle +to calf and then to knee, its chill striking through flesh to bone, he +kept to the same stolid waiting, though this seemed almost worse than +a sudden gush of water sweeping them out in its embrace.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> + +<p>The liquid swirled about Dalgard's waist now, tugging at his belt, his +arrow quiver, tapping on the bottom of the canister which held his +precious air supply. His bow, shielded from the wet by its casing, +was swallowed up inch by inch.</p> + +<p>As the water lapped at his chin, the outer door opened with a slow +inward push which suggested that the machinery controlling it had +grown sluggish with the years. Sssuri, perfectly at home, darted out +as soon as the opening was large enough to afford him an exit. And his +thought came back to reassure the more clumsy landsman.</p> + +<p>"We are in the shallows—land rises ahead. The roots of an island. +There is nothing to fear—" The word ended abruptly in what was like a +mental gasp of either astonishment or fear.</p> + +<p>Knowing all the menaces which might lie in wait, even in the shallows +of the sea, Dalgard drew his knife once more as he plowed through +water—ready to rescue or at least to offer what aid he could.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>10</h2> + +<h3>THE DEAD GUARDIANS</h3> +<p>The spacemen spent a cramped and almost sleepless night. Although in +his training on Terra, on his trial trips to Mars and the harsh Lunar +valleys, Raf had known weird surroundings and climates, inimical to +his kind, he had always been able to rest almost by the exercise of +his will. But now, curled in his roll, he was alert to every sound out +of the moonless night, finding himself listening—for what he did not +know.</p> + +<p>Though there were sounds in plenty. The whistling call of some night +bird, the distant lap, lap of water which he associated with the river +curving through the long-deserted city, the rustle of grass as either +the wind or some passing animal disturbed it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not the best place in the world for a nap," Soriki observed out of +the dark as Raf wriggled, trying to find a more comfortable position. +"I'll be glad to see these bandaged boys on the ground waving good-bye +as we head away from them—fast—"</p> + +<p>"Those weren't animals they killed—back on that island." Raf brought +out what was at the heart of his trouble.</p> + +<p>"They wore fur instead of clothing." Soriki's reply was delivered in a +colorless, even voice. "We have apes on Terra, but they are not men."</p> + +<p>Raf stared up at the sky in which stars were sprinkled like carelessly +flung dust motes. "What is a 'man'?" he returned, repeating the +classical question which was a debating point in all the space +training centers.</p> + +<p>For so long his kind had wondered that. Was a "man" a biped with +certain easily recognized physical characteristics? Well, by that +ruling the furry things which had fled fruitlessly from the flames of +the globe might well qualify. Or was "man" a certain level of +intelligence, no matter what form housed that intelligence? They were +supposed to accept the latter definition. Though, in spite of the +horror of prejudice, Raf could not help but believe that too many +Terrans secretly thought of "man" only as a creature in their own +general image. By that prejudiced rule it was correct to accept the +aliens as "men" with whom they could ally themselves, to condemn the +furry people because they were not smooth-skinned, did not wear +clothing, nor ride in mechanical transportation.</p> + +<p>Yet somewhere within Raf at that moment was the nagging feeling that +this was all utterly wrong, that the Terrans had not made the right +choice. And that now "men" were <i>not</i> standing together. But he had no +intention of spilling that out to Soriki.</p> + +<p>"Man is intelligence." The com-tech was answering the question Raf had +almost forgotten that he had asked the moment before. Yes, the proper +conventional<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> reply. Soriki was not going to be caught out with any +claim of prejudice.</p> + +<p>Odd—when Pax had ruled, there were thought police and the cardinal +sin was to be a liberal, to experiment, to seek knowledge. Now the +wheel had turned—to be conservative was suspect. To suggest that some +old ways were better was to exhibit the evil signs of prejudice. Raf +grinned wryly. Sure, he had wanted to reach the stars, had fought +doggedly to come to the very spot where he now was. So why was he +tormented now with all these second thoughts? Why did he feel every +day less akin to the men with whom he had shared the voyage? He had +had wit enough to keep his semirebellion under cover, but since he had +taken the flitter into the morning sky above the landing place of the +spacer, that task of self-discipline was becoming more and more +difficult.</p> + +<p>"Did you notice," the com-tech said, going off on a new track, "that +these painted boys were not too quick about blasting along to their +strongbox? I'd say that they thought some bright rocket jockey might +have rigged a surprise for them somewhere in there—"</p> + +<p>Now that Soriki mentioned it, Raf remembered that the alien party who +had gone into the city had huddled together, and that several of the +black-and-white warriors had fanned out ahead as scouts might in enemy +territory.</p> + +<p>"They didn't go any farther than that building to the west either."</p> + +<p>That Raf had not noticed, but he was willing to accept Soriki's +observation. The com-tech had a ready eye for details. He'd better pay +closer attention himself. This was no time to explore the why and +wherefore of his present position. So, if they went no farther than +that building, it would argue that the aliens themselves didn't care +to go about here after nightfall. For he was certain that the isolated +structure Soriki had pointed out was not the treasure house they had +come to loot.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p> + +<p>The night wore on and sometime during it Raf fell asleep. But the two +or three hours of restless, dream-filled unconsciousness was not what +he needed, and he blinked in the dawn with eyes which felt as if they +were filled with hot sand. In the first gray light a covey of winged +things, which might or might not have been birds, arose from some +roosting place within the city, wheeled three times over the building, +and then vanished out over the countryside.</p> + +<p>Raf pulled himself out of his roll, made a sketchy toilet with the +preparations in a belt kit, and looked about with little favor for +either the scene or his part in it. The globe, sealed as if ready for +a take-off, was some distance away, but installed about halfway +between it and the flitter were two of the alien warriors. Perhaps +they had changed watches during the night. If they had not, they could +go without sleep to an amazing degree, for as Raf walked in a circle +about the flyer to limber up, they watched him closely, nor did their +grips on their odd weapons loosen. And he had a very clear idea that +if he stepped over some invisible boundary he would be in for trouble.</p> + +<p>When he came back to the flitter, Soriki was awake and stretching.</p> + +<p>"Another day," the com-tech drawled. "And I could do with something +besides field rations." He made a face at the small tin of +concentrates he had dug out of the supply compartment.</p> + +<p>"We'd do well to be headed west," Raf ventured.</p> + +<p>"Now you can come in with that on the com again!" Soriki answered with +unwonted emphasis. "The sooner I see the old girl standing on her pins +in the middle distance, the better I'll feel. You know"—he looked up +from his preoccupation with the ration package and gazed out over the +city—"this place gives me the shivers. That other town was bad +enough. But at least there were people living there. Here's nothing at +all—at least nothing I want to see."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What about all the wonders they've promised to show us?" countered +Raf.</p> + +<p>Soriki grinned. "And how much do we understand of their mouth-and-hand +talk? Maybe they were promising us wonders, maybe they were offering +to take us to where we could have our throats cut more +conveniently—for them! I tell you, if I go for a walk with any of +these painted faces, I'm going to have at least three of my fingers +resting on the grip of my stun gun. And I'd advise you to do the +same—if I didn't know that you were already watching these +blast-happy harpies out of the corner of your eye. Ha—company. Oh, +it's the captain—"</p> + +<p>The hatch of the globe had opened, and a small party was descending +the ladder, conspicuous among them the form and uniform of Captain +Hobart. The aliens remained in a cluster at the foot of the ladder +while the Terran commander crossed to the flitter.</p> + +<p>"You"—he pointed to Raf—"are to come along with us."</p> + +<p>"Why, sir?" "What about me, sir?" The questions from the two at the +flitter came together.</p> + +<p>"I said that one of you had to remain by the machine. Then they said +that you, in particular, must come along, Kurbi."</p> + +<p>"But I'm the pilot—" Raf began and then realized that it was just +that fact which had made the aliens attach him to the exploring party. +If they believed that the Terran flitter was immobilized when he, and +he alone, was not behind its controls, this was just the move they +would make. But there they were wrong. Soriki might not be able to +repair or service the motor, but in a pinch he could take it up, send +it westward, and land it beside the spacer. Each and every man aboard +the <i>RS 10</i> had that much training.</p> + +<p>Now the com-tech was scowling. He had grasped the significance of that +arrangement as quickly as Raf. "How long do I wait for you, sir?" he +asked in a voice which had lost its usual good-humored drawl.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> + +<p>And at that inquiry Captain Hobart showed signs of irritation. "Your +suspicions are not founded on facts," he stated firmly. "These people +have displayed no signs of wanting to harm us. And an attitude of +distrust at this point might be fatal for future friendly contact. +Lablet is sure that they have a highly complex society, probably +advanced beyond Terran standards, and that their technical skills will +be of vast benefit to us. As it happens we have come at just the right +moment in their history, when they are striving to get back on their +feet after a disastrous series of wars. It is as if a group of +off-world explorers had allied themselves with us after the Burn-Off. +We can exchange information which will be of mutual benefit."</p> + +<p>"If any off-world explorers had set down on Terra after the Burn-Off," +observed Soriki softly, "they would have come up against Pax. And just +how long would they have lasted?"</p> + +<p>Hobart had turned away. If he heard that half-whisper, he did not +choose to acknowledge it. But the truth in the com-tech's words made +an impression on Raf, a crew of aliens who had been misguided enough +to seek out and try to establish friendly relations with the officials +of Pax would have had a short and most unhappy shrift. If all the +accounts of that dark dictatorship were true, they would have vanished +from Terra, and not in their ships either. What if something like Pax +ruled here? They had no way of knowing for sure.</p> + +<p>Raf's eyes met Soriki's, and the com-tech's hand dropped to hook +fingers in his belt within touching distance of his side arm. The +flitter pilot nodded.</p> + +<p>"Kurbi!" Hobart's impatient call sent him on his way. But there was +some measure of relief in knowing that Soriki was left behind and that +they had this slender link with escape.</p> + +<p>He had tramped the streets of that other alien city. There there had +been some semblance of habitation; here was abandonment. Earth drifted +in dunes to half<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> block the lanes, and here and there climbing vines +had broken down masonry and had dislodged blocks of the paved sideways +and courtyards.</p> + +<p>The party threaded their way from one narrow lane to another, seeming +to avoid the wider open stretches of the principal thoroughfares, Raf +became aware of an unpleasant odor in the air which he vaguely +associated with water, and a few minutes afterward he caught glimpses +of the river between the buildings which fronted on it. Here the party +turned abruptly at a right angle, heading westward once more, passing +vast, blank-walled structures which might have been warehouses.</p> + +<p>One of the aliens just ahead of Raf in the line of march suddenly +swung around, his weapon pointing up, and from its nose shot a beam of +red-yellow light which brought an answering shrill scream as a large, +winged creature came fluttering down. The killer kicked at the +crumpled thing as he passed. As far as Raf could see there had been no +reason for that wanton slaying.</p> + +<p>The head of the party had reached a doorway, sealed shut by what +looked like a solid slab of material. He placed both palms flat down +on its surface at shoulder height and leaned forward against it, +almost as if he were whispering some secret formula. Raf watched the +muscles stand up on his slender arms as he exerted strength. And then +the door split in two, and his fellows helped him push the separate +halves back into the wall.</p> + +<p>Lablet, Hobart, and Raf were among the last to enter. It was as if +their companions had now forgotten them, for the aliens were pushing +on at a pace which took them down an empty corridor at a quickening +trot.</p> + +<p>The corridor ended in a ramp which did not slope in one straight reach +but curled around itself, so that in some places only the presence of +a handrail, to which they all clung, kept them from losing balance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +Then they gathered in a vaulted room, one of which opened a complete +circle of closed doors.</p> + +<p>There was some argument among the aliens, a dispute of sorts over +which of those doors was to be opened first, and the Terrans drew a +little apart, unable to follow the twittering words and +lightning-swift gestures.</p> + +<p>Raf tried to work out the patterns of color which swirled and looped +over each door and around the walls, only to discover that too long an +examination of any one band, or an attempt to trace its beginning or +end, awoke a sick sensation which approached inner turmoil the longer +he looked. At last he had to rest his eyes by studying the gray +flooring under his boots.</p> + +<p>The aliens finally made up their minds, or else one group was able to +outargue the other, for they converged upon a door directly opposite +the ramp. Once more they went through the process of unsealing the +panels, while the Terrans, drawn by curiosity, were close behind them +as they entered the long room beyond. Here were shelves in solid tiers +along the walls, crowded with such an array of strange objects that +Raf, after one mystified look, thought that it might well take months +to sort them all out.</p> + +<p>In addition, long tables divided the chamber into aisles. Halfway down +one of these narrow passageways the aliens had gathered in a group as +silent and intent now as they had been noisy outside. Raf could see +nothing to so rivet their attention but a series of scuffed marks in +the dust which covered the floor. But an alien, whom he recognized as +the officer who had taken him to inspect the globe, moved carefully +along that trail, following it to a second door. And as Raf pushed +down another aisle, paralleling his course, he was conscious of a +sickly sweet, stomach-churning stench. Something was very, very dead +and not too far away.</p> + +<p>The officer must have come to the same conclusion, for he hurried to +open the other door. Before them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> now was a narrow hall broken by slit +windows, near the roof, through which entered sunlight. And one such +beam fully illuminated a carcass as large as that of a small elephant, +or so it seemed to Raf's startled gaze.</p> + +<p>It was difficult to make out the true appearance of the creature, +though guessing from the scaled strips of skin it had been reptilian, +for the body had been found by scavengers and feasting had been in +progress.</p> + +<p>The alien officer skirted the corpse gingerly. Raf thought that he +would like to investigate the body closely but could not force himself +to that highly disagreeable task. There was a chorus of excited +exclamation from the doorway as others crowded there.</p> + +<p>But the officer, having circled the carcass, turned his attention to +the dusty floor again. If there had been any trail there, it was now +muddled past their reading, for remnants of the grisly meal had been +dragged back and forth. The alien picked his way fastidiously through +the noxious debris to the end of the long room. Raf, with the same +care, toured the edge of the chamber in his wake.</p> + +<p>They were out in a smaller passageway, which was taking them +underground, the Terran estimated. Then there was a large space with +barred cells about it and a second corridor. The stench of the death +chamber either clung to them, or was wafted from another point, and +Raf gagged as an especially foul blast caught him full in the face. He +kept a sharp look about him for signs of those feasters. The feast had +not been finished—it might have been that their entrance into the +storeroom had disturbed the scavengers. And things formidable enough +to drag down that scaled horror were not foes he would choose to meet +in these unlighted ways.</p> + +<p>The passage began to slope upward once more, and Raf saw a half-moon +of light ahead, brilliant light which could only come from the sun. +The alien was outlined there as he went out; then he himself was +scuffing through sand close upon another death scene.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> The dead +monster had had its counterparts, and here they were, sprawled out, +mangled, and torn. Raf remained by the archway, for even the open air +and the morning winds could not destroy the reek which seemed as +deadly as a gas attack.</p> + +<p>It must have disturbed the officer too, for he hesitated. Then with +visible effort he advanced toward the hunks of flesh, casting back and +forth as if to find some clue to the manner of their death. He was +still so engaged when a second alien burst out of the archway, a +splintered length of white held out before him as if he had made some +important discovery.</p> + +<p>The officer grabbed that shaft away from him, turning it around in his +hands. And though expression was hard to read on those thin features +under the masking face paint, the emotion his whole attitude expressed +was surprise tinged with unbelief—as if the object his subordinate +had brought was the last he expected to find in that place.</p> + +<p>Raf longed to inspect it, but both aliens brushed by him and pattered +back down the corridor, the discoverer pouring forth a volume of words +to which the officer listened with great intentness. And the Terran +pilot had to hurry to keep up with them.</p> + +<p>Something he had seen just before he had left the arena remained in +his mind: a forearm flung out from the supine body of what appeared to +be the largest of the dead things—and on that forearm a bracelet of +metal. Were those things pets! Watchdogs? Surely they were not +intelligent beings able to forge and wear such ornaments of their own +accord. And if they were watchdogs—whom did they serve? He was +inclined to believe that the aliens must be their masters, that the +monsters had been guardians of the treasure, perhaps. But dead +guardians suggested a rifled treasure house. Who and what—?</p> + +<p>His mind filled with speculations and questions, Raf trotted behind +the others back to the chamber where they had found the first reptile. +The alien who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> brought the discovery to his commander stepped +gingerly through the litter and laid the white rod in a special spot, +apparently the place where it had been found.</p> + +<p>At a barked order from the officer, two of the others came forward and +tugged at the creature's mangled head, which had been freed from the +serpent neck, rolling it over to expose the underparts. There was a +broad tear there in the flesh, but Raf could see little difference +between it and those left by the feasters. However the officer, +holding a strip of cloth over his nose, bent stiffly above it for a +closer look and then made some statement which sent his command into a +babbling clamor.</p> + +<p>Four of the lower ranks separated from the group and, with their hand +weapons at alert, swung into action, retracing the way back toward the +arena. It looked to Raf as if they now expected an attack from that +direction.</p> + +<p>Under a volley of orders the rest went back to the storeroom, and the +officer, noting that Raf still lingered, waved him impatiently after +them.</p> + +<p>Inside the men spread out, going from shelf to table, selecting things +with a speed which suggested that they had been rehearsed in this task +and had only a limited time in which to accomplish it. Some took piles +of boxes or other containers which were so light that they could +manage a half-dozen in an armload, while two or three others struggled +pantingly to move a single piece of weird machinery from its bed to +the wheeled trolley they had brought. There was to be no lingering on +this job—that was certain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>11</h2> + +<h3>ESPIONAGE</h3> +<p>Intent upon joining Sssuri, Dalgard left the lock, forgetting his +earlier unwillingness, stepping from the small chamber down to the sea +bottom, or endeavoring to, although instinctively he had begun to swim +and so forged ahead at a different rate of speed.</p> + +<p>Waving fronds of giant water plants, such as were found only in the +coastal shallows, grew forest fashion but did not hide rocks which +stretched up in a sharp rise not too far ahead. The scout could not +see the merman, but as he held onto one of those fronds he caught the +other's summons:</p> + +<p>"Here—by the rocks—!"</p> + +<p>Pushing his way through the drifting foliage, Dalgard swam ahead to +the foot of the rocky escarpment. And there he saw what had so excited +his companion.</p> + +<p>Sssuri had just driven away an encircling collection of sand-dwelling +scavengers, and what he was on his knees studying intently was an +almost clean-picked skeleton of one of his own race. But there was +something odd—Dalgard brushed aside a tendril of weed which cut his +line of vision and so was able to see clearly.</p> + +<p>White and clean most of those bones were, but the skull was blackened, +and similar charring existed down one arm and shoulder. That merman +had not died from any mishap in the sea!</p> + +<p>"It is so," Sssuri replied to his thought. "<i>They</i> have come once more +to give the flaming death—"</p> + +<p>Dalgard, startled, looked up that slope which must lead to the island +top above the waves.</p> + +<p>"Long dead?" he asked tentatively, already guessing what the other's +answer would be.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The pickers move fast," Sssuri indicated the sand dwellers. "Perhaps +yesterday, perhaps the day before—but no longer than that."</p> + +<p>"And <i>they</i> are up there now?"</p> + +<p>"Who can tell? However, <i>they</i> do not know the sea, nor the islands—"</p> + +<p>It was plain that the merman intended to climb to investigate what +might be happening above. Dalgard had no choice but to follow. And it +was true that the merpeople had no peers or equals when it came to +finding their ways about the sea and the coasts. He was confident that +Sssuri could get to the island top and discover just what he wished to +learn without a single sentry above, if they had stationed sentries, +being the wiser. Whether he himself could operate as efficiently was +another matter.</p> + +<p>In the end they half climbed, half swam upward, detouring swiftly once +to avoid the darting attack of a rock hornet, harmless as soon as they +moved out of the reach of its questing stinger, for it was anchored +for its short life to the rough hollow in which it had been hatched.</p> + +<p>Dalgard's head broke water as he rolled through the surf onto a scrap +of beach in the lee of a row of tooth-pointed outcrops. It was late +evening by the light, and he clawed the mask off his face to draw +thankful lungfuls of the good outer air. Sssuri, his fur sleeked tight +to his body, waded ashore, shook himself free of excess water, and +turned immediately to study the wall of the cliff which guarded the +interior of the island.</p> + +<p>This was one of a chain of such isles, Dalgard noted, now that he had +had time to look about him. And with their many-creviced walls they +were just the type of habitations which appealed most strongly to the +merpeople. Here could be found the dry inner caves with underwater +entrances, which they favored for their group homes. And in the sea +were kelp beds for harvesting.</p> + +<p>The cliffs did not present too much of a climbing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> problem. Dalgard +divested himself of the diving equipment, tucking it into a hollow +which he walled up with stones that he thought the waves would not +scour out in a hurry. He might need it again. Then, hitching his belt +tighter, pressing what water he could out of his clothing, and +settling his bow and quiver to the best advantage at his back, he +crossed to where Sssuri was already marking claw holds.</p> + +<p>"We may be seen—" Dalgard craned his neck, trying to make out details +of what might be waiting above.</p> + +<p>The merman shook his head with a quick jerk of negation. "<i>They</i> are +gone. Behind them remains only death—much death—" And the bleakness +of his thoughts reached the scout.</p> + +<p>Dalgard had known Sssuri since he was a toddler and the other a cub +coming to see the wonders of dry land for the first time. Never, +during all their years of close association since, had he felt in the +other a desolation so great. And to that emotional blast he could make +no answer.</p> + +<p>In the twilight, with the last red banners across the sky at their +back, they made the climb. And it was as if the merman had closed off +his mind to his companion. Flesh fingers touched scaled ones as they +moved from one hold to the next, but Sssuri might have been half a +world away for all the communication between them. Never had Dalgard +been so shut out and with that his sensitivity to the night, to the +world about him, was doubly acute.</p> + +<p>He realized—and it worried him—that perhaps he had come to depend +too much on Sssuri's superior faculty of communication. It was time +that he tried to use his own weaker powers to the utmost extent. So, +while he climbed, Dalgard sent questing thoughts into the gloom. He +located a nest of duck-dogs, those shy waterline fishers living in +cliff holes. They were harmless and just settling down for the night. +But of higher types of animals from which something might be +learned—hoppers, runners—there were no traces. For<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> all he was able +to pick up, they might be climbing into blank nothingness.</p> + +<p>And that in itself was ominous. Normally he should have been able to +mind touch more than duck-dogs. The merpeople lived in peace with most +of the higher fauna of their world, and a colony of hoppers, even a +covey of moth birds, would settle in close by a mer tribe to garner in +the remnants of feasts and for protection from the flying dragons and +the other dangers they must face.</p> + +<p>"<i>They</i> hunt all life," the first break in Sssuri's self-absorption +came. "Where <i>they</i> walk the little, harmless peoples face only death. +And so it has been here." He had pulled himself over the rim of the +cliff, and through the dark Dalgard could hear him panting with the +same effort which made his own lungs labor.</p> + +<p>Just as the stench of the snake-devil's lair had betrayed its site, +here disaster and death had an odor of its own. Dalgard retched before +he could control throat and stomach muscles. But Sssuri was unmoved, +as if he had expected this.</p> + +<p>Then, to Dalgard's surprise the merman set up the first real call he +had ever heard issue from that furred throat, a plaintive whistle +which had a crooning, summoning note in it, akin to the mind touch in +an odd fashion, yet audible. They sat in silence for a long moment, +the human's ears as keen for any sound out of the night as those of +his companion. Why did Sssuri not use the customary noiseless greeting +of his race? When he beamed that inquiry, he met once again that +strange, solid wall of non-acceptance which had enclosed the merman as +they climbed. As if now there was danger to be feared from following +the normal ways.</p> + +<p>Again Sssuri whistled, and in that cry Dalgard heard a close +resemblance to the flute tone of the night moth birds. Up the scale +the notes ran with mournful persistence. When the answer came, the +scout at first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> thought that the imitation had lured a moth bird, for +the reply seemed to ripple right above their heads.</p> + +<p>Sssuri stood up, and his hand dropped on Dalgard's shoulder, applying +pressure which was both a warning and a summons, bringing the scout to +his feet with as little noise as possible. The horrible smell caught +at his throat, and he was glad when the merman did not head inland +toward the source of that odor, but started off along the edge of the +cliff, one hand in Dalgard's to draw him along.</p> + +<p>Twice more Sssuri paused to whistle, and each time he was answered by +a signing note or two which seemed to reassure him.</p> + +<p>Against the lighter expanse which was the sea, Dalgard saw the loom of +a peak which projected above file general level of the island. Though +he knew that the merpeople did not build aboveground, being adept in +turning natural caves and crevices into the kind of living quarters +they found most satisfactory, the barrenness of this particular rock +top was forbidding.</p> + +<p>Led by Sssuri, he threaded a tangled patch among outcrops, +once-squeezing through a gap which scraped the flesh on his arms as he +wriggled. Then the sky was blotted out, the last winking star +disappeared, and he realized that he must have entered a cave of +sorts, or was at least under an overhang.</p> + +<p>The merman did not pause but padded on, tugging Dalgard along, the +scout's boots scraping on the rough footing. The colonist was +conscious now that they were on an incline, heading down into the +heart of the island. They came to a stretch where Sssuri set his hands +on holds, patiently shoved his feet into hollowed places, finding for +him the ladder steps he could not see, which took him through a +sweating, fearful journey of yards to another level, another sloping, +downward way.</p> + +<p>Here at long last was a fraction of light, not the violet glimmer +which had illuminated the underground ways of those Others, but a +ghostly radiance which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> he recognized as the lamps of the +mermen—living creatures from the sea depths imprisoned in laboriously +fashioned globes of crystal and kept in the caves for the light they +yielded.</p> + +<p>But still no mind touch! Never had Dalgard penetrated into the cave +cities of the sea folk before without inquiries and open welcome +lapping about him. Were they entering a place of massacre where no +living merman remained? Yet there was that whistling which had led +Sssuri to this place....</p> + +<p>And at that moment a shrill keening note arose from the depths to ring +in Dalgard's ears, startling him so that he almost lost his footing. +Once again Sssuri made answer vocally—but no mind touch.</p> + +<p>Then they rounded a curve, and the scout was able to see into the +heart of the amphibian territory. This was a natural cave, as were all +the merman's dwellings, but its walls had been smoothed and hung with +the garlands of shells which they wove in their leisure into strange +pictures. Silver-gray sand, smooth and dust-fine, covered the floor to +the depth of a foot or more. And opening off the main chamber were +small nooks, each marking the private storage place and holding of +some family clan. It was a large place, and with a quick estimate +Dalgard thought that it had been fashioned to harbor close to a +hundred inhabitants, at least the nooks suggested that many. But +gathered at the foot of the ledge they were descending, spears poised, +were perhaps ten males, some hardly past cubhood, others showing the +snowy shine of fur which was the badge of age. And behind them, drawn +knives in their ready hands, were half again as many merwomen, forming +a protecting wall before a crouching group of cubs.</p> + +<p>Sssuri spoke to Dalgard. "Spread out your hands—empty—so that they +may see them clearly!"</p> + +<p>The scout obeyed. In the limited light his ten fingers were fans, and +it was then that he understood the reason for such a move. If these +mermen had not seen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> a colonist before, he might resemble Those Others +in their eyes. But only his species on all Astra had five fingers, +five toes, and that physical evidence might insure his safety now.</p> + +<p>"Why do you bring a destroyer among us? Or do you offer him for our +punishment, so that we can lay upon him the doom that his kind have +earned?"</p> + +<p>The question came with arrow force, and Dalgard held out his hands, +hoping they would see the difference before one of those spears from +below tore through his flesh.</p> + +<p>"Look upon the hands of this—my knife brother—look upon his face. He +is not of the race of those you hate, but rather one from the south. +Have you of the northern reaches not heard of Those-Who-Help, +Those-Who-Came-From-the-Stars?"</p> + +<p>"We have heard." But there was no relaxing of tension, not a spear +point wavered.</p> + +<p>"Look upon his hands," Sssuri insisted. "Come into his mind, for he +speaks with us so. And do <i>they</i> do that?"</p> + +<p>Dalgard tried to throw open his mind, awaiting the trial. It came +quickly, traces of inimical, alien thought, which changed as they +touched his mind, reading there only all the friendliness he and his +held for the sea people.</p> + +<p>"He is not of <i>them</i>." The admission was grudging. As if they did not +want to believe that. "Why comes one from the south to this +place—now?"</p> + +<p>There was an inflection to that "now" which was disturbing.</p> + +<p>"After the manner of his people he seeks new things so that he may +return and report to his Elders. Then he will receive the spear of +manhood and be ready for the choosing of mates," Sssuri translated the +reason for Dalgard's quest into the terms of his own people. "He has +been my knife brother since we were cubs together, and so I journey +with him. But here in the north we have found evil—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> + +<p>His flow of thought was submerged by a band of hate so red that its +impact upon the mind was almost a blow. Dalgard shook his head. He had +known that the merpeople, aroused, were deadly fighters, fearless and +crafty, and with a staying power beyond that of any human. But their +rage was something he had not met before.</p> + +<p>"<i>They</i> come once again—<i>they</i> burn with the fire—<i>They</i> are among +our islands—"</p> + +<p>A cub whimpered and a merwoman stooped to pat it to silence.</p> + +<p>"Here they have killed with the fire—"</p> + +<p>They did not elaborate upon that statement, and Dalgard had no wish +for them to do so. He was still very glad that it had been dark when +he had climbed to the top of that cliff, that he had not been able to +see what his imagination told him lay there.</p> + +<p>"Do <i>they</i> stay?" That was Sssuri.</p> + +<p>"Not so. In their sky traveler they go to the land where lies the dark +city. There they make much evil against the day when this shall be +their land once more."</p> + +<p>"But these lie if they think that." Another strong thought broke +across the current of communication. "<i>We</i> are not now penned for +their pleasure. We may flee into the sea once more, and there live as +did our fathers' fathers, and they dare not follow us there—"</p> + +<p>"Who knows?" It was Sssuri who raised that objection. "With their +ancient knowledge once more theirs, even the depths of the sea may not +be ours much longer. Do they not know how to ride upon the air?"</p> + +<p>The knot of mer-warriors stirred. Several spears thudded butt down +into the sand. And Sssuri accepted that as an invitation to descend, +summoning Dalgard after him with a beckoning finger.</p> + +<p>Later they sat in a circle in the cushioning gray powder, the two from +the south eating dried fish and sea kelp, while Sssuri related, +between mouthfuls, their recent adventures.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Three times have <i>they</i> flown across these islands on their way to +that city," the Elder of the pitifully decimated merman tribe told the +explorers.</p> + +<p>"But this time," broke in one of his companions, "they had with them a +new ship—"</p> + +<p>"A new ship?" Sssuri pounced upon that scrap of information.</p> + +<p>"Yes. The ships of the air in which <i>they</i> travel are fashioned +so"—with his knife point he drew a circle in the sand—"but this one +was smaller and more in the likeness of a spear with a heavy +point—thus"—he made a second sketch beside the first, and Dalgard +and Sssuri leaned over to study it.</p> + +<p>"That is unlike any of their ships that I have heard of," Sssuri +agreed. "Even in the old tales of the Days Before the Burning there is +nothing spoken of like that."</p> + +<p>"It is true. Therefore we wait now for the coming of our scouts, who +were set in hiding upon <i>their</i> sea rock of resting, that they may +tell us more concerning this new ship. They should be here within this +time of sleeping. Now, go you to rest, which you plainly have need of, +and we shall call you when they come."</p> + +<p>Dalgard was willing enough to stretch out in the sand in the shadows +of the far end of the cave. Beyond him three cubs slumbered together, +their arms about each other, and a feeling of peace was there such as +he had not known since he left the stronghold of Homeport.</p> + +<p>The weird glow of the imprisoned sea monsters gave light to the main +part of the cave, and it might still have been night when the scout +was shaken awake once more. A group of the merpeople were sitting +together, and their thoughts interrupted each other as their +excitement arose. Their spies must have returned.</p> + +<p>Dalgard crossed to join that group, but it seemed to him that his +welcome was not unqualified, and that some of the openness of the +early hours of the night was lacking. He might have been once more +under suspicion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Knife brother"—to Dalgard's sensitive mind that form of address from +Sssuri was used for a special purpose: to underline the close bond +between them—"listen to the words of Sssim who is a Hider-to-Watch on +the island where <i>they</i> rest their ships during the voyage from one +land to another." He drew Dalgard down beside him to face a young +merman who was staring round-eyed at the colony scout.</p> + +<p>"He is like—yet unlike"—his first wisp of thought meant nothing to +the scout. "The strangers wear many coverings on their bodies as do +<i>they</i>, and they had also coverings upon their heads. They were +bigger. Also from their minds I learned that they are not of this +world—"</p> + +<p>"Not of this world!" Dalgard burst out in his own speech.</p> + +<p>"There!" The spy was triumphant. "So did they talk to one another, not +with the mind but by making mouth noises, different mouth noises from +those that <i>they</i> make. Yes, they are like—but unlike this one."</p> + +<p>"And these strangers flew the ship we have not seen before?"</p> + +<p>"It is so. But they did not know the way and were guided by the globe. +And at least one among them was distrustful of <i>those</i> and wished to +be free to return to his own place. He walked by the rocks near my +hiding place, and I read his thoughts. No, they were with <i>them</i>, but +they are not <i>them</i>!"</p> + +<p>"And now they have gone on to the city?" Sssuri probed.</p> + +<p>"It was the way their ship flew."</p> + +<p>"Like me," Dalgard repeated, and then the truth which might lie behind +that exploded within his brain. "Terrans!" he breathed the word. Men +of Pax perhaps who had come to hunt down the outlaws who had +successfully eluded their rule on earth? But how had the colonists +been traced? And why? Or were they other fugitives like themselves? So +much, so very much of what the colonists should know of their past +had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> been erased during the time of the Great Sickness twenty years +after their landing. Then three fourths of the original immigrants had +died. Only the children of the second generation and a handful of +weakened Elders had remained. Knowledge was lost and some distorted by +failing memories, old skills were gone. But if the new Terrans were in +that city.... He had to know—to know and be able to warn his people. +For the darkness of Pax was a memory they had <i>not</i> lost!</p> + +<p>"I must see them," he said.</p> + +<p>"That is true. And only you can tell us what manner of folk these +strangers be," the merman chief agreed. "Therefore you shall go ashore +with my warriors and look upon them—to tell us the truth. Also we +must learn what <i>they</i> do here."</p> + +<p>It was decided that using waterways known to the merpeople, one which +Dalgard could also take wearing the diving equipment, a scouting party +would head shoreward the next day, with the river itself providing the +entrance into the heart of the forbidden territory.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>12</h2> + +<h3>ALIEN PATROL</h3> +<p>Raf leaned back against the wall. Long since the actions of the aliens +in the storage house had ceased to interest him, since they would not +allow any of the Terrans to approach their plunder and he could not +ask questions. Lablet continued to follow the officer about, vainly +trying to understand his speech. And Hobart had taken his place by the +upper entrance, his hand held stiffly across his body. The pilot knew +that the captain was engaged in photographing all this activity with a +wristband camera, hoping to make something of it later.</p> + +<p>But Raf's own inclination was to slip out and do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> some exploring in +those underground corridors beyond. Having remained where he was for a +wearisome time, he noticed that his presence was now taken for granted +by the hurrying aliens who brushed about him intent upon their +assignments. And slowly he began to edge along the wall toward the +other doorway. Once he froze as the officer strode by, Lablet in +attendance. But what the painted warrior was looking for was a crystal +box on a shelf to Raf's left. When he had pointed that out to an +underling he was off again, and Raf was free to continue his crab's +progress.</p> + +<p>Luck favored him, for, as he reached the moment when he must duck out +the portal, there was a sudden flurry at the other end of the chamber +where four of the aliens, under a volley of orders, strove to move an +unwieldy piece of intricate machinery.</p> + +<p>Raf dodged around the door and flattened back against the wall of the +room beyond. The moving bars of sun said that it was midday. But the +room was empty save for the despoiled carcass, and there was no sign +of the aliens who had been sent out to scout.</p> + +<p>The Terran ran lightly down the narrow room to the second door, which +gave on the lower pits beneath and the way to the arena. As he took +that dark way, he drew his stun gun. Its bolt was intended to render +the victim unconscious, not to kill. But what effect it might have on +the giant reptiles was a question he hoped he would not be forced to +answer, and he paused now and then to listen.</p> + +<p>There were sounds, deceptive sounds. Noises as regular as footfalls, +like a distant padded running. The aliens returning? Or the things +they had gone to hunt? Raf crept on—out into the sunshine which +filled the arena.</p> + +<p>For the first time he studied the enclosure and recognized it for what +it was—a place in which savage and bloody entertainments could be +provided for the population of the city—and it merely confirmed his +opinion of the aliens and all their ways.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p> + +<p>The temptation to explore the city was strong. He eyed the grilles +speculatively. They could be climbed—he was sure of that. Or he could +try some other of the various openings about the sanded area. But as +he hesitated over his choice, he heard something from behind. This was +no unidentifiable noise, but a scream which held both terror and pain. +It jerked him around, sent him running back almost before he thought.</p> + +<p>But the scream did not come again. However there were other +sounds—snuffing whines—a scrabbling—</p> + +<p>Raf found himself in the round room walled by the old prison cells. +Stabs of light shot through the gloom, thrusting into a roiling black +mass which had erupted through one of the entrances and now held at +bay one of the alien warriors. Three or four of the black creatures +ringed the alien in, moving with speed that eluded the bolts of light +he shot from his weapon, keeping him cornered and from escape, while +their fellows worried another alien limp and defenseless on the floor.</p> + +<p>It was impossible to align the sights of his stun gun with any of +those flitting shadows, Raf discovered. They moved as quickly as a +ripple across a pond. He snapped the button on the hand grip to +"spray" and proceeded to use the full strength of the charge across +the group on the floor.</p> + +<p>For several seconds he was afraid that the stun ray would prove to +have no effect on the alien metabolism of the creatures, for their +weaving, tearing activity did not cease. Then one after another +dropped away from the center mass and lay unmoving on the floor. +Seeing that he could control them, Raf turned his attention to the +others about the standing warrior.</p> + +<p>Again he sent the spray wide, and they subsided. As the last curled on +the pavement, the alien moved forward and, with a snarl, deliberately +turned the full force of his beam weapon on each of the attackers. But +Raf plowed on through the limp pile to the warrior they had pulled +down.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was no hope of helping him—death had come with a wide tear in +his throat. Raf averted his eyes from the body. The other warrior was +methodically killing the stunned animals. And his action held such +vicious cruelty that Raf did not want to watch.</p> + +<p>When he looked again at the scene, it was to find the narrow barrel of +the strange weapon pointed at him. Paying no attention to his dead +comrade, the alien was advancing on the Terran as if in Raf he saw +only another enemy to be burned down.</p> + +<p>Moves drilled in him by long hours of weary practice came almost +automatically to the pilot. The stun gun faced the alien rifle sight +to sight. And it seemed that the warrior had developed a hearty +respect for the Terran arm during the past few minutes, for he slipped +his weapon back to the crook of his arm, as if he did not wish Raf to +guess he had used it to threaten.</p> + +<p>The pilot had no idea what to do now. He did not wish to return to the +storehouse. And he believed that the alien was not going to let him go +off alone. The ferocity of the creatures now heaped about them had +been sobering, an effective warning against venturing alone in these +underground ways.</p> + +<p>His dilemma was solved by the entrance of a party of aliens from +another doorway. They stopped short at the sight of the battlefield, +and their leader descended upon the surviving scout for an +explanation, which was made with gestures Raf was able to translate in +part.</p> + +<p>The alien had been far down one of the neighboring corridors with his +dead companion when they had been tracked by the pack and had managed +to reach this point before they were attacked. For some reason Raf +could not understand, the aliens had preferred to flee rather than to +face the menace of the hunters. But they had not been fast enough and +had been trapped here. The gesturing hands then indicated Raf, acted +out the battle which had ensued.</p> + +<p>Crossing to the Terran pilot, the alien officer held<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> out his hand and +motioned for Raf to surrender his weapon. The pilot shook his head. +Did they think him so simple that he would disarm himself at the mere +asking? Especially since the warrior had rounded on him like that only +a few moments before? Nor did he holster his gun. If they wanted to +take it by force just let them try such a move!</p> + +<p>His determination to resist must have gotten across to the leader, for +he did not urge obedience to his orders. Instead he waved the Terran +to join his own party. And since Raf had no reason not to, he did. +Leaving the dead, both alien and enemy, where they had fallen, the +warriors took another way out of the underground maze, a way which +brought them out into a street running to the river.</p> + +<p>Here the party spread out, paying close attention to the pavement, as +if they were engaged in tracking something. Raf saw impressed in one +patch of earth a print dried by the sun, left by one of the reptiles. +And there were smaller tracks he could not identify. All were +inspected carefully, but none of them appeared to be what his +companions sought.</p> + +<p>They trotted up and down along the river bank, and from what he had +already observed concerning the aliens, Raf thought that the leader, +at least, was showing exasperation and irritation. They expected to +find something—it was not there—but it had to be! And they were fast +reaching the point where they wanted to produce it themselves to +justify the time spent in hunting for it.</p> + +<p>Ruthlessly they rayed to death any creature their dragnet drove into +the open, leaving feebly kicking bodies of the furry, long-legged +beasts Raf had first seen after the landing of the spacer. He could +not understand the reason for such wholesale extermination, since +certainly the rabbitlike rodents were harmless.</p> + +<p>In the end they gave up their quest and circled back to come out near +the field where the flitter and the globe rested. When the Terran +flyer came into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> sight, Raf left the party and hurried toward it. +Soriki waved a welcoming hand.</p> + +<p>"'Bout time one of you showed up. What are they doing—toting half the +city here to load into that thing?"</p> + +<p>Raf looked along the other's pointing finger. A party of aliens towing +a loaded dolly were headed for the gaping hatch of the globe, while a +second party and an empty conveyance passed them on the way back to +the storehouse.</p> + +<p>"They are emptying a warehouse, or trying to."</p> + +<p>"Well, they act as if Old Time himself was heating their tails with a +rocket flare. What's the big hurry?"</p> + +<p>"Somebody's been here." Swiftly Raf outlined what he had seen in the +city, and ended by describing the hunt in which he had taken an +unwilling part. "I'm hungry," he ended and went to burrow for a ration +pack.</p> + +<p>"So," mused Soriki as Raf chewed the stuff which never had the flavor +of fresh provisions, "somebody's been trying to beat the painted lads +to it. The furry people?"</p> + +<p>"It was a spear shaft they found broken with the dead lizard thing," +Raf commented. "And some of those on the island were armed with +spears—"</p> + +<p>"Must be good fighters if, armed with spears, they brought down a +reptile as big as you say. It was big, wasn't it?"</p> + +<p>Raf stared at the city, a square of half-eaten concentrate in his +fingers. Yes, that was a puzzler. The dead monster would be more than +<i>he</i> would care to tackle without a blaster. And yet it was dead, with +a smashed spear for evidence as to the manner of killing.</p> + +<p>All those others dead in the arena, too. How large a party had invaded +the city? Where were they now?</p> + +<p>"I'd like to know," he was speaking more to himself than to the +com-tech, "how they <i>did</i> do it. No other bodies—"</p> + +<p>"Those could have been taken away by their friends,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> Soriki +suggested. "But if they're still hanging about, I hope they won't +believe that we're bigger and better editions of the painted lads. I +don't want a spear through me!"</p> + +<p>Raf, remembering the maze of lanes and streets—bordered by buildings +which could provide hundreds of lurking places for attackers—which he +had threaded with the confidence of ignorance earlier that day, began +to realize why the aliens had been so nervous. Had a sniper with a +blast rifle been stationed at a vantage point somewhere on the roofs +today none of them would ever have returned to this field. And even a +few spacemen with good cover and accurate throwing aim could have cut +down their number a quarter or a third. He was developing a strong +distaste for those structures. And he had no intention of returning to +the city again.</p> + +<p>He lounged about with Soriki for the rest of the afternoon, watching +the ceaseless activity of the aliens. It was plain that they were +intent upon packing into the cargo hold of their ship everything they +could wrest from the storage house. As if they must make this trip +count double. Was that because they had discovered that their treasure +house was no longer inviolate?</p> + +<p>In the late afternoon Hobart and Lablet came back with one of the work +teams. Lablet was still excited, full of what he had seen, deduced, or +guessed during the day. But the captain was very quiet and sober, and +he unstrapped the wrist camera as soon as he reached the flitter, +turning it over to Soriki.</p> + +<p>"Run that through the ditto," he ordered. "I want two records as soon +as we can get them!"</p> + +<p>The com-tech's eyebrows slid up, "Think you might lose one, sir?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. Anyway, we'll play it safe with double records." He +accepted the ration pack Raf had brought out for him. But he did not +unwrap it at once; instead he stared at the globe, digging the toe of +his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> space boot into the soil as if he were grinding something to +powder.</p> + +<p>"They're operating under full jets," he commented. "As if they were +about due to be jumped—"</p> + +<p>"They told us that this was territory now held by their enemies," +Lablet reminded him.</p> + +<p>"And who are these mysterious enemies?" the captain wanted to know. +"Those animals back on that island?"</p> + +<p>Raf wanted to say yes, but Lablet broke in with a question concerning +what had happened to him, and the pilot outlined his adventures of the +day, not forgetting to give emphasis to the incident in the celled +room when the newly rescued alien had turned upon him.</p> + +<p>"Naturally they are suspicious," Lablet countered, "but for a people +who lack space flight, I find them unusually open-minded and ready to +accept us, strange as we must seem to them."</p> + +<p>"Ditto done, Captain." Soriki stepped out of the flitter, the wrist +camera dangling from his fingers.</p> + +<p>"Good." But Hobart did not buckle the strap about his arm once more, +neither did he pay any attention to Lablet. Instead, apparently coming +to some decision, he swung around to face Raf.</p> + +<p>"You went out with that scouting party today. Think you could join +them again, if you see them moving for another foray?"</p> + +<p>"I could try."</p> + +<p>"Sure," Soriki chuckled, "they couldn't do any more than pop him back +at us. What do you think about them, sir? Are they fixing to blast +us?"</p> + +<p>But the captain refused to be drawn. "I'd just like to have a record +of any more trips they make." He handed the camera to Raf. "Put that +on and don't forget to trigger it if you do go. I don't believe +they'll go out tonight. They aren't too fond of being out in the open +in darkness. We saw that last night. But keep an eye on them in the +morning—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, sir." Raf buckled on the wristband. He wished that Hobart would +explain just what he was to look for, but the captain appeared to +think that he had made everything perfectly plain. And he walked off +with Lablet, heading to the globe, as if there was nothing more to be +said.</p> + +<p>Soriki stretched. "I'd say we'd better take it watch and watch," he +said slowly. "The captain may think that they won't go off in the +dark, but we don't know everything about them. Suppose we just keep an +eye on them, and then you'll be ready to tail—"</p> + +<p>Raf laughed. "Tailing would be it. I don't think I'll have a second +invitation and if I get lost—"</p> + +<p>But Soriki shook his head. "That you won't. At least if you do—I'm +going to make a homer out of you. Just tune in your helmet buzzer."</p> + +<p>It needed a com-tech to think of a thing like that! A small adjustment +to the earphones built into his helmet, and Soriki, operating the +flitter com, could give him a guide as efficient as the spacer's +radar! He need not fear being lost in the streets should he lose touch +with those he was spying upon.</p> + +<p>"You're on course!" He pulled off his helmet and then glanced up to +find Soriki smiling at him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we're not such a bad collection of space bums. Maybe you'll find +that out someday, boy. They breezed you into this flight right out of +training, didn't they?"</p> + +<p>"Just about," Raf admitted cautiously, on guard as ever against +revealing too much of himself. After all, his experience was part of +his record, which was open to anyone on board the spacer. Yes, he was +not a veteran; they must all know that.</p> + +<p>"Someday you'll lose a little of that suspicion," the com-tech +continued, "and find out it isn't such a bad old world after all. +Here, let's see if you're on the beam." He took the helmet out of +Raf's hands and, drawing a small case of delicate instruments from his +belt pouch, unscrewed the ear plates of the com device and made some +adjustments. "Now that will keep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> you on the buzzer without bursting +your eardrums. Try it."</p> + +<p>Raf fastened on the helmet and started away from the flitter. The +buzzer which he had expected to roar in his ears was only a faint +drone, and above it he could easily hear other sounds. Yet it was +there, and he tested it by a series of loops away from the flyer. Each +time as he came on the true beam he was rewarded by a deepening of the +muted note. Yes, he could be a homer with that, and at the same time +be alert to any other noise in his vicinity.</p> + +<p>"That's it!" He paid credit where it was due. But he was unable to +break his long habit of silence. Something within him still kept him +wary of the com-tech's open friendliness.</p> + +<p>None of the aliens approached the flitter as the shadows began to draw +in. The procession of moving teams stopped, and most of the +burden-bearing warriors withdrew to the globe and stayed there. Soriki +pointed this out.</p> + +<p>"They're none too sure, themselves. Look as if they are closing up for +the night."</p> + +<p>Indeed it did. The painted men had hauled up their ramp, the hatch in +the globe closed with a definite snap. Seeing that, the com-tech +laughed.</p> + +<p>"We have a double reason for a strict watch. Suppose whatever they've +been looking for jumps <i>us</i>? They're not worrying over that it now +appears."</p> + +<p>So they took watch and watch, three hours on and three hours in rest. +When it came Raf's turn he did not remain sitting in the flitter, +listening to the com-tech's heavy breathing, but walked a circular +beat which took him into the darkness of the night in a path about the +flyer. Overhead the stars were sharp and clear, glittering gem points. +But in the dead city no light showed, and he was sure that no aliens +camped there tonight.</p> + +<p>He was sleeping when Soriki's grasp on his shoul<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>der brought him to +that instant alertness he had learned on field maneuvers half the +Galaxy away.</p> + +<p>"Business," the com-tech's voice was not above a whisper as he leaned +over the pilot. "I think they are on the move."</p> + +<p>The light was the pale gray of pre-dawn. Raf pulled himself up with +caution to look at the globe. The com-tech was right. A dark opening +showed on the alien ship; they had released their hatch. He fastened +his tunic, buckled on his equipment belt and helmet, strapped his +boots.</p> + +<p>"Here they come!" Soriki reported. "One—two—five—no, six of them. +And they're heading for the city. No dollies with them, but they're +all armed."</p> + +<p>Together the Terrans watched that patrol of alien warriors, their +attitude suggesting that they hoped to pass unseen, hurry toward the +city. Then Raf slipped out of the flyer. His dark clothing in this +light should render him largely invisible.</p> + +<p>Soriki waved encouragingly and the pilot answered with a quick salute +before he sped after his quarry.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>13</h2> + +<h3>A HOUND IS LOOSED</h3> +<p>Dalgard's feet touched gravel; he waded cautiously to the bank, where +a bridge across the river made a concealing shadow on the water. None +of the mermen had accompanied him this far. Sssuri, as soon as his +human comrade had started for the storage city, had turned south to +warn and rally the tribes. And the merpeople of the islands had +instituted a loose chain of communication, which led from a clump of +water reeds some two miles back to the seashore, and so out to the +islands. Better than any of the now legendary coms of his Terran +forefathers were these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> minds of the spies in hiding, who could pick +up the racing thoughts beamed to them and pass them on to their +fellows.</p> + +<p>Although there were no signs of life about the city, Dalgard moved +with the same care that he would have used in penetrating a +snake-devil's lair. In the first hour of dawn he had contacted a +hopper. The small beast had been frightened almost out of coherent +thought, and Dalgard had had to spend some time in allaying that +terror to get a fractional idea of what might be going on in this +countryside.</p> + +<p>Death—the hopper's terror had come close to insanity. Killers had +come out of the sky, and they were burning—burning—All living things +were fleeing before them. And in that moment Dalgard had been forced +to give up his plan for an unseen spy ring, which would depend upon +the assistance of the animals. His information must come via his own +eyes and ears.</p> + +<p>So he kept on, posting the last of the mermen in his mental relay well +away from the city, but swimming upstream himself. Now that he was +here, he could see no traces of the invaders. Since they could not +have landed their sky ships in the thickly built-up section about the +river, it must follow that their camp lay on the outskirts of the +metropolis.</p> + +<p>He pulled himself out of the water. Bow and arrows had been left +behind with the last merman; he had only his sword-knife for +protection. But he was not there to fight, only to watch and wait. +Pressing the excess moisture out of his scant clothing, he crept along +the shore. If the strangers were using the streets, it might be well +to get above them. Speculatively he eyed the buildings about him as he +entered the city.</p> + +<p>Dalgard continued to keep at street level for two blocks, darting from +doorway to shadowed doorway, alert not only to any sound but to any +flicker of thought. He was reasonably sure, however, that the aliens +would be watching and seeking only for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> merpeople. Though they +were not telepathic as their former slaves, Those Others were able to +sense the near presence of a merman, so that the sea people dared not +communicate while within danger range of the aliens without betraying +themselves. It was the fact that he was of a different species, +therefore possibly immune to such detection, which had brought Dalgard +into the city.</p> + +<p>He studied the buildings ahead. Among them was a cone-shaped structure +which might have been the base of a tower that had had all stories +above the third summarily amputated. It was ornamented with a series +of bands in high relief, bands bearing the color script of the aliens. +This was the nearest answer to his problem. However the scout did not +move toward it until after a long moment of both visual and mental +inspection of his surroundings. But that inspection did not reach some +twelve streets away where another crouched to watch. Dalgard ran +lightly to the tower at the same moment that Raf shifted his weight +from one foot to the other behind a parapet as he spied upon the knot +of aliens gathered below him in the street....</p> + +<p>The pilot had followed them since that early morning hour when Soriki +had awakened him. Not that the chase had led him far in distance. Most +of the time he had spent in waiting just as he was doing now. At first +he had believed that they were searching for something, for they had +ventured into several buildings, each time to emerge conferring, only +to hunt out another and invade it. Since they always returned with +empty hands, he could not believe that they were out for further loot. +Also they moved with more confidence than they had shown the day +before. That confidence led Raf to climb above them so that he could +watch them with less chance of being seen in return.</p> + +<p>It had been almost noon when they had at last come into this section. +If two of them had not remained idling on the street as the long +moments crept<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> by, he would have believed that they had given him the +slip, that he was now a cat watching a deserted mouse hole. But at the +moment they were coming back, carrying something.</p> + +<p>Raf leaned as far over the parapet as he dared, trying to catch a +better look at the flat, boxlike object two of them had deposited on +the pavement. Whatever it was either needed some adjustment or they +were attempting to open it with poor success, for they had been busied +about it for what seemed an unusually long time. The pilot licked dry +lips and wondered what would happen if he swung down there and just +walked in for a look-see. That idea was hardening into resolution when +suddenly the group below drew quickly apart, leaving the box sitting +alone as they formed a circle about it.</p> + +<p>There was a puff of white vapor, a protesting squawk, and the thing +began to rise in jerks as if some giant in the sky was pulling at it +spasmodically. Raf jumped back. Before he could return to his vantage +point, he saw it rise above the edge of the parapet, reach a level +five or six feet above his head, hovering there. It no longer climbed; +instead it began to swing back and forth, describing in each swing a +wider stretch of space.</p> + +<p>Back and forth—watching it closely made him almost dizzy. What was +its purpose? Was it a detection device, to locate him? Raf's hand went +to his stun gun. What effect its rays might have on the box he had no +way of knowing, but at that moment he was sorely tempted to try the +beam out, with the oscillating machine as his target.</p> + +<p>The motion of the floating black thing became less violent, its swoop +smoother as if some long-idle motor was now working more as its +builders had intended it to perform. The swing made wide circles, +graceful glides as the thing explored the air currents.</p> + +<p>Searching—it was plainly searching for something. Just as plainly it +could not be hunting for him, for his pres<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>ence on that roof would +have been uncovered at once. But the machine was—it must be—out of +sight of the warriors in the street. How could they keep in touch with +it if it located what they sought? Unless it had some built-in +signaling device.</p> + +<p>Determined to keep it in sight, Raf risked a jump from the parapet of +the building where he had taken cover to another roof beyond, running +lightly across that as the hound bobbed and twisted, away from its +masters, out across the city in pursuit of some mysterious quarry....</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The climb which had looked so easy from the street proved to be more +difficult when Dalgard actually made it. His hours of swimming in the +river, the night of broken rest, had drained his strength more than he +had known. He was panting as he flattened himself against the wall, +his feet on one of the protruding bands of colored carving, content to +rest before reaching for another hold. To all appearances the city +about him was empty of life and, except for the certainty of the +merpeople that the alien ship and its strange companion had landed +here, he would have believed that he was on a fruitless quest.</p> + +<p>Grimly, his lower lip caught between his teeth, the scout began to +climb once more, the sun hot on his body, drawing sweat to dampen his +forehead and his hands. He did not pause again but kept on until he +stood on the top of the shortened tower. The roof here was not flat +but sloped inward to a cuplike depression, where he could see the +outline of a round opening, perhaps a door of sorts. But at that +moment he was too winded to do more than rest.</p> + +<p>There was a drowsiness in that air. He was tempted to curl up where he +sat and turn his rest into the sleep his body craved. It was in that +second or so of time when he was beginning to relax, to forget the +tenseness which had gripped him since his return to this ill-omened +place, that he touched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>—</p> + +<p>Dalgard stiffened as if one of his own poisoned arrows had pricked his +skin. Rapport with the merpeople, with the hoppers and the runners, +was easy, familiar. But this was no such touch. It was like contacting +something which was icy cold, inimical from birth, something which he +could never meet on a plain of understanding. He snapped off mind +questing at that instant and huddled where he was, staring up into the +blank turquoise of the sky, waiting—for what he did not know. Unless +it was for that other mind to follow and ferret out his hiding place, +to turn him inside out and wring from him everything he ever knew or +hoped to learn.</p> + +<p>As time passed in long breaths, and he was not so invaded, he began to +think that while he had been aware of contact, the other had not. And, +emboldened, he sent out a tracer. Unconsciously, as the tracer groped, +he pivoted his body. It lay—there!</p> + +<p>At the second touch he withdrew in the same second, afraid of +revelation. But as he returned to probe delicately, ready to flee at +the first hint that the other suspected, his belief in temporary +safety grew. To his disappointment he could not pierce beyond the +outer wall of identity. There was a living creature of a high rate of +intelligence, a creature alien to his own thought processes, not too +far away. And though his attempts to enter into closer communication +grew bolder, he could not crack the barrier which kept them apart. He +had long known that contact with the merpeople was on a lower, a far +lower, band than they used when among themselves, and that they were +only able to "talk" with the colonists because for generations they +had exchanged thought symbols with the hoppers and other unlike +species. They had been frank in admitting that while Those Others +could be aware of their presence through telepathic means, they could +not exchange thoughts. So now, his own band, basically strange to this +planet, might well go unnoticed by the once dominant race of Astra.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p> + +<p>They—or him—or it—were over in that direction, Dalgard was sure of +that. He faced northwest and saw for the first time, about a mile +away, the swelling of the globe. If the strange flyer reported by the +merpeople was beside it, he could not distinguish it from this +distance. Yet he was sure the mind he had located was closer to him +than that ship.</p> + +<p>Then he saw it—a black object rising by stiff jerks into the air as +if it were being dragged upward against its inclination. It was too +small to be a flyer of any sort. Long ago the colonists had patched +together a physical description of Those Others which had assured them +that the aliens were close to them in general characteristics and +size. No, that couldn't be carrying a passenger. Then what—or why?</p> + +<p>The object swung out in a gradually widening circle. Dalgard held to +the walled edge of the roof. Something within him suggested that it +would be wiser to seek some less open space, that there was danger in +that flying box. He released his hold and went to the trap door. It +took only a minute to fit his fingers into round holes and tug. Its +stubborn resistance gave, and stale air whooshed out in his face as it +opened.</p> + +<p>In his battle with the door Dalgard had ignored the box, so he was +startled when, with a piercing whistle, almost too high on the scale +for his ears to catch, the thing suddenly swooped into a screaming +dive, apparently heading straight for him. Dalgard flung himself +through the trap door, luckily landing on one of the steep, curved +ramps. He lost his balance and slid down into the dark, trying to +brake his descent with his hands, the eerie screech of the box +trumpeting in his ears.</p> + +<p>There was little light in this section of the cone building, and he +was brought up with bruising force against a blank wall two floors +below where he had so unceremoniously entered. As he lay in the dark +trying to gasp some breath back into his lungs, he could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> still hear +the squeal. Was it summoning? There was no time to be lost in getting +away.</p> + +<p>On his hands and knees the scout crept along what must have been a +short hall until he found a second descending ramp, this one less +steep than the first, so that he was able to keep to his feet while +using it. And the gloom of the next floor was broken by odd scraps of +light which showed through pierced portions of the decorative bands. +The door was there, a locking bar across it.</p> + +<p>Dalgard did not try to shift that at once, although he laid his hands +upon it. If the box was a hound for hunters, had it already drawn its +masters to this building? Would he open the door only to be faced by +the danger he wished most to avoid? Desperately he tried to probe with +the mind touch. But he could not find the alien band. Was that because +the hunters could control their minds as they crept up? His kind knew +so little of Those Others, and the merpeople's hatred of their ancient +masters was so great that they tended to avoid rather than study them.</p> + +<p>The scout's sixth sense told him that nothing waited outside. But the +longer he lingered with that beacon overhead the slimmer his chances +would be. He must move and quickly. Sliding back the bar, he opened +the door a crack and looked out into a deserted street. There was +another doorway to take shelter in some ten feet or so farther along, +beyond that an alley wall overhung by a balcony. He marked these +refuges and went out to make his first dash to safety.</p> + +<p>Nothing stirred, and he sprinted. There came again that piercing +shriek to tear his ears as the floating box dived at him. He swerved +away from the doorway to dart on under the balcony, sure now that he +must keep moving, but under cover so that the black thing could not +pounce. If he could find some entrance into the underground ways such +as those that ran from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>arena—But now he was not even sure in +which direction the arena stood, and he dared no longer climb to look +over the surrounding territory.</p> + +<p>He touched the alien mind! They <i>were</i> moving in, following the lead +of their hound. He must not allow himself to be cornered. The scout +fought down a surge of panic, attempted to battle the tenseness which +tied his nerves. He must not run mindlessly either. That was probably +just what they wanted him to do. So he stood under the balcony and +tried not to listen to the shrilling of the box as he studied the +strip of alley.</p> + +<p>This was a narrow side way, and he had not made the wisest of choices +in entering it, for not much farther ahead it was bordered with smooth +walls protecting what had once been gardens. He had no way of telling +whether the box would actually attack him if he were caught in the +open—to put that to the test was foolhardy—nor could he judge its +speed of movement.</p> + +<p>The walls.... A breeze which blew up the lane carried with it the +smell of the river. There was a slim chance that it might end in +water, and he had a feeling that if he could reach the stream he would +be able to baffle the hunters. He did not have long to make up his +mind—the aliens were closer.</p> + +<p>Lightly Dalgard ran under the length of the balcony, turned sharply as +he reached the end of its protecting cover, and leaped. His fingers +gripped the ornamental grillwork, and he was able to pull himself up +and over to the narrow runway. A canopy was still over his head, and +there came a bump against it as the baffled box thumped. So it would +try to knock him off if it could get the chance! That was worth +knowing.</p> + +<p>He looked over the walls. They guarded masses of tangled vegetation +grown through years of neglect into thick mats. And those promised a +way of escape, if he could reach them. He studied the windows, the +door opening onto the balcony. With the hilt of his sword-knife he +smashed his way into the house, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> course swiftly through the rooms +to the lower floor, and find the entrance to the garden.</p> + +<p>Facing that briary jungle on the ground level was a little daunting. +To get through it would be a matter of cutting his way. Could he do it +and escape that bobbing, shrilling thing in the air? A trace of +pebbled path gave him a ghost of a chance, and he knew that these +shrubs tended to grow upward and not mass until they were several feet +above the ground.</p> + +<p>Trusting to luck, Dalgard burrowed into the green mass, slashing with +his knife at anything which denied him entrance. He was swallowed up +in a strange dim world wherein dead shrubs and living were twined +together to form a roof, cutting off the light and heat of the sun. +From the sour earth, sliming his hands and knees, arose an +overpowering stench of decay and disturbed mold. In the dusk he had to +wait for his eyes to adjust before he could mark the line of the old +path he had taken for his guide.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, after the first few feet, he discovered that the tunneled +path was less obstructed than he had feared. The thick mat overhead +had kept the sun from the ground and killed off all the lesser plants +so that it was possible to creep along a fairly open strip. He was +conscious of the chitter of insects, but no animals lingered here. +Under him the ground grew more moist and the mold was close to mud in +consistency. He dared to hope that this meant he was either +approaching the river or some garden stream feeding into the larger +flood.</p> + +<p>Somewhere the squeal of the hunter kept up a steady cry, but, unless +the foliage above him was distorting that sound, Dalgard believed that +the box was no longer directly above him. Had he in some way thrown it +off his trail?</p> + +<p>He found his stream, a thread of water, hardly more than a series of +scummy pools with the vegetation still meeting almost solidly over it. +And it brought him to a wall with a drain through which he was sure +he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> could crawl. Disliking to venture into that cramped darkness, but +seeing no other way out, the scout squirmed forward in slime and muck, +feeling the rasp of rough stone on his shoulders as he made his worm's +progress into the unknown.</p> + +<p>Once he was forced to halt and, in the dark, loosen and pick out +stones embedded in the mud bottom narrowing the passage. On the other +side of that danger point, he was free to wriggle on. Could the box +trace him now? He had no idea of the principle on which it operated; +he could only hope.</p> + +<p>Then before him he saw the ghostly gray of light and squirmed with +renewed vigor—to be faced then by a grille, beyond which was the open +world. Once more his knife came into use as he pried and dug at the +barrier. He worked for long moments until the grille splashed out into +the sluggish current a foot or so below, and then he made ready to +lower himself into the same flood.</p> + +<p>It was only because he was a trained hunter that he avoided death in +that moment. Some instinct made him dodge even as he slipped through, +and the hurtling black box did not strike true at the base of his +brain but raked along his scalp, tearing the flesh and sending him +tumbling unconscious into the brown water.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>14</h2> + +<h3>THE PRISONER</h3> +<p>Raf was two streets away from the circling box but still able to keep +it in sight when its easy glide stopped, and, in a straight line, it +swooped toward a roof emitting a shrill, rising whistle. It rose again +a few seconds later as if baffled, but it continued to hover at that +point, keening forth its warning. The pilot reached<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> the next +building, but a street still kept him away from the conical structure +above which the box now hung.</p> + +<p>Undecided, he stayed where he was. Should he go down to street level +and investigate? Before he had quite made up his mind he saw the +foremost of the alien scouting party round into the thoroughfare below +and move purposefully at the cone tower, weapons to the fore. Judging +by their attitude, the box had run to earth there the prey they had +been searching for.</p> + +<p>But it wasn't to be so easy. With another eerie howl the machine +soared once more and bobbed completely over the cone to the street +which must lie beyond it. Raf knew that he could not miss the end of +the chase and started on a detour along the roof tops which should +bring him to a vantage point. By the time he had made that journey he +found himself on a warehouse roof which projected over the edge of the +river.</p> + +<p>From a point farther downstream a small boat was putting out. Two of +the aliens paddled while a third crouched in the bow. A second party +was picking its way along the bank some distance away, both groups +seemingly heading toward a point a building or two to the left of the +one where Raf had taken cover.</p> + +<p>He heard the shrilling of the box, saw it bobbing along a line toward +the river. But in that direction there was only a mass of green. The +end to the weird chase came so suddenly that he was not prepared, and +it was over before he caught a good look at the quarry. Something +moved down on the river bank and in that same instant the box hurtled +earthward as might a spear. It struck, and the creature who had just +crawled out—out of the ground as far as Raf could see—toppled into +the stream. As the waters closed over the body, the box slued around +and came to rest on the bank. The party in the boat sent their small +craft flying toward the spot where the crawler had sunk.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> + +<p>One of the paddlers abandoned his post and slipped over the side, +diving into the oily water. He made two tries before he was successful +and came to the surface with the other in tow. They did not try to +heave the unconscious captive into the boat, merely kept the lolling +head above water as they turned downstream once more and vanished from +Raf's sight around the end of a pier, while the second party on the +bank reclaimed the now quiet box and went off.</p> + +<p>But Raf had seen enough to freeze him where he was for a moment. The +creature which had popped out of the ground only to be struck by the +box and knocked into the river—he would take oath on the fact that it +was not one of the furred animals he had seen on the sea island. +Surely it had been smooth-skinned, not unlike the aliens in +conformation—one of their own kind they had been hunting down, a +criminal or a rebel?</p> + +<p>Puzzled, the pilot moved along from roof to roof, trying to pick up +the trail of the party in the boat, but as far as he could now see, +the river was bare. If they had come ashore anywhere along here, they +had simply melted into the city. At last he was forced to use the +homing beam, and it guided him back across the deserted metropolis to +the field.</p> + +<p>There was still activity about the globe; they were bringing in the +loot from the warehouse, but Lablet and Hobart stood by the flitter. +As the pilot came up to them, the captain looked up eagerly.</p> + +<p>"What happened?"</p> + +<p>Raf sensed that there had been some change during his absence, that +Hobart was looking to him for an explanation to make clear happenings +here. He told his story of the hunt and its ending, the capture of the +stranger. Lablet nodded as he finished.</p> + +<p>"That is the reason for this, you may depend upon it, Captain. One of +their own people is at the bottom of it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Of what?" Raf wanted to ask, but Soriki did it for him.</p> + +<p>Hobart smiled grimly. "We are all traveling back together. Take off in +the early morning. For some reason they wanted us out of the globe in +a hurry—practically shoved us out half an hour ago."</p> + +<p>Though the Terrans kept a watch on the larger ship as long as the +light lasted, the darkness defeated them. They did not see the +prisoner being taken aboard. Yet none of them doubted that sometime +during the dusky hours it had been done.</p> + +<p>It was barely dawn when the globe took off the next day, and Raf +brought the flitter up on its trail, heading westward into the sea +wind. Below them the land held no signs of life. They swept over the +deserted, terraced city that was the gateway to the guarded interior, +flew back over the line of sea islands. Raf climbed higher, not caring +to go too near the island where the aliens had wrought their terrible +vengeance on the trip out. And all four of the Terrans knew relief, +though they might not admit it to each other, when once more Soriki +was able to establish contact with the distant spacer.</p> + +<p>"Turn north, sir?" the pilot suggested. "I could ride her beam in from +here—we don't have to follow them home." He wanted to do that so +badly it was almost a compulsion to make his hand move on the +controls. And when Hobart did not answer at once, he was sure that the +captain would give that very order, taking them out of the company of +those he had never trusted.</p> + +<p>But Lablet spoiled that. "We have their word, Captain. That anti-grav +unit that they showed us last night alone—"</p> + +<p>So Hobart shook his head, and they meekly continued on the path set by +the globe across the ocean.</p> + +<p>As the hours passed Raf's inner uneasiness grew. For some queer reason +which he could not define to himself or explain to anyone else, he was +now possessed by an urgency to trail the globe which tran<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>scended and +then erased his dislike of the aliens. It was as if some appeal for +help was being broadcast from the other ship, drawing him on. It was +then that he began to question his assumption that the prisoner was +one of them.</p> + +<p>Over and over again in his mind he tried to re-picture the capture as +he had witnessed it from the building just too far away and at +slightly the wrong angle for a clear view. He would swear that the +body he had seen tumble into the flood had not been furred, that much +he was sure of. But clothing, yes, there had been clothing. Not—his +mind suddenly produced that one scrap of memory—not the bandage +windings of the aliens. And hadn't the skin been fairer? Was there +another race on this continent, one they had not been told about?</p> + +<p>When they at last reached the shore of the western continent and +finally the home city of the aliens, the globe headed back to its +berth, not in the roof cradle from which it had arisen, but sinking +into the building itself. Raf brought the flitter down on a roof as +close to the main holding of the painted people as he could get. None +of the aliens came near them. It seemed that they were to be ignored. +Hobart paced along the flat roof, and Soriki sat in the flyer, nursing +his com, intent upon the slender thread of beam which tied them to the +parent ship so many miles away.</p> + +<p>"I don't understand it." Lablet's voice arose almost plaintively. +"They were so very persuasive about our accompanying them. They were +eager to have us see their treasures—"</p> + +<p>Hobart swung around. "Somehow the balance of power has changed," he +observed, "in their favor. I'd give anything to know more about that +prisoner of theirs. You're sure it wasn't one of the furry people?" he +asked Raf, as if hoping against hope that the pilot would reply in +doubt.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir." Raf hesitated. Should he air his suspicions, that the +captive was not of the same race as his cap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>tors either? But what +proof had he beyond a growing conviction that he could not +substantiate?</p> + +<p>"A rebel, a thief—" Lablet was ready to dismiss it as immaterial. +"Naturally they would be upset if they were having trouble with one of +their own men. But to leave now, just when we are on the verge of new +discoveries—That anti-gravity unit alone is worth our whole trip! +Imagine being able to return to earth with the principle of that!"</p> + +<p>"Imagine being able to return to earth with our skins on our backs," +was Soriki's whispered contribution. "If we had the sense of a +Venusian water nit, we'd blast out of here so quick our tail fumes'd +take off with us!"</p> + +<p>Privately Raf concurred, but the urge to know more about the +mysterious prisoner was still pricking at him, until he, contrary to +his usual detachment, felt driven to discover all that he could. It +was almost, but Raf shied away from that wild idea, it was almost as +if he were hearing a voiceless cry for aid, as if his mind was one of +Soriki's coms tuned in on an unknown wave length. He was angrily +impatient with himself for that fantastic supposition. At the same +time, another part of his mind, as he walked to the edge of the roof +and looked out at the buildings he knew were occupied by the aliens, +was busy examining the scene as if he intended to crawl about on roof +tops on a second scouting expedition.</p> + +<p>Finally the rest decided that Lablet and Hobart were to try to +establish contact with the aliens once more. After they had gone, Raf +opened a compartment in the flitter, the contents of which were his +particular care. He squatted on his heels and surveyed the neatly +stowed objects inside thoughtfully. A survival kit depended a great +deal on the type of terrain in which the user was planning to +survive—an aquatic world would require certain basic elements, a +frozen tundra others—but there were a few items common to every +emergency, and those were now at Raf's fingertips. The blast bombs, +sealed into their pexilod cases, guaran<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>teed to stop all the attackers +that Terran explorers had so far met on and off worlds, a coil of rope +hardly thicker than a strand of knitting yarn but of inconceivable +toughness and flexibility, an aid kit with endurance drugs and pep +pills which could keep a man on his feet and going long after food and +water failed. He had put them all in their separate compartments.</p> + +<p>For a long moment he hunkered there, studying the assortment. And +then, almost as if some will other than his own was making a choice, +he reached out. The rope curled about his waist under his tunic so +tautly that its presence could not be detected without a search, blast +bombs went into the sealed seam pocket on his breast, and two flat +containers with their capsules were tucked away in his belt pouch. He +snapped the door shut and got to his feet to discover Soriki watching +him. Only for a moment was Raf disconcerted. He knew that he would not +be able to explain why he must do what he was going to do. There was +no reason why he should. Soriki, except for being a few years his +senior, had no authority over him. He was not under the com-tech's +orders.</p> + +<p>"Another trip into the blue?"</p> + +<p>The pilot replied to that with a nod.</p> + +<p>"Somehow, boy, I don't think anything's going to stop you, so why +waste my breath? But use your homer—and your eyes!"</p> + +<p>Raf paused. There was an unmistakable note of friendliness in the +com-tech's warning. Almost he was tempted to try and explain. But how +could one make plain feelings for which there was no sensible reason? +Sometimes it was better to be quiet.</p> + +<p>"Don't dig up more than you can rebury." That warning, in the slang +current when they had left Terra, was reassuring simply because it was +of the earth he knew. Raf grinned. But he did not head toward the roof +opening and the ramp inside the building. Instead he set a course he +had learned in the other city, swinging down to the roof of the +neighboring structure, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>tent on working away from the inhabited +section of the town before he went into the streets.</p> + +<p>Either the aliens had not set any watch on the Terrans or else all +their interest was momentarily engaged elsewhere. Raf, having gone +three or four blocks in the opposite direction to his goal, made his +way through a silent, long-deserted building to the street without +seeing any of the painted people. In his ear buzzed the comforting hum +of the com, tying him with the flitter and so, in a manner, to safety.</p> + +<p>He knew that the alien community had gathered in and around the +central building they had visited. To his mind the prisoner was now +either in the headquarters of the warriors, where the globe had been +berthed, or had been taken to the administration building. Whether he +could penetrate either stronghold was a question Raf did not yet face +squarely.</p> + +<p>But the odd something which tugged at him was as persistent as the +buzz in his earphones. And an idea came. If he <i>were</i> obeying some +strange call for assistance, couldn't that in some way lead him to +what he sought? The only difficulty was that he had no way of being +more receptive to the impulse than he now was. He could not use it as +a compass bearing.</p> + +<p>In the end he chose the Center as his goal, reasoning that if the +prisoner were to be interviewed by the leaders of the aliens, he would +be taken to those rulers, they would not go to him. From a concealed +place across from the open square on which the building fronted, the +pilot studied it carefully. It towered several stories above the +surrounding structures, to some of which it was tied by the ways above +the streets. To use one of those bridges as a means of entering the +headquarters would be entirely too conspicuous.</p> + +<p>As far as the pilot was able to judge, there was only one entrance on +the ground level, the wide front door with the imposing +picture-covered gates. Had he had free use of the flitter he might +have tried to swing down from the hovering machine after dark. But he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> +was sure that Captain Hobart would not welcome the suggestion.</p> + +<p>Underground? There had been those ways in that other city, a city +which, though built on a much smaller scale, was not too different in +general outline from this one. The idea was worth investigation.</p> + +<p>The doorway, which had afforded him a shelter from which to spy out +the land, yielded to his push, and he went through three large rooms +on the ground floor, paying no attention to the strange groups of +furnishings, but seeking something else, which he had luck to find in +the last room, a ramp leading down.</p> + +<p>It was in the underground that he made his first important find. They +had seen ground vehicles in the city, a few still in operation, but +Raf had gathered that the fuel and extra parts for the machines were +now so scarce that they were only used in emergencies. Here, however, +was a means of transportation quite different, a tunnel through which +ran a ribbon of belt, wide enough to accommodate three or four +passengers at once. It did not move, but when Raf dared to step out +upon its surface, it swung under his weight. Since it ran in the +general direction of the Center he decided to use it. It trembled +under his tread, but he found that he could run along it making no +sound.</p> + +<p>The tunnel was not in darkness, for square plates set in the roof gave +a diffused violet light. However, not too far ahead, the light was +brighter, and it came from one side, not the roof. Another station on +this abandoned way? The pilot approached it with caution. If his bump +of direction was not altogether off, this must be either below the +Center or very close to it.</p> + +<p>The second station proved to be a junction where more than one of the +elastic paths met. Though he crouched to listen for a long moment +before venturing out into that open space, he could hear or see +nothing which suggested that the aliens ever came down now to these +levels.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> + +<p>They had provided an upward ramp, and Raf climbed it, only to meet his +first defeat at its top. For here was no opening to admit him to the +ground floor of what he hoped was the Center. Baffled by the smooth +surface over which he vainly ran his hands seeking for some clue to +the door, he decided that the aliens had, for some purpose of their +own, walled off the lower regions. Discouraged, he returned to the +junction level. But he was not content to surrender his plans so +easily. Slowly he made a circuit of the platform, examining the walls +and celling. He found an air shaft, a wide opening striking up into +the heart of the building above.</p> + +<p>It was covered with a grille and it was above his reach but....</p> + +<p>Raf measured distances and planned his effort. The mouth of a junction +tunnel ran less than two feet away from that grille. The opening was +outlined with a ledge, which made a complete arch from the floor. He +stopped and triggered the gravity plates in his space boots. Made to +give freedom of action when the ship was in free fall, they might just +provide a weak suction here. And they did! He was able to climb that +arch and, standing on it, work loose the grille which had been +fashioned to open. Now....</p> + +<p>The pilot flashed his hand torch up into that dark well. He had been +right—and lucky! There were holds at regular intervals, something +must have been serviced by workmen in here. This was going to be easy. +His fingers found the first hold, and he wormed his way into the +shaft.</p> + +<p>It was not a difficult climb, for there were niches along the way +where the alien mechanics who had once made repairs had either rested +or done some of their work. And there were also grilles on each level +which gave him at least a partial view of what lay beyond.</p> + +<p>His guess was right; he recognized the main hall of the Center as he +climbed past the grid there, head<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>ing up toward those levels where he +was sure the leaders of the aliens had their private quarters. Twice +he paused to look in upon conferences of the gaudily wrapped and +painted civilians, but, since he could not understand what they were +saying, it was a waste of time to linger.</p> + +<p>He was some eight floors up when chance, luck, or that mysterious +something which had brought him into this venture, led him to the +right place at the right time. There was one of those niches, and he +had just settled into it, peering out through the grid, when he saw +the door at the opposite end of the room open and in marched a party +of warriors with a prisoner in their midst.</p> + +<p>Raf's eyes went wide. It was the captive he sought; he had no doubt of +that. But who—what—was that prisoner?</p> + +<p>This was no fur-covered half-animal, nor was it one of the +delicate-boned, decadent, painted creatures such as those who now +ringed in their captive. Though the man had been roughly handled and +now reeled rather than walked, Raf thought for one wild instant that +it was one of the crew from the spacer. The light hair, showing rings +of curl, the tanned face which, beneath dirt and bruises, displayed a +very familiar cast of features, the body hardly covered by rags of +clothing—they were all so like those of his own kind that his mind at +first refused to believe that this was <i>not</i> someone he knew. Yet as +the party moved toward his hiding place he knew that he was facing a +total stranger.</p> + +<p>Stranger or no, Raf was sure that he saw a Terran. Had another ship +made a landing on this planet? One of those earlier ships whose fate +had been a mystery on their home world? Who—and when—and why? He +huddled as close to the grid as he could get, alert to the slightest +movement below as the prisoner faced his captors.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>15</h2> + +<h3>ARENA</h3> +<p>The dull pain which throbbed through Dalgard's skull with every beat +of his heart was confusing, and it was hard to think clearly. But the +colony scout, soon after he had fought his way back to consciousness, +had learned that he was imprisoned somewhere in the globe ship. Just +as he now knew that he had been brought across the sea from the +continent on which Homeport was situated and that he had no hope of +rescue.</p> + +<p>He had seen little of his captors, and the guards, who had hustled him +from one place of imprisonment to another, had not spoken to him, nor +had he tried to communicate with them. At first he had been too sick +and confused, then too wary. These were clearly Those Others and the +conditioning which had surrounded him from birth had instilled in him +a deep distrust of the former masters of Astra.</p> + +<p>Now Dalgard was more alert, and his being brought to this room in what +was certainly the center of the alien civilization made him believe +that he was about to meet the rulers of the enemy. So he stared +curiously about him as the guards jostled him through the door.</p> + +<p>On a dais fashioned of heaped-up rainbow-colored pads were three +aliens, their legs folded under them at what seemed impossible angles. +One wore the black wrappings, the breastplate of the guards, but the +other two had indulged their love of color in weird, eye-disturbing +combinations of shades in the bandages wrapping the thin limbs and +paunchy bodies. They were, as far as he could see through the thick +layers of paint overlaying their skins, older than their officer +companion. But nothing in their attitude suggested that age had +mellowed them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> + +<p>Dalgard was brought to stand before the trio as before a tribunal of +judges. His sword-knife had been taken from his belt before he had +regained his senses, his hands were twisted behind his back and locked +together in a bar and hoop arrangement. He certainly could offer +little threat to the company, yet they ringed him in, weapons ready, +watching his every move. The scout licked cracked lips. There was one +thing they could not control, could not prevent him from doing. +Somewhere, not too far away, was help ...</p> + +<p>Not from the merpeople, but he was sure that he had been in contact +with another friendly mind. Since the hour of his awakening on board +the globe ship, when he had half-consciously sent out an appeal for +aid over the band which united him with Sssuri's race, and had touched +that other consciousness—not the cold alien stream about him—he had +been sure that somewhere within the enemy throng there was a potential +savior. Was it among those who manned the strange flyer, those the +merpeople had spied upon but whom he had not yet seen?</p> + +<p>Dalgard had striven since that moment of contact to keep in touch with +the nebulous other mind, to project his need for help. But he had been +unable to enter in freely as he could with his own kind, or with +Sssuri and the sea people. Now, even as he stood in the heart of the +enemy territory completely at the mercy of the aliens, he felt, more +strongly than ever before, that another, whose mind he could not enter +and yet who was in some queer way sensitive to his appeal, was close +at hand. He searched the painted faces before him trying to probe +behind each locked mask, but he was certain that the one he sought was +not there. Only—he must be! The contact was so strong—Dalgard's +startled eyes went to the wall behind the dais, tried vainly to trace +what could only be felt. He would be willing to give a knife oath that +the stranger was within seeing, listening distance at this minute!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p> + +<p>While he was so engrossed in his own problem, the guard had moved. The +hooped bar which locked his wrists was loosened, and his arms, each +tight in the grip of one of the warriors were brought out before him. +The officer on the dais tossed a metal ring to one of the guards.</p> + +<p>Roughly the warrior holding Dalgard's left arm forced the band over +his hand and jerked it up his forearm as far as it would go. As it +winked in the light the scout was reminded of a similar bracelet he +had seen—where? On the front leg of the snake-devil he had shot!</p> + +<p>The officer produced a second ring, slipping it smoothly over his own +arm, adjusting it to touch bare skin and not the wrappings which +served him as a sleeve. Dalgard thought he understood. A device to +facilitate communication. And straightway he was wary. When his +ancestors had first met the merpeople, they had established a means of +speech through touch, the palm of one resting against the palm of the +other. In later generations, when they had developed their new senses, +physical contact had not been necessary. However, here—Dalgard's eyes +narrowed, the line along his jaw was hard.</p> + +<p>He had always accepted the merpeople's estimate of Those Others, that +their ancient enemies were all-seeing and all-knowing, with mental +powers far beyond their own definition or description. Now he half +expected to be ruthlessly mind-invaded, stripped of everything the +enemy desired to know.</p> + +<p>So he was astonished when the words which formed in his thoughts were +simple, almost childish. And while he prepared to answer them, another +part of him watched and listened, waiting for the attack he was sure +would come.</p> + +<p>"You—are—who—what?"</p> + +<p>He forced a look of astonishment. Nor did he make the mistake of +answering that mentally. If Those Oth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>ers did not know he could use +the mind speech, why betray his power?</p> + +<p>"I am of the stars," he answered slowly, aloud, using the speech of +Homeport. He had so little occasion to talk lately that his voice +sounded curiously rusty and harsh in his own ears. Nor had he the +least idea of the impression those few archaically accented words +would have on one who heard them.</p> + +<p>To Dalgard's inner surprise the answer did not astonish his +interrogator. The alien officer might well have been expecting to hear +just that. But he pulled off his own arm band before he turned to his +fellows with a spurt of the twittering speech they used among +themselves. While the two civilians were still trilling, the officer +edged forward an inch or so and stared at Dalgard intently as he +replaced the band.</p> + +<p>"You not look—same—as others—"</p> + +<p>"I do not know what you mean. Here are not others like me."</p> + +<p>One of the civilians twitched at the officer's sleeve, apparently +demanding a translation, but the other shook him off impatiently.</p> + +<p>"You come from sky—now?"</p> + +<p>Dalgard shook his head, then realized that gesture might not mean +anything to his audience. "Long ago before I was, my people came."</p> + +<p>The alien digested that, then again took off his band before he +relayed it to his companions. The excited twitter of their speech +scaled up.</p> + +<p>"You travel with the beasts—" the alien's accusation came crisply +while the others gabbled. "That which hunts could not have tracked you +had not the stink of the beast things been on you."</p> + +<p>"I know no beasts," Dalgard faced up to that squarely. "The sea people +are my friends!"</p> + +<p>It was hard to read any emotion on these lacquered and bedaubed faces, +but before the officer once more broke bracelet contact, Dalgard did +sense the other's almost hysterical aversion. The scout might just +have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> admitted to the most revolting practices as far as the alien was +concerned. After he had translated, all three of those on the dais +were silent. Even the guards edged away from the captive as if in some +manner they might be defiled by proximity. One of the civilians made +an emphatic statement, got creakily to his feet, and walked always as +if he would have nothing more to do with this matter. After a second +or two of hesitation his fellow followed his example.</p> + +<p>The officer turned the bracelet around in his fingers, his dark eyes +with their slitted pupils never leaving Dalgard's face. Then he came +to a decision. He pushed the ring up his arm, and the words which +reached the prisoner were coldly remote, as if the captive were no +longer judged an intelligent living creature but something which had +no right of existence in a well-ordered universe.</p> + +<p>"Beast friends with beast. As the beasts—so shall you end. It is +spoken."</p> + +<p>One of the guards tore the bracelet from Dalgard's arm, trying not to +touch the scout's flesh in the process. And those who once more +shackled his wrists ostentatiously wiped their hands up and down the +wrappings on their thighs afterwards.</p> + +<p>But before they jabbed him into movement with the muzzles of their +weapons, Dalgard located at last the source of that disturbing mental +touch, not only located it, but in some manner broke through the +existing barrier between the strange mind and his and communicated as +clearly with it as he might have with Sssuri. And the excitement of +his discovery almost led to self-betrayal!</p> + +<p>Terran! One of those who traveled with the aliens? Yet he read clearly +the other's distrust of that company, the fact that he lay in +concealment here without their knowledge. And he was not +unfriendly—surely he could not be a Peaceman of Pax! Another fugitive +from a newly-come colony ship—? Dalgard beamed a warning to the +other. If he who was free could only reach<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> the merpeople! It might +mean the turning point in their whole venture!</p> + +<p>Dalgard was furiously planning, simplifying, trying to impress the +most imperative message on that other mind as he stumbled away in the +midst of the guards. The stranger was confused, apparently Dalgard's +arrival, his use of the mind touch, had been an overwhelming surprise. +But if he could only make the right move—would make it—The scout +from Homeport had no idea what was in store for him, but with one of +his own breed here and suspicious of the aliens he had at least a slim +chance. He snapped the thread of communication. Now he must be ready +for any opportunity—</p> + +<p>Raf watched that amazing apparition go out of the room below. He was +shaking with a chill born of no outside cold. First the shock of +hearing that language, queerly accented as the words were, then that +sharp contact, mind to mind. He was being clearly warned against +revealing himself. The stranger was a Terran, Raf would swear to that. +So somewhere on this world there was a Terran colony! One of those +legendary ships of outlaws, who had taken to space during the rule of +Pax, had made the crossing safely and had here established a foothold.</p> + +<p>While one part of Raf's brain fitted together the jigsaw of bits and +patches of information, the other section dealt with that message of +warning the other had beamed to him. The pilot knew that the captive +must be in immediate danger. He could not understand all that had +happened in that interview with the aliens, but he was left with the +impression that the prisoner had been not only tried but condemned. +And it was up to him to help.</p> + +<p>But how? By the time he got back to the flitter or was able to find +Hobart and the others, it might already be too late. <i>He</i> must make +the move, and soon, for there had been unmistakable urgency in the +captive's message. Raf's hands fumbled at the grid before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> him, and +then he realized that the opening was far too small to admit him to +the room on the other side of the wall.</p> + +<p>To return to the underground ways might be a waste of time, but he +could see no other course open to him. What if he could not find the +captive later? Where in the maze of the half-deserted city could he +hope to come across the trail again? Even as he sorted out all the +points which could defeat him, Raf's hands and feet felt for the +notched steps which would take him down. He had gone only two floors +when he was faced with a grille opening which was much larger. On +impulse he stopped to measure it, sure he could squeeze through here, +if he could work loose the grid.</p> + +<p>Prying with one hand and a tool from his belt pouch, he struggled not +only against the stubborn metal but against time. That strange mental +communication had ceased. Though he was sure that he still received a +trace of it from time to time, just enough to reassure him that the +prisoner was still alive. And each time it touched him Raf redoubled +his efforts on the metal clasps of the grid. At last his determination +triumphed, and the grille swung out, to fall with an appalling clatter +to the floor.</p> + +<p>The pilot thrust his feet through the opening and wriggled +desperately, expecting any moment to confront a reception committee +drawn by the noise. But when he reached the floor, the hallway was +still vacant. In fact, he was conscious of a hush in the whole +building, as if those who made their homes within its walls were +elsewhere. That silence acted on him as a spur.</p> + +<p>Raf ran along the corridor, trying to subdue the clatter of his space +boots, coming to a downward ramp. There he paused, unable to decide +whether to go down—until he caught sight of a party of aliens below, +walking swiftly enough to suggest that they too were in a hurry.</p> + +<p>This small group was apparently on its way to some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> gathering. And in +it for the first time the Terran saw the women of the aliens, or at +least the fully veiled, gliding creatures he guessed were the females +of the painted people. There were four of them in the group ahead, +escorted by two of the males, and the high fluting of their voices +resounded along the corridor as might the cheeping of birds. If the +males were colorful in their choice of body wrappings, the females +were gorgeous beyond belief, as cloudy stuff which had the changing +hues of Terran opals frothed about them to completely conceal their +figures.</p> + +<p>The harsher twittering of the men had an impatient note, and the whole +party quickened pace until their glide was close to an undignified +trot. Raf, forced to keep well behind lest his boots betray him, +fumed.</p> + +<p>They did not go into the open, but took another way which sloped down +once more. Luckily the journey was not a long one. Ahead was light +which suggested the outdoors.</p> + +<p>Raf sucked in his breath as he came out a goodly distance behind the +aliens. Established in what was once a court surrounded by the towers +and buildings of the city was a miniature of that other arena where he +had seen the dead lizard things. The glittering, gayly dressed aliens +were taking their places on the tiers of seats. But the place which +had been built to accommodate at least a thousand spectators now +housed less than half the number. If this was the extent of the alien +nation, it was the dregs of a dwindling race.</p> + +<p>Directly below where Raf lingered in an aisle dividing the tiers of +seats, there was a manhole opening with a barred gate across it, an +entrance to the sand-covered enclosure. And fortunately the aliens +were all clustered close to the oval far from that spot.</p> + +<p>Also the attention of the audience was firmly riveted on events below. +A door at the sand level had been flung open, and through it was now +hustled the prisoner. Either the aliens still possessed some idea of +fair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> play or they hoped to prolong a contest to satisfy their own +pleasure, for the captive's hands were unbound and he clutched a +spear.</p> + +<p>Remembering far-off legends of earlier and more savage civilizations +on his own world, Raf was now sure that the lone man below was about +to fight for his life. The question was, against what?</p> + +<p>Another of the mouthlike openings around the edge of the arena opened, +and one of the furry people shambled out, weaving weakly from side to +side as he came, a spear in his scaled paws. He halted a step or two +into the open, his round head swinging from side to side, spittle +drooling from his gaping mouth. His body was covered with raw sores +and bare patches from which the fur had been torn away, and it was +apparent that he had long been the victim of ill-usage, if not +torture.</p> + +<p>Shrill cries arose from the alien spectators as the furred one blinked +in the light and then sighted the man some feet away. He stiffened, +his arm drew back, the spear poised. Then as suddenly it dropped to +his side, and he fell on his knees before wriggling across the sand, +his paws held out imploringly to his fellow captive.</p> + +<p>The cries from the watching aliens were threatening. Several rose in +their seats gesturing to the two below. And Raf, thankful for their +absorption, sped down to the manhole, discovering to his delight it +could be readily opened from his side. As he edged it around, there +was another sound below. This was no high-pitched fluting from aliens +deprived of their sport, but a hissing nightmare cry.</p> + +<p>Raf's line of vision, limited by the door, framed a portion of scaled +back, as it looked, immediately below him. His hand went to the blast +bombs as he descended the runway, and his boots hit the sand just as +the drama below reached its climax.</p> + +<p>The furred one lay prone in the sand, uncaring. Above that mistreated +body, the human stood in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> half-crouch of a fighting man, the puny +spear pointed up bravely at a mark it could not hope to reach, the +soft throat of one of the giant lizards. The reptile did not move to +speedily destroy. Instead, hissing, it reared above the two as if +studying them with a vicious intelligence. But there was no time to +wonder how long it would delay striking.</p> + +<p>Raf's strong teeth ripped loose the tag end of the blast bomb, and he +lobbed it straight with a practiced arm so that the ball spiraled +across the arena to come to rest between the massive hind legs of the +lizard. He saw the man's eyes widen as they fastened on him. And then +the human captive flung himself to the earth, half covering the body +of the furred one. The reptile grabbed in the same instant, its +grasping claws cutting only air, and before it could try a second time +the bomb went off.</p> + +<p>Literally torn apart by the explosion, the creature must have died at +once. But the captive moved. He was on his feet again, pulling his +companion up with him, before the startled spectators could guess what +had happened. Then half carrying the other prisoner, he ran, not +onward to the waiting Raf, but for the gate through which he had come +into the arena. At the same time a message beat into the Terran's +brain—</p> + +<p>"This way!"</p> + +<p>Avoiding bits of horrible refuse, Raf obeyed that order, catching up +in a couple of strides with the other two and linking his arm through +the dangling one of the furred creature to take some of the strain +from the stranger.</p> + +<p>"Have you any more of the power things?" the words came in the archaic +speech of his own world.</p> + +<p>"Two more bombs," he answered.</p> + +<p>"We may have to blow the gate here," the other panted breathlessly.</p> + +<p>Instead Raf drew his stun gun. The gate was already opening, a wedge +of the painted warriors heading through, flame-throwers ready. He +sprayed wide,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> and on the highest level. A spout of fire singed the +cloth of his tunic across the top of his shoulder as one of the last +aliens fired before his legs buckled and he went down. Then, +opposition momentarily gone, the two with their semiconscious charge +stumbled over the bodies of the guards and reached the corridor +beyond.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>16</h2> + +<h3>SURPRISE ATTACK</h3> +<p>So much had happened so quickly during the past hour that Dalgard had +no chance to plan or even sort out impressions in his mind. He had no +guess as to where this stranger, now taking some of the burden of the +wounded merman from him, had sprung from. The other's clothing, the +helmet covering his head were more akin to those worn by the aliens +than they were to the dress of the colonist. Yet the man beneath those +trappings was of the same breed as his own people. And he could not +believe he was a Peaceman of Pax—all he had done here spoke against +those legends of dark Terran days Dalgard had heard from childhood. +But where had he come from? The only answer could be another outlaw +colony ship.</p> + +<p>"We are in the inner ways," Dalgard tried to reach the mind of the +merman as they pounded on into the corridors which led from the arena. +"Do you know these—" He had a faint hope that the sea man because of +his longer captivity might have a route of escape to suggest.</p> + +<p>"—down to the lower levels—" the thought came slowly, forced out by +a weakening will. "Lower—levels—roads to the sea—"</p> + +<p>That was what Dalgard had been hoping for, some passage which would +run seaward and so to safety, such as he had found with Sssuri in that +other city.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What are we hunting?" the stranger broke in, and Dalgard realized +that perhaps the other did not follow the mind talk. His words had an +odd inflection, a clipped accent which was new.</p> + +<p>"A lower way," he returned in the speech of his own people.</p> + +<p>"To the right." The merman, struggling against his own weakness, had +raised his head and was looking about as one who searches for a +familiar landmark.</p> + +<p>There was a branching way to the right, and Dalgard swung into it, +bringing the other two after him. This was a narrow passage, and twice +they brushed by sealed doors. It brought them up against a blank wall. +The stranger wheeled, his odd weapon ready, for they could hear the +shouts of pursuers behind them. But the merman pulled free of Dalgard +and went down on the floor to dig with his taloned fingers at some +depressions there.</p> + +<p>"Open here," the thought came clearly, "then down!"</p> + +<p>Dalgard went down on one knee, able now to see the outline of a trap +door. It must be pried up. His sword-knife was gone, the spear they +had given him for the arena he had dropped when he dragged the merman +out of danger. He looked to the stranger. About the other's narrow +hips was slung a belt from which hung pouches and tools the primitive +colonist could not evaluate. But there was also a bush knife, and he +reached for it.</p> + +<p>"The knife—"</p> + +<p>The stranger glanced down at the blade he wore in surprise, as if he +had forgotten it. Then with one swift movement he drew it from its +sheath and flipped it to Dalgard.</p> + +<p>On the track behind the clamor was growing, and the colony scout +worked with concentration at his task of fitting the blade into the +crack and freeing the door. As soon as there was space enough, the +merman's claws recklessly slid under, and he added what strength<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> he +could to Dalgard's. The door arose and fell back onto the pavement +with a clang, exposing a dark pit.</p> + +<p>"Got 'em!" the words burst from the stranger. He had pressed the +firing button of his weapon. Where the passage in which they stood met +the main corridor, there was an agitated shouting and then sudden +silence.</p> + +<p>"Down—" The merman had crawled to the edge of the opening. From it +rose a dank, fetid smell. Now that the noise in the corridor was +stilled Dalgard could hear something: the sound of water.</p> + +<p>"How do we get down?" he questioned the merman.</p> + +<p>"It is far, there are no climbing holds—"</p> + +<p>Dalgard straightened. Well, he supposed, even a leap into that was +better than to be taken a second time by Those Others. But was he +ready for such a desperate solution?</p> + +<p>"A long way down?" The stranger leaned over to peer into the well.</p> + +<p>"He says so," Dalgard nodded at the merman. "And there are no climbing +holds."</p> + +<p>The stranger plucked at the front of his tunic with one hand, still +holding his weapon with the other. From an opening he drew a line, and +Dalgard grabbed it eagerly, testing the first foot with a sharp jerk. +He had never seen such stuff, so light of weight and yet so tough. His +delight reached the merman, who sat up to gaze owlishly at the coils +the stranger pulled from concealment.</p> + +<p>They used the door of the well for the lowering beam, hitching the +cord about it. Then the merman noosed one end about him, and Dalgard, +the door taking some of the strain, lowered him. The end of the cord +was perilously close to the scout's fingers when there was a signaling +pull from below, and he was free to reel in the loose line. He turned +to the stranger.</p> + +<p>"You go. I'll watch them." The other waved his weapon to the +corridor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was some sense to that, Dalgard had to agree. He made fast the +end of the cord and went in his turn into the dark, burning the palm +of one hand before he was able to slacken the speed of his descent. +Then he landed thigh-deep in water, from which arose an unpleasant +smell.</p> + +<p>"All right—Come—" he put full force into the thought he beamed at +the stranger above. When the other did not obey, Dalgard began to +wonder if he should climb to his aid. Had the aliens broken through +and overwhelmed the other? Or what had happened? The rope whisked up +out of his hands. And a moment later a voice rang eerily overhead.</p> + +<p>"Clear below! Coming down!"</p> + +<p>Dalgard scrambled out of the space under the opening, heading on into +the murk where the merman waited. There was a splash as the stranger +hit the stream, and the rope lashed down behind him at their united +jerk.</p> + +<p>"Where do we go from here?" The voice carried through the dark.</p> + +<p>Scaled fingers hooked about Dalgard's right hand and tugged him on. He +reached back in turn and locked grip with the stranger. So united the +three splashed on through the rancid liquid. In time they came out of +the first tunnel into a wider section, but here the odor was worse, +catching in their throats, making them sway dizzily. There seemed to +be no end to these ways, which Raf guessed were the drains of the +ancient city.</p> + +<p>Only the merman appeared to have a definite idea of where they were +going, though he halted once or twice when they came to a side passage +as if thinking out their course. Since the man from the arena accepted +the furred one's guidance, Raf depended upon it too. Though he +wondered if they would ever find their way out into the open once +more.</p> + +<p>He was startled by sudden pain as the hand leading him tightened its +grip to bone-bruising force. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> had stopped, and the liquid washed +about them until Raf wondered if he would ever feel clean again. When +they started on, they moved much more swiftly. His companions were in +a hurry, but Raf was unprepared for the sight which broke as they came +out in a high-roofed cavern.</p> + +<p>There was an odd, cold light there—but that light was not all he saw. +Drawn up on a ledge rising out of the contaminated stream were rows of +the furred people, all sitting in silence, bone spears resting across +their knees, long knives at their belts. They watched with round, +unblinking eyes the three who had just come out of the side passage. +The rescued merman loosened his grip on Dalgard's hand and waded +forward to confront that quiet, waiting assembly. Neither he nor his +fellows made any sound, and Raf guessed that they had some other form +of communication, perhaps the same telepathic ability to broadcast +messages which this amazing man beside him displayed.</p> + +<p>"They are of his tribe," the other explained, sensing that Raf could +not understand. "They came here to try to save him, for he is one of +their Speakers-for-Many."</p> + +<p>"Who are they? Who are you?" Raf asked the two questions which had +been with him ever since the wild adventure had begun.</p> + +<p>"They are the People-of-the-Sea, our friends, our knife brothers. And +I am of Homeport. My people came from the stars in a ship, but not a +ship of this world. We have been here for many years."</p> + +<p>The mermen were moving now. Several had waded forward to greet their +chief, aiding him ashore. But when Raf moved toward the ledge, Dalgard +put out a restraining hand.</p> + +<p>"Until we are summoned—no. They have their customs. And this is a +party-for-war. This tribe knows not my people, save by rumor. We +wait."</p> + +<p>Raf looked over the ranks of the sea folk. The light came from globes +borne by every twentieth warrior, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> globe in which something that +gave off phosphorescent gleams swam around and around. The spears +which each merman carried were slender and wickedly barbed, the knives +almost sword length. The pilot remembered the flame-throwers of the +aliens and could not see any victory for the merman party.</p> + +<p>"No, knife blade against the fire—that is not equal."</p> + +<p>Raf started, amazed and then irritated that the other had read his +thoughts so easily.</p> + +<p>"But what else can be done? Some stand must be taken, even if a whole +tribe goes down to the Great Dark because they do it."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" Raf demanded.</p> + +<p>"Is it not the truth that Those Others went across the sea to plunder +their forgotten storehouse of knowledge?" countered the other. He +spoke slowly as if he found difficulty in clothing thoughts with +words. "Sssuri said that was why they came."</p> + +<p>Raf, remembering what he had seen—the stripping of shelves and tables +of the devices that were stored on them—could only nod.</p> + +<p>"Then it is also true that soon they will have worse than fire with +which to hunt us down. And they shall turn against your colony as they +will against Homeport. For the mermen, and their own records, have +taught us that it is their nature to rule, that they can live in peace +only when all living things on this world are their slaves."</p> + +<p>"My colony?" Raf was momentarily diverted. "I'm one of a spacer's +crew, not the member of any colony!"</p> + +<p>Dalgard stared at the stranger. His guess had been right. A new ship, +another ship which had recently crossed deep space to find them had +flown the dark wastes even as the First Elders had done! It must be +that more outlaws had come to find a new home! This was wonderful +news, news he must take to Homeport. Only, it was news which must +wait. For the sea people had come to a decision of their own.</p> + +<p>"What are they going to do now?" Raf asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> + +<p>The mermen were not retreating, instead they were slipping from the +ledge in regular order, forming somewhat crooked ranks in the water.</p> + +<p>Dalgard did not reply at once, making mind touch not only to ask but +to impress his kinship on the sea people. They were united in a +single-minded purpose, with failure before them—unless—He turned to +the stranger.</p> + +<p>"They go to war upon Those Others. He who guided us here knows also +that the new knowledge they have brought into the city is danger. If +an end is not put to it before they can use it, then"—he +shrugged—"the mermen must retreat into the depths. And we, who can +not follow them—" He made a quick, thrusting gesture as if using a +knife on his own throat. "For a time Those Others have been growing +fewer in number and weaker. Their children are not many and sometimes +there are years when none are born at all. And they have forgotten so +much. But now, perhaps they can increase once more, not only in wisdom +and strength of arms, but in numbers. The mermen have kept a watch on +them, content to let matters rest, sure that time would defeat them. +But now, time no longer fights on our side."</p> + +<p>Raf watched the furred people with their short spears, their knives. +He recalled that rocky island where the aliens had unleashed the fire. +The expeditionary force would not have a chance against that.</p> + +<p>"But <i>your</i> weapons would." The words addressed to him were clear, +though they had not been spoken aloud. Raf's hand went to the pocket +where two more of the blast bombs rested. "And this is your battle as +much as ours!"</p> + +<p>But it wasn't his fight! Dalgard had gone too far with that +suggestion. Raf had no ties on this world, the <i>RS 10</i> was waiting to +take him away. It was strictly against all orders, all his training, +for him to become involved in alien warfare. The pilot's hand went +back to his belt. He was not going to allow himself to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> pushed onto +anything foolish, whether this "colonist" could read his mind or not.</p> + +<p>The first ranks of the mermen had already waded past them, heading +into the way down which the escaping prisoners had come. To Raf's eyes +none of them paid any attention to the two humans as they went, though +they were probably in mental touch with his companion.</p> + +<p>"You are already termed one of us in <i>their</i> eyes," Dalgard was +careful to use oral speech this time. "When you came to our rescue in +the arena they believed that you were of our kind. Do you think you +can return to walk safely through the city? So"—he drew a hissing +breath of surprise when the thought which leaped into Raf's mind was +plain to Dalgard also—"you have—there are more of you there! But +already Those Others may be moving against them because of what you +have done!"</p> + +<p>Raf who had been about to join the mermen stopped short. That aspect +had not struck him before. What had happened to Soriki and the +flitter, to the captain and Lablet, who had been in the heart of the +enemy territory when he had challenged the aliens? It would be only +logical that the painted people would consider them all dangerous now. +He must get out of here, back to the flitter, try to help where +unwittingly he had harmed—</p> + +<p>Dalgard caught up with him. He had been able to read a little of what +had passed through the other's mind. Though it was difficult to sort +order out of the tangled thoughts. The longer he was with the +stranger, the more aware he became of the differences between them. +Outwardly they might appear of the same species, but inwardly—Dalgard +frowned—there was something that he must consider later, when they +had a thinking space. But now he could understand the other's +agitation. It was very true that Those Others might turn on the +stranger's fellows in retaliation for his deeds.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> + +<p>Together they joined the mermen. There was no talk, nothing to break +the splashing sound of bodies moving against the current. As they +pressed on, Raf was sure that this was not the same way they had come. +And once more Dalgard answered his unspoken question.</p> + +<p>"We seek another door into the city, one long known to these +tribesmen."</p> + +<p>Raf would gladly have run, but he could not move faster than his +guides, and while their pace seemed deliberate, they did not pause to +rest. The whole city, he decided, must be honeycombed with these +drains. After traversing a fourth tunnel, they climbed out of the +flood onto a dry passage, which wormed along, almost turning on itself +at times.</p> + +<p>Side passages ran out from this corridor like rootlets from a parent +root, and small parties of mermen broke from the regiment to follow +certain ones, leaving without orders or farewells. At the fifth of +these Dalgard touched Raf's arm and drew him aside.</p> + +<p>"This is our way." Tensely the scout waited. If the stranger refused, +then the one plan the scout had formed during the past half-hour would +fail. He still held to the hope that Raf, with what Raf carried, could +succeed in the only project which would mean, perhaps not his safety +nor the safety of the tribe he now marched among, but the eventual +safety of Astra itself, the safety of all the harmless people of the +sea, the little creatures of the grass and the sky, of his own land at +Homeport. He would have to force Raf into action if need be. He did +not use the mind touch; he knew now the unspoken resentment which +followed that. If it became necessary—Dalgard's hands balled into +fists—he would strike down the stranger—take from him—Swiftly he +turned his thoughts from that. It might be easy, now that he had +established mental contact with this off-worlder, for the other to +pick up a thought as vivid as that.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> + +<p>But luckily Raf obediently turned into the side passage with the six +mermen who were to attack at this particular point. The way grew +narrower until they crept on hands and knees between rough walls which +were not of the same construction as the larger tunnels. The smaller +mermen had no difficulty in getting through, but twice Raf's equipment +belt caught on projections and he had to fight his way free.</p> + +<p>They crawled one by one into a ventilation shaft much like the one he +had climbed at the Center. Dalgard's whisper reached him.</p> + +<p>"We are now in the building which houses their sky ship."</p> + +<p>"I know that one," Raf returned almost eagerly, glad at last to be +back so close to familiar territory. He climbed up the hand-and +footholds the sea-monster lamp disclosed, wishing the mermen ahead +would speed up.</p> + +<p>The grille at the head of the shaft had been removed, and the invaders +arose one by one into a dim and dusty place of motionless machinery, +which, by all tangible evidence, had not been entered for some time. +But the cautious manner in which the sea people strung out to approach +the far door argued that the same might not be true beyond.</p> + +<p>For the first time Raf noticed that his human companion now held one +of the knives of the merpeople, and he drew his stun gun. But he could +not forget the flame-throwers which might at that very moment be +trained upon the other side of that door by the aliens. They might be +walking into a trap.</p> + +<p>He half expected one of those disconcerting thought answers from +Dalgard. But the scout was playing safe—nothing must upset the +stranger. Confronted by what had to be done, he might be influenced +into acting for them. So Dalgard strode softly ahead, apparently not +interested in Raf.</p> + +<p>One of the mermen worked at the door, using the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> point of his spear as +a lever. Here again was a vista of machinery. But these machines were +alive; a faint hum came from their casings. The mermen scattered, +taking cover, a move copied by the two humans.</p> + +<p>The pilot remained in hiding, but he saw one of the furred people +running on as light-footedly as a shadow. Then his arm drew back, and +he cast his spear. Raf fancied he could hear a faint whistle as the +weapon cut the air. There was a cry, and the merman ran on, vanishing +into the shadows, to return a second or two later wiping stains from +his weapon. Out of their places of concealment, his fellows gathered +about him. And the humans followed.</p> + +<p>Now they were fronted by a ramp leading up, and the mermen took it +quickly, their bare, scaled feet setting up a whispering echo which +was drowned by the clop of Raf's boots. Once more the party was alert, +ready for trouble, and taking his cue from them, he kept his stun gun +in his hand.</p> + +<p>But the maneuver at the head of the ramp surprised him. For, though he +had heard no signal, all the party but one plastered their bodies back +against the wall, Dalgard pulling Raf into position beside him, the +scout's muscular bare arm pinning the pilot into a narrow space. One +merman stood at the crack of the door at the top of the ramp. He +pushed the barrier open and crept in.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile those who waited poised their spears, all aimed at that +door. Raf fingered the button on his gun to "spray" as he had when he +had faced the attack of the scavengers in the arena tunnels.</p> + +<p>There was a cry, a shout with a summons in it. And the venturesome +merman thudded back through the door. But he was not alone. Two of the +black guardsmen, their flamers spitting fiery death, ran behind him, +and the curling lash of one of those flames almost wreathed the runner +before he swung aside. Raf fired without consciously aiming. Both of +the sentries fell forward, to slide limply down the ramp.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then Dalgard pulled him on. "The way is open," he said. "This is it!" +There was an excited exultation in his voice.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII"></a>17</h2> + +<h3>DESTRUCTION UNLEASHED</h3> +<p>The space they now entered must be the core of the building, Raf +thought a little dazedly. For there, towering over them was the round +bulb of the globe. And about its open hatch were piles of the material +which he had last seen in the warehouse on the other continent. The +unloading of the alien ship had been hastily interrupted.</p> + +<p>Since neither the merman nor Dalgard took cover, Raf judged that they +did not fear attack now. But when he turned his attention away from +the ship, he found not only the colony scout but most of the sea +people gathered about him as if waiting for some action on his part.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" He could feel it, that strong pressure, that band +united, in willing him into some move. His stubborn streak of +independence made his reaction contrary. He was not going to be pushed +into anything.</p> + +<p>"In this hour," Dalgard spoke aloud, avoiding the mind touch which +might stiffen Raf's rebellion. He wished that some older, wiser Elder +from Homeport were there. So little time—Yet this stranger with +practically no effort might accomplish all they had come to do, if he +could only be persuaded into action. "In this hour, here is the heart +of what civilization remains to Those Others. Destroy it, and it will +not matter whether they kill us. For in the days to come they will +have nothing left."</p> + +<p>Raf understood. This was why he had been brought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> here. They wanted +him to use the blast bombs. And one part of him <i>was</i> calculating the +best places to set his two remaining bombs for the wildest possible +destruction. That part of him could accept the logic of Dalgard's +reasoning. He doubted if the aliens could repair the globe if it were +damaged, and he was sure that much which they had brought back from +the eastern continent was irreplaceable. The bombs had not been +intended for such a use. They were defensive, anti-personal weapons to +be employed as he had done against the lizard in the arena. But placed +properly—Without thinking his hands went to the sealed pocket in the +breast of his tunic.</p> + +<p>Dalgard saw that gesture and inside him some taut cord began to +unwind. Then the stranger's hands dropped, and he swung around to face +the colony scout squarely, a scowl twisting his black brows almost +together.</p> + +<p>"This isn't my fight," he stated flatly. "I've got to get back to the +flitter, to my spacer—"</p> + +<p>What was the matter? Dalgard tried to understand. If the aliens won +now, this stranger was in as great a danger as were the rest of them. +Did he believe that Those Others would allow any colony to be +established on a world they ruled?</p> + +<p>"There will be no future for you here," he spoke slowly, trying with +all his power to get through to the other. "They will not allow you to +found another Homeport. You will have no colony—"</p> + +<p>"Will you get it into your thick head," burst out the pilot, "that I'm +not here to start a colony! We can take off from this blasted planet +whenever we want to. We didn't come here to stay!"</p> + +<p>Beneath the suntan, Dalgard's face whitened. The other had come from +no outlaw ship, seeking a refuge across space, as his own people had +fled to a new life from tyranny. His first fears had been correct! +This was a representative of Pax, doubtless sent to hunt down the +descendants of those who had escaped its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> throttling dictatorship. The +slender strangely garbed Terran might be of the same blood as his own, +but he was as great an enemy as Those Others!</p> + +<p>"Pax!" He did not know that he had said that word aloud.</p> + +<p>The other laughed. "You are living back in history. Pax has been dead +and gone almost two centuries. I'm of the Federation of Free Men—"</p> + +<p>"Will the stranger use his fire now?" The question formed in Dalgard's +mind. The mermen were growing impatient, as well they might. This was +no time for talk, but for action. Could Raf be persuaded to aid them? +A Federation of Free Men—Free Men! That was what they were fighting +for here and now.</p> + +<p>"You are free," he said. "The sea people won their freedom when Those +Others fought among themselves. My people came across the star void in +search of freedom, paying in blood to win it. But these, these are not +the weapons of the free." He pointed to the supplies about the globe, +to the globe itself.</p> + +<p>The mermen were waiting no longer. With the butts of their spears they +smashed anything breakable. But the damage one could do by hand in the +short space of time granted them—Raf was surprised that a guard was +not already down upon them—was sharply limited. The piled-up secrets +of an old race, a race which had once ruled a planet. He thought +fleetingly of Lablet's preoccupation with this spoil, of Hobart's hope +of gaining knowledge they could take back with them. But would the +aliens keep their part of the bargain? He no longer believed that.</p> + +<p>Why not give these barbarians a chance, and the colonists. Sure, he +was breaking the stiffest rule of the Service. But, perhaps by now the +flitter was gone, he might never reach the <i>RS 10</i>. It was not his +war, right enough. But he'd give the weaker side a fighting chance.</p> + +<p>Dalgard followed him into the globe ship, climbing the ladders to the +engine level, watching with curious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> eyes as Raf inspected the driving +power of the ship and made the best disposition possible of one of the +bombs.</p> + +<p>Then they were on the ladder once more as the ship shook under them, +plates buckling as a great wound tore three decks apart. Raf laughed +recklessly. Now that he was committed to this course, he had a +small-boy delight in the destruction.</p> + +<p>"They won't raise her again in a hurry," he confided to Dalgard. But +the other did not share his triumph.</p> + +<p>"They come—we must move fast," the scout urged.</p> + +<p>When they jumped from the hatch, they discovered that the mermen had +been busy in their turn. As many of the supplies as they could move +had been pushed and piled into one great mass. Broken crystal littered +the floor in shards and puddles of strange chemicals mingled smells to +become a throat-rasping fog. Raf eyed those doubtfully. Some of those +fumes might combine in the blast—</p> + +<p>Once again Dalgard read his mind and waved the mermen back, sending +them through the door to the ramp and the lower engine room. Raf stood +in the doorway, the bomb in his hand, knowing that it was time for him +to make the most accurate cast of his life.</p> + +<p>The sphere left his fingers, was a gleam in the murky air. It struck +the pile of material. Then the whole world was hidden by a blinding +glare.</p> + +<p>It was dark—black dark. And he was swinging back and forth through +this total darkness. He was a ball, a blast bomb being tossed from +hand to hand through the dark by painted warriors who laughed shrilly +at his pain, tossed through the dark. Fear such as he had never known, +even under the last acceleration pressure of the take-off from Terra, +beat through Raf's veins away from his laboring heart. He was helpless +in the dark!</p> + +<p>"Not alone—" the words came out of somewhere, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> didn't know whether +he heard them, or, in some queer way, felt them. "You are safe—not +alone."</p> + +<p>That brought a measure of comfort. But he was still in the dark, and +he was moving—he could not will his hands to move—yet he was moving. +He was being carried!</p> + +<p>The flitter—he was back on the flitter! They were air-borne. But who +was piloting?</p> + +<p>"Captain! Soriki!" he appealed for reassurance. And then was aware +that there was no familiar motor hum, none of that pressure of rushing +air to which he had been so long accustomed that he missed it only +now.</p> + +<p>"You are safe—" Again that would-be comfort. But Raf tried to move +his arms, twist his body, be sure that he rested in the flitter. Then +another thought, only vaguely alarming at first, but which grew +swiftly to panic proportions—He was in the alien globe—He was a +prisoner!</p> + +<p>"You are safe!" the words beat in his mind.</p> + +<p>"But where—where?" he felt as if he were screaming that at the full +power of his lungs. He must get out of this dark envelope, be free. +Free! Free Men—He was Raf Kurbi of the Federation of Free Men, member +of the crew of the Spacer <i>RS 10</i>. But there had been something else +about free men—</p> + +<p>Painfully he pulled fragments of pictures out of the past, assembled a +jigsaw of wild action. And all of it ended in a blinding flash, +blinding!</p> + +<p>Raf cowered mentally if not physically, as his mind seized upon that +last word. The blinding flash, then this depth of darkness. Had he +been—?</p> + +<p>"You are safe."</p> + +<p>Maybe he was safe, he thought, with an anger born of honest fear, but +was he—blind? And where was he? What had happened to him since that +moment when the blast bomb had exploded?</p> + +<p>"I am blind," he spat out, wanting to be told that his fears were only +fears and not the truth.</p> + +<p>"Your eyes are covered," the answer came quickly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> enough, and for a +short space he was comforted until he realized that the reply was not +a flat denial of his statement.</p> + +<p>"Soriki?" he tried again. "Captain? Lablet?"</p> + +<p>"Your companions"—there was a moment of hesitation, and then came +what he was sure was the truth—"have escaped. Their ship took to the +air when the Center was invaded."</p> + +<p>So, he wasn't on the flitter. That was Raf's first reaction. Then, he +must still be with the mermen, with the young stranger who claimed to +be one of a lost Terran colony. But they couldn't leave him behind! +Raf struggled against the power which held him motionless.</p> + +<p>"Be quiet!" That was not soothing; it had the snap of a command, so +sharp and with such authority in it that he obeyed. "You have been +hurt; the gel must do its work. Sleep now. It is good to sleep—"</p> + +<p>Dalgard walked by the hammock, using all the quieting power he +possessed to ease the stranger, who now bore little resemblance to the +lithe, swiftly moving, other-worldly figure of the day before. +Stripped of his burned rags of clothing, coated with the healing stuff +of the merpeople—that thick jelly substance which was their bulwark +against illness and hurt—lashed into a hammock of sea fibers, he had +the outward appearance of a thick bundle of supplies. The scout had +seen miracles of healing performed by the gel, he could only hope for +one now. "Sleep—" he made the soothing suggestion over and over and +felt the other begin to relax, to sink into the semicoma in which he +must rest for at least another day.</p> + +<p>It was true that they had watched the strange flying machine take off +from a roof top. And none of the mermen who had survived the battle +which had raged through the city had seen any of the off-worlder's +kind among the living or the dead of the alien forces. Perhaps, +thinking Raf dead, they had returned to their space ship.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now there were other, more immediate, problems to be met. They had +done everything that they could to insure the well-being of the +stranger, without whom they could not have delivered that one +necessary blow which meant a new future for Astra.</p> + +<p>The aliens were not all dead. Some had gone down under the spears of +the mermen, but more of the sea people had died by the superior +weapons of their foes. To the aliens, until they discovered what had +happened to the globe and its cargo, it would seem an overwhelming +triumph, for less than a quarter of the invading force fought its way +back to safety in the underground ways. Yes, it would appear to be a +victory for Those Others. But—now time was on the other side of the +scales.</p> + +<p>Dalgard doubted if the globe would ever fly again. And the loss of the +storehouse plunder could never be repaired. By its destruction they +had insured the future for their people, the mermen, the slowly +growing settlement at Homeport.</p> + +<p>They were well out of the city, in the open country, traveling along a +rocky gorge, through which a river provided a highway to the sea. +Dalgard had no idea as yet how he could win back across the waste of +water to his own people. While the mermen with whom he had stormed the +city were friendly, they were not of the tribes he knew, and their own +connection with the eastern continent was through messages passed +between islands and the depths.</p> + +<p>Then there was the stranger—Dalgard knew that the ship which had +brought him to this planet was somewhere in the north. Perhaps when he +recovered, they could travel in that direction. But for the moment it +was good just to be free, to feel the soft winds of summer lick his +skin, to walk slowly under the sun, carrying the little bundle of +things which belonged to the stranger, with a knife once more at his +belt and friends about him.</p> + +<p>But within the quarter-hour their peace was broken.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> Dalgard heard it +first, his landsman's ears serving him where the complicated sense +which gave the sea people warning did not operate. That shrill +keening—he knew it of old. And at his warning the majority of the +mermen plunged into the stream, becoming drifting shadows below the +surface of the water. Only the four who were carrying the hammock +stood their ground. But the scout, having told them to deposit their +burden under the shelter of an overhanging ledge of rock, waved them +to join their fellows. Until that menace in the sky was beaten, they +dare not travel overland.</p> + +<p>Was it still after him alone, hunting him by some mysterious built-in +sense as it had overseas? He could see it now, moving in circles back +and forth across the gorge, probably ready to dive on any prey +venturing into the open.</p> + +<p>Had it not been for the stranger, Dalgard could have taken to the +water almost as quickly and easily as his companions. But they could +not float the pilot down the stream, thus dissolving the thick coating +of gel which was healing his terrible flash burns. And Those Others, +were they following the trail of their mechanical hound as they had +before?</p> + +<p>Dalgard sent out questing tendrils of thought. Nowhere did he +encounter the flashes which announced the proximity of Those Others. +No, it would appear that they had unleashed the hound to do what +damage it could, perhaps to serve them as a marker for a future +counterattack. At present it was alone. And he relayed that +information to the mermen.</p> + +<p>If they could knock out the hound—his hand went to the tender scrape +on his own scalp where that box had left its glancing mark—if they +could knock out the hound—But how? As accurate marksmen as the mermen +were with their spears, he was not sure they could bring down the box. +Its sudden darts and dips were too erratic. Then what? Because as long +as it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> bobbed there, he and the stranger were imprisoned in this +pocket of the gorge wall.</p> + +<p>Dalgard sat down, the bundle of the stranger's belongings beside him. +Then, he carefully unfastened the scorched cloth which formed that bag +and examined its contents. There was the belt with its pouches, +sheaths, and tool case. And the weapon which the stranger had used to +such good effect during their escape from the arena. Dalgard took up +the gun. It was light in weight, and it fitted into his hand almost as +if it had been molded to his measure.</p> + +<p>He aimed at the hovering box, pressed the button as he had seen the +other do, with no results. The stun ray, which had acted upon living +creatures, could not govern the delicate mechanism in the hound's +interior. Dalgard laid it aside. There were no more of the bombs, nor +would they have been effective against such a target. As far as he +could see, there was nothing among Raf's possessions which could help +them now.</p> + +<p>One of the black shadows in the water moved to shore. The box swooped, +death striking at the merman who ran to shelter. A second followed +him, eluding the attack of the hound by a matter of inches. Now the +box buzzed angrily.</p> + +<p>Dalgard, catching their thoughts, hurried to aid them. They undid the +knots of the hammock about the helpless stranger, leaving about him +only the necessary bandage ties. Now they had a crude net, woven, as +Dalgard knew, of undersea fibers strong enough to hold captive +plunging monsters a dozen times the size of the box. If they could net +it!</p> + +<p>He had seen the exploits of the mermen hunters, knew their skill with +net and spear. But to scoop a flying thing out of the air was a new +problem.</p> + +<p>"Not so!" the thought cut across his. "They have used such as this to +hunt us before, long ago. We had believed they were all lost. It must +be caught and broken, or it will hunt and kill and hunt again, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> it +does not tire nor can it be beaten from any trail it is set upon. +Now—"</p> + +<p>"I will do that, for you have the knowledge—" the scout cut in +quickly. After his other meeting with the hound he had no liking for +the task he had taken on, but there must be bait to draw the box +within striking distance.</p> + +<p>"Stand upright and move toward those rocks." The mermen changed +position, the net, now with stones in certain loops to weigh it, +caught in their three-fingered hands.</p> + +<p>Dalgard moved, fighting against hunching his shoulders, against +hurrying the pace. He saw the shadow of the flitting death, and flung +himself down beside the boulder the mermen had pointed out. Then he +rolled over, half surprised not to be struck.</p> + +<p>The hound was still in the air but over it now was draped the net, the +rocks in its fringes weighing it down in spite of its jerky attempts +to rise. In its struggles to be free, it might almost have led the +watcher to believe that it had intelligence of a sort. Now the mermen +were coming out of the stream, picking up rocks as they advanced. And +a hail of stones flew through the air, while others of the sea people +sprang to catch the dangling ends of the net and drag the captive to +earth.</p> + +<p>In the end they smashed it completely, burying the remains under a +pile of rocks. Then, retrieving their net, they once more fastened Raf +into it and turned downstream, as intent as ever upon reaching the +sea. Dalgard wondered whether Those Others would ever discover what +had become of their hound. Or had it in some way communicated with its +masters, so that now they were aware that it had been destroyed. But +he was sure they had nothing more to fear, that the way to the sea was +open.</p> + +<p>In mid-morning of the second day they came out upon shelving sand and +saw before them the waves which promised safety and escape to the +mermen. Dal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>gard sat down in the blue-gray sand beside Raf. The sea +people had assured him that the stranger was making a good recovery, +that within a matter of hours he could be freed from his cocoon of +healing.</p> + +<p>Dalgard squinted at the sun sparkling on the waves. Where now? To the +north where the space ship waited? If what he read in Raf's mind was +true the other wanted to leave Astra, to voyage back to that other +world which was only a legend to Dalgard, and a black, unhappy legend +at that. If the Elders were here, had a chance to contact these men +from Terra—Dalgard's eyes narrowed, would they choose to? Another +chain of thought had been slowly developing in his mind during these +past hours when he had been so closely companioned with the stranger. +And almost he had come to a decision which would have seemed very odd +even days before.</p> + +<p>No, there was no way of suddenly bringing the Elders here, of +transferring his burden of decision to them. Dalgard cupped his chin +in his hand and tried to imagine what it would be like to shut oneself +up in a small metal-walled spacer and set out blindly to leave one +world for another. His ancestors had done that, and they had traveled +in cold sleep, ignorant of whether they would ever reach their goal. +They had been very brave, or very desperate, men.</p> + +<p>But—Dalgard measured sand, sun, and sky, watching the mermen sporting +in the waves—but for him Astra was enough. He wanted nothing but this +land, this world. There was nothing which drew him back. He would try +to locate the spacer for the sake of the stranger; Astra owed Raf all +they could manage to give him. But the ship was as alien to Homeport +as it now existed as the city's globe might have been.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII"></a>18</h2> + +<h3>NOT YET—</h3> +<p>Raf lay on his back, cushioned in the sand, his face turned up to the +sky. Moisture smarted in his eyes, trickled down his cheeks as he +tried to will himself to <i>see</i>! The yellow haze which had been his day +had faded into grayness and now to the dark he feared so much that he +dared not even speak of it. Somewhere over him the stars were icy +points of light—but he could not see them. They were very far away, +but no farther than he was from safety, from comfort (now the spacer +seemed a haven of ease), from the expert treatment which might save, +save his sight!</p> + +<p>He supposed he should be thankful to that other one who was a slow +voice speaking out of the mist, a thought now and then when his inner +panic brought him almost to the breaking point. In some manner he had +been carried out of the reach of the aliens, treated for his searing +wounds, and now he was led along, fed, tended—Why didn't they go away +and leave him alone! He had no chance of reaching the spacer—</p> + +<p>It was so easy to remember those mountains, the heights over which he +had lifted the flitter. There wasn't one chance in a million of his +winning over those and across the miles of empty plains beyond to +where the <i>RS 10</i> stood waiting, ready to rise again. The crew must +believe him dead. His fists clenched upon sand, and it gritted between +his fingers, sifted away. Why wasn't he dead! Why had that barbarian +dragged him here, continued to coax him, put food into his hands, +those hands which were only vague shapes when he held them just before +his straining, aching eyes.</p> + +<p>"It is not as bad as you think," the words came again out of the fog, +spoken with a gentleness which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> rasped Raf's nerves. "Healing is not +done in a second, or even in a day. You cannot force the return of +strength—"</p> + +<p>A hand, warm, vibrant with life, pressed on his forehead—a human, +flesh-covered hand, not one of the cool, scaled paws of the furred +people. Though those hands, too, had been laid upon him enough during +the past few days, steadying him, leading him, guiding him to food and +water. Now, under that firm, knowing touch he felt some of the +ever-present fear subside, felt a relaxation.</p> + +<p>"My ship—They will take off without me!" He could not help but voice +that plaint, as he had so many times before during that foggy, +nightmare journey.</p> + +<p>"They have not done so yet."</p> + +<p>He struggled up, flung off that calming hand, turned angrily toward +where he thought the other was. "How can you be sure?"</p> + +<p>"Word has come. The ship is still there, though the small flyer has +returned to it."</p> + +<p>This assurance was something new. Raf's suspicions could not stand up +against the note of certainty in the other's voice. He got awkwardly +to his feet. If the ship was still here, then they must still think +him alive—They might come back! He had a chance—a real chance!</p> + +<p>"Then they are waiting for me—They'll come!"</p> + +<p>He could not see the soberness with which Dalgard listened to that. +The star ship had not lifted, that message had found its way south, +passed along by hopper and merman. But the scout doubted if the +explorers were waiting for the return of Raf. He believed that they +would not have left the city had they not thought the pilot already +dead.</p> + +<p>As to going north now—His picture of the land ahead had been built up +from reports gained from the sea people. It could be done, but with +Raf to be nursed and guided, lacking even the outrigger Dalgard had +used in home waters, it would take days—weeks, prob<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>ably—to cover +the territory which lay between them and the plains where the star +ship had planeted.</p> + +<p>But he owed Raf a great deal, and it was summer, the season of warm +calms. So far he had not been able to work out any plan for a return +to his own land. It might be that they were both doomed to exile. But +it was not necessary to face that drear future yet, not until they had +expended every possible effort. So now he said willingly enough, "We +are going north."</p> + +<p>Raf sat down again in the sand. He wanted to run, to push on until his +feet were too tired to carry him any farther. But now he fought that +impulse, lay down once more. Though he doubted if he could sleep.</p> + +<p>Dalgard watched the stars, sketched out a map of action for the +morning. They must follow the shore line where they could keep in +touch with the mermen, though along this coast the sea people did not +come to land with the freedom their fellows showed on the eastern +continent—they had lived too long in fear of Those Others.</p> + +<p>But since the war party had reached the coast, there had been no sign +of any retaliation, and as several days passed, Dalgard had begun to +believe that they had little to fear. Perhaps the blow they had struck +at the heart of the citadel had been more drastic than they had hoped. +He had listened since that hour in the gorge for the shrilling of one +of the air hounds. And when it did not come the thought that maybe it +was the last of its kind had been heartening.</p> + +<p>At last the scout lay down beside the off-world man, listening to the +soft hiss of waves on sand, the distant cluttering of night insects. +And his last waking thought was a wish for his bow.</p> + +<p>There was another day of patient plodding; two, three. Raf, led by the +hand, helped over rocks and obstacles which were only dark blurs to +his watering eyes, raged inwardly and sometimes outwardly, against the +slowness of their advance, his own helplessness. His fear grew until +he refused to credit the fact that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> the blurs were sharpening in +outline, that he could now count five fingers on the hand he sometimes +waved despairingly before his face.</p> + +<p>When he spoke of the future, he never said "if we reach the ship" but +always "when," refusing to admit that perhaps they would not be in +time. And Dalgard by his anxiety, tried to get more news from the +north.</p> + +<p>"When we get there, will you come back to earth with us?" the pilot +asked suddenly on the fifth day.</p> + +<p>It was a question Dalgard had once asked himself. But now he knew the +answer; there was only one he dared give.</p> + +<p>"We are not ready—"</p> + +<p>"I don't understand what you mean." Raf was almost querulous. "It is +your home world. Pax is gone; the Federation would welcome you +eagerly. Just think what it would mean—a Terran colony among the +stars!"</p> + +<p>"A Terran colony." Dalgard put out a hand, steadied Raf over a stretch +of rough shingle. "Yes, once we were a Terran colony. But—can you now +truthfully swear that I am a Terran like yourself?"</p> + +<p>Raf faced the misty figure, trying to force his memory to put features +there, to sharpen outlines. The scout was of middle height, a little +shorter in stature than the crewmen with whom the pilot had lived so +long. His hair was fair, as was his skin under its sun tan. He was +unusually light on his feet and possessed a wiry strength Raf could +testify to. But there was that disconcerting habit of mind reading and +other elusive differences.</p> + +<p>Dalgard smiled, though the other could not see that.</p> + +<p>"You see," deliberately he used the mind touch as if to accent those +differences the more, "once our roots were the same, but now from +these roots different plants have grown. And we must be left to +ourselves a space before we mingle once more. My father's father's +father's father was a Terran, but I am—what? We have something that +you have not, just as you have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> developed during centuries of +separation qualities of mind and body we do not know. You live with +machines. And, since we could not keep machines in this world, having +no power to repair or rebuild, we have been forced to turn in other +directions. To go back to the old ways now would be throwing away +clues to mysteries we have not yet fully explored, turning aside from +discoveries ready to be made. To you I am a barbarian, hardly higher +in the scale of civilization than the mermen—"</p> + +<p>Raf flushed, would have given a quick and polite denial, had he not +known that his thoughts had been read. Dalgard laughed. His amusement +was not directed against the pilot, rather it invited him to share the +joke. And reluctantly, Raf's peeling lips relaxed in a smile.</p> + +<p>"But," he offered one argument the other had not cited, "what if you +do go down this other path of yours so far that we no longer have any +common meeting ground?" He had forgotten his own problem in the +other's.</p> + +<p>"I do not believe that will ever happen. Perhaps our bodies may +change; climate, food, ways of life can all influence the body. Our +minds may change; already my people with each new generation are +better equipped to use the mind touch, can communicate more clearly +with the animals and the mermen. But those who were in the beginning +born of Terra shall always have a common heritage. There are and will +be other lost colonies among the stars. We could not have been the +only outlaws who broke forth during the rule of Pax, and before the +blight of that dictatorship, there were at least two expeditions that +went forth on Galactic explorations.</p> + +<p>"A thousand years from now stranger will meet with stranger, but when +they make the sign of peace and sit down with one another, they shall +find that words come more easily, though one may seem outwardly +monstrous to the other. Only, <i>now</i> we must go our own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> way. We are +youths setting forth on our journey of testing, while the Elders wish +us well but stand aside."</p> + +<p>"You don't want what we have to offer?" This was a new idea to Raf.</p> + +<p>"Did you truly want what the city people had to offer?"</p> + +<p>That caught the pilot up. He could remember with unusual distinctness +how he had disliked, somehow feared the things they had brought from +the city storehouse, how he had privately hoped that Hobart and Lablet +would be content to let well enough alone and not bring that knowledge +of an alien race back with them. If he had not secretly known that +aversion, he would not have been able to destroy the globe and the +treasures piled about it.</p> + +<p>"But"—his protest was hot, angry—"we are not <i>them</i>! We can do much +for you."</p> + +<p>"Can you?" The calm question sank into his mind as might a stone into +a troubled pool, and the ripples of its passing changed an idea or +two. "I wish that you might see Homeport. Perhaps then it would be +easier for you to understand. No, your knowledge is not corrupt, it +would not carry with it the same seeds of disaster as that of Those +Others. But it would be too easy for us to accept, to walk a softer +road, to forget what we have so far won. Just give us time—"</p> + +<p>Raf cupped his palms over his watering eyes. He wanted badly to see +clearly the other's face, to be able to read his expression. Yet it +seemed that somehow he <i>was</i> able to see that sober face, as sincere +as the words in his mind.</p> + +<p>"You will come again," Dalgard said with certainty. "And we shall be +waiting because you, Raf Kurbi, made it possible." There was something +so solemn about that that Raf looked up in surprise.</p> + +<p>"When you destroyed the core of Those Other's holding, you gave us our +chance. For had you not done that we, the mermen, the other harmless, +happy creatures of this world, would have been wiped out. There<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> would +be no new beginning here, only a dark and horrible end."</p> + +<p>Raf blinked; to his surprise that other figure standing in the direct +sunlight did not waver, and beyond the proudly held head was a stretch +of turquoise sky. He could see the color!</p> + +<p>"Yes, you shall see with your eyes—and with your mind," now Dalgard +spoke aloud. "And if the Spirit which rules all space is kind, you +shall return to your own people. For you have served His cause well."</p> + +<p>Then, as if he were embarrassed by his own solemnity, Dalgard ended +with a most prosaic inquiry: "Would you like shellfish for eating?"</p> + +<p>Moments later, wading out into the water-swirled sand, his boots +kicked off, his toes feeling for the elusive shelled creatures no one +could see, Raf felt happier, freer than he could ever remember having +been before. It was going to be all right. He could <i>see</i>! He would +find the ship! He laughed aloud at nothing and heard an answering +chuckle and then a whoop of triumph from the scout stooping to claw +one of their prey out of hiding.</p> + +<p>It was after they had eaten that Dalgard asked another question, one +which did not seem important to Raf. "You have a close friend among +the crew of your ship?"</p> + +<p>Raf hesitated. Now that he was obliged to consider the point, did he +have any friends—let alone a close one—among the crew of the <i>RS +10</i>? Certainly he did not claim Wonstead who had shared his +quarters—he honestly did not care if he never saw him again. The +officers, the experts such as Lablet—quickly face and character of +each swept through his mind and was as swiftly discarded. There was +Soriki—He could not claim the com-tech as any special friend, but at +least during their period together among the aliens he had come to +know him better.</p> + +<p>Now, as if Dalgard had read his mind—and he prob<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>ably had, thought +Raf with a flash of the old resentment—he had another question.</p> + +<p>"And what was he—is he like?"</p> + +<p>Though the pilot could see little reason for this he answered as best +he could, trying to build first a physical picture of the com-tech and +then doing a little guessing as to what lay under the other's +space-burned skin.</p> + +<p>Dalgard lay on his back, gazing up into the blue-green sky. Yet Raf +knew that he was intent on every word. A merman padded up, settled +down cross-legged beside the scout, as if he too were enthralled by +the pilot's halting description of a man he might never see again. +Then a second of the sea people came and a third, until Raf felt that +some sort of a noiseless council was in progress. His words trailed +away, and then Dalgard offered an explanation.</p> + +<p>"It will take us many, many days to reach the place where your ship +is. And before we are able to complete that journey your friends may +be gone. So we shall try something else—with your aid."</p> + +<p>Raf fingered the little bundle of his possessions. Even his helmet +with its com phone was missing.</p> + +<p>"No," again Dalgard read his mind. "Your machines are of no use to you +now. We shall try <i>our</i> way."</p> + +<p>"How?" Wild thoughts of a big signal fire—But how could that be +sighted across a mountain range. Of some sort of an improvised com +unit—</p> + +<p>"I said <i>our</i> way." There was a smile on Dalgard's face, visible to +Raf's slowly clearing vision. "We shall provide another kind of +machine, and these"—he waved at the mermen—"will give us the power, +or so we hope. Lie here," he gestured to the sand beside him, "and +think only of your friend in the ship, in his natural surroundings. +Try to hold that picture constant in your mind, letting no other +thought trouble it."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean—send a message to him mentally!" Raf's reply was half +protest.</p> + +<p>"Did I not so reach you when we were in the city<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>—even before I knew +of you as an individual?" the scout reminded him. "And such messages +are doubly possible when they are sent from friend to friend."</p> + +<p>"But we were close then."</p> + +<p>"That is why—" again Dalgard indicated the mermen. "For them this is +the natural means of communication. They will pick up your reaching +thought, amplify it with their power, beam it north. Since your friend +deals with matters of communication, let us hope that he will be +sensitive to this method."</p> + +<p>Raf was only half convinced that it might work But he remembered how +Dalgard had established contact with him, before, as the scout had +pointed out, they had met. It was that voiceless cry for aid which had +pulled him into this adventure in the first place. It was only fitting +that something of the same process give <i>him</i> help in return.</p> + +<p>Obediently he stretched out on the sand and closed his dim eyes, +trying to picture Soriki in the small cabin which held the com, +slouched in his bucket seat, his deceptive posture that of a lax +idler, as he had seen him so many times. Soriki—his broad face with +its flat cheekbones, its wide cheerful mouth, its heavy-lidded eyes. +And having fixed Soriki's face, he tried to believe that he was now +confronting the com-tech, speaking directly to him.</p> + +<p>"Come—come and get me—south—seashore—Soriki come and get me!" The +words formed a kind of chant, a chant aimed at that familiar face in +its familiar surroundings. "South—come and get me—" Raf struggled to +think only of that, to allow nothing to break through that chant or +disturb his picture of the scene he had called from memory.</p> + +<p>How long that attempt at communication lasted the pilot could not +tell, for somehow he slipped from the deep concentration into sleep, +dreamless and untroubled, from which he awoke with the befogged +feeling that something important had happened. But had he gotten +through?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span></p> + +<p>The ring of mermen was gone, and it was dawn, gray, chill with the +forewarnings of rain in the air. He was reassured because he was +certain that in spite of the gloom his sight was a fraction clearer +than it had been the day before. But had they gotten through? As he +arose, brushing the sand from him, he saw the scout splashing out of +the sea, a fish impaled on his spear.</p> + +<p>"Did we get through?" Raf blurted out.</p> + +<p>"Since your friend cannot reply with the mind touch, we do not know. +But later we shall try again." To Raf's peering gaze Dalgard's face +had a drawn, gaunt look as if he had been at hard labor during the +hours just past. He walked up the beach slowly, without the springing +step Raf had come to associate with him. As he settled down to gut the +fish with one of the bone knives, the scout repeated, "We can try +again—!"</p> + +<p>Half an hour later, as the rain swept in from the sea, Raf knew that +they would not have to try. His head went up, his face eager. He had +known that sound too long and too well ever to mistake it—the drone +of a flitter motor cutting through the swish of the falling water. +Some trick of the cliffs behind them must be magnifying and projecting +the sound, for he could not sight the machine. But it was coming. He +whirled to Dalgard, only to see that the other was on his feet and had +taken up his spear.</p> + +<p>"It is the flitter! Soriki heard—they're coming!" Raf hastened to +assure him.</p> + +<p>For the last time he saw Dalgard's slow, warm smile, clearer than he +had ever seen it before. Then the scout turned and trotted away, +toward a fringing rock wall. Before he dropped out of sight behind +that barrier he raised the spear in salute.</p> + +<p>"Swift and fortunate voyaging!" He gave the farewell of Homeport.</p> + +<p>Then Raf understood. The colonist meant just what he had said: he +wanted no contact with the space ship. To Raf he had owed a debt and +now that was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> paid. But the time was not yet when the men of Astra and +the men of Terra should meet. A hundred years from now perhaps—or a +thousand—but not yet. And remembering what had summoned the flitter +winging toward him, Raf drew a deep breath. What would the men of +Astra accomplish in a hundred years? What could those of Terra do to +match them in knowledge? It was a challenge, and he alone knew just +how much of a challenge. Homeport must remain his own secret. He had +been guided to this place, saved by the mermen alone. Dalgard and his +people must not exist as far as the crew of the <i>RS 10</i> were +concerned.</p> + +<p>For the last time he experienced the intimacy of the mind touch. "That +is it—brother!" Then the sensation was gone as the black blot of the +flitter buzzed out of the clouds.</p> + +<p>From behind the rocks Dalgard watched the pilot enter the strange +machine. For a single moment he had an impulse to shout, to run +forward, to surrender to his desire to see the others, the ship which +had brought them through space and would, they confidently believed, +take them back to the Terra he knew only as a legend of the past. But +he mastered that desire. He had been right. The road had already +forked and there was no going back. He must carry this secret all the +rest of his life—he must be strong-willed enough so that Homeport +would never know. Time—give them time to be what they could be. Then +in a hundred years—or a thousand—But not yet!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"Nobody today is telling better stories of straight-forward +interstellar adventure."</p> + +<p class="sig1"> +—<i>New York Herald-Tribune</i><br /> +</p> + + +<p class="blockquot">When Raf Kurbi's Terran spaceship burst into unexplored skies of the +far planet Astra and was immediately made welcome by the natives of a +once-mighty metropolis, Kurbi was unaware of three vital things:</p> + +<p class="blockquot">One was that Astra already harbored an Earth colony—descended from +refugees from the world of the previous century.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Two was that these men and women were facing the greatest danger of +their existence from a new outburst of the inhuman fiends who had once +tyrannized Astra.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Three was that the natives who were buying Kurbi's science know-how +were those very fiends—and their intentions were implacably deadly +for all humans, whether Earth born or STAR BORN.</p> + +<p><i>It's an Andre Norton space adventure—and therefore the tops in its +field!</i></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Quotes_from_the_reviews" id="Quotes_from_the_reviews"></a>Quotes from the reviews:</h2> + +<p> +"All science-fiction fans will thrill to these new adventures +created by Andre Norton.... All who enjoy +a good adventure about the unknown parts of our +galaxy will find this an enchanting story." +</p> +<p class="sig2"> +—<i>Jackson </i>(<i>Tenn.</i>) <i>Sun</i></p> + +<p>"Superb science-fiction."</p> +<p class="sig2"> +—<i>Montgomery Advertiser</i></p> + +<p> +"Andre Norton adds another star to her literary laurels."</p> +<p class="sig2"> +—<i>Cleveland Press</i></p> +<p> + +"A good, clearly thought-out story."</p> +<p class="sig2"> +—<i>New York Times</i></p> +<p> + +"Exciting and adventure-laden."</p> +<p class="sig2"> +—<i>Library Journal</i></p> +<p> + +"Suspense and excitement.... A storyteller of the +first class, this is one of her best."</p> +<p class="sig2"> +—<i>Fantasy & Science Fiction</i></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p class="center"><b>NOW AVAILABLE AGAIN!</b></p> + +<h3>PERRY RHODAN</h3> +<p class="center"><b>95¢ each</b></p> + + + +<table summary="List of Books"> +<tr><td class="tocch">#1</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Enterprise Stardust Scheer & Ernsting</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#2</td> + <td> </td> + <td>The Radiant Dome Scheer & Ernsting</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#3</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Galactic Alarm Mahr & Shols</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#4</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Invasion from Space Ernsting & Mahr</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#5</td> + <td> </td> + <td>The Vega Sector Scheer & Mahr</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#6</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Secret of the Time Vault Darlton</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#7</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Fortress of the Six Moons Scheer</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#8</td> + <td> </td> + <td>The Galactic Riddle Darlton</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#9</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Quest through Space and Time Darlton</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#10</td> + <td> </td> + <td>The Ghosts of Gol Mahr</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#11</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Planet of the Dying Sun Mahr</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#12</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Rebels of Tuglan Darlton</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#13</td> + <td> </td> + <td>The Immortal Unknown Darlton</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#14</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Venus in Danger Mahr</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#15</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Escape To Venus Mahr</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#16</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Secret Barrier X Shols</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#17</td> + <td> </td> + <td>The Venus Trap Mahr</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#18</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Menace of the Mutant Master Darlton</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#19</td> + <td> </td> + <td>Mutants vs. Mutants Darlton</td></tr> +<tr><td class="tocch">#20</td> + <td> </td> + <td>The Thrall of Hypno Darlton</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="center"><i>Available wherever paperbacks an sold or use this coupon.</i></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p> +<img src="images/image_02.jpg" alt="Seal" width="30" height="27" /> ace books, (Dept. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Star Born + +Author: Andre Norton + +Release Date: May 27, 2006 [EBook #18458] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STAR BORN *** + + + + +Produced by Jason Isbell, Greg Weeks, Sankar Viswanathan, +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + Transcriber's note: + Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the + copyright on this publication was renewed. + + + + + ANDRE + NORTON + + STAR BORN + + + + + + + ace books + + A Division of Charter Communications Inc. + + 1120 Avenue of the Americas + + New York, N.Y. 10036 + + + + + * * * * * + + "What of our children--the second and third generations born + on this new world? They will have no memories of Terra's + green hills and blue seas. Will they be Terrans--or + something else?" + + --TAS KORDOV, _Record of the First Years_ + + * * * * * + + + + +1 + +SHOOTING STAR + + +The travelers had sighted the cove from the sea--a narrow bite into +the land, the first break in the cliff wall which protected the +interior of this continent from the pounding of the ocean. And, +although it was still but midafternoon, Dalgard pointed the outrigger +into the promised shelter, the dip of his steering paddle swinging in +harmony with that wielded by Sssuri in the bow of their narrow, +wave-riding craft. + +The two voyagers were neither of the same race nor of the same +species, yet they worked together without words, as if they had +established some bond which gave them a rapport transcending the need +for speech. + +Dalgard Nordis was a son of the Colony; his kind had not originated on +this planet. He was not as tall nor as heavily built as those Terran +outlaw ancestors who had fled political enemies across the Galaxy to +establish a foothold on Astra, and there were other subtle differences +between his generation and the parent stock. + +Thin and wiry, his skin was brown from the gentle toasting of the +summer sun, making the fairness of his closely cropped hair even more +noticeable. At his side was his long bow, carefully wrapped in +water-resistant flying-dragon skin, and from the belt which supported +his short breeches of tanned duocorn hide swung a two-foot blade--half +wood-knife, half sword. To the eyes of his Terran forefathers he would +have presented a barbaric picture. In his own mind he was amply clad +and armed for the man-journey which was both his duty and his +heritage to make before he took his place as a full adult in the +Council of Free Men. + +In contrast to Dalgard's smooth skin, Sssuri was covered with a fluffy +pelt of rainbow-tipped gray fur. In place of the human's steel blade, +he wore one of bone, barbed and ugly, as menacing as the spear now +resting in the bottom of the outrigger. And his round eyes watched the +sea with the familiarity of one whose natural home was beneath those +same waters. + +The mouth of the cove was narrow, but after they negotiated it they +found themselves in a pocket of bay, sheltered and calm, into which +trickled a lazy stream. The gray-blue of the seashore sand was only a +fringe beyond which was turf and green stuff. Sssuri's nostril flaps +expanded as he tested the warm breeze, and Dalgard was busy +cataloguing scents as they dragged their craft ashore. They could not +have found a more perfect place for a camp site. + +Once the canoe was safely beached, Sssuri picked up his spear and, +without a word or backward glance, waded out into the sea, +disappearing into the depths, while his companion set about his share +of camp tasks. It was still early in the summer--too early to expect +to find ripe fruit. But Dalgard rummaged in his voyager's bag and +brought out a half-dozen crystal beads. He laid these out on a +flat-topped stone by the stream, seating himself cross-legged beside +it. + +To the onlooker it would appear that the traveler was meditating. A +wide-winged living splotch of color fanned by overhead; there was a +distant yap of sound. Dalgard neither looked nor listened. But perhaps +a minute later what he awaited arrived. A hopper, its red-brown fur +sleek and gleaming in the sun, its eternal curiosity drawing it, +peered cautiously from the bushes. Dalgard made mind touch. The +hoppers did not really think--at least not on the levels where +communication was possible for the colonists--but sensations of +friendship and good will could be broadcast, primitive ideas +exchanged. + +The small animal, its humanlike front pawhands dangling over its +creamy vest, came out fully into the open, black eyes flicking from +the motionless Dalgard to the bright beads on the rock. But when one +of those paws shot out to snatch the treasure, the traveler's hand was +already cupped protectingly over the hoard. Dalgard formed a mental +picture and beamed it at the twenty-inch creature before him. The +hopper's ears twitched nervously, its blunt nose wrinkled, and then it +bounded back into the brush, a weaving line of moving grass marking +its retreat. + +Dalgard withdrew his hand from the beads. Through the years the Astran +colonists had come to recognize the virtues of patience. Perhaps the +mutation had begun before they left their native world. Or perhaps the +change in temperament and nature had occurred in the minds and bodies +of that determined handful of refugees as they rested in the frozen +cold sleep while their ship bore them through the wide, uncharted +reaches of deep space for centuries of Terran time. How long that +sleep had lasted the survivors had never known. But those who had +awakened on Astra were different. + +And their sons and daughters, and the sons and daughters of two more +generations were warmed by a new sun, nourished by food grown in alien +soil, taught the mind contact by the amphibian mermen with whom the +space voyagers had made an early friendship--each succeeding child +more attuned to the new home, less tied to the far-off world he had +never seen or would see. The colonists were not of the same breed as +their fathers, their grandfathers, or great-grandfathers. So, with +other gifts, they had also a vast, time-consuming patience, which +could be a weapon or a tool, as they pleased--not forgetting the +instantaneous call to action which was their older heritage. + +The hopper returned. On the rock beside the shining things it +coveted, it dropped dried and shriveled fruit. Dalgard's fingers +separated two of the gleaming marbles, rolled them toward the animal, +who scooped them up with a chirp of delight. But it did not leave. +Instead it peered intently at the rest of the beads. Hoppers had their +own form of intelligence, though it might not compare with that of +humans. And this one was enterprising. In the end it delivered three +more loads of fruit from its burrow and took away all the beads, both +parties well pleased with their bargains. + +Sssuri splashed out of the sea with as little ado as he had entered. +On the end of his spear twisted a fish. His fur, slicked flat to his +strongly muscled body, began to dry in the air and fluff out while the +sun awoke prismatic lights on the scales which covered his hands and +feet. He dispatched the fish and cleaned it neatly, tossing the offal +back into the water, where some shadowy things arose to tear at the +unusual bounty. + +"This is not hunting ground." His message formed in Dalgard's mind. +"That finned one had no fear of me." + +"We were right then in heading north; this is new land." Dalgard got +to his feet. + +On either side, the cliffs, with their alternate bands of red, blue, +yellow, and white strata, walled in this pocket. They would make far +better time keeping to the sea lanes, where it was not necessary to +climb. And it was Dalgard's cherished plan to add more than just an +inch or two to the explorers' map in the Council Hall. + +Each of the colony males was expected to make his man-journey of +discovery sometimes between his eighteenth and twentieth year. He went +alone or, if he formed an attachment with one of the mermen near his +own age, accompanied only by his knife brother. And from knowledge so +gained the still-small group of exiles added to and expanded their +information about their new home. + +Caution was drilled into them. For they were not the first masters of +Astra, nor were they the masters now. There were the ruins left by +Those Others, the race who had populated this planet until their own +wars had completed their downfall. And the mermen, with their +traditions of slavery and dark beginnings in the experimental pens of +the older race, continued to insist that across the sea--on the +unknown western continent--Those Others still held onto the remnants +of a degenerate civilization. Thus the explorers from Homeport went +out by ones and twos and used the fauna of the land as a means of +gathering information. + +Hoppers could remember yesterday only dimly, and instinct took care of +tomorrow. But what happened today sped from hopper to hopper and could +warn by mind touch both merman and human. If one of the dread +snake-devils of the interior was on the hunting trail, the hoppers +sped the warning. Their vast curiosity brought them to the fringe of +any disturbance, and they passed the reason for it along. Dalgard knew +there were a thousand eyes at his service whenever he wanted them. +There was little chance of being taken by surprise, no matter how +dangerous this journey north might be. + +"The city--" He formed the words in his mind even as he spoke them +aloud. "How far are we from it?" + +The merman hunched his slim shoulders in the shrug of his race. "Three +days' travel, maybe five. And it"--though his furred face displayed no +readable emotion, the sensation of distaste was plain--"was one of the +accursed ones. To such we have not returned since the days of falling +fire--" + +Dalgard was well acquainted with the ruins which lay not many miles +from Homeport. And he knew that that sprawling, devastated metropolis +was not taboo to the merman. But this other mysterious settlement he +had recently heard of was still shunned by the sea people. Only +Sssuri and a few others of youthful years would consider a journey to +explore the long-forbidden section their traditions labeled as +dangerous land. + +The belief that he was about to venture into questionable territory +had made Dalgard evasive when he reported his plans to the Elders +three days earlier. But since such trips were, by tradition, always +thrusts into the unknown, they had not questioned him too much. All in +all, Dalgard thought, watching Sssuri flake the firm pink flesh from +the fish, he might deem himself lucky and this quest ordained. He went +off to hack out armloads of grass and fashion the sleep mats for the +sun-warmed ground. + +They had eaten and were lounging in content on the soft sand just +beyond the curl of the waves when Sssuri lifted his head from his +folded arms as if he listened. Like all those of his species, his +vestigial ears were hidden deep in his fur and no longer served any +real purpose; the mind touch served him in their stead. Dalgard caught +his thought, though what had aroused his companion was too rare a +thread to trouble his less acute senses. + +"Runners in the dark--" + +Dalgard frowned. "It is still sun time. What disturbs them?" + +To the eye Sssuri was still listening to that which his friend could +not hear. + +"They come from afar. They are on the move to find new hunting +grounds." + +Dalgard sat up. To each and every scout from Homeport the unusual was +a warning, a signal to alert mind and body. The runners in the +night--that furred monkey race of hunters who combed the moonless dark +of Astra when most of the higher fauna were asleep--were very +distantly related to Sssuri's species, though the gap between them was +that between highly civilized man and the jungle ape. The runners were +harmless and shy, but they were noted also for clinging stubbornly to +one particular district generation after generation. To find such a +clan on the move into new territory was to be fronted with a puzzle it +might be well to investigate. + +"A snake-devil--" he suggested tentatively, forming a mind picture of +the vicious reptilian danger which the colonists tried to kill on +sight whenever and wherever encountered. His hand went to the knife at +his belt. One met with weapons only that hissing hatred motivated by a +brainless ferocity which did not know fear. + +But Sssuri did not accept that explanation. He was sitting up, facing +inland where the thread of valley met the cliff wall. And seeing his +absorption, Dalgard asked no distracting questions. + +"No, no snake-devil--" after long moments came the answer. He got to +his feet, shuffling through the sand in the curious little half dance +which betrayed his agitation more strongly than his thoughts had done. + +"The hoppers have no news," Dalgard said. + +Sssuri gestured impatiently with one outflung hand. "Do the hoppers +wander far from their own nest mounds? Somewhere there--" he pointed +to the left and north, "there is trouble, bad trouble. Tonight we +shall speak with the runners and discover what it may be." + +Dalgard glanced about the camp with regret. But he made no protest as +he reached for his bow and stripped off its protective casing. With +the quiver of heavy-duty arrows slung across his shoulder he was ready +to go, following Sssuri inland. + +The easy valley path ended less than a quarter of a mile from the sea, +and they were fronted by a wall of rock with no other option than to +climb. But the westering sun made plain every possible hand and foot +hold on its surface. + +When they stood at last on the heights and looked ahead, it was across +a broken stretch of bare rock with the green of vegetation beckoning +from at least a mile beyond. Sssuri hesitated for only a moment or +two, his round, almost featureless head turning slowly, until he +fixed on a northeasterly course--striking out unerringly as if he +could already sight the goal. Dalgard fell in behind, looking over the +country with a wary eye. This was just the type of land to harbor +flying dragons. And while those pests were small, their +lightning-swift attack from above made them foes not to be +disregarded. But all the flying things he saw were two moth birds of +delicate hues engaging far over the sun-baked rock in one of their +graceful winged dances. + +They crossed the heights and came to the inland slope, a drop toward +the central interior plains of the continent. As they plowed through +the high grasses Dalgard knew they were under observation. Hoppers +watched them. And once through a break in a line of trees he saw a +small herd of duocorns race into the shelter of a wood. The presence +of those two-horned creatures, so like the pictures he had seen of +Terran horses, was insurance that the snake-devils did not hunt in +this district, for the swift-footed duocorns were never found within a +day's journey of their archenemies. + +Late afternoon faded into the long summer twilight and still Sssuri +kept on. As yet they had come across no traces of Those Others. Here +were none of the domed farm buildings, the monorail tracks, the other +relics one could find about Homeport. This wide-open land could have +been always a wilderness, left to the animals of Astra for their own. +Dalgard speculated upon that, his busy imagination supplying various +reasons for such tract. Then the voiceless communication of his +companion provided an explanation. + +"This was barrier land." + +"What?" + +Sssuri turned his head. His round eyes which blinked so seldom stared +into Dalgard's as if by the intensity of that gaze he could drive home +deeper his point. + +"What lies to the north was protected in the days before the falling +fire. Even _Those_"--the distorted mermen symbol for Those Others was +sharpened by the very hatred of all Sssuri's kind, which had not paled +during the generations since their escape from slavery to Astra's +one-time masters--"could not venture into some of their own private +places without special leave. It is perhaps true that the city we are +seeking is one of those restricted ones and that this wilderness is a +boundary for it." + +Dalgard's pace slowed. To venture into a section of land which had +been used as a barrier to protect some secret of Those Others was a +highly risky affair. The first expedition sent out from Homeport after +the landing of the Terran refugee ship had been shot down by +robot-controlled guns still set against some long-dead invader. Would +this territory be so guarded? If so they had better go carefully now-- + +Sssuri suddenly struck off at an angle, heading not northeast now, but +directly north. The brush lands along the foot of the cliffs gave way +to open fields, bare except for the grass rippled by the wind. It was +not the type of country to attract the night runners, and Dalgard +wondered a little. They should discover water, preferably a shallow +stream, if they wanted to find what the monkey creatures liked best. + +Within a quarter-hour he knew that Sssuri was not going wrong. Cradled +in a sudden dip in the land was the stream Dalgard had been looking +for. A hopper lifted a dripping muzzle from the shore ripples and +stared at them. Dalgard contacted the animal. It was its usual curious +self, nothing had alarmed or excited its interest. And he did not try +to establish more than a casual contact as they made their way down +the bank to the edge of the stream, Sssuri splashing in ankle-deep for +the sheer pleasure of feeling liquid curl about his feet and legs once +more. + +Water dwellers fled from their passing and insects buzzed and hovered. +Otherwise they moved through a deserted world. The stream bed widened +and small islands of gravel, swept together in untidy piles by the +spring floods, arose dry topped, some already showing the green of +venturesome plants. + +"Here--" Sssuri stopped, thrusting the butt of his spear into the +shore of one such islet. He dropped cross-legged on his choice, there +to remain patiently until those he sought would come with the dark. +Dalgard withdrew a little way downstream and took up a similar post. +The runners were shy, not easy to approach. And they would come more +readily if Sssuri were alone. + +Here the murmur of the stream was loud, rising above the rustle of the +wind-driven grass. And the night was coming fast as the sun, hidden by +the cliff wall, sank into the sea. Dalgard, knowing that his night +sight was far inferior to that of the native Astran fauna, resignedly +settled himself for an all-night stay, not without a second regretful +memory of the snug camp by the shore. + +Twilight and then night. How long before the runners would make their +appearance? He could pick up the sparks of thought which marked the +coming and going of hoppers, most hurrying off to their mud-plastered +nests, and sometimes a flicker from the mind of some other night +creature. Once he was sure he touched the avid, raging hunger which +marked a flying dragon, though they were not naturally hunters by +darkness. + +Dalgard made no move to contact Sssuri. The merman must be left +undisturbed in his mental quest for the runners. + +The scout lay back on his miniature island and stared up into the sky, +trying to sort out all the myriad impressions of life about him. It +was then that he saw it.... + +An arrow of fire streaking across the black bowl of Astra's night sky. +A light so vivid, so alien, that it brought him to his feet with a +chill prickle of apprehension along his spine. In all his years as a +scout and woodsman, in all the stories of his fellows and his elders +at Homeport--he had never seen, never heard of the like of that! + +And through his own wonder and alert alarm, he caught Sssuri's added +puzzlement. + +"Danger--" The merman's verdict fed his own unease. + +Danger had crossed the night, from east to west. And to the west lay +what they had always feared. What was going to happen now? + + + + +2 + +PLANETFALL + + +Raf Kurbi, flitter pilot and techneer, lay on the padded shock cushion +of his assigned bunk and stared with wide, disillusioned eyes at the +stretch of stark, gray metal directly overhead. He tried to close his +ears to the mutter of meaningless words coming from across the narrow +cabin. Raf had known from the moment his name had been drawn as crew +member that the whole trip would be a gamble, a wild gamble with the +odds all against them. _RS 10_--those very numbers on the nose of the +ship told part of the story. Ten exploring fingers thrust in turn out +into the blackness of space. _RS 3_'s fate was known--she had +blossomed into a pinpoint of flame within the orbit of Mars. And _RS +7_ had clearly gone out of control while instruments on Terra could +still pick up her broadcasts. Of the rest--well, none had returned. + +But the ships were built, manned by lot from the trainees, and sent +out, one every five years, with all that had been learned from the +previous job, each refinement the engineers could discover +incorporated into the latest to rise from the launching cradle. + +_RS 10_--Raf closed his eyes with weary distaste. After months of +being trapped inside her ever-vibrating shell, he felt that he knew +each and every rivet, seam, and plate in her only too well. And there +was no reason yet to believe that the voyage would ever end. They +would just go on and on through empty space until dead men manned a +drifting hulk-- + +There--to picture that was a danger signal. Whenever his thoughts +reached that particular point, Raf tried to think of something else, +to break the chain of dismal foreboding. How? By joining in Wonstead's +monologue of complaint and regret? Raf had heard the same words over +and over so often that they no longer had any meaning--except as a +series of sounds he might miss if the man who shared this pocket were +suddenly stricken dumb. + +"Should never have put in for training--" Wonstead's whine went up the +scale. + +That was unoriginal enough. They had all had that idea the minute +after the sorter had plucked their names for crew inclusion. No matter +what motive had led them into the stiff course of training--the +fabulous pay, a real interest in the project, the exploring fever--Raf +did not believe that there was a single man whose heart had not sunk +when he had been selected for flight. Even he, who had dreamed all his +life of the stars and the wonders which might lie just beyond the big +jump, had been honestly sick on the day he had shouldered his bag +aboard and had first taken his place on this mat and waited, dry +mouthed and shivering, for blast-off. + +One lost all sense of time out here. They ate sparingly, slept when +they could, tried to while away the endless hours artificially divided +into set periods. But still weeks might be months, or months weeks. +They could have been years in space--or only days. All they knew was +the unending monotony which dragged upon a man until he either lapsed +into a dreamy rejection of his surroundings, as had Hamp and Floy, or +flew into murderous rages, such as kept Morris in solitary confinement +at present. And no foreseeable end to the flight-- + +Raf breathed shallowly. The air was stale, he could almost taste it. +It was difficult now to remember being in the open air under a sky, +with fresh winds blowing about one. He tried to picture on that dull +strip of metal overhead a stretch of green grass, a tree, even the +blue sky and floating white clouds. But the patch remained stubbornly +gray, the murmur of Wonstead went on and on, a drone in his aching +ears, the throb of the ship's life beat through his own thin body. + +What had it been like on those legendary early flights, when the +secret of the overdrive had not yet been discovered, when any who +dared the path between star and star had surrendered to sleep, perhaps +to wake again generations later, perhaps never to rouse again? He had +seen the few documents discovered four or five hundred years ago in +the raided headquarters of the scientific outlaws who had fled the +regimented world government of Pax and dared space on the single hope +of surviving such a journey in cold sleep, the secret of which had +been lost. At least, Raf thought, they had escaped the actual +discomfort of the voyage. + +Had they found their new world or worlds? The end of their ventures +had been debated thousands of times since those documents had been +made public, after the downfall of Pax and the coming into power of +the Federation of Free Men. + +In fact it was the publication of the papers which had given the +additional spur to the building of the _RS_ armada. What man had dared +once he could dare anew. And the pursuit of knowledge which had been +so long forbidden under Pax was heady excitement for the world. +Research and discovery became feverish avenues of endeavor. Even the +slim hope of a successful star voyage and the return to Terra with +such rich spoils of information was enough to harness three quarters +of the planet's energy for close to a hundred years. And if the _RS +10_ was not successful, there would be _11_, _12_, more--flaming into +the sky and out into the void, unless some newer and more intriguing +experiment developed to center public imagination in another +direction. + +Raf's eyes closed wearily. Soon the gong would sound and this period +of rest would be officially ended. But it was hardly worth rising. He +was not in the least hungry for the concentrated food. He could repeat +the information tapes they carried dull word for dull word. + +"Nothing to see--nothing but these blasted walls!" Again Wonstead's +voice arose in querulous protest. + +Yes, while in overdrive there was nothing to see. The ports of the +ship would be sealed until they were in normal space once more. That +is, if it worked and they were not caught up forever within this thick +trap where there was no time, light, or distance. + +The gong sounded, but Raf made no move to rise. He heard Wonstead +move, saw from the corner of his eye the other's bulk heave up +obediently from the pad. + +"Hey--mess gong!" He pointed out the obvious to Raf. + +With a sigh the other levered himself up on his elbows. If he did not +move, Wonstead was capable of reporting him to the captain for strange +behavior, and they were all too alert to a divagation which might mean +trouble. He had no desire to end in confinement with Morris. + +"I'm coming," Raf said sullenly. But he remained sitting on the edge +of the pad until Wonstead left the cabin, and he followed as slowly as +he could. + +So he was not with the others when a new sound tore through the +constant vibrating hum which filled the narrow corridors of the ship. +Raf stiffened, the icy touch of fear tensing his muscles. Was that the +red alarm of disaster? + +His eyes went to the light at the end of the short passage. But no +blink of warning red shown there. Not danger--then what--? + +It took him a full moment to realize what he had heard, not the signal +of doom, but the sound which was to herald the accomplishment of their +mission--the sound which unconsciously they had all given up any hope +of ever hearing. They had made it! + +The pilot leaned weakly against the wall, and his eyes smarted, his +hands were trembling. In that moment he knew that he had never really, +honestly, believed that they would succeed. But they had! _RS 10_ had +reached the stars! + +"Strap down for turnout--strap down for turnout--!" The disembodied +voice screaming through the ship's speecher was that of Captain +Hobart, but it was almost unrecognizable with emotion. Raf turned and +stumbled back to his cabin, staggered to throw himself once more on +his pad as he fumbled with the straps he must buckle over him. + +He heard rather than saw Wonstead blunder in to follow his example, +and for the first time in months the other was dumb, not uttering a +word as he stowed away for the breakthrough which should take them +back into normal space and the star worlds. Raf tore a nail on a +fastening, muttered. + +"Condition red--condition red--Strap down for breakthrough--" Hobart +chanted at them from the walls. "One, two, three"--the count swung on +numeral by numeral; then--"ten--Stand by--" + +Raf had forgotten what breakthrough was like. He had gone through it +the first time when still under take-off sedation. But this was worse +than he remembered, so much worse. He tried to scream out his protest +against the torture which twisted mind and body, but he could not +utter even a weak cry. This, this was unbearable--a man could go mad +or die--die--die.... + +He aroused with the flat sweetness of blood on his tongue, a splitting +pain behind the eyes he tried to focus on the too familiar scrap of +wall. A voice boomed, receded, and boomed again, filling the air and +at last making sense, in it a ring of wild triumph! + +"Made it! This is it, men, we've made it; Sol-class sun--three +planets. We'll set an orbit in--" + +Raf licked his lips. It was still too much to swallow in one mental +gulp. So, they had made it--half of their venture was accomplished. +They had broken out of their own solar system, made the big jump, and +before them lay the unknown. Now it was within their reach. + +"D'you hear that, kid?" demanded Wonstead, his voice no longer an +accusing whine, more steady than Raf ever remembered hearing it. "We +got through! We'll hit dirt again! Dirt--" his words trailed away as +if he were sinking into some blissful daydream. + +There was a different feeling to the ship herself. The steady drone +which had ached in their ears, their bones, as she bored her way +through the alien hyper-space had changed to a purr as if she, too, +were rejoicing at the success of their desperate try. For the first +time in weary weeks Raf remembered his own duties which would begin +when the _RS 10_ came in to a flame-cushioned landing on a new world. +He was to assemble and ready the small exploration flyer, to man its +controls and take it up and out. Frowning, he began to run over in his +mind each step in the preparations he must make as soon as they +planeted. + +Information came down from control, where now the ports were open on +normal space and the engines were under control of the spacer's pilot. +Their goal was to be the third planet, one which showed signs of +atmosphere, of water and earth ready and waiting. + +Those who were not on flight duty crowded into the tiny central cabin, +where they elbowed each other before the viewer. The ball of alien +earth grew from a pinpoint to the size of an orange. They forgot time +in the wonder which none had ever thought in his heart he would see on +the screen. Raf knew that in control every second of this was being +recorded as they began to establish a braking orbit, which with luck +would bring them down on the surface of the new world. + +"Cities--those must be cities!" Those in the cabin studied the plate +with awe as the information filtered through the crew. Lablet, their +xenobiologist, sat with his fingers rigid on the lower bar of the visa +plate, so intent that nothing could break his vigil, while the rest +speculated wildly. Had they really seen cities? + +Raf went down the corridor to the door of the sealed compartment that +held the machine and the supplies for which he was responsible. These +last hours of waiting were worse with their nagging suspense than all +the time which had gone before. If they could only set down! + +He had, on training trips which now seemed very far in the past, trod +the rust-red desert country of Mars, waddled in a bulky protective +suit across the peaked ranges of the dead Moon, known something of the +larger asteroids. But how would it feel to tread ground warmed by the +rays of another sun? Imagination with which his superiors did not +credit him began to stir. Traits inherited from a mixture of races +were there to be summoned. Raf retreated once more into his cabin and +sat on his bunk pad, staring down at his own capable mechanic's hands +without seeing them, picturing instead all the wonders which might lie +just beyond the next few hours' imprisonment in this metallic shell he +had grown to hate with a dull but abiding hatred. + +Although he knew that Hobart must be fully as eager as any of them to +land, it seemed to Raf, and the other impatient crew members, that +they were very long in entering the atmosphere of the chosen world. It +was only when the order came to strap down for deceleration that they +were in a measure satisfied. Pull of gravity, ship beaming in at an +angle which swept it from night to day or night again as it encircled +that unknown globe. They could not watch their objective any longer. +The future depended entirely upon the skill of the three men in +control--and last of all upon Hobart's judgment and skill. + +The captain brought them down, riding the flaming counter-blasts from +the ship's tail to set her on her fins in an expert point landing, so +that the _RS 10_ was a finger of light into the sky, amid wisps of +smoke from brush ignited by her landing. + +There was another wait which seemed endless to the restless men +within, a wait until the air was analyzed, the countryside surveyed. +But when the go-ahead signal was given and the ramp swung out, those +first at the hatch still hesitated for an instant or so, though the +way before them was open. + +Beyond the burnt ground about the ship was a rolling plain covered +with tall grass which rippled under the wind. And the freshness of +that wind cleansed their lungs of the taint of the ship. + +Raf pulled off his helmet, held his head high in that breeze. It was +like bathing in air, washing away the smog of those long days of +imprisonment. He ran down the ramp, past the little group of those who +had preceded him, and fell on his knees in the grass, catching at it +with his hands, a little over-awed at the wonder of it all. + +The wide sweep of sky above them was not entirely blue, he noted. +There was the faintest suggestion of green, and across it moved clouds +of silver. But, save for the grass, they might be in a dead and empty +world. Where were the cities? Or had those been born of imagination? + +After a while, when the wonder of this landing had somewhat worn away, +Hobart summoned them back to the prosaic business of setting up base. +And Raf went to work at his own task. The sealed storeroom was opened, +the supplies slung by crane down from the ship. The compact assembly, +streamlined for this purpose, was all ready for the morrow. + +They spent the night within the ship, much against their will. After +the taste of freedom they had been given, the cramped interior weighed +upon them, closing like a prison. Raf lay on his pad unable to sleep. +It seemed to him that he could hear, even through the heavy plates, +the sigh of that refreshing wind, the call of the open world lying +ready for them. Step by step in his mind, he went through the process +for which he would be responsible the next day. The uncrating of the +small flyer, the assembling of frame and motor. And sometime in the +midst of that survey he did fall asleep, so deeply that Wonstead had +to shake him awake in the morning. + +He bolted his food and was out at his job before it was far past dawn. +But eager as he was to get to work, he paused just to look at the +earth scuffed up by his boots, to stare for a long moment at a stalk +of tough grass and remember with a thrill which never lessened that +this was not native earth or grass, that he stood where none of his +race, or even of his kind, had stood before--on a new planet in a new +solar system. + +Raf's expert training and instruction paid off. By evening he had the +flitter assembled save for the motor which still reposed on the +turning block. One party had gone questing out into the grass and +returned with the story of a stream hidden in a gash in the plain, and +Wonstead carried the limp body of a rabbit-sized furred creature he +had knocked over at the waterside. + +"Acted tame." Wonstead was proud of his kill. "Stupid thing just stood +and watched me while I let fly with a stone." + +Raf picked up the little body. Its fur was red-brown, plush-thick, and +very soft to the touch. The breast was creamy white and the forepaws +curiously short with an uncanny resemblance to his own hands. Suddenly +he wished that Wonstead had not killed it, though he supposed that +Chou, their biologist, would be grateful. But the animal looked +particularly defenseless. It would have been better not to mark their +first day on this new world with a killing--even if it were the +knocking over of a stupid rabbit thing. The pilot was glad when Chou +bore it off and he no longer had to look at it. + +It was after the evening meal that Raf was called into consultation by +the officers to receive his orders. When he reported that the flitter, +barring unexpected accidents, would be air-borne by the following +afternoon, he was shown an enlarged picture from the records made +during the descent of the _RS 10_. + +There was a city, right enough--showing up well from the air. Hobart +stabbed a finger down into the heart of it. + +"This lies south from here. We'll cruise in that direction." + +Raf would have liked to ask some questions of his own. The city +photographed was a sizable one. Why then this deserted land here? Why +hadn't the inhabitants been out to investigate the puzzle of the space +ship's landing? He said slowly, "I've mounted one gun, sir. Do you +want the other installed? It will mean that the flitter can only carry +three instead of four--" + +Hobart pulled his lower lip between his thumb and forefinger. He +glanced at his lieutenant then to Lablet, sitting quietly to one side. +It was the latter who spoke first. + +"I'd say this shows definite traces of retrogression." He touched the +photograph. "The place may even be only a ruin." + +"Very well. Leave off the other gun," Hobart ordered crisply. "And be +ready to fly at dawn day after tomorrow with full field kit. You're +sure she'll have at least a thousand-mile cruising radius?" + +Raf suppressed a shrug. How could you tell what any machine would do +under new conditions? The flitter had been put through every possible +test in his home world. Whether she would perform as perfectly here +was another matter. + +"They thought she would, sir," he replied. "I'll take her up for a +shakedown run tomorrow after the motor is installed." + +Captain Hobart dismissed him with a nod, and Raf was glad to clatter +down ladders into the cool of the evening once more. Flying high in a +formation of two lanes were some distant birds, at least he supposed +they were birds. But he did not call attention to them. Instead he +watched them out of sight, lingering alone with no desire to join +those crew members who had built a campfire a little distance from the +ship. The flames were familiar and cheerful, a portion, somehow, of +their native world transported to the new. + +Raf could hear the murmur of voices. But he turned and went to the +flitter. Taking his hand torch, he checked the work he had done during +the day. To-morrow--tomorrow he could take her up into the blue-green +sky, circle out over the sea of grass for a short testing flight. That +much he wanted to do. + +But the thought of the cruise south, of venturing toward that +sprawling splotch Hobart and Lablet identified as a city was somehow +distasteful, and he was reluctant to think about it. + + + + +3 + +SNAKE-DEVIL'S TRAIL + + +Dalgard drew the waterproof covering back over his brow, making a +cheerful job of it, preparatory to their pushing out to sea once more. +But he was as intent upon what Sssuri had to tell as he was on his +occupation of the moment. + +"But that is not even a hopper rumor," he was protesting, breaking +into his companion's flow of thought. + +"No. But, remember, to the runners yesterday is very far away. One +night is like another; they do not reckon time as we do, nor lay up +memories for future guidance. They left their native hunting grounds +and are drifting south. And only a very great peril would lead the +runners into such a break. It is against all their instincts!" + +"So, long ago--which may be months, weeks, or just days--there came +death out of the sea, and those who lived past its coming fled--" +Dalgard repeated the scanty information Sssuri had won for them the +night before by patient hour-long coaxing. "What kind of death?" + +Sssuri's great eyes, somber and a little tired, met his. "To us there +is only one kind of death to be greatly feared." + +"But there are the snake-devils--" protested the colony scout. + +"To be hunted down by snake-devils is death, yes. But it is a quick +death, a death which can come to any living thing that is not swift or +wary enough. For to the snake-devils all things that live and move are +merely meat to fill the aching pit in their swollen bellies. But there +were in the old days other deaths, far worse than what one meets under +a snake-devil's claws and fangs. And those are the deaths we fear." He +was running the smooth haft of his spear back and forth through his +fingers as if testing the balance of the weapon because the time was +not far away when he must rely upon it. + +"Those Others!" Dalgard shaped the words with his lips as well as in +his mind. + +"Just so." Sssuri did not nod, but his thought was in complete +agreement. + +"Yet they have not come before--not since the ship of my fathers +landed here," Dalgard protested, not against Sssuri's judgment but +against the whole idea. + +The merman got to his feet, sweeping his arm to indicate not only the +cove where they now sheltered but the continent behind it. + +"Once they held all this. Then they warred and killed, until but a +handful lay in cover to lick their wounds and wait. It has been many +threes of seasons since they left that cover. But now they come +again--to loot their place of secrets--Perhaps in the time past they +have forgotten much so that now they must renew their knowledge." + +Dalgard stowed the bow in the bottom of the outrigger. "I think we had +better go and see," he commented, "so that we may report true tidings +to our Elders--something more than rumors learned from night runners." + +"That is so." + +They paddled out to sea and turned the prow of the light craft north. +The character of the land did not change. Cliffs still walled the +coast, in some places rising sheer from the water, in others broken by +a footing of coarse beach. Only flying things were to be sighted over +their rocky crowns. + +But by midday there was an abrupt alteration in the scene. A wide +river cut through the heights and gave birth to a fan-shaped delta +thickly covered with vegetation. Half hidden by the riot of growing +things was a building of the dome shape Dalgard knew so well. Its +windowless, doorless surface reflected the sunlight with a glassy +sheen, and to casual inspection it was as untouched as it had been on +the day its masters had either died within it or left it for the last +time, perhaps centuries before. + +"This is one way into the forbidden city," Sssuri announced. "Once +they stationed guards here." + +Dalgard had been about to suggest a closer inspection of the dome but +that remark made him hesitate. If it had been one of the +fortifications rimming in a forbidden ground, there was more than an +even chance that unwary invaders, even this long after, might stumble +into some trap still working automatically. + +"Do we go upriver?" He left it to Sssuri, who had the traditions of +his people to guide him, to make the decision. + +The merman looked at the dome; it was evident from his attitude that +he had no wish to examine it more closely. "They had machines which +fought for them, and sometimes those machines still fight. This river +is the natural entrance for an enemy. Therefore it would have been +well defended." + +Under the sun the green reach of the delta had a most peaceful +appearance. There was a family of duck-dogs fishing from the beach, +scooping their broad bills into the mud to locate water worms. And +moth birds danced in the air currents overhead. Yet Dalgard was ready +to agree with his companion--beware the easy way. They dipped their +paddles deep and cut across the river current toward the cliffs to the +north. + +Two days of steady coastwise traveling brought them to a great bay. +And Dalgard gasped as the full sight of the port confronting them +burst into view. + +Tiers of ledges had been cut and blasted in the native rock, extending +from the sea back into the land in a series of giant steps. Each of +them was covered with buildings, and here the ancient war had left its +mark. The rock itself had been brought to a bubbling boil and sent in +now-frozen rivers down that stairway in a half-dozen places, +overwhelming all structures in its path, and leaving crystallized +streams to reflect the sun blindingly. + +"So this is your secret city!" + +But Sssuri shook his round head. "This is but the sea entrance to the +country," he corrected. "Here struck the day of fire, and we need not +fear the machines which doubtless lie in wait elsewhere." + +They beached the outrigger and hid it in the shell of one of the +ruined buildings on the lowest level. Dalgard sent out a questing +thought, hoping to contact a hopper or even a duck-dog. But seemingly +the ruins were bare of animal life, as was true in most of the other +towns and cities he had explored in the past. The fauna of Astra was +shy of any holding built by Those Others, no matter how long it may +have been left to the wind, and cleansing rain. + +With difficulty and detours to avoid the rivers of once-molten rock, +they made their way slowly from ledge to ledge up that giant's +staircase, not stopping to explore any of the buildings as they +passed. There was a taint of alien age about the city which repelled +Dalgard, and he was eager to get out of it into the clean countryside +once more. Sssuri sped on silent feet, his shoulders hunched, his +distaste for the structures to be read in every line of his supple +body. + +When they reached the top, Dalgard turned to gaze down to the restless +sea. What a prospect! Perhaps Those Others had built thus for reasons +of defense, but surely they, too, must have paused now and then to be +proud of such a feat. It was the most impressive site he had yet seen, +and his report of it would be a worthy addition to the Homeport +records. + +A road ran straight from the top of the stair, stabbing inland without +taking any notice of the difficulties of the terrain, after the usual +arrogant manner of the alien engineers. But Sssuri did not follow it. +Instead he struck off to the left, avoiding that easy path, choosing +to cross through tangles which had once been gardens or through open +fields. + +They were well out of the sight of the city before they flushed their +first hopper, a full-grown adult with oddly pale fur. Instead of +displaying the usual fearless interest in strangers, the animal took +one swift look at them and fled as if a snake-devil had snorted at its +thumping heels. And Dalgard received a sharp impression of terror, as +if the hopper saw in him some frightening menace. + +"What--?" Honestly astounded, he looked to Sssuri for enlightenment. + +The hoppers could be pests. They stole any small bright object which +aroused their interest. But they could also be persuaded to trade, and +they usually had no fear of either colonist or merman. + +Sssuri's furred face might not convey much emotion, but by all the +signs Dalgard _could_ read he knew that the merman was as startled as +he by the strange behavior of the grass dweller. + +"He is afraid of those who walk erect as we do," he made answer. + +_Those who walk erect_--Dalgard was quick to interpret that. + +He knew that Those Others were biped, quasi-human in form, closer in +physical appearance to the colonists than to the mermen. And since +none of Dalgard's people had penetrated this far to the north, nor had +the mermen invaded this taboo territory until Sssuri had agreed to +come, that left only the aliens. Those strange people whom the +colonists feared without knowing why they feared them, whom the mermen +hated with a hatred which had not lessened with the years of freedom. +The faint rumor carried by the migrating runners must be true, for +here was a hopper afraid of bipeds. And it must have been recently +provided with a reason for such fear, since hoppers' memories were +very short and such terror would have faded from its mind in a matter +of weeks. + +Sssuri halted in a patch of grass which reached to his waist belt. "It +is best to wait until the hours of dark." + +But Dalgard could not agree. "Better for you with your night sight," +he objected, "but I do not have your eyes in my head." + +Sssuri had to admit the justice of that. He could travel under the +moonless sky as sure-footed as under broad sunlight. But to guide a +blundering Dalgard through unknown country was not practical. However, +they could take to cover and that they did as speedily as possible, +using a zigzag tactic which delayed their advance but took them from +one bit of protecting brush or grove of trees to the next, keeping to +the fields well away from the road. + +They camped that night without fire in a pocket near a spring. And +while Dalgard was alert to all about them, he knew that Sssuri was +mind questing in a far wider circle, trying to contact a hopper, a +runner, any animal that could answer in part the inquiries they had. +When Dalgard could no longer hold open weary eyes, his last waking +memory was that of his companion sitting statue-still, his spear +across his knees, his head leaning a trifle forward as if what he +listened to was as vocal as the hum of night insects. + +When the colony scout roused in the morning, his companion was +stretched full length on the other side of the spring, but his head +came up as Dalgard moved. + +"We may go forward without fear," he shaped the assurance. "What has +troubled this land has gone." + +"A long time ago?" + +Dalgard was not surprised at Sssuri's negative answer. "Within days +_they_ have been here. But they have gone once more. It will be wise +for us to learn what they wanted here." + +"Have they come to establish a base here once more?" Dalgard brought +into the open the one threat which had hung over his own clan since +they first learned that a few of Those Others still lived--even if +overseas. + +"If that is their plan, they have not yet done it." Sssuri rolled over +on his back and stretched. He had lost that tenseness of a hound in +leash which had marked him the night before. "This was one of their +secret places, holding much of their knowledge. They may return here +on quest for that learning." + +All at once Dalgard was conscious of a sense of urgency. Suppose that +what Sssuri suggested was the truth, that Those Others were attempting +to recover the skills which had brought on the devastating war that +had turned this whole eastern continent into a wilderness? Equipped +with even the crumbs of such discoveries, they would be enemies +against which the Terran colonists could not hope to stand. The few +weapons their outlaw ancestors had brought with them on their +desperate flight to the stars were long since useless, and they had +had no way of duplicating them. Since childhood Dalgard had seen no +arms except the bows and the sword-knives carried by all venturing +away from Homeport. And what use would a bow or a foot or two of +sharpened metal be against things which could kill from a distance or +turn rock itself into a flowing, molten river? + +He was impatient to move on, to reach this city of forgotten knowledge +which Sssuri was sure lay before them. Perhaps the colonists could +draw upon what was stored there as well as Those Others could. + +Then he remembered--not only remembered but was corrected by Sssuri. +"Think not of taking _their_ weapons into your hands." Sssuri did not +look up as he gave that warning. "Long ago your fathers' fathers knew +that the knowledge of Those Others was not for their taking." + +A dimly remembered story, a warning impressed upon him during his +first guided trips into the ruins near Homeport flashed into Dalgard's +mind. Yes, he knew that some things had been forbidden to his kind. +For one, it was best not to examine too closely the bands of color +patterns which served Those Others as a means of written record. Tapes +of the aliens' records had been found and stored at Homeport. But not +one of the colonists had ventured to try to break the color code and +learn what lay locked in those bands. Once long ago such an experiment +had led to the brink of disaster, and such delvings were now +considered too dangerous to be allowed. + +But there was no harm in visiting this city, and certainly he must +make some report to the Council about what might be taking place here, +especially if Those Others were in residence or visited the site. + +Sssuri still kept to the fields, avoiding the highway, until +mid-morning, and then he made an abrupt turn and brought them out on +the soil-drifted surface of the road. The land here was seemingly +deserted. No moth birds performed their air ballets overhead, and they +did not see a single hopper. That is, they did not until the road +dipped before them and they started down into a cupped hollow filled +with buildings. The river, whose delta they had earlier seen, made a +half loop about the city, lacing it in. And here were no signs of the +warfare which had ruined the port. + +But in the middle of the road lay a bloody bunch of fur and splintered +bone, insects busy about it. Sssuri used the point of his spear to +straighten out the small corpse, displaying its headlessness. And +before they reached the outer buildings of the city they found four +more hoppers all mangled. + +"Not a snake-devil," Dalgard deduced. As far as he knew only the huge +reptiles or their smaller flying-dragon cousins preyed upon animals. +But a snake-devil would have left no remains of anything as small as a +hopper, one mouthful which could not satisfy its gnawing hunger. And a +flying dragon would have picked the bones clean. + +"_Them_!" Sssuri's reply was clipped. "They hunt for sport." + +Dalgard felt a little sick. To his mind, hoppers were to be treated +with friendship. Only against the snake-devils and the flying dragons +were the colonists ever at war. No wonder that hopper had run from +them back on the plain during yesterday's journey! + +The buildings before them were not the rounded domes of the isolated +farms, but a series of upward-pointing shafts. They walked through a +tall gap which must have supported a now-disappeared barrier gate, and +their passing was signaled by a whispering sound as they shuffled +through the loose sand and soil drifted there in a miniature dune. + +This city was in a better state of preservation than any Dalgard had +previously visited. But he had no desire to enter any of the gaping +doorways. It was as if the city rejected him and his kind, as if to +the past that brooded here he was no more than a curious hopper or a +fluttering, short-lived moth bird. + +"Old--old and with wisdom hidden in it--" he caught the trail of +thought from Sssuri. And he was certain that the merman was no more at +ease here than he himself was. + +As the street they followed brought them into an open space surrounded +by more imposing buildings, they made another discovery which blotted +out all thoughts of forbidden knowledge and awakened them to a more +normal and everyday danger. + +A fountain, which no longer played but gave birth to a crooked stream +of water, was in the center. And in the muddy verge of the stream, +pressed deep, was the fresh track of a snake-devil. Almost full grown, +Dalgard estimated, measuring the print with his fingers. Sssuri +pivoted slowly, studying the circle of buildings about them. + +"An hour--maybe two--" Dalgard gave a hunter's verdict on the age of +the print. He, too, eyed those buildings. To meet a snake-devil in the +open was one thing, to play hide-and-seek with the cunning monster in +a warren such as this was something else again. He hoped that the +reptile had been heading for the open, but he doubted it. This mass of +buildings would provide just the type of shelter which would appeal to +it for a lair. And snake-devils did not den alone! + +"Try by the river," Sssuri gave advice. Like Dalgard, he accepted the +necessity of the chase. No intelligent creature ever lost the chance +to kill a snake-devil when fortune offered it. And he and the scout +had hunted together on such trails before. Now they slipped into +familiar roles from long practice. + +They took a route which should lead them to the river, and within a +matter of yards, came across evidence proving that the merman had +guessed correctly; a second claw print was pressed deep in a patch of +drifted soil. + +Here the buildings were of a new type, windowless, perhaps +storehouses. But what pleased Dalgard most was the fact that most of +them showed tightly closed doors. There was no chance for their prey +to lurk in wait. + +"We should smell it." Sssuri picked that worry out of the scout's mind +and had a ready answer for it. + +Sure--they should smell the lair; nothing could cloak the horrible +odor of a snake-devil's home. Dalgard sniffed vigorously as he padded +along. Though odd smells clung to the strange buildings none of them +were actively obnoxious--yet. + +"River--" + +There was the river at the end of the way they had been following, a +way which ended in a wharf built out over the oily flow of water. +Blank walls were on either side. If the snake-devil had come this way, +he had found no hiding place. + +"Across the river--" + +Dalgard gave a resigned grunt. For some reason he disliked the thought +of swimming that stream, of having his skin laved by the turgid water +with its brown sheen. + +"There is no need to swim." + +Dalgard's gaze followed Sssuri's pointing finger. But what he saw +bobbing up and down, pulled a little downstream by the current, did +not particularly reassure him. It was manifestly a boat, but the form +was as alien as the city around them. + + + + +4 + +CIVILIZATION + + +Raf surveyed the wide sweep of prairie where dawn gave a gray tinge to +soften the distance and mark the rounded billows of the ever-rippling +grass. He tried to analyze what it was about this world which made it +seem so untouched, so fresh and new. There were large sections of his +own Terra which had been abandoned after the Big Burn-Off and the +atomic wars, or later after the counterrevolution which had defeated +the empire of Pax, during which mankind had slipped far back on the +road to civilization. But he had never experienced this same feeling +when he had ventured into those wildernesses. Almost he could believe +that the records Hobart had showed him were false, that this world had +never known intelligent life herding together in cities. + +He walked slowly down the ramp, drawing deep breaths of the crisp air. +The day would grow warmer with the rising sun. But now it was just the +sort of morning which led him to be glad he was alive--and young! +Maybe part of it was because he was free of the ship and at last not +just excess baggage but a man with a definite job before him. + +Spacemen tended to be young. But until this moment Raf had never felt +the real careless freedom of youth. Now he was moved by a desire to +disobey orders--to take the flitter up by himself and head off into +the blue of the brightening sky for more than just a test flight, not +to explore Hobart's city but to cruise over the vast sea of grass and +find out its wonders for himself. + +But the discipline which had shaped him almost since birth sent him +now to check the flyer and wait, inwardly impatient, for Hobart, +Lablet, and Soriki, the com-tech, to join him. + +The wait was not a long one since the three others, with equipment +hung about, tramped down the ramp as Raf settled himself behind the +control board of the flyer. He triggered the shield which snapped over +them for a windbreak and brought the flitter up into the spreading +color of the morning. Beside him Hobart pressed the button of the +automatic recorder, and in the seat behind, Soriki had the headset of +the com clamped over his ears. They were not only making a record of +their trip, they were continuing in constant communication with the +ship--now already a silver pencil far to the rear. + +It was some two hours later that they discovered what was perhaps one +reason for the isolation of the district in which the _RS 10_ had set +down. Rolling foothills rose beneath them and miles ahead the +white-capped peaks of a mountain range made a broken outline against +the turquoise sky. The broken lands would be a formidable barrier for +any foot travelers: there were no easy roads through that series of +sharp lifts and narrow valleys. And the one stream they followed for a +short space descended from the heights in spectacular falls. Twice +they skimmed thick growths of trees, so tightly packed that from the +air they resembled a matted carpet of green-blue. And to cut through +such a forest would be an impossible task. + +The four in the flitter seldom spoke. Raf kept his attention on the +controls. Sudden currents of air were tricky here, and he had to be +constantly alert to hold the small flyer on an even keel. His glimpses +of what lay below were only snatched ones. + +At last it was necessary to zoom far above the vegetation of the lower +slopes, to reach an altitude safe enough to clear the peaks ahead. +Since the air supply within the windshield was constant they need not +fear lack of oxygen. But Raf was privately convinced, as they soared, +that the range might well compare in height with those Asian mountains +which dominated all the upflung reaches of his native world. + +When they were over the sharp points of that chain disaster almost +overtook them. A freakish air current caught the flitter as if in a +giant hand, and Raf fought for control as they lost altitude past the +margin of safety. Had he not allowed for just such a happening they +might have been smashed against one of the rock tips over which they +skimmed to a precarious safety. Raf, his mouth dry, his hands sweating +on the controls, took them up--higher than was necessary--to coast +above the last of that rocky spine to see below the beginning of the +downslopes leading to the plains the range cut in half. He heard +Hobart draw a hissing breath. + +"That was a close call." Lablet's precise, lecturer's voice cut +through the drone of the motor. + +"Yeah," Soriki echoed, "looked like we might be sandwich meat there +for a while. The kid knows his stuff after all." + +Raf grinned a little sourly, but he did not answer that. He _ought_ to +know his trade. Why else would he be along? They were each specialists +in one or two fields. But he had good sense enough to keep his mouth +shut. That way the less one had to regret minutes--or hours--later. + +The land on the south side of the mountains was different in character +to the wild northern plains. + +"Fields!" + +It did not require that identification from Lablet to point out what +they had already seen. The section below was artificially divided into +long narrow strips. But the vegetation growing on those strips was no +different from the northern grass they had seen about the spacer. + +"Not cultivated now," the scientist amended his first report. "It's +reverting to grassland--" + +Raf brought the flitter closer to the ground so that when a domed +structure arose out of a tangle of overgrown shrubs and trees they +were not more than fifty feet above it. There was no sign of life +about the dwelling, if dwelling it was, and the unkempt straggle of +growing things suggested that it had been left to itself through more +than one season. Lablet wanted to set down and explore, but the +captain was intent upon reaching the city. A solitary farm was of +little value compared with what they might learn from a metropolis. +So, rather to Raf's relief, he was ordered on. + +He could not have explained why he shrank from such investigation. +Where earlier that morning he had wanted to take the flitter and go +off by himself to explore the world which seemed so bright and new, +now he was glad that he was only the pilot of the flyer and that the +others were not only in his company but ready to make the decisions. +He had a queer distaste for the countryside, a disinclination to land +near that dome. + +Beyond the first of the deserted farms they came to the highway and, +since the buckled and half-buried roadway ran south, Hobart suggested +that they use it as a visible guide. More isolated dome houses showed +in the course of an hour. And their fields were easy to map from the +air. But nowhere did the Terrans see any indication that those fields +were in use. Nor were there any signs of animal or bird life. The +weird desolation of the landscape began to work its spell on the men +in the flitter. There was something unnatural about the country, and +with every mile the flyer clocked off, Raf longed to be heading in the +opposite direction. + +The domes drew closer together, made a cluster at crossroads, gathered +into a town in which all the buildings were the same shape and size, +like the cells of a wasp nest. Raf wondered if those who had built +them had not been humanoid at all, but perhaps insects with a hive +mind. And because that thought was unpleasant he resolutely turned his +attention to the machine he piloted. + +They passed over four such towns, all marking intersections of roads +running east and west, north and south, with precise exactness. The +sun was at noon or a little past that mark when Captain Hobart gave +the order to set down so that they could break out rations and eat. + +Raf brought the flitter down on the cracked surface of the road, +mistrusting what might lie hidden in the field grass. They got out and +walked for a space along pavement which had once been smooth. + +"High-powered traffic--" That was Lablet. He had gone down on one +knee and was tracing a finger along the substance. + +"Straight--" Soriki squinted against the sun. "Nothing stopped them, +did it? We want a road here and we'll get it! That sort of thing. Must +have been master engineers." + +To Raf the straight highways suggested something else. Master +engineering, certainly. But a ruthlessness too, as if the builders, +who refused to accept any modifications of their original plans from +nature, might be as arrogant and self-assured in other ways. He did +not admire this relic of civilization; in fact it added to his vague +uneasiness. + +The land was so still, under the whisper of the wind. He discovered +that he was listening--listening for the buzz of an insect, the squeak +of some grass dweller, anything which would mean that there was life +about them. As he chewed on the ration concentrate and drank sparingly +from his canteen, Raf continued to listen. Without result. + +Hobart and Lablet were engrossed in speculation about what might lie +ahead. Soriki had gone back to the flitter to make his report to the +ship. The pilot sat where he was, content to be forgotten, but eager +to see an animal peering at him from cover, a bird winging through the +air. + +"--if we don't hit it by nightfall--But we can't be that far away! +I'll stay out and try tomorrow." That was Hobart. And since he was +captain what he said was probably what they would do. Raf shied away +from the thought of spending the night in this haunted land. Though, +on the other hand, he would be utterly opposed to lifting the flitter +over those mountains again except in broad daylight. + +But the problem did not arise, for they found their city in the +midafternoon, the road bringing them straight to an amazing collection +of buildings, which appeared doubly alien to their eyes since it did +not include any of the low domes they had seen heretofore. + +Here were towers of needle slimness, solid blocks of almost windowless +masonry looking twice as bulky beside those same towers, archways +stringing at dizzy heights above the ground from one skyscraper to the +next. And here time and nature had been at work. Some of the towers +were broken off, a causeway displayed a gap--Once it had been a +breathtaking feat of engineering, far more impressive than the +highway, now it was a slowly collapsing ruin. + +But before they had time to take it all in Soriki gave an exclamation. +"Something coming through on our wave band, sir!" He leaned forward to +dig fingers into Hobart's shoulder. "Message of some kind--I'd swear +to it!" + +Hobart snapped into action. "Kurbi--set down--there!" + +His choice of a landing place was the flat top of a near-by building, +one which stood a little apart from its neighbors and, as Raf could +see, was not overlooked except by a ruined tower. He circled the +flitter. The machine had been specially designed to land and take off +in confined spaces, and he knew all there was possible to learn about +its handling on his home world. But he had never tried to bring it +down on a roof, and he was very sure that now he had no margin for +error left him, not with Hobart breathing impatiently beside him, his +hands moving as if, as a pilot of a spacer, he could well take over +the controls here. + +Raf circled twice, eyeing the surface of the roof in search of any +break which could mean a crack-up at landing. And then, though he +refused to be hurried by the urgency of the men with him, he came in, +cutting speed, bringing them down with only a slight jar. + +Hobart twisted around to face Soriki. "Still getting it?" + +The other, cupping his earphones to his head with his hands, nodded. +"Give me a minute or two," he told them, "and I'll have a fix. They're +excited about something--the way this jabber-jabber is coming +through--" + +"About us," Raf thought. The ruined tower topped them to the south. +And to the east and west there were buildings as high as the one they +were perched on. But the town he had seen as he maneuvered for a +landing had held no signs of life. Around them were only signs of +decay. + +Lablet got out of the flitter and walked to the edge of the roof, +leaning against the parapet to focus his vision glasses on what lay +below. After a moment Raf followed his example. + +Silence and desolation, windows like the eye pits in bone-picked +skulls. There were even some small patches of vegetation rooted and +growing in pockets erosion had carved in the walls. To the pilot's +uninformed eyes the city looked wholly dead. + +"Got it!" Soriki's exultant cry brought them back to the flitter. As +if his body was the indicator, he had pivoted until his outstretched +hand pointed southwest. "About a quarter of a mile that way." + +They shielded their eyes against the westering sun. A block of solid +masonry loomed high in the sky, dwarfing not only the building they +were standing on but all the towers around it. Its imposing lines made +clear its one-time importance. + +"Palace," mused Lablet, "or capitol. I'd say it was just about the +heart of the city." + +He dropped his glasses to swing on their cord, his eyes glistening as +he spoke directly to Raf. + +"Can you set us down on that?" + +The pilot measured the curving roof of the structure. A crazy fool +might try to make a landing there. But he was no crazy fool. "Not on +that roof!" he spoke with decision. + +To his relief the captain confirmed his verdict with a slow nod. +"Better find out more first." Hobart could be cautious when he wanted +to. "Are they still broadcasting, Soriki?" + +The com-tech had stripped the earphones from his head and was rubbing +one ear. "Are they!" he exploded. "I'd think you could hear them clear +over there, sir!" + +And they could. The gabble-gabble which bore no resemblance to any +language Terra knew boiled out of the phones. + +"Someone's excited," Lablet commented in his usual mild tone. + +"Maybe they've discovered us." Hobart's hand went to the weapon at his +belt. "We must make peaceful contact--if we can." + +Lablet took off his helmet and ran his fingers through the scrappy +ginger-and-gray fringe receding from his forehead. "Yes--contact will +be necessary--" he said thoughtfully. + +Well, he was supposed to be their expert on that. Raf watched the +older man with something akin to amusement. The pilot had a suspicion +that none of the other three, Lablet included, was in any great hurry +to push through contact with unknown aliens. It was a case of dancing +along on shore before having to plunge into the chill of autumn sea +waves. Terrans had explored their own solar system, and they had +speculated learnedly for generations on the problem of intelligent +alien life. There had been all kinds of reports by experts and +would-be experts. But the stark fact remained that heretofore mankind +as born on the third planet of Sol had _not_ encountered intelligent +alien life. And just how far did speculations, reports, and arguments +go when one was faced with the problem to be solved practically--and +speedily? + +Raf's own solution would have been to proceed with caution and yet +more caution. Under his technical training he had far more imagination +than any of his officers had ever realized. And now he was certain +that the best course of action was swift retreat until they knew more +about what was to be faced. + +But in the end the decision was taken out of their hands. A muffled +exclamation from Lablet brought them all around to see that distant +curving roof crack wide open. From the shadows within, a flyer +spiraled up into the late afternoon sky. + +Raf reached the flitter in two leaps. Without orders he had the spray +gun ready for action, on point and aimed at the bobbing machine +heading toward them. From the earphones Soriki had left on the seat +the gabble had risen to a screech and one part of Raf's brain noted +that the sounds were repetitious: was an order to surrender being +broadcast? His thumb was firm on the firing button of the gun and he +was about to send a warning burst to the right of the alien when an +order from Hobart stopped him cold. + +"Take it easy, Kurbi." + +Soriki said something about a "gun-happy flitter pilot," but, Raf +noted with bleak eyes, the com-tech kept his own hand close to his +belt arm. Only Lablet stood watching the oncoming alien ship with +placidity. But then, as Raf had learned through the long voyage of the +spacer, a period of time which had left few character traits of any of +the crew hidden from their fellows, the xenobiologist was a fatalist +and strictly averse to personal combat. + +The pilot did not leave his seat at the gun. But within seconds he +knew that they had lost the initial advantage. As the tongue-shaped +stranger thrust at them and then swept on to glide above their heads +so that the weird shadow of the ship licked them from light to dark +and then to light again, Raf was certain that his superiors had made +the wrong decision. They should have left the city as soon as they +picked up those signals--if they could have gone then. He studied the +other flyer. Its lines suggested speed as well as mobility, and he +began to doubt if they _could_ have escaped with that craft trailing +them. + +Well, what would they do now? The alien flyer could not land here, not +without coming down flat upon the flitter. Maybe it would cruise +overhead as a warning threat until the city dwellers were able to +reach the Terrans in some other manner. Tense, the four spacemen stood +watching the graceful movements of the flyer. There were no visible +portholes or openings anywhere along its ovoid sides. It might be a +robot-controlled ship, it might be anything, Raf thought, even a bomb +of sorts. If it was being flown by some human--or nonhuman--flyer, he +was a master pilot. + +"I don't understand," Soriki moved impatiently. "They're just +shuttling around up there. What do we do now?" + +Lablet turned his head. He was smiling faintly. "We wait," he told the +com-tech. "I should imagine it takes time to climb twenty flights of +stairs--if they have stairs--" + +Soriki's attention fell from the flyer hovering over their heads to +the surface of the roof. Raf had already looked that over without +seeing any opening. But he did not doubt the truth of Lablet's +surmise. Sooner or later the aliens were going to reappear. And it did +not greatly matter to the marooned Terrans whether they would drop +from the sky or rise from below. + + + + +5 + +BANDED DEVIL + + +Familiar only with the wave-riding outriggers, Dalgard took his seat +in the alien craft with misgivings. And oddly enough it also bothered +him to occupy a post which earlier had served not a nonhuman such as +Sssuri, whom he admired, but a humanoid whom he had been taught from +childhood to avoid--if not fear. The skiff was rounded at bow and +stern with very shallow sides and displayed a tendency to whirl about +in the current, until Sssuri, with his instinctive knowledge of +watercraft, used one of the queerly shaped paddles tucked away in the +bottom to both steer and propel them. They did not strike directly +across the river but allowed the current to carry them in a diagonal +path so that they came out on the opposite bank some distance to the +west. + +Sssuri brought them ashore with masterly skill where a strip of sod +angled down to the edge of the water, marking, Dalgard decided, what +had once been a garden. The buildings on this side of the river were +not set so closely together. Each, standing some two or three stories +high, was encircled by green, as if this had been a section of private +dwellings. + +They pulled the light boat out of the water and Sssuri pointed at the +open door of the nearest house. "In there--" + +Dalgard agreed that it might be well to hide the craft against the +return. Although as yet they had found no physical evidence, other +than the dead hoppers, that they might not be alone in the city, he +wanted a means of escape ready if such a flight would be necessary. In +the meantime there was the snake-devil to track, and that wily +creature, if it had swum the river, might be lurking at present in the +next silent street--or miles away. + +Sssuri, spear ready, was trotting along the paved lane, his head up as +he thought-quested for any hint of life about them. Dalgard tried to +follow that lead. But he knew that it would be Sssuri's stronger power +which would warn them first. + +They cast east from where they had landed, studying the soil of each +garden spot, hunting for the unmistakable spoor of the giant reptile. +And within a matter of minutes they found it, the mud still moist as +Dalgard proved with an exploring fingertip. At the same time Sssuri +twirled his spear significantly. Before them the lane ran on between +two walls without any breaks. Dalgard uncased his bow and strung it. +From his quiver he chose one of the powerful arrows, the points of +which were kept capped until use. + +A snake-devil, with its nervous system controlled not from the tiny, +brainless head but from a series of auxiliary "brains" at points along +its powerful spine, could and would go on fighting even after that +head was shorn away, as the first colonists had discovered when they +depended on the deadly ray guns fatal to any Terran life. But the +poison-tipped arrow Dalgard now handled, with confidence in its +complete efficiency, paralyzed within moments and killed in a +quarter-hour one of the scaled monstrosities. + +"Lair--" + +Dalgard did not need that warning thought from his companion. There +was no mistaking that sickly sweet stench born of decaying animal +matter, which was the betraying effluvium of a snake-devil's lair. He +turned to the right-hand wall and with a running leap reached its +broad top. The lane curved to end in an archway cut through another +wall, which was higher than Dalgard's head even when he stood on his +present elevation. But bands of ornamental patterning ran along the +taller barrier, and he was certain that it could be climbed. He +lowered a hand to Sssuri and hoisted the merman up to join him. + +But Sssuri stood for a long moment looking ahead, and Dalgard knew +that the merman was disturbed, that the wall before them had some +terrifying meaning for the native Astran. So vivid was the impression +of what could only be termed horror--that Dalgard dared to ask a +question: + +"What is it?" + +The merman's yellow eyes turned from the wall to his companion. Behind +his hatred of this place there was another emotion Dalgard could not +read. + +"This is the place of sorrow, the place of separation. But _they_ +paid--oh, how they paid--after that day when the fire fell from the +sky." His scaled and taloned feet moved in a little shuffling war +dance, and his spear spun and quivered in the sunlight, as Dalgard had +seen the spears of the mer-warriors move in the mock combats of their +unexplained, and to his kind unexplainable, rituals. "Then did our +spears drink, and knives eat!" Sssuri's fingers brushed the hilt of +the wicked blade swinging from his belt. "Then did the People make +separations and sorrows for _them_! And it was accomplished that we +went forth into the sea to be no longer bond but free. And _they_ went +down into the darkness and were no more--" In Dalgard's head the chant +of his friend skirled up in a paean of exultation. Sssuri shook his +spear at the wall. + +"No more the beast and the death," his thoughts swelled, a shout of +victory. "For where are _they_ who sat and watched many deaths? _They_ +are gone as the wave smashes itself upon the coast rocks and is no +more. But the People are free and never more shall Those Others put +bonds upon them! Therefore do I say that this is a place of nothing, +where evil has turned in upon itself and come to nothing. Just as +Those Others will come to nothing since their own evil will in the end +eat them up!" + +He strode forward along the wall until he came to the barrier, +seemingly oblivious of the carrion reek which told of a snake-devil's +den somewhere about. And he raised his arm high, bringing the point of +his spear gratingly along the carved surface. Nor did it seem to +Dalgard a futile gesture, for Sssuri lived and breathed, stood free +and armed in the city of his enemies--and the city was dead. + +Together they climbed the barrier, and then Dalgard discovered that it +was the rim of an arena which must have seated close to a thousand in +the days of its use. It was a perfect oval in shape with tiers of +seats now forming a staircase down to the center, where was a section +ringed about by a series of archways. A high stone grille walled this +portion away from the seats as if to protect the spectators from what +might enter through those portals. + +Dalgard noted all this only in passing, for the arena was occupied, +very much occupied. And he knew the occupiers only too well. + +Three full-grown snake-devils were stretched at pulpy ease, their +filled bellies obscenely round, their long necks crowned with their +tiny heads flat on the sand as they napped. A pair of half-grown +monsters, not yet past the six-foot stage, tore at some indescribable +remnants of their elders' feasting, hissing at each other and aiming +vicious blows whenever they came within possible fighting distance. +Three more, not long out of their mothers' pouches scrabbled in the +earth about the sleeping adults. + +"A good catch," Dalgard signaled Sssuri, and the merman nodded. + +They climbed down from seat to seat. This could not rightfully be +termed hunting when the quarry might be picked off so easily without +risk to the archer. But as Dalgard notched his first arrow, he sighted +something so surprising that he did not let the poisoned dart fly. + +The nearest sleeping reptile which he had selected as his mark +stretched lazily without raising its head or opening its small eyes. +And the sun caught on a glistening band about its short foreleg just +beneath the joint of the taloned pawhands. No natural scales could +reflect the light with such a brilliant glare. It could be only one +thing--metal! A metal bracelet about the tearing arm of a snake-devil! +Dalgard looked at the other two sleepers. One was lying on its belly +with its forearms gathered under it so that he could not see if it, +also, were so equipped. But the other--yes, it was banded! + +Sssuri stood at the grille, one hand on its stone divisions. His +surprise equaled Dalgard's. It was not in his experience either that +the untamed snake-devils, regarded by merman and human alike as so +dangerous as to be killed on sight, could be banded--as if they were +personal pets! + +For a moment or two a wild idea crossed Dalgard's mind. How long was +the natural life span of a snake-devil? Until the coming of the +colonists they had been the undisputed rulers of the deserted +continent, stupid as they were, simply because of their strength and +ferocity. A twelve-foot, scale-armored monster, that could tear apart +a duocorn with ease, might not be successfully vanquished by any of +the fauna of Astra. And since the monsters did not venture into the +sea, contact between them and the mermen had been limited to casual +encounters at rare intervals. So, how long did a snake-devil live? +Were these creatures sprawled here in sleep ones that had known the +domination of Those Others--though the fall of the master race of +Astra must have occurred generations, hundreds of years in the past? + +"No," Sssuri's denial cut through that. "The smaller one is not yet +full-grown. It lacks the second neck ring. Yet it is banded." + +The merman was right. That unpleasant wattle of armored flesh which +necklaced the serpent throat of the devil Dalgard had picked as his +target was thin, not the thick roll of fat such as distinguished its +two companions. It was not fully adult, yet the band was plain to see +on the foreleg now stretched to its full length as the sun bored down +to supply the heavy heat the snake-devils relished next to food. + +"Then--" Dalgard did not like to think of what might be the answer to +that "then." + +Sssuri shrugged. "It is plain that these are not wild roamers. They +are here for a purpose. And that purpose--" Suddenly his arm shot out +so that his fingers protruded through the slits in the stone grille. +"See?" + +Dalgard had already seen, in seeing he knew hot and terrible anger. +Out of the filthy mess in which the snake-devils wallowed, something +had rolled, perhaps thrown about in play by the unspeakable offspring. +A skull, dried scraps of fur and flesh still clinging to it, stared +hollow-eyed up at them. At least one merman had fallen prey to the +nightmares who ruled the arena. + +Sssuri hissed and the red rage in his mind was plain to Dalgard. "Once +more they deal death here--" His eyes went from the skull to the +monsters. "Kill!" The command was imperative and sharp. + +Dalgard had qualified as a master bowman before he had first gone +roving. And the killing of snake-devils was a task which had been set +every colonist since their first brush with the creatures. + +He snapped the cap off the glass splinter point, designed to pin and +then break off in the hide so that any clawing foot which tore out an +arrow could not rid the victim of the poisonous head. The archer's +mark was under the throat where the scales were soft and there was a +chance of piercing the skin with the first shot. + +The growls of the two feeding youngsters covered the snap of the bow +cord as Dalgard shot. And he did not miss. The brilliant scarlet +feather of the arrow quivered in the baggy roll of flesh. + +With a scream which tore at the human's eardrums, the snake-devil +reared to its hind feet. It made a tearing motion with the banded +forearm which scraped across the back of one of its companions. And +then it fell back to the blood-stained sand, limp, a greenish foam +drooling from its fangs. + +As the monster that the dead devil had raked roused, Dalgard had his +chance for another good mark. And the second scarlet shaft sped +straight to the target. + +But the third creature which had been sleeping belly down on the sand +presented only its armored back, a hopeless surface for an arrow to +pierce. It had opened its eyes and was watching the now motionless +bodies of its fellows. But it showed no disposition to move. It was +almost as if it somehow understood that as long as it remained in its +present position it was safe. + +"The small ones--" + +Dalgard needed no prompting. He picked off easily enough the two +half-grown ones. The infants were another problem. Far less sluggish +than their huge elders they sensed that they were in danger and fled. +One took refuge in the pouch of its now-dead parent, and the others +moved so fast that Dalgard found them difficult targets. He killed one +which had almost reached an archway and at length nicked the second in +the foot, knowing that, while the poison would be slower in acting, it +would be as sure. + +Through all of this the third adult devil continued to lie motionless, +only its wicked eyes giving any indication that it was alive. Dalgard +watched it impatiently. Unless it would move, allow him a chance to +aim at the soft underparts, there was little chance of killing it. + +What followed startled both hunters, versed as they were in the usual +mechanics of killing snake-devils. It had been an accepted premise, +through the years since the colonists had known of the monsters, that +the creatures were relatively brainless, mere machines which fought, +ate, and killed, incapable of any intelligent reasoning, and therefore +only dangerous when one was surprised by them or when the hunter was +forced to face them inadequately armed. + +This snake-devil was different, as it became increasingly plain to the +two behind the grille. It had remained safe during the slaughter of +its companions because it had not moved, almost as if it had wit +enough _not_ to move. And now, when it did change position, its +maneuvers, simple as they were, underlined the fact that this one +creature appeared to have thought out a solution to its situation--as +rational a solution as Dalgard might have produced had it been his +problem. + +Still keeping its soft underparts covered, it edged about in the sand +until its back, with the impenetrable armor plates, was facing the +grille behind which the hunters stood. Retracting its neck between its +shoulders and hunching its powerful back limbs under it, it rushed +from that point of danger straight for one of the archways. + +Dalgard sent an arrow after it. Only to see the shaft scrape along the +heavy scales and bounce to the sand. Then the snake-devil was gone. + +"Banded--" The word reached Dalgard. Sssuri had been cool enough to +note that while the human hunter had been only bewildered by the +untypical actions of his quarry. + +"It must be intelligent." The scout's statement was more than half +protest. + +"Where _they_ are concerned, one may expect many evil wonders." + +"We've got to get that devil!" Dalgard was determined on that. Though +to run down, through this maze of deserted city, an enraged +snake-devil--above all, a snake-devil which appeared to have some +reasoning powers--was not a prospect to arouse any emotion except grim +devotion to duty. + +"It goes for help." + +Dalgard, startled, stared at his companion. Sssuri was still by the +grille, watching that archway through which the devil had disappeared. + +"What kind of help?" For a moment Dalgard pictured the monster +returning at the head of a regiment of its kind, able to tear out this +grille and get at their soft-fleshed enemies behind it. + +"Safety--protection," Sssuri told him. "And I think that the place to +which it now flees is one we should know." + +"Those Others?" The sun had not clouded, it still streamed down in the +torrid heat of early afternoon, warm on their heads and shoulders. Yet +Dalgard felt as chill as if some autumn wind had laid its lash across +the small of his back. + +"_They_ are not here. But they have been--and it is possible that they +return. The devil goes to where it expects to find them." + +Sssuri was already on his way, running about the arena's curve to +reach the point above the archway through which the snake-devil had +raced. Dalgard padded after him, bow in hand. He trusted Sssuri +implicitly when it came to tracking. If the merman said that the +snake-devil had a definite goal in view, he was right. But the scout +was still a little bemused by a monster who was able to have any goal +except the hunting and devouring of meat. Either the one who fled was +a freak among its kind or--There were several possibilities which +could answer that "or," and none of them were very pleasant to +consider. + +They reached the section above the archway and climbed the tiers of +seat benches to the top of the wall. Only to see no exit below them. +In fact nothing but a wide sweep of crushed brown tangle which had +once been vegetation. It was apparent that there was no door below. + +Sssuri sped down again. He climbed the grille and was on his way to +the sand when Dalgard caught up with him. Together they ventured into +the underground passage which the snake-devil had chosen. + +The stench of the lair was thick about them. Dalgard coughed, sickened +by the foul odor. He was reluctant to advance. But, to his growing +relief, he discovered that it was not entirely dark. Set in the roof +at intervals were plates which gave out a violet light, making a dim +twilight which was better than total darkness. + +It was a straight passage without any turns or openings. But the +horrible odor was constant, and Dalgard began to think that they might +be running head-on into another lair, perhaps one as well populated as +that they had left behind them. It was against nature for the +snake-devils he had known to lair under cover; they preferred narrow +rocky places where they could bask in the sun. But then the devil they +now pursued was no ordinary one. + +Sssuri reassured him. "There is no lair, only the smell because they +have come this way for many years." + +The passage opened into a wide room and here the violet light was +stronger, bright enough to make plain the fact that alcoves opened off +it, each and every one with a barred grille for a door. There was no +mistaking that once this had been a prison of sorts. + +Sssuri did no exploring but crossed the room at his shuffling trot, +which Dalgard matched. The way leading out on the opposite side +slanted up, and he judged it might bring them out at ground level. + +"The devil waits," Sssuri warned, "because it fears. It will turn on +us when we come. Be ready--" + +They were at another door, and before them was a long corridor with +tall window openings near the ceiling which gave admittance to the +sunlight. After the gloom of the tunnel, Dalgard blinked. But he was +aware of movement at the far end, just as he heard the hissing scream +of the monster they trailed. + + + + +6 + +TREASURE HUNT + + +Raf, squatting on a small, padded platform raised some six inches from +the floor, tried to study the inhabitants of the room without staring +offensively. At the first glance, in spite of their strange clothing +and their odd habit of painting their faces with weird designs, the +city people might have been of his own species. Until one saw their +too slender hands with the three equal-length fingers and thumb, or +caught a glimpse, under the elaborate head coverings, of the stiff, +spiky substance which served them for hair. + +At least they did not appear to be antagonistic. When they had reached +the roof top where the Terrans had landed their flitter, they had come +with empty hands, making gestures of good will and welcome. And they +had had no difficulty in persuading at least three of the exploring +party to accompany them to their own quarters, though Raf had been +separated from the flyer only by the direct order of Captain Hobart, +an order he still resented and wanted to disobey. + +The Terrans had been offered refreshment--food and drink. But knowing +the first rule of stellar exploration, they had refused, which did not +mean that the hosts must abstain. In fact, Raf thought, watching the +aliens about him, they ate as if such a feast were novel. His two +neighbors had quickly divided his portion between them and made it +disappear as fast, if not faster, than their own small servings. + +At the other end of the room Lablet and Hobart were trying to +communicate with the nobles about them, while Soriki, a small palm +recorder in his hand, was making a tape strip of the proceedings. + +Raf glanced from one of his neighbors to the other. The one on his +right had chosen to wear a sight-torturing shade of crimson, and the +material was wound in strips about his body as if he were engulfed in +an endless bandage. Only his fluttering hands, his three-toed feet and +his head were free of the supple rolls. Having selected red for his +clothing, he had picked a brilliant yellow paint for his facial +makeup, and it was difficult for the uninitiated to trace what must be +his normal features under that thick coating of stuff which fashioned +a masklike strip across his eyes and a series of circles outlining his +mouth, circles which almost completely covered his beardless cheeks. +More twists of woven fabric, opalescent and changing color as his head +moved, made a turban for his head. + +Most of the aliens about the room wore some variation of the same +bandage dress, face paint, and turban. An exception, one of three +such, was the feaster on Raf's left. + +His face paint was confined to a conservative set of bars on each +cheek, those a stark black and white. His sinewy arms were bare to the +shoulder, and he wore a shell of some metallic substance as a +breast-and back-plate, not unlike the very ancient body armor of Raf's +own world. The rest of his body was covered by the bandage strips, but +they were of a dead black, which, because of the natural thinness of +his limbs, gave him a rather unpleasant resemblance to a spider. +Various sheaths and pockets hung from a belt pulled tight about his +wasp middle, and a helmet of the metal covered his head. Soldier? Raf +was sure that his guess was correct. + +The officer, if officer he was, caught Raf's gaze. His small round +mouth gaped, and then his hands, with a few quick movements which Raf +followed, fascinated, pantomimed a flyer in the air. With those +talking fingers, he was able to make plain a question: was Raf the +pilot of the flitter? + +The pilot nodded. Then he pointed to the officer and forced as +inquiring an expression as he could command. + +The answer was sketched quickly and readably: the alien, too, was +either a pilot or had some authority over flyers. For the first time +since he had entered this building, Raf knew a slight degree of +relaxation. + +The wrinkleless, too smooth skin of the alien was a darkish yellow. +His painted face was a mask to frighten any sensible Terran child; his +general appearance was not attractive. But he was a flyer, and he +wanted to talk shop, as well as they could with no common speech. +Since the scarlet-wound nobleman on Raf's right was completely +engrossed in the feast, pursuing a few scraps avidly about the dish, +the Terran gave all his attention to the officer. + +Twittering words poured in a stream from the warrior's lips. Raf shook +his head regretfully, and the other jerked his shoulders in almost +human impatience. Somehow that heartened Raf. + +With many guesses to cover gaps, probably more than half of which were +wrong, Raf gathered that the officer was one of a very few who still +retained the almost forgotten knowledge of how to pilot the remaining +airworthy craft in this crumbling city. On their way to the building +with the curved roof, Raf had noted the evidences that the inhabitants +of this metropolis could not be reckoned as more than a handful and +that most of these now lived either within the central building or +close to it. A pitiful collection of survivors lingering on in the +ruins of their past greatness. + +Yet he was impressed now by no feeling that the officer, eagerly +trying to make contact, was a degenerate member of a dying race. In +fact, as Raf glanced at the aliens about the room, he was conscious of +an alertness, of a suppressed energy which suggested a young and +vigorous people. + +The officer was now urging him to go some place, and Raf, his dislike +for being in the heart of the strangers' territory once more aroused, +was about to shake his head in a firm negative when a second idea +stopped him. He had resisted separation from the flitter. Perhaps he +could persuade the alien, under the excuse of inspecting a strange +machine, to take him back to the flyer. Once there he would stay. He +did not know what Captain Hobart and Lablet thought they could +accomplish here. But, as for himself, Raf was sure that he was not +going to feel easy again until he was across the northern mountain +chain and coming in for a landing close by the _RS 10_. + +It was as if the alien officer had read his thoughts, for the warrior +uncrossed his black legs and got nimbly to his feet with a lithe +movement, which Raf, cramped by sitting in the unfamiliar posture, +could not emulate. No one appeared to notice their withdrawal. And +when Raf hesitated, trying to catch Hobart's eye and make some +explanation, the alien touched his arm lightly and motioned toward one +of the curtained doorways. Conscious that he could not withdraw from +the venture now, Raf reluctantly went out. + +They were in a hall where bold bands of color interwove in patterns +impossible for Terran eyes to study. Raf lowered his gaze hurriedly to +the gray floor under his boots. He had discovered earlier that to try +to trace any thread of that wild splashing did weird things to his +eyesight and awakened inside him a sick panic. His space boots, with +the metal, magnetic plates set in the soles, clicked loudly on the +pavement where his companion's bare feet made no whisper of sound. + +The hall gave upon a ramp leading down, and Raf recognized this. His +confidence arose. They were on their way out of the building. Here the +murals were missing so that he could look about him for reference +points. + +He was sure that the banquet hall was some ten stories above street +level. But they did not go down ten ramps now. At the foot of the +third the officer turned abruptly to the left, beckoning Raf along. +When the Terran remained stubbornly where he was, pointing in the +direction which, to him, meant return to the flitter, the other made +gestures describing an aircraft in flight. His own probably. + +Raf sighed. He could see no way out unless he cut and ran. And long +before he reached the street from this warren they could pick him up. +Also, in spite of all the precautions he had taken to memorize their +way here, he was not sure he could find his path back to the flyer, +even if he were free to go. Giving in, he went after the officer. + +Their way led out on one of the spider-web bridges which tied building +and tower into the complicated web which was the city. Raf, as a pilot +of flitter, had always believed that he had no fear of heights. But he +discovered that to coast above the ground in a flyer was far different +than to hurry at the pace his companion now set across one of these +narrow bridges suspended high above the street. And he was sure that +the surface under them vibrated as if the slightest extra poundage +would separate it from its supports and send it, and them, crashing +down. + +Luckily the distance they had to cover was relatively short, but Raf +swallowed a sigh of relief as they reached the door at the other end. +They were now in a tower which, unluckily, proved to be only a way +station before another swing out over empty space on a span which +sloped down! Raf clutched at the guide rail, the presence of which +suggested that not all the users of this road were as nonchalant as +the officer who tripped lightly ahead. This must explain the other's +bare feet--on such paths they were infinitely safer than his own +boots. + +The downward sloping bridge brought them to a square building which +somehow had an inhabited look which those crowding around it lacked. +Raf gained its door to become aware of a hum, a vibration in the wall +he touched to steady himself, hinting at the drive of motors, the +throb of machinery inside the structure. But within, the officer +passed along a corridor to a ramp which brought them out, after what +was for Raf a steep climb, upon the roof. Here was not one of the +tongue-shaped craft such as had first met them in the city, but a +gleaming globe. The officer stopped, his eyes moving from the Terran +to the machine, as if inviting Raf to share in his own pride. To the +pilot's mind it bore little resemblance to any form of aircraft past +or present with which he had had experience in his own world. But he +did not doubt that it was the present acme of alien construction, and +he was eager to see it perform. + +He followed the officer through a hatch at the bottom of the globe, +only to be confronted by a ladder he thought at first he could not +climb, for the steps were merely toe holds made to accommodate the +long, bare feet of the crew. By snapping on the magnetic power of his +space boots, Raf was able to get up, although at a far slower speed +than his guide. They passed several levels of cabins before coming +out in what was clearly the control cabin of the craft. + +To Raf the bank of unfamiliar levers and buttons had no meaning, but +he paid strict attention to the gestures of his companion. This was +not a space ship he gathered. And he doubted whether the aliens had +ever lifted from their own planet to their neighbors in this solar +system. But it was a long-range ship with greater cruising power than +the other flyer he had seen. And it was being readied now for a voyage +of some length. + +The Terran pilot squatted down on the small stool before the controls. +Before him a visa plate provided a clear view of the sky without and +the gathering clouds of evening. Raf shifted uncomfortably. That +signal of the passing of time triggered his impatience to be +away--back to the _RS 10_. He did not want to spend the night in this +city. Somehow he must get the officer to take him back to the +flitter--to be there would be better than shut up in one of the alien +dwellings. + +Meanwhile he studied the scene on the visa plate, trying to find the +roof on which they had left the flitter. But there was no point he was +able to recognize. + +Raf turned to the officer and tried to make clear the idea of +returning to his own ship. Either he was not as clever at the sign +language as the other, or the alien did not wish to understand. For +when they left the control cabin, it was only to make an inspection +tour of the other parts of the globe, including the space which held +the motors of the craft and which, at another time, would have kept +Raf fascinated for hours. + +In the end the Terran broke away and climbed down the thread of ladder +to stand on the roof under the twilight sky. Slowly he walked about +the broad expanse of the platform, attempting to pick out some +landmark. The central building of the city loomed high, and there were +any number of towers about it. But which was the one that guarded the +roof where the flitter rested? Raf's determination to get back to his +ship was a driving force. + +The alien officer had watched him, and now a three-fingered hand was +laid on Raf's sleeve while its owner looked into Raf's face and +mouthed a trilling question. + +Without much hope the pilot sketched the set of gestures he had used +before. And he was surprised when the other led the way down into the +building. This time they did not go back to the bridge, which had +brought them across the canyons of streets, but kept on down ramps +within the building. + +There was a hum of activity in the place. Aliens, all in tight black +wrappings and burnished metal breastplates, their faces barred with +black and white paint, went on errands through the halls or labored at +tasks Raf could not understand. It now seemed as if his guide were +eager to get him away. + +It was when they reached the street level that the officer did pause +by one door, beckoning Raf imperiously to join him. The Terran obeyed +reluctantly--and was almost sick. + +He was staring down at a dead, very dead body. By the stained rags +still clinging to it, it was one of the aliens, a noble, not one of +the black-clad warriors. The gaping wounds which had almost torn the +unfortunate apart were like nothing Raf had ever seen. + +With a guttural sound which expressed his feelings as well as any +words, the officer picked up from the floor a broken spear, the barbed +head of which was dyed the same reddish yellow as the blood still +seeping from the torn body. Swinging the weapon so close to Raf that +the Terran was forced to retreat a step or two to escape contact with +the grisly relic, the officer burst into an impassioned speech. Then +he went back to the gestures which were easier for the spaceman to +understand. + +This was the work of a deadly enemy, Raf gathered. And such a fate +awaited any one of them who ventured beyond certain bounds of safety. +Unless this enemy were destroyed, the city--life itself--was no +longer theirs-- + +Seeing those savage wounds which suggested that an insane fury had +driven the attacker, Raf could believe that. But surely a primitive +spear was no equal to the weapons his guide could command. + +When he tried to suggest that, the other shook his head as if +despairing of making plain his real message, and again beckoned Raf to +come with him. They were out on the littered street, heading away from +the central building where the rest of the Terran party must still be. +And Raf, seeing the lengthening shadows, the pools of dusk gathering, +and remembering that spear, could not resist glancing back over his +shoulder now and then. He wondered if the metallic click of his boot +soles on the pavement might not draw attention to them, attention they +would not care to meet. His hand was on his stun gun. But the officer +gave no sign of being worried; he walked along with the assurance of +one who has nothing to fear. + +Then Raf caught sight of a patch of color he had seen before and +relaxed. They _were_ on their way back to the flitter! He had come +down this very street earlier. And he did not mind the long climb +back, ramp by steep ramp, which brought him out at last beside the +flyer. His relief was so great that he put out his hand to draw it +along the sleek side of the craft as he might have caressed a +well-loved pet. + +"Kurbi?" + +At Hobart's bark he stiffened. "Yes, sir!" + +"We camp here tonight. Have to make some plans." + +"Yes, sir." He agreed with that. To attempt passage of the mountains +in the dark was a suicide mission which he would have refused. On the +other hand, to his mind, they would sleep more soundly if they were +out of the city. He speculated whether he dared suggest that they use +the few remaining moments of twilight to head into the open and +establish a camp somewhere in the countryside. + +The alien officer made some comment in his slurred speech and faded +away into the shadows. Raf saw that the others had already dragged out +their blanket rolls and were spreading them in the shelter of the +flitter while Soriki busied himself at the com, sending back a message +to the _RS 10_. + +"... should not be too difficult to establish a common speech form," +Lablet was saying as Raf climbed into the flitter to tug loose his own +roll. "Color and pitch both seem to carry meaning. But the basic +pattern is there to study. And with the scanner to sort out those +record strips--did you adjust them, Soriki?" + +"They're all ready for you to push the button. If the scanner can read +them, it will. I got all that speech the chief, or king, or whatever +he was, made just before we left." + +"Good, very good!" In the light of the portable lamp by Soriki's com, +Lablet settled down, plugged the scanner tubes in his ears, absently +accepting a ration bar the captain handed him to chew on while he +listened to the playback of the record the com-tech had made that +afternoon. + +Hobart turned to Raf. "You went off with that officer. What did he +have to show you?" + +The pilot described the globe and the body he had been shown and then +added what he had deduced from the sketchy explanations he had been +given. The captain nodded. + +"Yes, they have aircraft, have been using them, too. But I think that +there's only one of the big ones. And they're fighting a war all +right. We didn't see the whole colony, but I'll wager that there are +only a handful of them left. They're holed up here, and they need help +or the barbarians will finish them off. They talked a lot about that." + +Lablet pulled the ear plugs from his ears. In the lamplight there was +an excited expression on his face. "You were entirely right, Captain! +They were offering us a bargain there at the last! They are offering +us the accumulated scientific knowledge of this world!" + +"What?" Hobart sounded bewildered. + +"Over there"--Lablet made a sweep with his arm which might indicate +any point to the east--"there is a storehouse of the original learning +of their race. It's in the heart of the enemy country. But the enemy +as yet do not know of it. They've made two trips over to bring back +material and their ship can only go once more. They offer us an equal +share if we'll make the next trip in their company and help them clean +out the storage place--" + +Hobart's answer was a whistle. There was an avid hunger on Lablet's +lean face. No more potent bribe could have been devised to entice him. +But Raf, remembering the spear-torn body, wondered. + +_In the heart of the enemy country_, he repeated to himself. + +Lablet added another piece of information. "After all, the enemy they +face is only dangerous because of superior numbers. They are only +animals--" + +"Animals don't carry spears!" Raf protested. + +"Experimental animals that escaped during a world-wide war generations +ago," reported the other. "It seems that the species have evolved to a +semi-intelligent level. I must see them!" + +Hobart was not to be hurried. "We'll think it over," he decided. "This +needs a little time for consideration." + + + + +7 + +MANY EYES, MANY EARS + + +This was not the first time Dalgard had faced the raging fury of a +snake-devil thirsting for a kill. The slaying he had done in the arena +was an exception to the rule, not the usual hunter's luck. And now +that he saw the creature crouched at the far end of the hall he was +ready. Sssuri, also, followed their familiar pattern, separating from +his companion and slipping along the wall toward the monster, ready to +attract its attention at the proper moment. + +Only one doubt remained in Dalgard's mind. This devil had not acted in +the normal brainless fashion of its kin. What if it was able to assess +the very simple maneuvers, which always before had completely baffled +its species, and attacked not the moving merman but the waiting +archer? + +It was backed against another door, a closed one, as if it had fled +for refuge to some aid it had expected and did not find. But as Sssuri +moved, its long neck straightened until it was almost at right angles +with its narrow shoulders, and from its snake's jaws proceeded a +horrific hissing which arose to a scream as its leg muscles tensed for +a spring. + +At just the right moment Sssuri's arm went back, his spear sang +through the air. And the snake-devil, with an incredible twist of its +neck, caught the haft of the weapon between its teeth, crunching the +iron-hard substance into powder. But with that move it exposed its +throat, and the arrow from Dalgard's bow was buried head-deep in the +soft inner flesh. + +The snake-devil spat out the spear and tried to raise its head. But +the muscles were already weakening. It fought the poison long enough +to take a single step forward, its small red eyes alight with +brainless hate. Then it crashed and lay twisting. Dalgard lowered his +bow. There was no need for a second shot. + +Sssuri regarded the remains of his spear unhappily. Not only was it +the product of long hours of work, but no merman ever felt fully +equipped to face the world without such a weapon to hand. He salvaged +the barbed head and broke it free of the shred of haft the snake-devil +had left. Knotting it at his belt he turned to Dalgard. + +"Shall we see what lies beyond?" + +Dalgard crossed the hall to test the door. It did not yield to an +inward push, but rolled far enough into the wall to allow them +through. + +On the other side was a room which amazed the scout. The colonists had +their laboratory, their workshops, in which they experimented and +tried to preserve the remnants of knowledge their forefathers had +brought across space, as well as to discover new. But the extent of +this storehouse with its bewildering mass of odd machines, tanks, +bales, and stocked shelves and tables, was too much to be taken in +without a careful and minute examination. + +"We are not the first to walk here." Sssuri had given little attention +to what was stacked about him. Instead he bent over the disturbed dust +in one aisle. Dalgard noted as he went to join the merman that there +were gaps on those tables which ran the full length of the room, lines +left in the grimy deposit of years which told of things recently +moved. And then he saw what had interested Sssuri: tracks, some +resembling those which his own bare feet might leave, except that +there were only three toes! + +"_They._" + +Dalgard who had been a hunter and a tracker before he was an explorer +crouched for a clearer view. Yes, they were recent, yet not made today +or even yesterday; there was a thin film of dust resettled in each. + +"Some days ago. They are not in the city now," the merman declared +with certainty. "But they will come again." + +"How do you know that?" + +Sssuri's hand swept about to include the wealth around them. "They +have taken some, perhaps to them the most needful. But they will not +be able to resist gathering the rest. Surely they will return, perhaps +not once but many times. Until--" + +"Until they come to stay." Dalgard was grim as he completed that +sentence for the other. + +"That is what they will work for. This land was once under their +mastery. This world was theirs before they threw it away warring among +themselves. Yes, they dream of holding all once more. But"--Sssuri's +yellow eyes took on some of the fire which had shone in those of the +snake-devil during its last seconds of life--"that must not be so!" + +"If they take the land, you have the sea," Dalgard pointed out. The +mermen had a means of escape. But what of his own clansmen? Large +families were unknown among the Terran colonists. In the little more +than a century they had been on this planet their numbers, from the +forty-five survivors of the voyage, had grown to only some two hundred +and fifty, of which only a hundred and twenty were old enough or young +enough to fight. And for them there was no retreat or hiding place. + +"We do not go back to the depths!" There was stern determination in +that declaration from Sssuri. His tribe had been long hunted, and it +wasn't until they had made a loose alliance with the Terran colonists +that they had dared to leave the dangerous ocean depths, where they +were the prey of monsters more ferocious and cunning than any +snake-devil, to house their families in the coast caves and on the +small islands off-shore, to increase in numbers and develop new skills +of civilization. No, knowing the stubbornness which was bred into +their small, furry bodies, Dalgard did not believe that many of the +sea people would willingly go back into the sunless depths. They would +not surrender tamely to the rulership of the loathed race. + +"I don't see," Dalgard spoke aloud, half to himself, as he studied the +tables closely packed, the machines standing on bases about the walls, +the wealth of alien technology, "what we can do to stop them." + +The restriction drilled into him from early childhood, that the +knowledge of Those Others was not for his race and in some way +dangerous, gave him an uneasy feeling of guilt just to be standing +there. Danger, danger which was far worse than physical, lurked +there. And he could bring it to life by merely putting out his hand +and picking up any one of those fascinating objects which lay only +inches away. For the pull of curiosity was warring inside him against +the stern warnings of his Elders. + +Once when Dalgard had been very small he had raided his father's trip +bag after the next to the last exploring journey the elder Nordis had +made. And he had found a clear block of some kind of greenish crystal, +in the heart of which threadlike lines of color wove patterns which +were utterly strange. When he had turned the block in his hand, those +lines had whirled and changed to form new and intricate designs. And +when he had watched them intently it had seemed that something +happened inside his mind and he knew, here and there, a word, a +fragment of alien thought--just as he normally communicated with the +cub who was Sssuri or the hoppers of the field. And his surprise had +been so great that he had gone running to his father with the cube and +the story of what happened when one watched it. + +But there had been no praise for his discovery. Instead he had been +hurried off to the chamber where an old, old man, the son of the Great +Man who had planned to bring them across space, lay in his bed. And +Forken Kordov himself had talked to Dalgard in his old voice, a voice +as withered and thin as the hands crossed helplessly on his shrunken +body, explaining in simple, kindly words that the knowledge which lay +in the cubes, in the oddly shaped books which the Terrans sometimes +came across in the ruins, was not for them. That his own +great-grandfather Dard Nordis, who had been one of the first of the +mutant line of sensitives, had discovered that. And Dalgard, impressed +by Forken, by his father's concern, and by all the circumstances of +that day, had never forgotten nor lost that warning. + +"_We_ cannot hope to stop them," Sssuri pointed out. "But we must +learn when they will come again and be waiting for them--with your +people and mine. For I tell you now, brother of the knife, they must +not be allowed to rise once more!" + +"And how can we foretell their coming?" Dalgard wanted to know. + +"Perhaps that alone we cannot do. But when they come they will not +leave speedily. They have stayed here before without harm, and their +distrust has been lulled. When next they come, it will be only +according to their natures that they will wish to stay longer. Not +snatching up the closest to hand of these treasures of theirs, but +choosing out with care those things which will give them the best +results. Therefore they may make a camp, and we can summon others to +aid us." + +"To return to Homeport will take several days even if we push," +pointed out the scout. + +"Word can pass swifter than man," the merman returned, with confidence +in his own plan of action. "We shall put other eyes, other ears, many +eyes, many ears, to service for us. Be assured we are not the only +ones to fear the return of Those Others from overseas." + +Dalgard caught his meaning. Yes, it would not be the first time the +hoppers and other small animals living in the grasslands, the runners +and even the moth birds that only the mermen could mind touch, would +relay a message across the land. It might not be an accurate +message--to transmit that by small animal brains was impossible--but +the meaning would reach both merman and colony Elders: trouble in the +north, help needed there. And since Dalgard was the only explorer at +present who had chosen the northern trails, his people would know that +he had sent that warning and would act upon it, as Sssuri's message +would in turn be heeded by the warriors of his tribe. + +Yes, it could be done. But what of the traces they had left here--the +slaughtered snake-devils--? + +Sssuri had an answer for that also. "Let them believe that one of my +race came here, or that a party of us ventured to explore inland. We +can make it appear that way. But they must not know of you. I do not +believe that they ever learned of you or how your fathers came from +the sky. And so that may swing the battle in our favor if it comes to +open warfare." + +What the merman said was sensible enough, and Dalgard was willing to +obey orders. As he left the storehouse, Sssuri trailed him, scuffing +each dusty print the scout left. Perhaps a master of trailcraft could +unravel that spoor, but the colonist was ready to believe that no such +master existed in the ranks of Those Others. + +In the outer hall the merman approached the now dead snake-devil and +jerked from its loose skin the arrow which had killed it. Loosing the +head of his ruined spear from his belt, he dug and gouged at the small +wound, tearing it so that its original nature was concealed forever. +Then they retraced their way through the underground passages until +they reached the sanded arena. Already insects buzzed hungrily about +the hulks of the dead monsters. + +There was a shrill squeal as the remaining infant reptile fled from +the pouch where it had hidden. Sssuri hurled his knife, and the blade +caught the small devil above the shoulder line, half cutting, half +snapping its tender neck, so that it bounded aimlessly on to crash +against the wall and fall back squirming feebly. + +They collected the darts which had killed the others. Dalgard took the +opportunity to study those bands on the forearms of the adults. To his +touch they had the slick smoothness of metal, yet he was unfamiliar +with the material. It possessed the ruddy fire of copper, but through +it ran small black veins. He would have liked to have taken one with +him for investigation, but it was out of the question to pry it off +that scaled limb. + +Sssuri straightened up from his last gruesome bit of stage-setting +with a sigh of relief. "Go ahead." He pointed to one of the other +archways. "I will confuse the trail." + +Dalgard obeyed, treading as lightly as he could, avoiding all +stretches in which he could leave a clear print. Sssuri ran lightly +back and forth mixing the few impressions to the best of his ability. + +They backtracked to the river, retrieved the boat and recrossed, to +leave the city behind and strike into the open country beyond its +sinister walls. Night was falling, and Dalgard was very glad that he +was not to spend the time of darkness within those haunted buildings. +But he knew that it was more than a dislike for being shut up in the +alien dwellings which had brought Sssuri out into the fields. The +second part of their plan must be put into operation. + +While Dalgard willed his body motionless, the merman lay relaxed upon +the ground before him as he might have floated upon his beloved waves +in some secluded cove. His brilliant eyes were closed. Yet Dalgard +knew that Sssuri was far from asleep, and with all his own power he +tried to join in the broadcast: that urgency which should send some +hopper, some night runner, on to spread the rumor that there was +trouble in the north, that danger existed and must be investigated. +They had already met one colony of runners ranging southward to +escape. But if they could send another such tribe traveling, arouse +and aim south a hopper exodus, the story would spread until the fringe +would reach the animals who lived in peace within touch of Homeport. + +The sun was gone, the dark gathered fast. Dalgard could not even see +the clustered buildings of the city now. And since he lacked Sssuri's +range and staying power, he had no idea whether their efforts had met +with even a shadow of success. He shivered in the bite of the wind and +dared to lay his hand on Sssuri's shoulder, feeling anew the electric +shock of warmth and bursting life which was always there. + +Having so broken the other's absorption he asked a question: "Would it +not be well, brother of the knife, if with the rising sun you returned +to the sea and struck out to join your tribesmen, leaving me here to +watch until you return?" + +Sssuri's answer came with a speed which suggested that he, too, had +been considering that problem. "We shall see what happens with the +sun's rising. It is true that in the sea I can travel with greater +speed, that there are hunting parties of my people striking into these +waters. But they will not come to this city without good reason. It is +an accursed place." + +With the early morning the city drew them once more. Dalgard's +curiosity pulled him to that storehouse. He could not stifle the hope +that with luck he might find something there which would solve their +problem for them. If there could only be a way to avoid open conflict +with Those Others, some solution whereby the aliens need never know of +the existence of the Colony. For so many generations, even centuries, +the aliens had been confined, or had confined themselves, safely +overseas on the western continent. Perhaps if now they were faced by +some new catastrophe, they would never attempt to come east again. He +had visions of discovering and activating some trap set to protect +their treasures which could be turned against them. But he realized +that he lacked the technical knowledge which would have aided him in +the search for such a weapon. + +The remnants of Terran science and mechanics, which the outlaws had +brought with them from their native world, had been handed on; the +experiments they had managed since with crude equipment had been +carefully recorded, and he was acquainted with the outlines of most of +them. But the few destructive arms they had imported were long since +worn out or lacked charges, and they had not been able to duplicate +them. Just as they had torn asunder the ship in which they had crossed +space, to use its parts for the building of Homeport, so had they +hoarded all else they had brought. But they were limited by lack of +materials on Astra, and their fear of the knowledge of the aliens had +kept them from experimenting with things found in the ruins. + +There might be hundreds of objects on the shelves of that storage +place, which, properly used, would reduce not only just the room and +its contents to glowing slag, but take half the city with it. But he +had no idea which, or which combination, would do it. + +And here Sssuri could be no help. The mermen had made great strides +forward in biological and mental sciences, but mechanics was a closed +section of learning because of their enforced habitat under the sea, +and of machines they knew less than the colonists. + +"I have been thinking--" Sssuri broke into his companion's chain of +reasoning, "of what we may do. And perhaps there is a way to reach the +sea more swiftly than by returning overland." + +"Downriver? But you said that way may have its watching devices." + +"Which would be centered on objects coming upstream, not down. But in +this city there should be yet another way--" + +He did not enlarge upon that, but since he apparently knew what he was +doing, Dalgard let him play guide once more. They recrossed the +sluggish river, the scout looking into its murky depths with little +relish for it as a means of transportation. Though it had an oily, +flowing current, there was a suggestion of stagnant water with +unpleasant surprises waiting beneath its turgid surface. + +For the second time they entered the arena. Avoiding the bodies, +Sssuri made a circuit of the sanded floor. He did not turn in at the +archway which led to the storage place, but paused before another as +if there lay what he had been searching for. + +Dalgard's less sensitive nostrils picked up a new scent, the +not-to-be-missed fetor of damp underground ways where water stood. +The merman edged around a barred gate as Dalgard sniffed again. The +smell of damp was crossed by other and even less appetizing odors, but +he did not catch the stench of the snake-devils. And, relying on +Sssuri's judgment, he followed the merman into the dark. + +Once again patches of violet light glimmered over their heads as the +passage narrowed and sloped downward. Dalgard tried to remember the +general geography of the section which was above them now. He had +assumed that this way with its dank chill must give on the river. But +when they had pattered on for a long distance, he knew that either +they had passed beneath the stream or that he was totally lost as to +direction. + +As their eyes adjusted to the gloom of the passage the violet light +grew stronger. So Dalgard saw clearly when Sssuri whirled and faced +back along the way they had come, his body in a half crouch, his knife +ready in his hand. + +Dalgard, his bow useless in the damp, drew his own sword-knife. But, +though his mind probed and he listened, he could sense or hear nothing +on their trail. + + + + +8 + +AIRLIFT + + +They were air-borne once more, but Raf was not pleased. In the seat +beside him, which Captain Hobart should be occupying, there now +squirmed an alien warrior who apparently was uncomfortable in the +chair-like depression so different from the low stools he was +accustomed to. Soriki was still in the second passenger place, but he, +too, shared that with another of the men from the city who rested +across bony knees a strange weapon rather like a Terran rifle. + +No, the spacemen were not prisoners. According to the official +statement they were allies. But, Raf wondered, as against his will he +followed the globe in a northeastern course, how long would that +fiction last if they refused to fall in with any suggestions the +aliens might make? He did not doubt that there was on board the globe +some surprise which could shoot the flitter out of the air, if, for +example, he adjusted the controls before him and bore west toward the +mountains and the safety of the space ship. Either of the aliens he +now transported could bring him under control by using those weapons, +which might do anything from boiling a man in some unknown ray to +smothering him in gas. He had not seen the arms in action, and he did +not want to. + +Yet Hobart and Lablet did not, as far as he could tell, share his +suspicions. Lablet was eager to see the mysterious storehouse, and the +captain was either moved by the same desire or else had long since +deduced the folly of trying to make a break for it Thus they were now +heading seaward with the captain and Lablet sharing quarters with the +leaders of the expedition on board the globe, and Raf and the +com-tech, with companions--or guards--bringing up the rear. The aliens +had even insisted on stripping the flitter of much of its Terran +equipment before they left the city, pointing out that the cleared +storage space would be filled with salvage when they made the return +voyage. + +The globe had been trailing along the coastline, and now it angled out +to glide over a long finger of cape, rocky and waterworn, which +pointed at almost a right angle into the sea. This dwindled into a +reef of rock, like the nail on a finger. The sea ahead was no unbroken +expanse. Instead there was a series of islands, some merely tops of +reefs over which the waves broke, others more substantial, rising well +above the threatening water, and one or two showing the green of +vegetation. + +The chain of islets extended so far out that when the flitter passed +over the last one the main continent was out of sight. Now only water +stretched beneath them. The globe skidded on as if its pilot had given +it an extra burst of power, and Raf accelerated in turn, having no +desire to lose his guide. But they were not to make the ocean-wide +trip in one jump. + +At midday he saw again a break in the smooth carpet of waves, another +island, or perhaps the southern tip of a northern continent for the +land swept in that direction as far as he could see. The globe +spiraled down to make a neat landing on a flat plateau, and Raf +prepared to join it. When the undercarriage of the flitter jarred +lightly on the rock, he saw signs that this was a man-or +alien-fashioned place which must have had much use in the dim past +when his new companions ruled all their native world. + +The rock had been smoothed off to a flat surface, and at its perimeter +were several small domed buildings. Yet, as there had been in the +countryside and in the city, except at its very heart, there was an +aura of desertion at the site. + +Both his alien passengers jumped out of the flitter, as if only too +pleased at their release from the Terran flyer. For the first time Raf +was shaken out of his own preoccupation with his dislike for the +aliens to wonder if they could be moved by a similar distaste for +Terrans. Lablet might be interested in that as a scientific +problem--the pilot only knew how he felt and that was not comfortable. + +Soriki got out and walked across the rock, stretching. But for a long +moment Raf remained where he was, behind the controls of the flyer. He +was as cramped and tired of travel as the com-tech, perhaps even more +so since the responsibility of the flight had been his. And had they +landed in open country he would have liked to have thrown himself down +on the ground, taking off his helmet and unhooking his tunic collar to +let the fresh wind blow through his hair and across his skin. Perhaps +that would take away the arid dust of centuries, which, to his mind, +had grimed him since their hours in the city. But here was no open +country, only a landing space which reminded him too much of the roof +of the building in the metropolis. + +A half-dozen of the breastplated warriors filed out of the globe and went +to the nearest dome, returning with heavy boxes. Fuel--supplies--Raf +shrugged off the problem. The pilot was secretly relieved when Captain +Hobart dropped out of the hatch in the globe and made his way over to the +flitter. + +"Everything running smoothly?" he asked with a glance at the two +aliens who were Raf's passengers. + +"Yes, sir. Any idea how much farther--?" Raf questioned. + +Hobart shrugged. "Until we work out basic language difficulties," he +muttered, "who knows anything? There is at least one more of these way +stations. They don't run on atomics, need some kind of fuel, and they +have to have new supplies every so often. Their head man can't +understand why it isn't necessary for us to do the same." + +"Has he suggested that his techneers want a look at our motors, sir?" + +Hobart unbent a little. It was as if in that question he had read +something which pleased him. "So far we've managed not to understand +that. And if anyone tries it on his own, refer him to me--understand?" + +"Yes, sir!" Some of the relief in Raf's tone came through, and he saw +that the captain was watching him narrowly. + +"You don't like these people, Kurbi?" + +The pilot replied with the truth. "I don't feel easy with them, sir. +Not that they've shown any unfriendliness. Maybe it's because they're +alien--" + +He had said the wrong thing and knew it immediately. + +"That sounds like prejudice, Kurbi!" Hobart's voice carried the snap +of a reprimand. + +"Yes, sir," Raf said woodenly. That had done it as far as the captain +was concerned. The fierce racial and economical prejudices which had +been the keystones of the structure of Pax had left their shadow on +Terra's thinking. Nowadays a man would better be condemned for murder +than for prejudice against another--it was the unforgivable crime. And +in that unconsidered answer Raf had rendered unreliable in the eyes of +authority any future report on the aliens which he might be forced to +make. + +Silently cursing his lack of judgment, Raf made a careful check of the +flyer, which might not be necessary but going through the motions of +doing his duty gave him some relief. Once the idea struck him of +claiming some trouble that would take them back to the spacer for +repairs. But Hobart was too good a mechanic himself not to see through +that. + +They covered the second stage of their flight by evening, this time +putting down on an island where, by some ancient and titanic feat of +labor, the top had been sheared off a central mountain to make a base. +A ring of reefs cut off the land from the action of the waves. At once +a party of aliens left the main company and made their way down the +mountain to prowl along the shore. They made a discovery of sorts, for +Raf saw them ring in some object they had pulled up on the sand. What +it was and what meaning it had for them they did not try to explain to +the Terrans. + +The party spent the night there, the four spacemen wrapped in their +sleeping rolls by the flitter, the aliens in their globe ship. The +Terrans did not miss the fact that the others had unobtrusively posted +guards at the only two places where the mountain could be climbed. And +each of those guards cradled in the crook of his arm one of the rifle +weapons. + +They were aroused shortly after dawn. As far as Raf could see the +island was barren of life, or else any creature native to it kept +prudently out of the way while the flyers were there. They took off, +the globe rising like a balloon into the morning sky, the flitter +waiting until it was air-borne before scaling after it. + +The mountainous island where they had based was the sea sentinel of an +archipelago, which they saw spread out below them as if someone had +flung a handful of pebbles into a shallow pool. Most of the islands +were merely rocky crags. But there were two which showed the green of +small open fields, and Raf thought he caught a glimpse of a dome house +on the last. + +They were now over a region thick with islands, the first collection +giving way to a second and then a third. Raf, expecting no sudden move +on the part of the globe he trailed, was startled when the alien ship +made a downward swoop. At the same time the warrior seated beside him +tugged at the sleeve of his tunic and jabbed a finger toward the +ground, clearly an order to follow. Raf cut speed and cautiously lost +altitude, determined that he was not going to be rushed into any move +for which he did not know the reason. + +The globe was hovering over a small island set a little apart from the +others. A moment later Soriki's excited voice drew Raf's attention +from his controls to what was going on below. + +"There's, people down there! Look at them run!" + +They were too far away to be sure of the nature of the brown-gray +things so close to the color of the sea-washed rock that they could +only be detected when they moved. But it was evident that they were +alive, and as Raf brought the flitter closer, he was also certain that +they ran on their two hind feet instead of on an animal's four pads. + +From the under part of the globe ship licked a tongue of fire. With +the force of a whiplash it coursed across the rock and in its passing +embrace, the creatures below writhed and withered to charred heaps. +They had no chance under that methodical blasting. The alien beside +Raf signaled again for a drop. He patted the weapon that he held and +motioned for Raf to release the covering of the windshield. But the +pilot shook his head firmly. + +This might be war. The aliens could have a very good reason for their +deadly attack on the creatures surprised below. But he wanted no part +of it, nor did he want to get any closer to the scene of slaughter. +And he made an emphatic gesture that the windshield could not be +opened while the flitter was air-borne. + +But as he did so they glided down, and he caught a single good look at +what was going on on the rock--a look which remained to haunt his +dreams for long years to come. For now he saw clearly the creatures +who ran fruitlessly for safety. Some reached the edge of the cliff and +leaped to what was an easier death in the sea. But too many others +could not make it and died in flaming agony. And they were not all of +one size! + +Children! There was no mistaking the infant in its mother's arms, the +two small ones who fled hand in hand until one stumbled and the +burning lash caught them both as the other strove to pull the fallen +to its feet. Raf gagged. He triggered the controls and soared up and +away, fighting the heaving in his middle, shaking off with one savage +jerk the insistent pawing hand of the alien who wanted to join in the +fun. + +"Did you see that?" he demanded of Soriki. + +For once the com-tech sounded subdued. "Yes," he replied shortly. + +"Those were children," Raf hammered home the point. + +"Young ones anyway," the com-tech conceded. "Maybe they aren't people. +They had fur all over them--" + +Raf grinned mirthlessly. Should he now accuse Soriki of prejudice? +What did it matter if a thinking creature was clothed in a space suit, +silken bandages, or natural fur--it was still a thinking creature. And +he was sure that those had been intelligent creatures he had just seen +blasted without a chance to fight back. If these were the enemy the +aliens feared, he could understand the vicious cruelty of the attack +which had killed the man he had been shown back in the city. Fire +against primitive spears was not equal, and when the spears got their +chance they must make up for much to balance the scales of justice. + +He did not even wonder why his emotions were so wholeheartedly +enlisted upon the side of the furred people. Nor did he try to analyze +his feelings. He was only sure that more than ever he wanted to be +free of the aliens and out of this whole venture. + +The warrior sharing his seat was sulking now, twisting about to look +back at the island as Raf circled in ever-widening glides to get away +from the site and yet not lose track of the globe when it would have +finished its dirty business and take once more to the air. But the +alien ship was in no hurry to leave. + +"They are making sure," Soriki reported. "Giving the whole island a +fire bath. I wonder what that stuff is--" + +"I'd just as soon not know," Raf returned from between set teeth. "If +that is one of their pieces of precious knowledge, we're as well off +without it--" he stopped short. Perhaps he had said too much. But +Terra had been racked by the torrid horror of atomic war, until all +his kind had been so revolted that it was bred into them not to meddle +again with such weapons. And war by fire aroused in them that old +horror. Surely Soriki must feel it too, and when the com-tech did not +comment, Raf was sure of that. He hoped that the slaughter had made +some impression on the captain and on Lablet into the bargain. + +But when, as if sated with killing, the globe rose again from its +position over the island, moving almost sluggishly into the fresh sky, +he had to follow it on. More islands were below, and he feared that +each one might show some sign of life and tempt the killers to a +second hunting. + +Luckily that did not happen. The chains of islands became a cape as +they had on the coast of the western continent. And now the globe +swung to the south, trailing the shore line. Forests made green +splotches with bluish overtones running from the sea cliffs back to +carpet the land. So far no signs of civilization were to be seen. This +land was as untouched as that where the spacer had landed. + +Then they saw the bay, stretching out wide arms to engulf the sea. It +could have harbored a whole fleet. And marching down to its waters +were broad levels of buildings, a giant's staircase leading from sea +to cliff tops. + +"They had it here--!" + +Raf saw what Soriki meant by that outburst. Destruction had struck. He +had seen the atomic ruins of his own world, those which were free +enough from radiation to explore. But he had never seen anything like +these chilling scars. In long strips the very stone which provided +foundation for the tiered city had been churned and boiled, had run in +rivulets of lava down to the sea, enclosing narrow tongues of still +untouched structures. The fire whip the globe had used, magnified to +some infinitely greater extent--? It could be. + +The alien at his side pressed tightly against the windshield gazing +down at the ruins. And now he mouthed a gabble of words which was +echoed by his fellow sitting with Soriki. Their excitement must mean +that this was their goal. Raf slacked speed, waiting for the globe to +point a way to a landing. + +But to his surprise the alien ship shot forward inland. The long day +was almost over as they came to a second city with a river knotting a +ribbon through its middle. Here were no traces of the fury which had +laded the seaport with havoc. This collection of buildings seemed +whole and perfect. + +There was, oddly enough, no landing strip within the city. The globe +coasted over the rough oval and came down in open fields to the west. +It was a maneuver which Raf copied, though he first dropped a flare as +a precaution and brought the flier down in its red glare, with the +warrior expressing shrill disapproval. + +"I don't think they like fireworks," Soriki remarked. + +Raf snorted. "So they don't like fireworks! Well, I don't like +crack-ups, and I'm the pilot!" But he didn't believe that the com-tech +was really protesting. Soriki had been very quiet since they had +witnessed the attack on the island. + +"Grim-looking place," was his second comment as they touched ground. + +Since Raf privately had held that opinion of all the alien settlements +he had so far seen, he agreed. Their two alien passengers were out of +the flitter as soon as he opened the bubble shield. And as they stood +by the Terran flyer, they held their weapons ready, facing out into +the dusk as if they half expected trouble. After the earlier episode +that day, Raf did not wonder at their preparedness. Terror begets +terror, and ruthlessness arouses retaliation in kind. + +"Kurbi! Soriki!" Hobart's voice sounded out of the shadows. "Stay +where you are for the present." + +Soriki settled deeper in his seat. "He doesn't have to tell me to +brake jets," he muttered. "I like it here--" + +Raf did not need to echo that. He had a strong surmise that had he +been tempted to roam away from the flitter the move would not have +been encouraged by the alien guardsmen. If this was their treasure +city, they would not welcome any independent investigation by +strangers. + +When the captain joined them, he was accompanied by the officer who +had first shown Raf the globe. And the warrior was either disturbed or +angry, for he was talking in a steady stream and his hands were +whirling in explanatory gestures. + +"They didn't like that flare," Hobart remarked. But there was no +reproof in his words. As a spacer pilot he knew that Raf had only done +what duty demanded. "We're to remain here--for the night." + +"Where's Lablet?" Soriki wanted to know. + +"He's staying with Yussoz, the alien commander. He thinks he has the +language problem about solved." + +"Good enough." Soriki pulled out his bed roll. "We're out of touch +with the ship--" + +There was a second of silence, unduly prolonged it seemed to Raf. Then +Hobart spoke: + +"We couldn't expect to keep in call forever. The best com has its +range. When did you lose contact?" + +"Just before these wrapped-up heroes played with fire back there. I +gave the boys all I knew up until then. They know we were headed west, +and they had us beamed as long as they could." + +So it wasn't too bad, thought Raf. But he didn't like it, even with +that mitigating factor. To all purposes the four Terrans were now +surrounded by some twenty times their number, in an unknown country, +out of all communication with the rest of their kind. It could add up +to disaster. + + + + +9 + +SEA GATE + + +"What is it?" Dalgard asked his question as Sssuri, his attention still +on their back trail, stole along cautiously on a retracing of their +path. + +But that retreat ended abruptly with the merman plastered against the +wall, his whole shadowy form a tense warning which stopped Dalgard +short. In that moment the answer flashed from mind to mind. + +"There are those which follow--" + +"Snake-devils? Those Others?" The colony scout supplied the only two +explanations he had, sending his own thought out questing. But as +usual he could not hope to equal the more sensitive merman whose race +had always used that form of communication. + +"Those who have long haunted the darkness," was the only reply he +could get. + +But Sssuri's actions were far more indicative of danger. For the +merman turned and caught at Dalgard, pulling the larger colonist along +a step or two with the urgency of his grip. + +"We cannot return this way--and we must travel fast!" + +For Sssuri who would face and had faced up to a snake-devil with a +spear his sole weapon, this timidity was new. Dalgard was wise enough +to accept his verdict of the wisdom of flight. Together they ran along +the underground corridor, soon putting a mile between them and the +point where the merman had first taken alarm. + +"From what do we flee?" As the merman began to slacken pace, Dalgard +sent that query. + +"There are those who live in this darkness. By one, or by two, we +could speedily remove them from life. But they hunt in packs and they +are as greedy for the kill as are the snake-devils scenting meat. Also +they are intelligent. Once, long before the days of burning, they +served Those Others as hunters of game. And Those Others tried to make +them ever more intelligent and crafty so they might be sent to hunt +without a huntsman. At last they grew too knowing for their masters. +Then Those Others, realizing their menace, tried to kill them all with +traps and tricks. But only the most stupid and the slowest were so +disposed of. The others withdrew into underground ways such as this, +venturing forth only in the dark of night." + +"But if they are intelligent," countered the scout, "why can they not +be reached by the mind touch?" + +"Through the years they have developed their own ways of thought. And +these are not the simple creatures of the sun, or such as the runners. +Once they were taught to answer only to Those Others. Now they answer +only to each other. But"--he spread out his hands in one of his quick, +nervous gestures--"to those who are cornered by one of their packs, +they are sudden death!" + +Since they could not, by Sssuri's reckoning, turn back, there was only +one course before them, to follow the passage they had chanced upon. +The merman was certain that it underran the river and that eventually +they would reach the sea--unless some side turn before that point +would make them free in the countryside once more. + +Dalgard doubted if it had ever been a well-used way. And the presence +of earth falls here and there, over which they stumbled and clawed +their way, led him to consider the wisdom of keeping on to what might +be a dead end. But his trust in Sssuri's judgment was great, and as +the merman plowed forward with every appearance of confidence, he +continued to trot along without complaint. + +They snatched moments of rest, taking turns at guard. But the walls +about them were so unchanging that it was hard to measure time or +distance. Dalgard chewed at his emergency rations, a block of dried +meat and fruit pounded together to an almost rocklike consistency, and +tried to make the crumbs he sucked loose satisfy his growing hunger. + +The passageway was growing damper; water trickled down the walls and +gathered in fetid pools on the floor. Dalgard's dislike of the place +grew. His shoulders hunched involuntarily as he strode along, for his +imagination pictured the rock above them giving away to dump tons of +the oily river water down to engulf them. But though Sssuri avoided +splashing through the pools wherever he might, he did not appear to +find anything upsetting about the moisture. + +At last the human could stand it no longer. "How much farther to the +sea?" he asked without any hope of a real answer. + +As he had expected him to do, Sssuri shrugged. "We should be close. +But having never trod this way before, how can I tell you?" + +Once more they rested, choosing a stretch which was reasonably dry, +munching their dried food and drinking sparingly from the stoppered +duocorn horns which swung from their belts. A man would have to be +dying of thirst, Dalgard thought, before he would palm up any of the +stagnant water from the passage pools. + +He drifted off into a troubled sleep in which he fled beneath a sky +which was a giant lid in the hand of an unseen enemy, a lid which was +slowly lowered to crush him flat. He awoke with a start to find +Sssuri's cool, scaled fingers stroking his shoulder. + +"Dream demons walk these roads." The words drifted into his half-awake +mind. + +"They do indeed," he roused to answer. + +"It is always so where Those Others have been. They leave behind them +the thoughts which breed such dreams to trouble the sleep of those who +are not of their kind. Let us go. I would like to be out of this place +under the clean sky, where no ancient wickedness hangs to poison the +air and thought." + +Either the merman had miscalculated the direction of their route or +the river mouth was much farther from the inland city than they had +believed, for, though they pushed on for what seemed like weary hours, +they came to no upward slope, no exit to the world they knew. + +Instead Dalgard began to realize that just the opposite was true. At +last he could stand it no longer and broke out with what he feared, +hoping that Sssuri would deny that fear. + +"We are going downhill!" + +To his disappointment the merman agreed. "It has been so for the last +thousand of our paces. It is my belief that this leads not to the sun +but out under the sea." + +Dalgard missed a step. To Sssuri the sea was home and perhaps the +thought of being under its floor was not disturbing. The land-born +human was not so prepared. If he had experienced discomfort under the +river, what would it be like under the ocean? His terrifying dream of +a lid being pressed down upon him flashed back into his mind. But his +companion was continuing: + +"There will be doors, perhaps into the sea itself." + +"For you," Dalgard pointed out, "but I am no dweller in the depths." + +"Neither were Those Others, yet they used these ways. And I tell +you"--in his earnestness the merman laid his hand once more on +Dalgard's arm--"to turn back now is out of the question. The death +which haunts the darkness is still sniffing out our trail." + +Dalgard glanced involuntarily over his shoulder. By the faint and +limited light of the purple disks he could see little or nothing. An +army might creep there undetected. + +"But--" His protest was in answer to the merman's seeming unconcern. + +Sssuri at the first intimation that the hunters were behind them had +shown wariness. Now he did not appear to care. + +"They had fed," he replied. "Scouts follow because we are something +new and thus suspect. When hunger rises once more in them, and their +scouts report that we are meat, then is the time to draw knives and +prepare for battle. But before that hour we may have won free. Let us +search for the gate we now need." + +However confident the merman might be, Dalgard could not match that +confidence. In the open air he would have faced a snake-devil four +times his size without any more emotion than a hunter's instinctive +caution. But here in the dark, unable to rid himself of the belief +that thousands of tons of sea water hung over his head, he found +himself starting at any sound, his knife bare and ready in his +sweating hand. + +He noted that Sssuri had stepped up the pace, passing into his +sure-footed glide which made Dalgard exert himself to keep up. Before +them the corridor stretched without a break. The merman's promised +exit, if it existed, was still out of sight. + +It was difficult to gauge time in this dark hall, but Dalgard thought +that they were at least an hour farther on their way when Sssuri +paused abruptly once more, his head cocked in a listening attitude, as +if he caught some whisper of sound too rarefied for his human +companion. + +"Now--" the thought hissed as if he spat the words, "they hunger--and +they hunt!" + +He bounded forward with a spurt, which Dalgard copied, and they ran +lightly, the dust undisturbed in years puffing up beneath the merman's +bare, scaled feet and Dalgard's hide boots. Still the unbroken walls, +the feeble patches of violet in the ceiling. But no exit. And what +good would any exit do him, Dalgard thought, if it opened under the +sea? + +"There are islands off the coast--many islands--" Sssuri caught him +up. "It is in my mind that we shall find our door on one of those. +But--run now, knife brother, for those at our heels awake and thirst +for flesh and blood. They have decided that we are not to be feared +but may be run down for their pleasure." + +Dalgard weighed his knife in his hand. "They shall find us with +fangs," he promised grimly. + +"It will be better if they do not find us at all," returned Sssuri. + +A burning arch of pain encased Dalgard's lower ribs, and his breath +came in gusts of hastily sucked air as their flight kept on, down the +endless corridor. Sssuri was also showing signs of the grueling pace, +his round head bent forward, his furred legs pumping as if only his +iron will kept them moving. And the determination which kept him going +was communicated to the scout as a graver warning than any thought +message of fear. + +They were passing under one of the infrequent violet lights when +Dalgard got something else--a mental thrust so quick and sharp it was +as if a sword had cut through the daze of fatigue to reach his brain. +Yet that had not come from Sssuri, for it was totally alien, wavering +on a band so near the extreme edge of his consciousness that it +pricked, receded, and pricked again as a needle might. + +This was no message of fear or warning, but of implacable stubbornness +and ravening hunger. And in that instant Dalgard knew that it came +from what was sniffing out their trail, and he no longer wondered that +the hunters were immune to other mental contact. One could not reason +with--that! + +He spurted forward, matching the merman's acceleration of speed. But +to Dalgard's horror he saw that his companion now ran with one hand +brushing along the wall, as if he needed that support. + +"Sssuri!" + +His thought met a wall of concentration through which he could not +break. In a way he was reassured--for a moment, until another of those +stabs from their pursuers struck him. He longed to look back, to see +what hunted them. But he dared not break stride to do that. + +"Ahhhh!" The welcoming cry from Sssuri brought his attention back to +his companion as the merman broke into a wild run. + +Dalgard summoned up his last rags of energy and coursed after him. +Sssuri had halted before a dark lump which protruded from the side of +the corridor. + +"A sea lock!" Sssuri's claws were clicking over the surface of the +hatch, seeking the secret of its latch. + +Panting, Dalgard leaned against the opposite wall. Just as a protest +formed in his mind he heard something else, the pad of feet, many +feet, echoing down the corridor. And somehow he was able now to look. + +Round spots of light, dull, greenish, close to the ground, as if +someone had flung a handful of phosphorescence into the dark. But this +was no phosphorescence! Eyes! Eyes--he tried to count and knew it was +impossible to so reckon the number of the pack that ran mute but +ready. Nor could he distinguish more than a very shadowy glimpse of +forms which glided close to the ground with an unpleasant sinuosity. + +"Ahhhhh!" Again Sssuri's paean of triumph. + +There was the grate of unwilling metal forced to move, a puff of air +redolent with the sea striking their bodies in chill threat, the +brightness of violet light stepped up to a point far beyond the lamps +in the corridor. + +With it came no rush of drowning water as Dalgard had half expected, +and when the merman clambered through the hatch he prepared to follow, +well aware that the eyes, and the pattering feet which bore them, were +now almost within range. + +There was a snarl from the passage, and a black thing sprang at the +scout. Without clear sight of what he was fighting, he struck down +with his knife and felt it slit flesh. The snarl was a scream of rage +as the creature twisted in midair for a second try at him. In that +instant Sssuri, leaning halfway out of the hatch, struck in his turn, +thrusting his bone knife into shadows which now boiled with life. + +Dalgard leaped for the lock door, kicking out swiftly and feeling the +toe of his boot contact with a crunch against one of those darting +shades, sending it back end over end into the press where its fellows +turned snapping upon it. Then Sssuri grabbed at him, bringing him in, +and together they slammed the hatch, feeling it shake with the shock +of thudding bodies as the pack outside went mad in their frustration. + +While the merman fastened the locking bar, bringing out of the +long-motionless metal another protesting screech, Dalgard had a chance +to look about him. They were in a room some eight or nine feet long, +the violet light showing up well tangles of equipment hanging from +pegs on the walls, a pile of small cylinders on the floor. At the far +end of the chamber was another hatch door, locked with the same type +of bar as Sssuri had just lowered to seal the inner one. The merman +nodded to it. + +"The sea--" + +Dalgard slid his knife back into its sheath. So the sea lay beyond. He +did not welcome the thought of passing through that door. Like all of +his race he could swim--perhaps his feats in the water would have +astonished the men of the planet from which his tribe had emigrated. +But unlike the mermen, he was not sea-born, nor equipped by nature +with a secondary breathing apparatus to make him as free in the world +of water as he was on land. Sssuri might crawl through that hatch +without fear. For Dalgard it was as big a test as to turn and face +what now raged in the corridor on the inner side. + +"There is no hope that they will go now," Sssuri answered his vague +question. "They are stubborn. And hours--or even days--will mean +nothing. Also they can leave a guard there and rove at will, to return +upon signal. That is their way." + +This left only the sea door. Sssuri padded across the chamber and +reached up to free one of the strange objects dangling from the wall +pegs. Like all things made of the marvelous substance used by Those +Others for any article which might be exposed to the elements, it +seemed as perfect as on the day it had first been hung there, though +that date might be a hundred or more Astran years earlier. The merman +uncoiled a length of thin, flexible piping which joined a two-foot +canister with a flat piece of metallic fabric. + +"Those Others could not breathe under the water, as you cannot," he +explained as he worked deftly and swiftly. "Within my own memory we +have trapped their scouts wearing aids such as these so that they +might spy upon our safe places. But their last foray was some years +ago and at that time we taught them such a lesson that they have not +dared to return. Since they are not unlike you in body and since you +breathe the same air aboveground, there is no reason why this should +not take you out of here." + +Dalgard accepted the apparatus. A couple of elastic metal bands +fastened the canister to the chest of the wearer. The fabric molded +into a perfect, tight face mask as it touched the skin. + +Sssuri went to the pile of cylinders. Choosing one he tinkered with +its pointed cone, to be rewarded with a thin hiss. + +"Ahhhh--" again his recognition of the rightness of things. "These +still contain air." He tested two more and then brought all three back +to where Dalgard stood, the canister strapped into place, the mask +ready in his hand. With infinite care the merman fitted two of the +cylinders into the canister and then was forced to set the other +aside. + +"We could not change them while under water anyway," he explained. "So +it will do little good to take extra supplies with us." + +Trying not to speculate on the amount of air he could carry in the +cylinders, Dalgard fastened on the mask, adjusted the air tube, and +sucked. Air flowed--he could breathe! Only--for how long? + +Sssuri, seeing that his companion was fully provided for, worked at +the bar locking the sea hatch. But in the end it took their combined +strength to spring that barrier and win through to a small cubby which +was the actual sea lock. + +Dalgard knew one moment of resistance as the merman closed the hatch +behind them. For an instant it seemed that the dubious safety of the +dressing chamber and a faint hope of the hunters' giving up their +vigil was better than what might lie before them now. But Sssuri +pushed shut the hatch, and Dalgard stood quietly, without offering any +visible protest. + +He tried to draw even breaths--slowly--as the merman activated the +lock. When the water curled in from hidden openings, rising from ankle +to calf and then to knee, its chill striking through flesh to bone, he +kept to the same stolid waiting, though this seemed almost worse than +a sudden gush of water sweeping them out in its embrace. + +The liquid swirled about Dalgard's waist now, tugging at his belt, his +arrow quiver, tapping on the bottom of the canister which held his +precious air supply. His bow, shielded from the wet by its casing, +was swallowed up inch by inch. + +As the water lapped at his chin, the outer door opened with a slow +inward push which suggested that the machinery controlling it had +grown sluggish with the years. Sssuri, perfectly at home, darted out +as soon as the opening was large enough to afford him an exit. And his +thought came back to reassure the more clumsy landsman. + +"We are in the shallows--land rises ahead. The roots of an island. +There is nothing to fear--" The word ended abruptly in what was like a +mental gasp of either astonishment or fear. + +Knowing all the menaces which might lie in wait, even in the shallows +of the sea, Dalgard drew his knife once more as he plowed through +water--ready to rescue or at least to offer what aid he could. + + + + +10 + +THE DEAD GUARDIANS + + +The spacemen spent a cramped and almost sleepless night. Although in +his training on Terra, on his trial trips to Mars and the harsh Lunar +valleys, Raf had known weird surroundings and climates, inimical to +his kind, he had always been able to rest almost by the exercise of +his will. But now, curled in his roll, he was alert to every sound out +of the moonless night, finding himself listening--for what he did not +know. + +Though there were sounds in plenty. The whistling call of some night +bird, the distant lap, lap of water which he associated with the river +curving through the long-deserted city, the rustle of grass as either +the wind or some passing animal disturbed it. + +"Not the best place in the world for a nap," Soriki observed out of +the dark as Raf wriggled, trying to find a more comfortable position. +"I'll be glad to see these bandaged boys on the ground waving good-bye +as we head away from them--fast--" + +"Those weren't animals they killed--back on that island." Raf brought +out what was at the heart of his trouble. + +"They wore fur instead of clothing." Soriki's reply was delivered in a +colorless, even voice. "We have apes on Terra, but they are not men." + +Raf stared up at the sky in which stars were sprinkled like carelessly +flung dust motes. "What is a 'man'?" he returned, repeating the +classical question which was a debating point in all the space +training centers. + +For so long his kind had wondered that. Was a "man" a biped with +certain easily recognized physical characteristics? Well, by that +ruling the furry things which had fled fruitlessly from the flames of +the globe might well qualify. Or was "man" a certain level of +intelligence, no matter what form housed that intelligence? They were +supposed to accept the latter definition. Though, in spite of the +horror of prejudice, Raf could not help but believe that too many +Terrans secretly thought of "man" only as a creature in their own +general image. By that prejudiced rule it was correct to accept the +aliens as "men" with whom they could ally themselves, to condemn the +furry people because they were not smooth-skinned, did not wear +clothing, nor ride in mechanical transportation. + +Yet somewhere within Raf at that moment was the nagging feeling that +this was all utterly wrong, that the Terrans had not made the right +choice. And that now "men" were _not_ standing together. But he had no +intention of spilling that out to Soriki. + +"Man is intelligence." The com-tech was answering the question Raf had +almost forgotten that he had asked the moment before. Yes, the proper +conventional reply. Soriki was not going to be caught out with any +claim of prejudice. + +Odd--when Pax had ruled, there were thought police and the cardinal +sin was to be a liberal, to experiment, to seek knowledge. Now the +wheel had turned--to be conservative was suspect. To suggest that some +old ways were better was to exhibit the evil signs of prejudice. Raf +grinned wryly. Sure, he had wanted to reach the stars, had fought +doggedly to come to the very spot where he now was. So why was he +tormented now with all these second thoughts? Why did he feel every +day less akin to the men with whom he had shared the voyage? He had +had wit enough to keep his semirebellion under cover, but since he had +taken the flitter into the morning sky above the landing place of the +spacer, that task of self-discipline was becoming more and more +difficult. + +"Did you notice," the com-tech said, going off on a new track, "that +these painted boys were not too quick about blasting along to their +strongbox? I'd say that they thought some bright rocket jockey might +have rigged a surprise for them somewhere in there--" + +Now that Soriki mentioned it, Raf remembered that the alien party who +had gone into the city had huddled together, and that several of the +black-and-white warriors had fanned out ahead as scouts might in enemy +territory. + +"They didn't go any farther than that building to the west either." + +That Raf had not noticed, but he was willing to accept Soriki's +observation. The com-tech had a ready eye for details. He'd better pay +closer attention himself. This was no time to explore the why and +wherefore of his present position. So, if they went no farther than +that building, it would argue that the aliens themselves didn't care +to go about here after nightfall. For he was certain that the isolated +structure Soriki had pointed out was not the treasure house they had +come to loot. + +The night wore on and sometime during it Raf fell asleep. But the two +or three hours of restless, dream-filled unconsciousness was not what +he needed, and he blinked in the dawn with eyes which felt as if they +were filled with hot sand. In the first gray light a covey of winged +things, which might or might not have been birds, arose from some +roosting place within the city, wheeled three times over the building, +and then vanished out over the countryside. + +Raf pulled himself out of his roll, made a sketchy toilet with the +preparations in a belt kit, and looked about with little favor for +either the scene or his part in it. The globe, sealed as if ready for +a take-off, was some distance away, but installed about halfway +between it and the flitter were two of the alien warriors. Perhaps +they had changed watches during the night. If they had not, they could +go without sleep to an amazing degree, for as Raf walked in a circle +about the flyer to limber up, they watched him closely, nor did their +grips on their odd weapons loosen. And he had a very clear idea that +if he stepped over some invisible boundary he would be in for trouble. + +When he came back to the flitter, Soriki was awake and stretching. + +"Another day," the com-tech drawled. "And I could do with something +besides field rations." He made a face at the small tin of +concentrates he had dug out of the supply compartment. + +"We'd do well to be headed west," Raf ventured. + +"Now you can come in with that on the com again!" Soriki answered with +unwonted emphasis. "The sooner I see the old girl standing on her pins +in the middle distance, the better I'll feel. You know"--he looked up +from his preoccupation with the ration package and gazed out over the +city--"this place gives me the shivers. That other town was bad +enough. But at least there were people living there. Here's nothing at +all--at least nothing I want to see." + +"What about all the wonders they've promised to show us?" countered +Raf. + +Soriki grinned. "And how much do we understand of their mouth-and-hand +talk? Maybe they were promising us wonders, maybe they were offering to +take us to where we could have our throats cut more conveniently--for them! +I tell you, if I go for a walk with any of these painted faces, I'm going +to have at least three of my fingers resting on the grip of my stun gun. +And I'd advise you to do the same--if I didn't know that you were already +watching these blast-happy harpies out of the corner of your eye. +Ha--company. Oh, it's the captain--" + +The hatch of the globe had opened, and a small party was descending +the ladder, conspicuous among them the form and uniform of Captain +Hobart. The aliens remained in a cluster at the foot of the ladder +while the Terran commander crossed to the flitter. + +"You"--he pointed to Raf--"are to come along with us." + +"Why, sir?" "What about me, sir?" The questions from the two at the +flitter came together. + +"I said that one of you had to remain by the machine. Then they said +that you, in particular, must come along, Kurbi." + +"But I'm the pilot--" Raf began and then realized that it was just +that fact which had made the aliens attach him to the exploring party. +If they believed that the Terran flitter was immobilized when he, and +he alone, was not behind its controls, this was just the move they +would make. But there they were wrong. Soriki might not be able to +repair or service the motor, but in a pinch he could take it up, send +it westward, and land it beside the spacer. Each and every man aboard +the _RS 10_ had that much training. + +Now the com-tech was scowling. He had grasped the significance of that +arrangement as quickly as Raf. "How long do I wait for you, sir?" he +asked in a voice which had lost its usual good-humored drawl. + +And at that inquiry Captain Hobart showed signs of irritation. "Your +suspicions are not founded on facts," he stated firmly. "These people +have displayed no signs of wanting to harm us. And an attitude of +distrust at this point might be fatal for future friendly contact. +Lablet is sure that they have a highly complex society, probably +advanced beyond Terran standards, and that their technical skills will +be of vast benefit to us. As it happens we have come at just the right +moment in their history, when they are striving to get back on their +feet after a disastrous series of wars. It is as if a group of +off-world explorers had allied themselves with us after the Burn-Off. +We can exchange information which will be of mutual benefit." + +"If any off-world explorers had set down on Terra after the Burn-Off," +observed Soriki softly, "they would have come up against Pax. And just +how long would they have lasted?" + +Hobart had turned away. If he heard that half-whisper, he did not +choose to acknowledge it. But the truth in the com-tech's words made +an impression on Raf, a crew of aliens who had been misguided enough +to seek out and try to establish friendly relations with the officials +of Pax would have had a short and most unhappy shrift. If all the +accounts of that dark dictatorship were true, they would have vanished +from Terra, and not in their ships either. What if something like Pax +ruled here? They had no way of knowing for sure. + +Raf's eyes met Soriki's, and the com-tech's hand dropped to hook +fingers in his belt within touching distance of his side arm. The +flitter pilot nodded. + +"Kurbi!" Hobart's impatient call sent him on his way. But there was +some measure of relief in knowing that Soriki was left behind and that +they had this slender link with escape. + +He had tramped the streets of that other alien city. There there had +been some semblance of habitation; here was abandonment. Earth drifted +in dunes to half block the lanes, and here and there climbing vines +had broken down masonry and had dislodged blocks of the paved sideways +and courtyards. + +The party threaded their way from one narrow lane to another, seeming +to avoid the wider open stretches of the principal thoroughfares, Raf +became aware of an unpleasant odor in the air which he vaguely +associated with water, and a few minutes afterward he caught glimpses +of the river between the buildings which fronted on it. Here the party +turned abruptly at a right angle, heading westward once more, passing +vast, blank-walled structures which might have been warehouses. + +One of the aliens just ahead of Raf in the line of march suddenly +swung around, his weapon pointing up, and from its nose shot a beam of +red-yellow light which brought an answering shrill scream as a large, +winged creature came fluttering down. The killer kicked at the +crumpled thing as he passed. As far as Raf could see there had been no +reason for that wanton slaying. + +The head of the party had reached a doorway, sealed shut by what +looked like a solid slab of material. He placed both palms flat down +on its surface at shoulder height and leaned forward against it, +almost as if he were whispering some secret formula. Raf watched the +muscles stand up on his slender arms as he exerted strength. And then +the door split in two, and his fellows helped him push the separate +halves back into the wall. + +Lablet, Hobart, and Raf were among the last to enter. It was as if +their companions had now forgotten them, for the aliens were pushing +on at a pace which took them down an empty corridor at a quickening +trot. + +The corridor ended in a ramp which did not slope in one straight reach +but curled around itself, so that in some places only the presence of +a handrail, to which they all clung, kept them from losing balance. +Then they gathered in a vaulted room, one of which opened a complete +circle of closed doors. + +There was some argument among the aliens, a dispute of sorts over +which of those doors was to be opened first, and the Terrans drew a +little apart, unable to follow the twittering words and +lightning-swift gestures. + +Raf tried to work out the patterns of color which swirled and looped +over each door and around the walls, only to discover that too long an +examination of any one band, or an attempt to trace its beginning or +end, awoke a sick sensation which approached inner turmoil the longer +he looked. At last he had to rest his eyes by studying the gray +flooring under his boots. + +The aliens finally made up their minds, or else one group was able to +outargue the other, for they converged upon a door directly opposite +the ramp. Once more they went through the process of unsealing the +panels, while the Terrans, drawn by curiosity, were close behind them +as they entered the long room beyond. Here were shelves in solid tiers +along the walls, crowded with such an array of strange objects that +Raf, after one mystified look, thought that it might well take months +to sort them all out. + +In addition, long tables divided the chamber into aisles. Halfway down +one of these narrow passageways the aliens had gathered in a group as +silent and intent now as they had been noisy outside. Raf could see +nothing to so rivet their attention but a series of scuffed marks in +the dust which covered the floor. But an alien, whom he recognized as +the officer who had taken him to inspect the globe, moved carefully +along that trail, following it to a second door. And as Raf pushed +down another aisle, paralleling his course, he was conscious of a +sickly sweet, stomach-churning stench. Something was very, very dead +and not too far away. + +The officer must have come to the same conclusion, for he hurried to +open the other door. Before them now was a narrow hall broken by slit +windows, near the roof, through which entered sunlight. And one such +beam fully illuminated a carcass as large as that of a small elephant, +or so it seemed to Raf's startled gaze. + +It was difficult to make out the true appearance of the creature, +though guessing from the scaled strips of skin it had been reptilian, +for the body had been found by scavengers and feasting had been in +progress. + +The alien officer skirted the corpse gingerly. Raf thought that he +would like to investigate the body closely but could not force himself +to that highly disagreeable task. There was a chorus of excited +exclamation from the doorway as others crowded there. + +But the officer, having circled the carcass, turned his attention to +the dusty floor again. If there had been any trail there, it was now +muddled past their reading, for remnants of the grisly meal had been +dragged back and forth. The alien picked his way fastidiously through +the noxious debris to the end of the long room. Raf, with the same +care, toured the edge of the chamber in his wake. + +They were out in a smaller passageway, which was taking them +underground, the Terran estimated. Then there was a large space with +barred cells about it and a second corridor. The stench of the death +chamber either clung to them, or was wafted from another point, and +Raf gagged as an especially foul blast caught him full in the face. He +kept a sharp look about him for signs of those feasters. The feast had +not been finished--it might have been that their entrance into the +storeroom had disturbed the scavengers. And things formidable enough +to drag down that scaled horror were not foes he would choose to meet +in these unlighted ways. + +The passage began to slope upward once more, and Raf saw a half-moon +of light ahead, brilliant light which could only come from the sun. +The alien was outlined there as he went out; then he himself was +scuffing through sand close upon another death scene. The dead +monster had had its counterparts, and here they were, sprawled out, +mangled, and torn. Raf remained by the archway, for even the open air +and the morning winds could not destroy the reek which seemed as +deadly as a gas attack. + +It must have disturbed the officer too, for he hesitated. Then with +visible effort he advanced toward the hunks of flesh, casting back and +forth as if to find some clue to the manner of their death. He was +still so engaged when a second alien burst out of the archway, a +splintered length of white held out before him as if he had made some +important discovery. + +The officer grabbed that shaft away from him, turning it around in his +hands. And though expression was hard to read on those thin features +under the masking face paint, the emotion his whole attitude expressed +was surprise tinged with unbelief--as if the object his subordinate +had brought was the last he expected to find in that place. + +Raf longed to inspect it, but both aliens brushed by him and pattered +back down the corridor, the discoverer pouring forth a volume of words +to which the officer listened with great intentness. And the Terran +pilot had to hurry to keep up with them. + +Something he had seen just before he had left the arena remained in +his mind: a forearm flung out from the supine body of what appeared to +be the largest of the dead things--and on that forearm a bracelet of +metal. Were those things pets! Watchdogs? Surely they were not +intelligent beings able to forge and wear such ornaments of their own +accord. And if they were watchdogs--whom did they serve? He was +inclined to believe that the aliens must be their masters, that the +monsters had been guardians of the treasure, perhaps. But dead +guardians suggested a rifled treasure house. Who and what--? + +His mind filled with speculations and questions, Raf trotted behind +the others back to the chamber where they had found the first reptile. +The alien who had brought the discovery to his commander stepped +gingerly through the litter and laid the white rod in a special spot, +apparently the place where it had been found. + +At a barked order from the officer, two of the others came forward and +tugged at the creature's mangled head, which had been freed from the +serpent neck, rolling it over to expose the underparts. There was a +broad tear there in the flesh, but Raf could see little difference +between it and those left by the feasters. However the officer, +holding a strip of cloth over his nose, bent stiffly above it for a +closer look and then made some statement which sent his command into a +babbling clamor. + +Four of the lower ranks separated from the group and, with their hand +weapons at alert, swung into action, retracing the way back toward the +arena. It looked to Raf as if they now expected an attack from that +direction. + +Under a volley of orders the rest went back to the storeroom, and the +officer, noting that Raf still lingered, waved him impatiently after +them. + +Inside the men spread out, going from shelf to table, selecting things +with a speed which suggested that they had been rehearsed in this task +and had only a limited time in which to accomplish it. Some took piles +of boxes or other containers which were so light that they could +manage a half-dozen in an armload, while two or three others struggled +pantingly to move a single piece of weird machinery from its bed to +the wheeled trolley they had brought. There was to be no lingering on +this job--that was certain. + + + + +11 + +ESPIONAGE + + +Intent upon joining Sssuri, Dalgard left the lock, forgetting his +earlier unwillingness, stepping from the small chamber down to the sea +bottom, or endeavoring to, although instinctively he had begun to swim +and so forged ahead at a different rate of speed. + +Waving fronds of giant water plants, such as were found only in the +coastal shallows, grew forest fashion but did not hide rocks which +stretched up in a sharp rise not too far ahead. The scout could not +see the merman, but as he held onto one of those fronds he caught the +other's summons: + +"Here--by the rocks--!" + +Pushing his way through the drifting foliage, Dalgard swam ahead to +the foot of the rocky escarpment. And there he saw what had so excited +his companion. + +Sssuri had just driven away an encircling collection of sand-dwelling +scavengers, and what he was on his knees studying intently was an +almost clean-picked skeleton of one of his own race. But there was +something odd--Dalgard brushed aside a tendril of weed which cut his +line of vision and so was able to see clearly. + +White and clean most of those bones were, but the skull was blackened, +and similar charring existed down one arm and shoulder. That merman +had not died from any mishap in the sea! + +"It is so," Sssuri replied to his thought. "_They_ have come once more +to give the flaming death--" + +Dalgard, startled, looked up that slope which must lead to the island +top above the waves. + +"Long dead?" he asked tentatively, already guessing what the other's +answer would be. + +"The pickers move fast," Sssuri indicated the sand dwellers. "Perhaps +yesterday, perhaps the day before--but no longer than that." + +"And _they_ are up there now?" + +"Who can tell? However, _they_ do not know the sea, nor the islands--" + +It was plain that the merman intended to climb to investigate what +might be happening above. Dalgard had no choice but to follow. And it +was true that the merpeople had no peers or equals when it came to +finding their ways about the sea and the coasts. He was confident that +Sssuri could get to the island top and discover just what he wished to +learn without a single sentry above, if they had stationed sentries, +being the wiser. Whether he himself could operate as efficiently was +another matter. + +In the end they half climbed, half swam upward, detouring swiftly once +to avoid the darting attack of a rock hornet, harmless as soon as they +moved out of the reach of its questing stinger, for it was anchored +for its short life to the rough hollow in which it had been hatched. + +Dalgard's head broke water as he rolled through the surf onto a scrap +of beach in the lee of a row of tooth-pointed outcrops. It was late +evening by the light, and he clawed the mask off his face to draw +thankful lungfuls of the good outer air. Sssuri, his fur sleeked tight +to his body, waded ashore, shook himself free of excess water, and +turned immediately to study the wall of the cliff which guarded the +interior of the island. + +This was one of a chain of such isles, Dalgard noted, now that he had +had time to look about him. And with their many-creviced walls they +were just the type of habitations which appealed most strongly to the +merpeople. Here could be found the dry inner caves with underwater +entrances, which they favored for their group homes. And in the sea +were kelp beds for harvesting. + +The cliffs did not present too much of a climbing problem. Dalgard +divested himself of the diving equipment, tucking it into a hollow +which he walled up with stones that he thought the waves would not +scour out in a hurry. He might need it again. Then, hitching his belt +tighter, pressing what water he could out of his clothing, and +settling his bow and quiver to the best advantage at his back, he +crossed to where Sssuri was already marking claw holds. + +"We may be seen--" Dalgard craned his neck, trying to make out details +of what might be waiting above. + +The merman shook his head with a quick jerk of negation. "_They_ are +gone. Behind them remains only death--much death--" And the bleakness +of his thoughts reached the scout. + +Dalgard had known Sssuri since he was a toddler and the other a cub +coming to see the wonders of dry land for the first time. Never, +during all their years of close association since, had he felt in the +other a desolation so great. And to that emotional blast he could make +no answer. + +In the twilight, with the last red banners across the sky at their +back, they made the climb. And it was as if the merman had closed off +his mind to his companion. Flesh fingers touched scaled ones as they +moved from one hold to the next, but Sssuri might have been half a +world away for all the communication between them. Never had Dalgard +been so shut out and with that his sensitivity to the night, to the +world about him, was doubly acute. + +He realized--and it worried him--that perhaps he had come to depend +too much on Sssuri's superior faculty of communication. It was time +that he tried to use his own weaker powers to the utmost extent. So, +while he climbed, Dalgard sent questing thoughts into the gloom. He +located a nest of duck-dogs, those shy waterline fishers living in +cliff holes. They were harmless and just settling down for the night. +But of higher types of animals from which something might be +learned--hoppers, runners--there were no traces. For all he was able +to pick up, they might be climbing into blank nothingness. + +And that in itself was ominous. Normally he should have been able to +mind touch more than duck-dogs. The merpeople lived in peace with most +of the higher fauna of their world, and a colony of hoppers, even a +covey of moth birds, would settle in close by a mer tribe to garner in +the remnants of feasts and for protection from the flying dragons and +the other dangers they must face. + +"_They_ hunt all life," the first break in Sssuri's self-absorption +came. "Where _they_ walk the little, harmless peoples face only death. +And so it has been here." He had pulled himself over the rim of the +cliff, and through the dark Dalgard could hear him panting with the +same effort which made his own lungs labor. + +Just as the stench of the snake-devil's lair had betrayed its site, +here disaster and death had an odor of its own. Dalgard retched before +he could control throat and stomach muscles. But Sssuri was unmoved, +as if he had expected this. + +Then, to Dalgard's surprise the merman set up the first real call he +had ever heard issue from that furred throat, a plaintive whistle +which had a crooning, summoning note in it, akin to the mind touch in +an odd fashion, yet audible. They sat in silence for a long moment, +the human's ears as keen for any sound out of the night as those of +his companion. Why did Sssuri not use the customary noiseless greeting +of his race? When he beamed that inquiry, he met once again that +strange, solid wall of non-acceptance which had enclosed the merman as +they climbed. As if now there was danger to be feared from following +the normal ways. + +Again Sssuri whistled, and in that cry Dalgard heard a close +resemblance to the flute tone of the night moth birds. Up the scale +the notes ran with mournful persistence. When the answer came, the +scout at first thought that the imitation had lured a moth bird, for +the reply seemed to ripple right above their heads. + +Sssuri stood up, and his hand dropped on Dalgard's shoulder, applying +pressure which was both a warning and a summons, bringing the scout to +his feet with as little noise as possible. The horrible smell caught +at his throat, and he was glad when the merman did not head inland +toward the source of that odor, but started off along the edge of the +cliff, one hand in Dalgard's to draw him along. + +Twice more Sssuri paused to whistle, and each time he was answered by +a signing note or two which seemed to reassure him. + +Against the lighter expanse which was the sea, Dalgard saw the loom of +a peak which projected above file general level of the island. Though +he knew that the merpeople did not build aboveground, being adept in +turning natural caves and crevices into the kind of living quarters +they found most satisfactory, the barrenness of this particular rock +top was forbidding. + +Led by Sssuri, he threaded a tangled patch among outcrops, +once-squeezing through a gap which scraped the flesh on his arms as he +wriggled. Then the sky was blotted out, the last winking star +disappeared, and he realized that he must have entered a cave of +sorts, or was at least under an overhang. + +The merman did not pause but padded on, tugging Dalgard along, the +scout's boots scraping on the rough footing. The colonist was +conscious now that they were on an incline, heading down into the +heart of the island. They came to a stretch where Sssuri set his hands +on holds, patiently shoved his feet into hollowed places, finding for +him the ladder steps he could not see, which took him through a +sweating, fearful journey of yards to another level, another sloping, +downward way. + +Here at long last was a fraction of light, not the violet glimmer +which had illuminated the underground ways of those Others, but a +ghostly radiance which he recognized as the lamps of the +mermen--living creatures from the sea depths imprisoned in laboriously +fashioned globes of crystal and kept in the caves for the light they +yielded. + +But still no mind touch! Never had Dalgard penetrated into the cave +cities of the sea folk before without inquiries and open welcome +lapping about him. Were they entering a place of massacre where no +living merman remained? Yet there was that whistling which had led +Sssuri to this place.... + +And at that moment a shrill keening note arose from the depths to ring +in Dalgard's ears, startling him so that he almost lost his footing. +Once again Sssuri made answer vocally--but no mind touch. + +Then they rounded a curve, and the scout was able to see into the +heart of the amphibian territory. This was a natural cave, as were all +the merman's dwellings, but its walls had been smoothed and hung with +the garlands of shells which they wove in their leisure into strange +pictures. Silver-gray sand, smooth and dust-fine, covered the floor to +the depth of a foot or more. And opening off the main chamber were +small nooks, each marking the private storage place and holding of +some family clan. It was a large place, and with a quick estimate +Dalgard thought that it had been fashioned to harbor close to a +hundred inhabitants, at least the nooks suggested that many. But +gathered at the foot of the ledge they were descending, spears poised, +were perhaps ten males, some hardly past cubhood, others showing the +snowy shine of fur which was the badge of age. And behind them, drawn +knives in their ready hands, were half again as many merwomen, forming +a protecting wall before a crouching group of cubs. + +Sssuri spoke to Dalgard. "Spread out your hands--empty--so that they +may see them clearly!" + +The scout obeyed. In the limited light his ten fingers were fans, and +it was then that he understood the reason for such a move. If these +mermen had not seen a colonist before, he might resemble Those Others +in their eyes. But only his species on all Astra had five fingers, +five toes, and that physical evidence might insure his safety now. + +"Why do you bring a destroyer among us? Or do you offer him for our +punishment, so that we can lay upon him the doom that his kind have +earned?" + +The question came with arrow force, and Dalgard held out his hands, +hoping they would see the difference before one of those spears from +below tore through his flesh. + +"Look upon the hands of this--my knife brother--look upon his face. He +is not of the race of those you hate, but rather one from the south. +Have you of the northern reaches not heard of Those-Who-Help, +Those-Who-Came-From-the-Stars?" + +"We have heard." But there was no relaxing of tension, not a spear +point wavered. + +"Look upon his hands," Sssuri insisted. "Come into his mind, for he +speaks with us so. And do _they_ do that?" + +Dalgard tried to throw open his mind, awaiting the trial. It came +quickly, traces of inimical, alien thought, which changed as they +touched his mind, reading there only all the friendliness he and his +held for the sea people. + +"He is not of _them_." The admission was grudging. As if they did not +want to believe that. "Why comes one from the south to this +place--now?" + +There was an inflection to that "now" which was disturbing. + +"After the manner of his people he seeks new things so that he may +return and report to his Elders. Then he will receive the spear of +manhood and be ready for the choosing of mates," Sssuri translated the +reason for Dalgard's quest into the terms of his own people. "He has +been my knife brother since we were cubs together, and so I journey +with him. But here in the north we have found evil--" + +His flow of thought was submerged by a band of hate so red that its +impact upon the mind was almost a blow. Dalgard shook his head. He had +known that the merpeople, aroused, were deadly fighters, fearless and +crafty, and with a staying power beyond that of any human. But their +rage was something he had not met before. + +"_They_ come once again--_they_ burn with the fire--_They_ are among +our islands--" + +A cub whimpered and a merwoman stooped to pat it to silence. + +"Here they have killed with the fire--" + +They did not elaborate upon that statement, and Dalgard had no wish +for them to do so. He was still very glad that it had been dark when +he had climbed to the top of that cliff, that he had not been able to +see what his imagination told him lay there. + +"Do _they_ stay?" That was Sssuri. + +"Not so. In their sky traveler they go to the land where lies the dark +city. There they make much evil against the day when this shall be +their land once more." + +"But these lie if they think that." Another strong thought broke +across the current of communication. "_We_ are not now penned for +their pleasure. We may flee into the sea once more, and there live as +did our fathers' fathers, and they dare not follow us there--" + +"Who knows?" It was Sssuri who raised that objection. "With their +ancient knowledge once more theirs, even the depths of the sea may not +be ours much longer. Do they not know how to ride upon the air?" + +The knot of mer-warriors stirred. Several spears thudded butt down +into the sand. And Sssuri accepted that as an invitation to descend, +summoning Dalgard after him with a beckoning finger. + +Later they sat in a circle in the cushioning gray powder, the two from +the south eating dried fish and sea kelp, while Sssuri related, +between mouthfuls, their recent adventures. + +"Three times have _they_ flown across these islands on their way to +that city," the Elder of the pitifully decimated merman tribe told the +explorers. + +"But this time," broke in one of his companions, "they had with them a +new ship--" + +"A new ship?" Sssuri pounced upon that scrap of information. + +"Yes. The ships of the air in which _they_ travel are fashioned +so"--with his knife point he drew a circle in the sand--"but this one +was smaller and more in the likeness of a spear with a heavy +point--thus"--he made a second sketch beside the first, and Dalgard +and Sssuri leaned over to study it. + +"That is unlike any of their ships that I have heard of," Sssuri +agreed. "Even in the old tales of the Days Before the Burning there is +nothing spoken of like that." + +"It is true. Therefore we wait now for the coming of our scouts, who +were set in hiding upon _their_ sea rock of resting, that they may +tell us more concerning this new ship. They should be here within this +time of sleeping. Now, go you to rest, which you plainly have need of, +and we shall call you when they come." + +Dalgard was willing enough to stretch out in the sand in the shadows +of the far end of the cave. Beyond him three cubs slumbered together, +their arms about each other, and a feeling of peace was there such as +he had not known since he left the stronghold of Homeport. + +The weird glow of the imprisoned sea monsters gave light to the main +part of the cave, and it might still have been night when the scout +was shaken awake once more. A group of the merpeople were sitting +together, and their thoughts interrupted each other as their +excitement arose. Their spies must have returned. + +Dalgard crossed to join that group, but it seemed to him that his +welcome was not unqualified, and that some of the openness of the +early hours of the night was lacking. He might have been once more +under suspicion. + +"Knife brother"--to Dalgard's sensitive mind that form of address from +Sssuri was used for a special purpose: to underline the close bond +between them--"listen to the words of Sssim who is a Hider-to-Watch on +the island where _they_ rest their ships during the voyage from one +land to another." He drew Dalgard down beside him to face a young +merman who was staring round-eyed at the colony scout. + +"He is like--yet unlike"--his first wisp of thought meant nothing to +the scout. "The strangers wear many coverings on their bodies as do +_they_, and they had also coverings upon their heads. They were +bigger. Also from their minds I learned that they are not of this +world--" + +"Not of this world!" Dalgard burst out in his own speech. + +"There!" The spy was triumphant. "So did they talk to one another, not +with the mind but by making mouth noises, different mouth noises from +those that _they_ make. Yes, they are like--but unlike this one." + +"And these strangers flew the ship we have not seen before?" + +"It is so. But they did not know the way and were guided by the globe. +And at least one among them was distrustful of _those_ and wished to +be free to return to his own place. He walked by the rocks near my +hiding place, and I read his thoughts. No, they were with _them_, but +they are not _them_!" + +"And now they have gone on to the city?" Sssuri probed. + +"It was the way their ship flew." + +"Like me," Dalgard repeated, and then the truth which might lie behind +that exploded within his brain. "Terrans!" he breathed the word. Men +of Pax perhaps who had come to hunt down the outlaws who had +successfully eluded their rule on earth? But how had the colonists +been traced? And why? Or were they other fugitives like themselves? So +much, so very much of what the colonists should know of their past +had been erased during the time of the Great Sickness twenty years +after their landing. Then three fourths of the original immigrants had +died. Only the children of the second generation and a handful of +weakened Elders had remained. Knowledge was lost and some distorted by +failing memories, old skills were gone. But if the new Terrans were in +that city.... He had to know--to know and be able to warn his people. +For the darkness of Pax was a memory they had _not_ lost! + +"I must see them," he said. + +"That is true. And only you can tell us what manner of folk these +strangers be," the merman chief agreed. "Therefore you shall go ashore +with my warriors and look upon them--to tell us the truth. Also we +must learn what _they_ do here." + +It was decided that using waterways known to the merpeople, one which +Dalgard could also take wearing the diving equipment, a scouting party +would head shoreward the next day, with the river itself providing the +entrance into the heart of the forbidden territory. + + + + +12 + +ALIEN PATROL + + +Raf leaned back against the wall. Long since the actions of the aliens +in the storage house had ceased to interest him, since they would not +allow any of the Terrans to approach their plunder and he could not +ask questions. Lablet continued to follow the officer about, vainly +trying to understand his speech. And Hobart had taken his place by the +upper entrance, his hand held stiffly across his body. The pilot knew +that the captain was engaged in photographing all this activity with a +wristband camera, hoping to make something of it later. + +But Raf's own inclination was to slip out and do some exploring in +those underground corridors beyond. Having remained where he was for a +wearisome time, he noticed that his presence was now taken for granted +by the hurrying aliens who brushed about him intent upon their +assignments. And slowly he began to edge along the wall toward the +other doorway. Once he froze as the officer strode by, Lablet in +attendance. But what the painted warrior was looking for was a crystal +box on a shelf to Raf's left. When he had pointed that out to an +underling he was off again, and Raf was free to continue his crab's +progress. + +Luck favored him, for, as he reached the moment when he must duck out +the portal, there was a sudden flurry at the other end of the chamber +where four of the aliens, under a volley of orders, strove to move an +unwieldy piece of intricate machinery. + +Raf dodged around the door and flattened back against the wall of the +room beyond. The moving bars of sun said that it was midday. But the +room was empty save for the despoiled carcass, and there was no sign +of the aliens who had been sent out to scout. + +The Terran ran lightly down the narrow room to the second door, which +gave on the lower pits beneath and the way to the arena. As he took +that dark way, he drew his stun gun. Its bolt was intended to render +the victim unconscious, not to kill. But what effect it might have on +the giant reptiles was a question he hoped he would not be forced to +answer, and he paused now and then to listen. + +There were sounds, deceptive sounds. Noises as regular as footfalls, +like a distant padded running. The aliens returning? Or the things +they had gone to hunt? Raf crept on--out into the sunshine which +filled the arena. + +For the first time he studied the enclosure and recognized it for what +it was--a place in which savage and bloody entertainments could be +provided for the population of the city--and it merely confirmed his +opinion of the aliens and all their ways. + +The temptation to explore the city was strong. He eyed the grilles +speculatively. They could be climbed--he was sure of that. Or he could +try some other of the various openings about the sanded area. But as +he hesitated over his choice, he heard something from behind. This was +no unidentifiable noise, but a scream which held both terror and pain. +It jerked him around, sent him running back almost before he thought. + +But the scream did not come again. However there were other +sounds--snuffing whines--a scrabbling-- + +Raf found himself in the round room walled by the old prison cells. +Stabs of light shot through the gloom, thrusting into a roiling black +mass which had erupted through one of the entrances and now held at +bay one of the alien warriors. Three or four of the black creatures +ringed the alien in, moving with speed that eluded the bolts of light +he shot from his weapon, keeping him cornered and from escape, while +their fellows worried another alien limp and defenseless on the floor. + +It was impossible to align the sights of his stun gun with any of +those flitting shadows, Raf discovered. They moved as quickly as a +ripple across a pond. He snapped the button on the hand grip to +"spray" and proceeded to use the full strength of the charge across +the group on the floor. + +For several seconds he was afraid that the stun ray would prove to +have no effect on the alien metabolism of the creatures, for their +weaving, tearing activity did not cease. Then one after another +dropped away from the center mass and lay unmoving on the floor. +Seeing that he could control them, Raf turned his attention to the +others about the standing warrior. + +Again he sent the spray wide, and they subsided. As the last curled on +the pavement, the alien moved forward and, with a snarl, deliberately +turned the full force of his beam weapon on each of the attackers. But +Raf plowed on through the limp pile to the warrior they had pulled +down. + +There was no hope of helping him--death had come with a wide tear in +his throat. Raf averted his eyes from the body. The other warrior was +methodically killing the stunned animals. And his action held such +vicious cruelty that Raf did not want to watch. + +When he looked again at the scene, it was to find the narrow barrel of +the strange weapon pointed at him. Paying no attention to his dead +comrade, the alien was advancing on the Terran as if in Raf he saw +only another enemy to be burned down. + +Moves drilled in him by long hours of weary practice came almost +automatically to the pilot. The stun gun faced the alien rifle sight +to sight. And it seemed that the warrior had developed a hearty +respect for the Terran arm during the past few minutes, for he slipped +his weapon back to the crook of his arm, as if he did not wish Raf to +guess he had used it to threaten. + +The pilot had no idea what to do now. He did not wish to return to the +storehouse. And he believed that the alien was not going to let him go +off alone. The ferocity of the creatures now heaped about them had +been sobering, an effective warning against venturing alone in these +underground ways. + +His dilemma was solved by the entrance of a party of aliens from +another doorway. They stopped short at the sight of the battlefield, +and their leader descended upon the surviving scout for an +explanation, which was made with gestures Raf was able to translate in +part. + +The alien had been far down one of the neighboring corridors with his +dead companion when they had been tracked by the pack and had managed +to reach this point before they were attacked. For some reason Raf +could not understand, the aliens had preferred to flee rather than to +face the menace of the hunters. But they had not been fast enough and +had been trapped here. The gesturing hands then indicated Raf, acted +out the battle which had ensued. + +Crossing to the Terran pilot, the alien officer held out his hand and +motioned for Raf to surrender his weapon. The pilot shook his head. +Did they think him so simple that he would disarm himself at the mere +asking? Especially since the warrior had rounded on him like that only +a few moments before? Nor did he holster his gun. If they wanted to +take it by force just let them try such a move! + +His determination to resist must have gotten across to the leader, for +he did not urge obedience to his orders. Instead he waved the Terran +to join his own party. And since Raf had no reason not to, he did. +Leaving the dead, both alien and enemy, where they had fallen, the +warriors took another way out of the underground maze, a way which +brought them out into a street running to the river. + +Here the party spread out, paying close attention to the pavement, as +if they were engaged in tracking something. Raf saw impressed in one +patch of earth a print dried by the sun, left by one of the reptiles. +And there were smaller tracks he could not identify. All were +inspected carefully, but none of them appeared to be what his +companions sought. + +They trotted up and down along the river bank, and from what he had +already observed concerning the aliens, Raf thought that the leader, +at least, was showing exasperation and irritation. They expected to +find something--it was not there--but it had to be! And they were fast +reaching the point where they wanted to produce it themselves to +justify the time spent in hunting for it. + +Ruthlessly they rayed to death any creature their dragnet drove into +the open, leaving feebly kicking bodies of the furry, long-legged +beasts Raf had first seen after the landing of the spacer. He could +not understand the reason for such wholesale extermination, since +certainly the rabbitlike rodents were harmless. + +In the end they gave up their quest and circled back to come out near +the field where the flitter and the globe rested. When the Terran +flyer came into sight, Raf left the party and hurried toward it. +Soriki waved a welcoming hand. + +"'Bout time one of you showed up. What are they doing--toting half the +city here to load into that thing?" + +Raf looked along the other's pointing finger. A party of aliens towing +a loaded dolly were headed for the gaping hatch of the globe, while a +second party and an empty conveyance passed them on the way back to +the storehouse. + +"They are emptying a warehouse, or trying to." + +"Well, they act as if Old Time himself was heating their tails with a +rocket flare. What's the big hurry?" + +"Somebody's been here." Swiftly Raf outlined what he had seen in the +city, and ended by describing the hunt in which he had taken an +unwilling part. "I'm hungry," he ended and went to burrow for a ration +pack. + +"So," mused Soriki as Raf chewed the stuff which never had the flavor +of fresh provisions, "somebody's been trying to beat the painted lads +to it. The furry people?" + +"It was a spear shaft they found broken with the dead lizard thing," +Raf commented. "And some of those on the island were armed with +spears--" + +"Must be good fighters if, armed with spears, they brought down a +reptile as big as you say. It was big, wasn't it?" + +Raf stared at the city, a square of half-eaten concentrate in his +fingers. Yes, that was a puzzler. The dead monster would be more than +_he_ would care to tackle without a blaster. And yet it was dead, with +a smashed spear for evidence as to the manner of killing. + +All those others dead in the arena, too. How large a party had invaded +the city? Where were they now? + +"I'd like to know," he was speaking more to himself than to the +com-tech, "how they _did_ do it. No other bodies--" + +"Those could have been taken away by their friends," Soriki +suggested. "But if they're still hanging about, I hope they won't +believe that we're bigger and better editions of the painted lads. I +don't want a spear through me!" + +Raf, remembering the maze of lanes and streets--bordered by buildings +which could provide hundreds of lurking places for attackers--which he +had threaded with the confidence of ignorance earlier that day, began +to realize why the aliens had been so nervous. Had a sniper with a +blast rifle been stationed at a vantage point somewhere on the roofs +today none of them would ever have returned to this field. And even a +few spacemen with good cover and accurate throwing aim could have cut +down their number a quarter or a third. He was developing a strong +distaste for those structures. And he had no intention of returning to +the city again. + +He lounged about with Soriki for the rest of the afternoon, watching +the ceaseless activity of the aliens. It was plain that they were +intent upon packing into the cargo hold of their ship everything they +could wrest from the storage house. As if they must make this trip +count double. Was that because they had discovered that their treasure +house was no longer inviolate? + +In the late afternoon Hobart and Lablet came back with one of the work +teams. Lablet was still excited, full of what he had seen, deduced, or +guessed during the day. But the captain was very quiet and sober, and +he unstrapped the wrist camera as soon as he reached the flitter, +turning it over to Soriki. + +"Run that through the ditto," he ordered. "I want two records as soon +as we can get them!" + +The com-tech's eyebrows slid up, "Think you might lose one, sir?" + +"I don't know. Anyway, we'll play it safe with double records." He +accepted the ration pack Raf had brought out for him. But he did not +unwrap it at once; instead he stared at the globe, digging the toe of +his space boot into the soil as if he were grinding something to +powder. + +"They're operating under full jets," he commented. "As if they were +about due to be jumped--" + +"They told us that this was territory now held by their enemies," +Lablet reminded him. + +"And who are these mysterious enemies?" the captain wanted to know. +"Those animals back on that island?" + +Raf wanted to say yes, but Lablet broke in with a question concerning +what had happened to him, and the pilot outlined his adventures of the +day, not forgetting to give emphasis to the incident in the celled +room when the newly rescued alien had turned upon him. + +"Naturally they are suspicious," Lablet countered, "but for a people +who lack space flight, I find them unusually open-minded and ready to +accept us, strange as we must seem to them." + +"Ditto done, Captain." Soriki stepped out of the flitter, the wrist +camera dangling from his fingers. + +"Good." But Hobart did not buckle the strap about his arm once more, +neither did he pay any attention to Lablet. Instead, apparently coming +to some decision, he swung around to face Raf. + +"You went out with that scouting party today. Think you could join +them again, if you see them moving for another foray?" + +"I could try." + +"Sure," Soriki chuckled, "they couldn't do any more than pop him back +at us. What do you think about them, sir? Are they fixing to blast +us?" + +But the captain refused to be drawn. "I'd just like to have a record +of any more trips they make." He handed the camera to Raf. "Put that +on and don't forget to trigger it if you do go. I don't believe +they'll go out tonight. They aren't too fond of being out in the open +in darkness. We saw that last night. But keep an eye on them in the +morning--" + +"Yes, sir." Raf buckled on the wristband. He wished that Hobart would +explain just what he was to look for, but the captain appeared to +think that he had made everything perfectly plain. And he walked off +with Lablet, heading to the globe, as if there was nothing more to be +said. + +Soriki stretched. "I'd say we'd better take it watch and watch," he +said slowly. "The captain may think that they won't go off in the +dark, but we don't know everything about them. Suppose we just keep an +eye on them, and then you'll be ready to tail--" + +Raf laughed. "Tailing would be it. I don't think I'll have a second +invitation and if I get lost--" + +But Soriki shook his head. "That you won't. At least if you do--I'm +going to make a homer out of you. Just tune in your helmet buzzer." + +It needed a com-tech to think of a thing like that! A small adjustment +to the earphones built into his helmet, and Soriki, operating the +flitter com, could give him a guide as efficient as the spacer's +radar! He need not fear being lost in the streets should he lose touch +with those he was spying upon. + +"You're on course!" He pulled off his helmet and then glanced up to +find Soriki smiling at him. + +"Oh, we're not such a bad collection of space bums. Maybe you'll find +that out someday, boy. They breezed you into this flight right out of +training, didn't they?" + +"Just about," Raf admitted cautiously, on guard as ever against +revealing too much of himself. After all, his experience was part of +his record, which was open to anyone on board the spacer. Yes, he was +not a veteran; they must all know that. + +"Someday you'll lose a little of that suspicion," the com-tech +continued, "and find out it isn't such a bad old world after all. +Here, let's see if you're on the beam." He took the helmet out of +Raf's hands and, drawing a small case of delicate instruments from his +belt pouch, unscrewed the ear plates of the com device and made some +adjustments. "Now that will keep you on the buzzer without bursting +your eardrums. Try it." + +Raf fastened on the helmet and started away from the flitter. The +buzzer which he had expected to roar in his ears was only a faint +drone, and above it he could easily hear other sounds. Yet it was +there, and he tested it by a series of loops away from the flyer. Each +time as he came on the true beam he was rewarded by a deepening of the +muted note. Yes, he could be a homer with that, and at the same time +be alert to any other noise in his vicinity. + +"That's it!" He paid credit where it was due. But he was unable to +break his long habit of silence. Something within him still kept him +wary of the com-tech's open friendliness. + +None of the aliens approached the flitter as the shadows began to draw +in. The procession of moving teams stopped, and most of the +burden-bearing warriors withdrew to the globe and stayed there. Soriki +pointed this out. + +"They're none too sure, themselves. Look as if they are closing up for +the night." + +Indeed it did. The painted men had hauled up their ramp, the hatch in +the globe closed with a definite snap. Seeing that, the com-tech +laughed. + +"We have a double reason for a strict watch. Suppose whatever they've +been looking for jumps _us_? They're not worrying over that it now +appears." + +So they took watch and watch, three hours on and three hours in rest. +When it came Raf's turn he did not remain sitting in the flitter, +listening to the com-tech's heavy breathing, but walked a circular +beat which took him into the darkness of the night in a path about the +flyer. Overhead the stars were sharp and clear, glittering gem points. +But in the dead city no light showed, and he was sure that no aliens +camped there tonight. + +He was sleeping when Soriki's grasp on his shoulder brought him to +that instant alertness he had learned on field maneuvers half the +Galaxy away. + +"Business," the com-tech's voice was not above a whisper as he leaned +over the pilot. "I think they are on the move." + +The light was the pale gray of pre-dawn. Raf pulled himself up with +caution to look at the globe. The com-tech was right. A dark opening +showed on the alien ship; they had released their hatch. He fastened +his tunic, buckled on his equipment belt and helmet, strapped his +boots. + +"Here they come!" Soriki reported. "One--two--five--no, six of them. +And they're heading for the city. No dollies with them, but they're +all armed." + +Together the Terrans watched that patrol of alien warriors, their +attitude suggesting that they hoped to pass unseen, hurry toward the +city. Then Raf slipped out of the flyer. His dark clothing in this +light should render him largely invisible. + +Soriki waved encouragingly and the pilot answered with a quick salute +before he sped after his quarry. + + + + +13 + +A HOUND IS LOOSED + + +Dalgard's feet touched gravel; he waded cautiously to the bank, where +a bridge across the river made a concealing shadow on the water. None +of the mermen had accompanied him this far. Sssuri, as soon as his +human comrade had started for the storage city, had turned south to +warn and rally the tribes. And the merpeople of the islands had +instituted a loose chain of communication, which led from a clump of +water reeds some two miles back to the seashore, and so out to the +islands. Better than any of the now legendary coms of his Terran +forefathers were these minds of the spies in hiding, who could pick +up the racing thoughts beamed to them and pass them on to their +fellows. + +Although there were no signs of life about the city, Dalgard moved +with the same care that he would have used in penetrating a +snake-devil's lair. In the first hour of dawn he had contacted a +hopper. The small beast had been frightened almost out of coherent +thought, and Dalgard had had to spend some time in allaying that +terror to get a fractional idea of what might be going on in this +countryside. + +Death--the hopper's terror had come close to insanity. Killers had +come out of the sky, and they were burning--burning--All living things +were fleeing before them. And in that moment Dalgard had been forced +to give up his plan for an unseen spy ring, which would depend upon +the assistance of the animals. His information must come via his own +eyes and ears. + +So he kept on, posting the last of the mermen in his mental relay well +away from the city, but swimming upstream himself. Now that he was +here, he could see no traces of the invaders. Since they could not +have landed their sky ships in the thickly built-up section about the +river, it must follow that their camp lay on the outskirts of the +metropolis. + +He pulled himself out of the water. Bow and arrows had been left +behind with the last merman; he had only his sword-knife for +protection. But he was not there to fight, only to watch and wait. +Pressing the excess moisture out of his scant clothing, he crept along +the shore. If the strangers were using the streets, it might be well +to get above them. Speculatively he eyed the buildings about him as he +entered the city. + +Dalgard continued to keep at street level for two blocks, darting from +doorway to shadowed doorway, alert not only to any sound but to any +flicker of thought. He was reasonably sure, however, that the aliens +would be watching and seeking only for the merpeople. Though they +were not telepathic as their former slaves, Those Others were able to +sense the near presence of a merman, so that the sea people dared not +communicate while within danger range of the aliens without betraying +themselves. It was the fact that he was of a different species, +therefore possibly immune to such detection, which had brought Dalgard +into the city. + +He studied the buildings ahead. Among them was a cone-shaped structure +which might have been the base of a tower that had had all stories +above the third summarily amputated. It was ornamented with a series +of bands in high relief, bands bearing the color script of the aliens. +This was the nearest answer to his problem. However the scout did not +move toward it until after a long moment of both visual and mental +inspection of his surroundings. But that inspection did not reach some +twelve streets away where another crouched to watch. Dalgard ran +lightly to the tower at the same moment that Raf shifted his weight +from one foot to the other behind a parapet as he spied upon the knot +of aliens gathered below him in the street.... + +The pilot had followed them since that early morning hour when Soriki +had awakened him. Not that the chase had led him far in distance. Most +of the time he had spent in waiting just as he was doing now. At first +he had believed that they were searching for something, for they had +ventured into several buildings, each time to emerge conferring, only +to hunt out another and invade it. Since they always returned with +empty hands, he could not believe that they were out for further loot. +Also they moved with more confidence than they had shown the day +before. That confidence led Raf to climb above them so that he could +watch them with less chance of being seen in return. + +It had been almost noon when they had at last come into this section. +If two of them had not remained idling on the street as the long +moments crept by, he would have believed that they had given him the +slip, that he was now a cat watching a deserted mouse hole. But at the +moment they were coming back, carrying something. + +Raf leaned as far over the parapet as he dared, trying to catch a +better look at the flat, boxlike object two of them had deposited on +the pavement. Whatever it was either needed some adjustment or they +were attempting to open it with poor success, for they had been busied +about it for what seemed an unusually long time. The pilot licked dry +lips and wondered what would happen if he swung down there and just +walked in for a look-see. That idea was hardening into resolution when +suddenly the group below drew quickly apart, leaving the box sitting +alone as they formed a circle about it. + +There was a puff of white vapor, a protesting squawk, and the thing +began to rise in jerks as if some giant in the sky was pulling at it +spasmodically. Raf jumped back. Before he could return to his vantage +point, he saw it rise above the edge of the parapet, reach a level +five or six feet above his head, hovering there. It no longer climbed; +instead it began to swing back and forth, describing in each swing a +wider stretch of space. + +Back and forth--watching it closely made him almost dizzy. What was +its purpose? Was it a detection device, to locate him? Raf's hand went +to his stun gun. What effect its rays might have on the box he had no +way of knowing, but at that moment he was sorely tempted to try the +beam out, with the oscillating machine as his target. + +The motion of the floating black thing became less violent, its swoop +smoother as if some long-idle motor was now working more as its +builders had intended it to perform. The swing made wide circles, +graceful glides as the thing explored the air currents. + +Searching--it was plainly searching for something. Just as plainly it +could not be hunting for him, for his presence on that roof would +have been uncovered at once. But the machine was--it must be--out of +sight of the warriors in the street. How could they keep in touch with +it if it located what they sought? Unless it had some built-in +signaling device. + +Determined to keep it in sight, Raf risked a jump from the parapet of +the building where he had taken cover to another roof beyond, running +lightly across that as the hound bobbed and twisted, away from its +masters, out across the city in pursuit of some mysterious quarry.... + + * * * * * + +The climb which had looked so easy from the street proved to be more +difficult when Dalgard actually made it. His hours of swimming in the +river, the night of broken rest, had drained his strength more than he +had known. He was panting as he flattened himself against the wall, +his feet on one of the protruding bands of colored carving, content to +rest before reaching for another hold. To all appearances the city +about him was empty of life and, except for the certainty of the +merpeople that the alien ship and its strange companion had landed +here, he would have believed that he was on a fruitless quest. + +Grimly, his lower lip caught between his teeth, the scout began to +climb once more, the sun hot on his body, drawing sweat to dampen his +forehead and his hands. He did not pause again but kept on until he +stood on the top of the shortened tower. The roof here was not flat +but sloped inward to a cuplike depression, where he could see the +outline of a round opening, perhaps a door of sorts. But at that +moment he was too winded to do more than rest. + +There was a drowsiness in that air. He was tempted to curl up where he +sat and turn his rest into the sleep his body craved. It was in that +second or so of time when he was beginning to relax, to forget the +tenseness which had gripped him since his return to this ill-omened +place, that he touched-- + +Dalgard stiffened as if one of his own poisoned arrows had pricked his +skin. Rapport with the merpeople, with the hoppers and the runners, +was easy, familiar. But this was no such touch. It was like contacting +something which was icy cold, inimical from birth, something which he +could never meet on a plain of understanding. He snapped off mind +questing at that instant and huddled where he was, staring up into the +blank turquoise of the sky, waiting--for what he did not know. Unless +it was for that other mind to follow and ferret out his hiding place, +to turn him inside out and wring from him everything he ever knew or +hoped to learn. + +As time passed in long breaths, and he was not so invaded, he began to +think that while he had been aware of contact, the other had not. And, +emboldened, he sent out a tracer. Unconsciously, as the tracer groped, +he pivoted his body. It lay--there! + +At the second touch he withdrew in the same second, afraid of +revelation. But as he returned to probe delicately, ready to flee at +the first hint that the other suspected, his belief in temporary +safety grew. To his disappointment he could not pierce beyond the +outer wall of identity. There was a living creature of a high rate of +intelligence, a creature alien to his own thought processes, not too +far away. And though his attempts to enter into closer communication +grew bolder, he could not crack the barrier which kept them apart. He +had long known that contact with the merpeople was on a lower, a far +lower, band than they used when among themselves, and that they were +only able to "talk" with the colonists because for generations they +had exchanged thought symbols with the hoppers and other unlike +species. They had been frank in admitting that while Those Others +could be aware of their presence through telepathic means, they could +not exchange thoughts. So now, his own band, basically strange to this +planet, might well go unnoticed by the once dominant race of Astra. + +They--or him--or it--were over in that direction, Dalgard was sure of +that. He faced northwest and saw for the first time, about a mile +away, the swelling of the globe. If the strange flyer reported by the +merpeople was beside it, he could not distinguish it from this +distance. Yet he was sure the mind he had located was closer to him +than that ship. + +Then he saw it--a black object rising by stiff jerks into the air as +if it were being dragged upward against its inclination. It was too +small to be a flyer of any sort. Long ago the colonists had patched +together a physical description of Those Others which had assured them +that the aliens were close to them in general characteristics and +size. No, that couldn't be carrying a passenger. Then what--or why? + +The object swung out in a gradually widening circle. Dalgard held to +the walled edge of the roof. Something within him suggested that it +would be wiser to seek some less open space, that there was danger in +that flying box. He released his hold and went to the trap door. It +took only a minute to fit his fingers into round holes and tug. Its +stubborn resistance gave, and stale air whooshed out in his face as it +opened. + +In his battle with the door Dalgard had ignored the box, so he was +startled when, with a piercing whistle, almost too high on the scale +for his ears to catch, the thing suddenly swooped into a screaming +dive, apparently heading straight for him. Dalgard flung himself +through the trap door, luckily landing on one of the steep, curved +ramps. He lost his balance and slid down into the dark, trying to +brake his descent with his hands, the eerie screech of the box +trumpeting in his ears. + +There was little light in this section of the cone building, and he +was brought up with bruising force against a blank wall two floors +below where he had so unceremoniously entered. As he lay in the dark +trying to gasp some breath back into his lungs, he could still hear +the squeal. Was it summoning? There was no time to be lost in getting +away. + +On his hands and knees the scout crept along what must have been a +short hall until he found a second descending ramp, this one less +steep than the first, so that he was able to keep to his feet while +using it. And the gloom of the next floor was broken by odd scraps of +light which showed through pierced portions of the decorative bands. +The door was there, a locking bar across it. + +Dalgard did not try to shift that at once, although he laid his hands +upon it. If the box was a hound for hunters, had it already drawn its +masters to this building? Would he open the door only to be faced by +the danger he wished most to avoid? Desperately he tried to probe with +the mind touch. But he could not find the alien band. Was that because +the hunters could control their minds as they crept up? His kind knew +so little of Those Others, and the merpeople's hatred of their ancient +masters was so great that they tended to avoid rather than study them. + +The scout's sixth sense told him that nothing waited outside. But the +longer he lingered with that beacon overhead the slimmer his chances +would be. He must move and quickly. Sliding back the bar, he opened +the door a crack and looked out into a deserted street. There was +another doorway to take shelter in some ten feet or so farther along, +beyond that an alley wall overhung by a balcony. He marked these +refuges and went out to make his first dash to safety. + +Nothing stirred, and he sprinted. There came again that piercing +shriek to tear his ears as the floating box dived at him. He swerved +away from the doorway to dart on under the balcony, sure now that he +must keep moving, but under cover so that the black thing could not +pounce. If he could find some entrance into the underground ways such +as those that ran from the arena--But now he was not even sure in +which direction the arena stood, and he dared no longer climb to look +over the surrounding territory. + +He touched the alien mind! They _were_ moving in, following the lead +of their hound. He must not allow himself to be cornered. The scout +fought down a surge of panic, attempted to battle the tenseness which +tied his nerves. He must not run mindlessly either. That was probably +just what they wanted him to do. So he stood under the balcony and +tried not to listen to the shrilling of the box as he studied the +strip of alley. + +This was a narrow side way, and he had not made the wisest of choices +in entering it, for not much farther ahead it was bordered with smooth +walls protecting what had once been gardens. He had no way of telling +whether the box would actually attack him if he were caught in the +open--to put that to the test was foolhardy--nor could he judge its +speed of movement. + +The walls.... A breeze which blew up the lane carried with it the +smell of the river. There was a slim chance that it might end in +water, and he had a feeling that if he could reach the stream he would +be able to baffle the hunters. He did not have long to make up his +mind--the aliens were closer. + +Lightly Dalgard ran under the length of the balcony, turned sharply as +he reached the end of its protecting cover, and leaped. His fingers +gripped the ornamental grillwork, and he was able to pull himself up +and over to the narrow runway. A canopy was still over his head, and +there came a bump against it as the baffled box thumped. So it would +try to knock him off if it could get the chance! That was worth +knowing. + +He looked over the walls. They guarded masses of tangled vegetation +grown through years of neglect into thick mats. And those promised a +way of escape, if he could reach them. He studied the windows, the +door opening onto the balcony. With the hilt of his sword-knife he +smashed his way into the house, to course swiftly through the rooms +to the lower floor, and find the entrance to the garden. + +Facing that briary jungle on the ground level was a little daunting. +To get through it would be a matter of cutting his way. Could he do it +and escape that bobbing, shrilling thing in the air? A trace of +pebbled path gave him a ghost of a chance, and he knew that these +shrubs tended to grow upward and not mass until they were several feet +above the ground. + +Trusting to luck, Dalgard burrowed into the green mass, slashing with +his knife at anything which denied him entrance. He was swallowed up +in a strange dim world wherein dead shrubs and living were twined +together to form a roof, cutting off the light and heat of the sun. +From the sour earth, sliming his hands and knees, arose an +overpowering stench of decay and disturbed mold. In the dusk he had to +wait for his eyes to adjust before he could mark the line of the old +path he had taken for his guide. + +Fortunately, after the first few feet, he discovered that the tunneled +path was less obstructed than he had feared. The thick mat overhead +had kept the sun from the ground and killed off all the lesser plants +so that it was possible to creep along a fairly open strip. He was +conscious of the chitter of insects, but no animals lingered here. +Under him the ground grew more moist and the mold was close to mud in +consistency. He dared to hope that this meant he was either +approaching the river or some garden stream feeding into the larger +flood. + +Somewhere the squeal of the hunter kept up a steady cry, but, unless +the foliage above him was distorting that sound, Dalgard believed that +the box was no longer directly above him. Had he in some way thrown it +off his trail? + +He found his stream, a thread of water, hardly more than a series of +scummy pools with the vegetation still meeting almost solidly over it. +And it brought him to a wall with a drain through which he was sure +he could crawl. Disliking to venture into that cramped darkness, but +seeing no other way out, the scout squirmed forward in slime and muck, +feeling the rasp of rough stone on his shoulders as he made his worm's +progress into the unknown. + +Once he was forced to halt and, in the dark, loosen and pick out +stones embedded in the mud bottom narrowing the passage. On the other +side of that danger point, he was free to wriggle on. Could the box +trace him now? He had no idea of the principle on which it operated; +he could only hope. + +Then before him he saw the ghostly gray of light and squirmed with +renewed vigor--to be faced then by a grille, beyond which was the open +world. Once more his knife came into use as he pried and dug at the +barrier. He worked for long moments until the grille splashed out into +the sluggish current a foot or so below, and then he made ready to +lower himself into the same flood. + +It was only because he was a trained hunter that he avoided death in +that moment. Some instinct made him dodge even as he slipped through, +and the hurtling black box did not strike true at the base of his +brain but raked along his scalp, tearing the flesh and sending him +tumbling unconscious into the brown water. + + + + +14 + +THE PRISONER + + +Raf was two streets away from the circling box but still able to keep +it in sight when its easy glide stopped, and, in a straight line, it +swooped toward a roof emitting a shrill, rising whistle. It rose again +a few seconds later as if baffled, but it continued to hover at that +point, keening forth its warning. The pilot reached the next +building, but a street still kept him away from the conical structure +above which the box now hung. + +Undecided, he stayed where he was. Should he go down to street level +and investigate? Before he had quite made up his mind he saw the +foremost of the alien scouting party round into the thoroughfare below +and move purposefully at the cone tower, weapons to the fore. Judging +by their attitude, the box had run to earth there the prey they had +been searching for. + +But it wasn't to be so easy. With another eerie howl the machine +soared once more and bobbed completely over the cone to the street +which must lie beyond it. Raf knew that he could not miss the end of +the chase and started on a detour along the roof tops which should +bring him to a vantage point. By the time he had made that journey he +found himself on a warehouse roof which projected over the edge of the +river. + +From a point farther downstream a small boat was putting out. Two of +the aliens paddled while a third crouched in the bow. A second party +was picking its way along the bank some distance away, both groups +seemingly heading toward a point a building or two to the left of the +one where Raf had taken cover. + +He heard the shrilling of the box, saw it bobbing along a line toward +the river. But in that direction there was only a mass of green. The +end to the weird chase came so suddenly that he was not prepared, and +it was over before he caught a good look at the quarry. Something +moved down on the river bank and in that same instant the box hurtled +earthward as might a spear. It struck, and the creature who had just +crawled out--out of the ground as far as Raf could see--toppled into +the stream. As the waters closed over the body, the box slued around +and came to rest on the bank. The party in the boat sent their small +craft flying toward the spot where the crawler had sunk. + +One of the paddlers abandoned his post and slipped over the side, +diving into the oily water. He made two tries before he was successful +and came to the surface with the other in tow. They did not try to +heave the unconscious captive into the boat, merely kept the lolling +head above water as they turned downstream once more and vanished from +Raf's sight around the end of a pier, while the second party on the +bank reclaimed the now quiet box and went off. + +But Raf had seen enough to freeze him where he was for a moment. The +creature which had popped out of the ground only to be struck by the +box and knocked into the river--he would take oath on the fact that it +was not one of the furred animals he had seen on the sea island. +Surely it had been smooth-skinned, not unlike the aliens in +conformation--one of their own kind they had been hunting down, a +criminal or a rebel? + +Puzzled, the pilot moved along from roof to roof, trying to pick up +the trail of the party in the boat, but as far as he could now see, +the river was bare. If they had come ashore anywhere along here, they +had simply melted into the city. At last he was forced to use the +homing beam, and it guided him back across the deserted metropolis to +the field. + +There was still activity about the globe; they were bringing in the +loot from the warehouse, but Lablet and Hobart stood by the flitter. +As the pilot came up to them, the captain looked up eagerly. + +"What happened?" + +Raf sensed that there had been some change during his absence, that +Hobart was looking to him for an explanation to make clear happenings +here. He told his story of the hunt and its ending, the capture of the +stranger. Lablet nodded as he finished. + +"That is the reason for this, you may depend upon it, Captain. One of +their own people is at the bottom of it." + +"Of what?" Raf wanted to ask, but Soriki did it for him. + +Hobart smiled grimly. "We are all traveling back together. Take off in +the early morning. For some reason they wanted us out of the globe in +a hurry--practically shoved us out half an hour ago." + +Though the Terrans kept a watch on the larger ship as long as the +light lasted, the darkness defeated them. They did not see the +prisoner being taken aboard. Yet none of them doubted that sometime +during the dusky hours it had been done. + +It was barely dawn when the globe took off the next day, and Raf +brought the flitter up on its trail, heading westward into the sea +wind. Below them the land held no signs of life. They swept over the +deserted, terraced city that was the gateway to the guarded interior, +flew back over the line of sea islands. Raf climbed higher, not caring +to go too near the island where the aliens had wrought their terrible +vengeance on the trip out. And all four of the Terrans knew relief, +though they might not admit it to each other, when once more Soriki +was able to establish contact with the distant spacer. + +"Turn north, sir?" the pilot suggested. "I could ride her beam in from +here--we don't have to follow them home." He wanted to do that so +badly it was almost a compulsion to make his hand move on the +controls. And when Hobart did not answer at once, he was sure that the +captain would give that very order, taking them out of the company of +those he had never trusted. + +But Lablet spoiled that. "We have their word, Captain. That anti-grav +unit that they showed us last night alone--" + +So Hobart shook his head, and they meekly continued on the path set by +the globe across the ocean. + +As the hours passed Raf's inner uneasiness grew. For some queer reason +which he could not define to himself or explain to anyone else, he was +now possessed by an urgency to trail the globe which transcended and +then erased his dislike of the aliens. It was as if some appeal for +help was being broadcast from the other ship, drawing him on. It was +then that he began to question his assumption that the prisoner was +one of them. + +Over and over again in his mind he tried to re-picture the capture as +he had witnessed it from the building just too far away and at +slightly the wrong angle for a clear view. He would swear that the +body he had seen tumble into the flood had not been furred, that much +he was sure of. But clothing, yes, there had been clothing. Not--his +mind suddenly produced that one scrap of memory--not the bandage +windings of the aliens. And hadn't the skin been fairer? Was there +another race on this continent, one they had not been told about? + +When they at last reached the shore of the western continent and +finally the home city of the aliens, the globe headed back to its +berth, not in the roof cradle from which it had arisen, but sinking +into the building itself. Raf brought the flitter down on a roof as +close to the main holding of the painted people as he could get. None +of the aliens came near them. It seemed that they were to be ignored. +Hobart paced along the flat roof, and Soriki sat in the flyer, nursing +his com, intent upon the slender thread of beam which tied them to the +parent ship so many miles away. + +"I don't understand it." Lablet's voice arose almost plaintively. +"They were so very persuasive about our accompanying them. They were +eager to have us see their treasures--" + +Hobart swung around. "Somehow the balance of power has changed," he +observed, "in their favor. I'd give anything to know more about that +prisoner of theirs. You're sure it wasn't one of the furry people?" he +asked Raf, as if hoping against hope that the pilot would reply in +doubt. + +"Yes, sir." Raf hesitated. Should he air his suspicions, that the +captive was not of the same race as his captors either? But what +proof had he beyond a growing conviction that he could not +substantiate? + +"A rebel, a thief--" Lablet was ready to dismiss it as immaterial. +"Naturally they would be upset if they were having trouble with one of +their own men. But to leave now, just when we are on the verge of new +discoveries--That anti-gravity unit alone is worth our whole trip! +Imagine being able to return to earth with the principle of that!" + +"Imagine being able to return to earth with our skins on our backs," +was Soriki's whispered contribution. "If we had the sense of a +Venusian water nit, we'd blast out of here so quick our tail fumes'd +take off with us!" + +Privately Raf concurred, but the urge to know more about the +mysterious prisoner was still pricking at him, until he, contrary to +his usual detachment, felt driven to discover all that he could. It +was almost, but Raf shied away from that wild idea, it was almost as +if he were hearing a voiceless cry for aid, as if his mind was one of +Soriki's coms tuned in on an unknown wave length. He was angrily +impatient with himself for that fantastic supposition. At the same +time, another part of his mind, as he walked to the edge of the roof +and looked out at the buildings he knew were occupied by the aliens, +was busy examining the scene as if he intended to crawl about on roof +tops on a second scouting expedition. + +Finally the rest decided that Lablet and Hobart were to try to +establish contact with the aliens once more. After they had gone, Raf +opened a compartment in the flitter, the contents of which were his +particular care. He squatted on his heels and surveyed the neatly +stowed objects inside thoughtfully. A survival kit depended a great +deal on the type of terrain in which the user was planning to +survive--an aquatic world would require certain basic elements, a +frozen tundra others--but there were a few items common to every +emergency, and those were now at Raf's fingertips. The blast bombs, +sealed into their pexilod cases, guaranteed to stop all the attackers +that Terran explorers had so far met on and off worlds, a coil of rope +hardly thicker than a strand of knitting yarn but of inconceivable +toughness and flexibility, an aid kit with endurance drugs and pep +pills which could keep a man on his feet and going long after food and +water failed. He had put them all in their separate compartments. + +For a long moment he hunkered there, studying the assortment. And +then, almost as if some will other than his own was making a choice, +he reached out. The rope curled about his waist under his tunic so +tautly that its presence could not be detected without a search, blast +bombs went into the sealed seam pocket on his breast, and two flat +containers with their capsules were tucked away in his belt pouch. He +snapped the door shut and got to his feet to discover Soriki watching +him. Only for a moment was Raf disconcerted. He knew that he would not +be able to explain why he must do what he was going to do. There was +no reason why he should. Soriki, except for being a few years his +senior, had no authority over him. He was not under the com-tech's +orders. + +"Another trip into the blue?" + +The pilot replied to that with a nod. + +"Somehow, boy, I don't think anything's going to stop you, so why +waste my breath? But use your homer--and your eyes!" + +Raf paused. There was an unmistakable note of friendliness in the +com-tech's warning. Almost he was tempted to try and explain. But how +could one make plain feelings for which there was no sensible reason? +Sometimes it was better to be quiet. + +"Don't dig up more than you can rebury." That warning, in the slang +current when they had left Terra, was reassuring simply because it was +of the earth he knew. Raf grinned. But he did not head toward the roof +opening and the ramp inside the building. Instead he set a course he +had learned in the other city, swinging down to the roof of the +neighboring structure, intent on working away from the inhabited +section of the town before he went into the streets. + +Either the aliens had not set any watch on the Terrans or else all +their interest was momentarily engaged elsewhere. Raf, having gone +three or four blocks in the opposite direction to his goal, made his +way through a silent, long-deserted building to the street without +seeing any of the painted people. In his ear buzzed the comforting hum +of the com, tying him with the flitter and so, in a manner, to safety. + +He knew that the alien community had gathered in and around the +central building they had visited. To his mind the prisoner was now +either in the headquarters of the warriors, where the globe had been +berthed, or had been taken to the administration building. Whether he +could penetrate either stronghold was a question Raf did not yet face +squarely. + +But the odd something which tugged at him was as persistent as the +buzz in his earphones. And an idea came. If he _were_ obeying some +strange call for assistance, couldn't that in some way lead him to +what he sought? The only difficulty was that he had no way of being +more receptive to the impulse than he now was. He could not use it as +a compass bearing. + +In the end he chose the Center as his goal, reasoning that if the +prisoner were to be interviewed by the leaders of the aliens, he would +be taken to those rulers, they would not go to him. From a concealed +place across from the open square on which the building fronted, the +pilot studied it carefully. It towered several stories above the +surrounding structures, to some of which it was tied by the ways above +the streets. To use one of those bridges as a means of entering the +headquarters would be entirely too conspicuous. + +As far as the pilot was able to judge, there was only one entrance on +the ground level, the wide front door with the imposing +picture-covered gates. Had he had free use of the flitter he might +have tried to swing down from the hovering machine after dark. But he +was sure that Captain Hobart would not welcome the suggestion. + +Underground? There had been those ways in that other city, a city +which, though built on a much smaller scale, was not too different in +general outline from this one. The idea was worth investigation. + +The doorway, which had afforded him a shelter from which to spy out +the land, yielded to his push, and he went through three large rooms +on the ground floor, paying no attention to the strange groups of +furnishings, but seeking something else, which he had luck to find in +the last room, a ramp leading down. + +It was in the underground that he made his first important find. They +had seen ground vehicles in the city, a few still in operation, but +Raf had gathered that the fuel and extra parts for the machines were +now so scarce that they were only used in emergencies. Here, however, +was a means of transportation quite different, a tunnel through which +ran a ribbon of belt, wide enough to accommodate three or four +passengers at once. It did not move, but when Raf dared to step out +upon its surface, it swung under his weight. Since it ran in the +general direction of the Center he decided to use it. It trembled +under his tread, but he found that he could run along it making no +sound. + +The tunnel was not in darkness, for square plates set in the roof gave +a diffused violet light. However, not too far ahead, the light was +brighter, and it came from one side, not the roof. Another station on +this abandoned way? The pilot approached it with caution. If his bump +of direction was not altogether off, this must be either below the +Center or very close to it. + +The second station proved to be a junction where more than one of the +elastic paths met. Though he crouched to listen for a long moment +before venturing out into that open space, he could hear or see +nothing which suggested that the aliens ever came down now to these +levels. + +They had provided an upward ramp, and Raf climbed it, only to meet his +first defeat at its top. For here was no opening to admit him to the +ground floor of what he hoped was the Center. Baffled by the smooth +surface over which he vainly ran his hands seeking for some clue to +the door, he decided that the aliens had, for some purpose of their +own, walled off the lower regions. Discouraged, he returned to the +junction level. But he was not content to surrender his plans so +easily. Slowly he made a circuit of the platform, examining the walls +and celling. He found an air shaft, a wide opening striking up into +the heart of the building above. + +It was covered with a grille and it was above his reach but.... + +Raf measured distances and planned his effort. The mouth of a junction +tunnel ran less than two feet away from that grille. The opening was +outlined with a ledge, which made a complete arch from the floor. He +stopped and triggered the gravity plates in his space boots. Made to +give freedom of action when the ship was in free fall, they might just +provide a weak suction here. And they did! He was able to climb that +arch and, standing on it, work loose the grille which had been +fashioned to open. Now.... + +The pilot flashed his hand torch up into that dark well. He had been +right--and lucky! There were holds at regular intervals, something +must have been serviced by workmen in here. This was going to be easy. +His fingers found the first hold, and he wormed his way into the +shaft. + +It was not a difficult climb, for there were niches along the way +where the alien mechanics who had once made repairs had either rested +or done some of their work. And there were also grilles on each level +which gave him at least a partial view of what lay beyond. + +His guess was right; he recognized the main hall of the Center as he +climbed past the grid there, heading up toward those levels where he +was sure the leaders of the aliens had their private quarters. Twice +he paused to look in upon conferences of the gaudily wrapped and +painted civilians, but, since he could not understand what they were +saying, it was a waste of time to linger. + +He was some eight floors up when chance, luck, or that mysterious +something which had brought him into this venture, led him to the +right place at the right time. There was one of those niches, and he +had just settled into it, peering out through the grid, when he saw +the door at the opposite end of the room open and in marched a party +of warriors with a prisoner in their midst. + +Raf's eyes went wide. It was the captive he sought; he had no doubt of +that. But who--what--was that prisoner? + +This was no fur-covered half-animal, nor was it one of the +delicate-boned, decadent, painted creatures such as those who now +ringed in their captive. Though the man had been roughly handled and +now reeled rather than walked, Raf thought for one wild instant that +it was one of the crew from the spacer. The light hair, showing rings +of curl, the tanned face which, beneath dirt and bruises, displayed a +very familiar cast of features, the body hardly covered by rags of +clothing--they were all so like those of his own kind that his mind at +first refused to believe that this was _not_ someone he knew. Yet as +the party moved toward his hiding place he knew that he was facing a +total stranger. + +Stranger or no, Raf was sure that he saw a Terran. Had another ship +made a landing on this planet? One of those earlier ships whose fate +had been a mystery on their home world? Who--and when--and why? He +huddled as close to the grid as he could get, alert to the slightest +movement below as the prisoner faced his captors. + + + + +15 + +ARENA + + +The dull pain which throbbed through Dalgard's skull with every beat +of his heart was confusing, and it was hard to think clearly. But the +colony scout, soon after he had fought his way back to consciousness, +had learned that he was imprisoned somewhere in the globe ship. Just +as he now knew that he had been brought across the sea from the +continent on which Homeport was situated and that he had no hope of +rescue. + +He had seen little of his captors, and the guards, who had hustled him +from one place of imprisonment to another, had not spoken to him, nor +had he tried to communicate with them. At first he had been too sick +and confused, then too wary. These were clearly Those Others and the +conditioning which had surrounded him from birth had instilled in him +a deep distrust of the former masters of Astra. + +Now Dalgard was more alert, and his being brought to this room in what +was certainly the center of the alien civilization made him believe +that he was about to meet the rulers of the enemy. So he stared +curiously about him as the guards jostled him through the door. + +On a dais fashioned of heaped-up rainbow-colored pads were three +aliens, their legs folded under them at what seemed impossible angles. +One wore the black wrappings, the breastplate of the guards, but the +other two had indulged their love of color in weird, eye-disturbing +combinations of shades in the bandages wrapping the thin limbs and +paunchy bodies. They were, as far as he could see through the thick +layers of paint overlaying their skins, older than their officer +companion. But nothing in their attitude suggested that age had +mellowed them. + +Dalgard was brought to stand before the trio as before a tribunal of +judges. His sword-knife had been taken from his belt before he had +regained his senses, his hands were twisted behind his back and locked +together in a bar and hoop arrangement. He certainly could offer +little threat to the company, yet they ringed him in, weapons ready, +watching his every move. The scout licked cracked lips. There was one +thing they could not control, could not prevent him from doing. +Somewhere, not too far away, was help ... + +Not from the merpeople, but he was sure that he had been in contact +with another friendly mind. Since the hour of his awakening on board +the globe ship, when he had half-consciously sent out an appeal for +aid over the band which united him with Sssuri's race, and had touched +that other consciousness--not the cold alien stream about him--he had +been sure that somewhere within the enemy throng there was a potential +savior. Was it among those who manned the strange flyer, those the +merpeople had spied upon but whom he had not yet seen? + +Dalgard had striven since that moment of contact to keep in touch with +the nebulous other mind, to project his need for help. But he had been +unable to enter in freely as he could with his own kind, or with +Sssuri and the sea people. Now, even as he stood in the heart of the +enemy territory completely at the mercy of the aliens, he felt, more +strongly than ever before, that another, whose mind he could not enter +and yet who was in some queer way sensitive to his appeal, was close +at hand. He searched the painted faces before him trying to probe +behind each locked mask, but he was certain that the one he sought was +not there. Only--he must be! The contact was so strong--Dalgard's +startled eyes went to the wall behind the dais, tried vainly to trace +what could only be felt. He would be willing to give a knife oath that +the stranger was within seeing, listening distance at this minute! + +While he was so engrossed in his own problem, the guard had moved. The +hooped bar which locked his wrists was loosened, and his arms, each +tight in the grip of one of the warriors were brought out before him. +The officer on the dais tossed a metal ring to one of the guards. + +Roughly the warrior holding Dalgard's left arm forced the band over +his hand and jerked it up his forearm as far as it would go. As it +winked in the light the scout was reminded of a similar bracelet he +had seen--where? On the front leg of the snake-devil he had shot! + +The officer produced a second ring, slipping it smoothly over his own +arm, adjusting it to touch bare skin and not the wrappings which +served him as a sleeve. Dalgard thought he understood. A device to +facilitate communication. And straightway he was wary. When his +ancestors had first met the merpeople, they had established a means of +speech through touch, the palm of one resting against the palm of the +other. In later generations, when they had developed their new senses, +physical contact had not been necessary. However, here--Dalgard's eyes +narrowed, the line along his jaw was hard. + +He had always accepted the merpeople's estimate of Those Others, that +their ancient enemies were all-seeing and all-knowing, with mental +powers far beyond their own definition or description. Now he half +expected to be ruthlessly mind-invaded, stripped of everything the +enemy desired to know. + +So he was astonished when the words which formed in his thoughts were +simple, almost childish. And while he prepared to answer them, another +part of him watched and listened, waiting for the attack he was sure +would come. + +"You--are--who--what?" + +He forced a look of astonishment. Nor did he make the mistake of +answering that mentally. If Those Others did not know he could use +the mind speech, why betray his power? + +"I am of the stars," he answered slowly, aloud, using the speech of +Homeport. He had so little occasion to talk lately that his voice +sounded curiously rusty and harsh in his own ears. Nor had he the +least idea of the impression those few archaically accented words +would have on one who heard them. + +To Dalgard's inner surprise the answer did not astonish his +interrogator. The alien officer might well have been expecting to hear +just that. But he pulled off his own arm band before he turned to his +fellows with a spurt of the twittering speech they used among +themselves. While the two civilians were still trilling, the officer +edged forward an inch or so and stared at Dalgard intently as he +replaced the band. + +"You not look--same--as others--" + +"I do not know what you mean. Here are not others like me." + +One of the civilians twitched at the officer's sleeve, apparently +demanding a translation, but the other shook him off impatiently. + +"You come from sky--now?" + +Dalgard shook his head, then realized that gesture might not mean +anything to his audience. "Long ago before I was, my people came." + +The alien digested that, then again took off his band before he +relayed it to his companions. The excited twitter of their speech +scaled up. + +"You travel with the beasts--" the alien's accusation came crisply +while the others gabbled. "That which hunts could not have tracked you +had not the stink of the beast things been on you." + +"I know no beasts," Dalgard faced up to that squarely. "The sea people +are my friends!" + +It was hard to read any emotion on these lacquered and bedaubed faces, +but before the officer once more broke bracelet contact, Dalgard did +sense the other's almost hysterical aversion. The scout might just +have admitted to the most revolting practices as far as the alien was +concerned. After he had translated, all three of those on the dais +were silent. Even the guards edged away from the captive as if in some +manner they might be defiled by proximity. One of the civilians made +an emphatic statement, got creakily to his feet, and walked always as +if he would have nothing more to do with this matter. After a second +or two of hesitation his fellow followed his example. + +The officer turned the bracelet around in his fingers, his dark eyes +with their slitted pupils never leaving Dalgard's face. Then he came +to a decision. He pushed the ring up his arm, and the words which +reached the prisoner were coldly remote, as if the captive were no +longer judged an intelligent living creature but something which had +no right of existence in a well-ordered universe. + +"Beast friends with beast. As the beasts--so shall you end. It is +spoken." + +One of the guards tore the bracelet from Dalgard's arm, trying not to +touch the scout's flesh in the process. And those who once more +shackled his wrists ostentatiously wiped their hands up and down the +wrappings on their thighs afterwards. + +But before they jabbed him into movement with the muzzles of their +weapons, Dalgard located at last the source of that disturbing mental +touch, not only located it, but in some manner broke through the +existing barrier between the strange mind and his and communicated as +clearly with it as he might have with Sssuri. And the excitement of +his discovery almost led to self-betrayal! + +Terran! One of those who traveled with the aliens? Yet he read clearly +the other's distrust of that company, the fact that he lay in +concealment here without their knowledge. And he was not +unfriendly--surely he could not be a Peaceman of Pax! Another fugitive +from a newly-come colony ship--? Dalgard beamed a warning to the +other. If he who was free could only reach the merpeople! It might +mean the turning point in their whole venture! + +Dalgard was furiously planning, simplifying, trying to impress the +most imperative message on that other mind as he stumbled away in the +midst of the guards. The stranger was confused, apparently Dalgard's +arrival, his use of the mind touch, had been an overwhelming surprise. +But if he could only make the right move--would make it--The scout +from Homeport had no idea what was in store for him, but with one of +his own breed here and suspicious of the aliens he had at least a slim +chance. He snapped the thread of communication. Now he must be ready +for any opportunity-- + +Raf watched that amazing apparition go out of the room below. He was +shaking with a chill born of no outside cold. First the shock of +hearing that language, queerly accented as the words were, then that +sharp contact, mind to mind. He was being clearly warned against +revealing himself. The stranger was a Terran, Raf would swear to that. +So somewhere on this world there was a Terran colony! One of those +legendary ships of outlaws, who had taken to space during the rule of +Pax, had made the crossing safely and had here established a foothold. + +While one part of Raf's brain fitted together the jigsaw of bits and +patches of information, the other section dealt with that message of +warning the other had beamed to him. The pilot knew that the captive +must be in immediate danger. He could not understand all that had +happened in that interview with the aliens, but he was left with the +impression that the prisoner had been not only tried but condemned. +And it was up to him to help. + +But how? By the time he got back to the flitter or was able to find +Hobart and the others, it might already be too late. _He_ must make +the move, and soon, for there had been unmistakable urgency in the +captive's message. Raf's hands fumbled at the grid before him, and +then he realized that the opening was far too small to admit him to +the room on the other side of the wall. + +To return to the underground ways might be a waste of time, but he +could see no other course open to him. What if he could not find the +captive later? Where in the maze of the half-deserted city could he +hope to come across the trail again? Even as he sorted out all the +points which could defeat him, Raf's hands and feet felt for the +notched steps which would take him down. He had gone only two floors +when he was faced with a grille opening which was much larger. On +impulse he stopped to measure it, sure he could squeeze through here, +if he could work loose the grid. + +Prying with one hand and a tool from his belt pouch, he struggled not +only against the stubborn metal but against time. That strange mental +communication had ceased. Though he was sure that he still received a +trace of it from time to time, just enough to reassure him that the +prisoner was still alive. And each time it touched him Raf redoubled +his efforts on the metal clasps of the grid. At last his determination +triumphed, and the grille swung out, to fall with an appalling clatter +to the floor. + +The pilot thrust his feet through the opening and wriggled +desperately, expecting any moment to confront a reception committee +drawn by the noise. But when he reached the floor, the hallway was +still vacant. In fact, he was conscious of a hush in the whole +building, as if those who made their homes within its walls were +elsewhere. That silence acted on him as a spur. + +Raf ran along the corridor, trying to subdue the clatter of his space +boots, coming to a downward ramp. There he paused, unable to decide +whether to go down--until he caught sight of a party of aliens below, +walking swiftly enough to suggest that they too were in a hurry. + +This small group was apparently on its way to some gathering. And in +it for the first time the Terran saw the women of the aliens, or at +least the fully veiled, gliding creatures he guessed were the females +of the painted people. There were four of them in the group ahead, +escorted by two of the males, and the high fluting of their voices +resounded along the corridor as might the cheeping of birds. If the +males were colorful in their choice of body wrappings, the females +were gorgeous beyond belief, as cloudy stuff which had the changing +hues of Terran opals frothed about them to completely conceal their +figures. + +The harsher twittering of the men had an impatient note, and the whole +party quickened pace until their glide was close to an undignified +trot. Raf, forced to keep well behind lest his boots betray him, +fumed. + +They did not go into the open, but took another way which sloped down +once more. Luckily the journey was not a long one. Ahead was light +which suggested the outdoors. + +Raf sucked in his breath as he came out a goodly distance behind the +aliens. Established in what was once a court surrounded by the towers +and buildings of the city was a miniature of that other arena where he +had seen the dead lizard things. The glittering, gayly dressed aliens +were taking their places on the tiers of seats. But the place which +had been built to accommodate at least a thousand spectators now +housed less than half the number. If this was the extent of the alien +nation, it was the dregs of a dwindling race. + +Directly below where Raf lingered in an aisle dividing the tiers of +seats, there was a manhole opening with a barred gate across it, an +entrance to the sand-covered enclosure. And fortunately the aliens +were all clustered close to the oval far from that spot. + +Also the attention of the audience was firmly riveted on events below. +A door at the sand level had been flung open, and through it was now +hustled the prisoner. Either the aliens still possessed some idea of +fair play or they hoped to prolong a contest to satisfy their own +pleasure, for the captive's hands were unbound and he clutched a +spear. + +Remembering far-off legends of earlier and more savage civilizations +on his own world, Raf was now sure that the lone man below was about +to fight for his life. The question was, against what? + +Another of the mouthlike openings around the edge of the arena opened, +and one of the furry people shambled out, weaving weakly from side to +side as he came, a spear in his scaled paws. He halted a step or two +into the open, his round head swinging from side to side, spittle +drooling from his gaping mouth. His body was covered with raw sores +and bare patches from which the fur had been torn away, and it was +apparent that he had long been the victim of ill-usage, if not +torture. + +Shrill cries arose from the alien spectators as the furred one blinked +in the light and then sighted the man some feet away. He stiffened, +his arm drew back, the spear poised. Then as suddenly it dropped to +his side, and he fell on his knees before wriggling across the sand, +his paws held out imploringly to his fellow captive. + +The cries from the watching aliens were threatening. Several rose in +their seats gesturing to the two below. And Raf, thankful for their +absorption, sped down to the manhole, discovering to his delight it +could be readily opened from his side. As he edged it around, there +was another sound below. This was no high-pitched fluting from aliens +deprived of their sport, but a hissing nightmare cry. + +Raf's line of vision, limited by the door, framed a portion of scaled +back, as it looked, immediately below him. His hand went to the blast +bombs as he descended the runway, and his boots hit the sand just as +the drama below reached its climax. + +The furred one lay prone in the sand, uncaring. Above that mistreated +body, the human stood in the half-crouch of a fighting man, the puny +spear pointed up bravely at a mark it could not hope to reach, the +soft throat of one of the giant lizards. The reptile did not move to +speedily destroy. Instead, hissing, it reared above the two as if +studying them with a vicious intelligence. But there was no time to +wonder how long it would delay striking. + +Raf's strong teeth ripped loose the tag end of the blast bomb, and he +lobbed it straight with a practiced arm so that the ball spiraled +across the arena to come to rest between the massive hind legs of the +lizard. He saw the man's eyes widen as they fastened on him. And then +the human captive flung himself to the earth, half covering the body +of the furred one. The reptile grabbed in the same instant, its +grasping claws cutting only air, and before it could try a second time +the bomb went off. + +Literally torn apart by the explosion, the creature must have died at +once. But the captive moved. He was on his feet again, pulling his +companion up with him, before the startled spectators could guess what +had happened. Then half carrying the other prisoner, he ran, not +onward to the waiting Raf, but for the gate through which he had come +into the arena. At the same time a message beat into the Terran's +brain-- + +"This way!" + +Avoiding bits of horrible refuse, Raf obeyed that order, catching up +in a couple of strides with the other two and linking his arm through +the dangling one of the furred creature to take some of the strain +from the stranger. + +"Have you any more of the power things?" the words came in the archaic +speech of his own world. + +"Two more bombs," he answered. + +"We may have to blow the gate here," the other panted breathlessly. + +Instead Raf drew his stun gun. The gate was already opening, a wedge +of the painted warriors heading through, flame-throwers ready. He +sprayed wide, and on the highest level. A spout of fire singed the +cloth of his tunic across the top of his shoulder as one of the last +aliens fired before his legs buckled and he went down. Then, +opposition momentarily gone, the two with their semiconscious charge +stumbled over the bodies of the guards and reached the corridor +beyond. + + + + +16 + +SURPRISE ATTACK + + +So much had happened so quickly during the past hour that Dalgard had +no chance to plan or even sort out impressions in his mind. He had no +guess as to where this stranger, now taking some of the burden of the +wounded merman from him, had sprung from. The other's clothing, the +helmet covering his head were more akin to those worn by the aliens +than they were to the dress of the colonist. Yet the man beneath those +trappings was of the same breed as his own people. And he could not +believe he was a Peaceman of Pax--all he had done here spoke against +those legends of dark Terran days Dalgard had heard from childhood. +But where had he come from? The only answer could be another outlaw +colony ship. + +"We are in the inner ways," Dalgard tried to reach the mind of the +merman as they pounded on into the corridors which led from the arena. +"Do you know these--" He had a faint hope that the sea man because of +his longer captivity might have a route of escape to suggest. + +"--down to the lower levels--" the thought came slowly, forced out by +a weakening will. "Lower--levels--roads to the sea--" + +That was what Dalgard had been hoping for, some passage which would +run seaward and so to safety, such as he had found with Sssuri in that +other city. + +"What are we hunting?" the stranger broke in, and Dalgard realized +that perhaps the other did not follow the mind talk. His words had an +odd inflection, a clipped accent which was new. + +"A lower way," he returned in the speech of his own people. + +"To the right." The merman, struggling against his own weakness, had +raised his head and was looking about as one who searches for a +familiar landmark. + +There was a branching way to the right, and Dalgard swung into it, +bringing the other two after him. This was a narrow passage, and twice +they brushed by sealed doors. It brought them up against a blank wall. +The stranger wheeled, his odd weapon ready, for they could hear the +shouts of pursuers behind them. But the merman pulled free of Dalgard +and went down on the floor to dig with his taloned fingers at some +depressions there. + +"Open here," the thought came clearly, "then down!" + +Dalgard went down on one knee, able now to see the outline of a trap +door. It must be pried up. His sword-knife was gone, the spear they +had given him for the arena he had dropped when he dragged the merman +out of danger. He looked to the stranger. About the other's narrow +hips was slung a belt from which hung pouches and tools the primitive +colonist could not evaluate. But there was also a bush knife, and he +reached for it. + +"The knife--" + +The stranger glanced down at the blade he wore in surprise, as if he +had forgotten it. Then with one swift movement he drew it from its +sheath and flipped it to Dalgard. + +On the track behind the clamor was growing, and the colony scout +worked with concentration at his task of fitting the blade into the +crack and freeing the door. As soon as there was space enough, the +merman's claws recklessly slid under, and he added what strength he +could to Dalgard's. The door arose and fell back onto the pavement +with a clang, exposing a dark pit. + +"Got 'em!" the words burst from the stranger. He had pressed the +firing button of his weapon. Where the passage in which they stood met +the main corridor, there was an agitated shouting and then sudden +silence. + +"Down--" The merman had crawled to the edge of the opening. From it +rose a dank, fetid smell. Now that the noise in the corridor was +stilled Dalgard could hear something: the sound of water. + +"How do we get down?" he questioned the merman. + +"It is far, there are no climbing holds--" + +Dalgard straightened. Well, he supposed, even a leap into that was +better than to be taken a second time by Those Others. But was he +ready for such a desperate solution? + +"A long way down?" The stranger leaned over to peer into the well. + +"He says so," Dalgard nodded at the merman. "And there are no climbing +holds." + +The stranger plucked at the front of his tunic with one hand, still +holding his weapon with the other. From an opening he drew a line, and +Dalgard grabbed it eagerly, testing the first foot with a sharp jerk. +He had never seen such stuff, so light of weight and yet so tough. His +delight reached the merman, who sat up to gaze owlishly at the coils +the stranger pulled from concealment. + +They used the door of the well for the lowering beam, hitching the +cord about it. Then the merman noosed one end about him, and Dalgard, +the door taking some of the strain, lowered him. The end of the cord +was perilously close to the scout's fingers when there was a signaling +pull from below, and he was free to reel in the loose line. He turned +to the stranger. + +"You go. I'll watch them." The other waved his weapon to the +corridor. + +There was some sense to that, Dalgard had to agree. He made fast the +end of the cord and went in his turn into the dark, burning the palm +of one hand before he was able to slacken the speed of his descent. +Then he landed thigh-deep in water, from which arose an unpleasant +smell. + +"All right--Come--" he put full force into the thought he beamed at +the stranger above. When the other did not obey, Dalgard began to +wonder if he should climb to his aid. Had the aliens broken through +and overwhelmed the other? Or what had happened? The rope whisked up +out of his hands. And a moment later a voice rang eerily overhead. + +"Clear below! Coming down!" + +Dalgard scrambled out of the space under the opening, heading on into +the murk where the merman waited. There was a splash as the stranger +hit the stream, and the rope lashed down behind him at their united +jerk. + +"Where do we go from here?" The voice carried through the dark. + +Scaled fingers hooked about Dalgard's right hand and tugged him on. He +reached back in turn and locked grip with the stranger. So united the +three splashed on through the rancid liquid. In time they came out of +the first tunnel into a wider section, but here the odor was worse, +catching in their throats, making them sway dizzily. There seemed to +be no end to these ways, which Raf guessed were the drains of the +ancient city. + +Only the merman appeared to have a definite idea of where they were +going, though he halted once or twice when they came to a side passage +as if thinking out their course. Since the man from the arena accepted +the furred one's guidance, Raf depended upon it too. Though he +wondered if they would ever find their way out into the open once +more. + +He was startled by sudden pain as the hand leading him tightened its +grip to bone-bruising force. They had stopped, and the liquid washed +about them until Raf wondered if he would ever feel clean again. When +they started on, they moved much more swiftly. His companions were in +a hurry, but Raf was unprepared for the sight which broke as they came +out in a high-roofed cavern. + +There was an odd, cold light there--but that light was not all he saw. +Drawn up on a ledge rising out of the contaminated stream were rows of +the furred people, all sitting in silence, bone spears resting across +their knees, long knives at their belts. They watched with round, +unblinking eyes the three who had just come out of the side passage. +The rescued merman loosened his grip on Dalgard's hand and waded +forward to confront that quiet, waiting assembly. Neither he nor his +fellows made any sound, and Raf guessed that they had some other form +of communication, perhaps the same telepathic ability to broadcast +messages which this amazing man beside him displayed. + +"They are of his tribe," the other explained, sensing that Raf could +not understand. "They came here to try to save him, for he is one of +their Speakers-for-Many." + +"Who are they? Who are you?" Raf asked the two questions which had +been with him ever since the wild adventure had begun. + +"They are the People-of-the-Sea, our friends, our knife brothers. And +I am of Homeport. My people came from the stars in a ship, but not a +ship of this world. We have been here for many years." + +The mermen were moving now. Several had waded forward to greet their +chief, aiding him ashore. But when Raf moved toward the ledge, Dalgard +put out a restraining hand. + +"Until we are summoned--no. They have their customs. And this is a +party-for-war. This tribe knows not my people, save by rumor. We +wait." + +Raf looked over the ranks of the sea folk. The light came from globes +borne by every twentieth warrior, a globe in which something that +gave off phosphorescent gleams swam around and around. The spears +which each merman carried were slender and wickedly barbed, the knives +almost sword length. The pilot remembered the flame-throwers of the +aliens and could not see any victory for the merman party. + +"No, knife blade against the fire--that is not equal." + +Raf started, amazed and then irritated that the other had read his +thoughts so easily. + +"But what else can be done? Some stand must be taken, even if a whole +tribe goes down to the Great Dark because they do it." + +"What do you mean?" Raf demanded. + +"Is it not the truth that Those Others went across the sea to plunder +their forgotten storehouse of knowledge?" countered the other. He +spoke slowly as if he found difficulty in clothing thoughts with +words. "Sssuri said that was why they came." + +Raf, remembering what he had seen--the stripping of shelves and tables +of the devices that were stored on them--could only nod. + +"Then it is also true that soon they will have worse than fire with +which to hunt us down. And they shall turn against your colony as they +will against Homeport. For the mermen, and their own records, have +taught us that it is their nature to rule, that they can live in peace +only when all living things on this world are their slaves." + +"My colony?" Raf was momentarily diverted. "I'm one of a spacer's +crew, not the member of any colony!" + +Dalgard stared at the stranger. His guess had been right. A new ship, +another ship which had recently crossed deep space to find them had +flown the dark wastes even as the First Elders had done! It must be +that more outlaws had come to find a new home! This was wonderful +news, news he must take to Homeport. Only, it was news which must +wait. For the sea people had come to a decision of their own. + +"What are they going to do now?" Raf asked. + +The mermen were not retreating, instead they were slipping from the +ledge in regular order, forming somewhat crooked ranks in the water. + +Dalgard did not reply at once, making mind touch not only to ask but +to impress his kinship on the sea people. They were united in a +single-minded purpose, with failure before them--unless--He turned to +the stranger. + +"They go to war upon Those Others. He who guided us here knows also +that the new knowledge they have brought into the city is danger. If +an end is not put to it before they can use it, then"--he +shrugged--"the mermen must retreat into the depths. And we, who can +not follow them--" He made a quick, thrusting gesture as if using a +knife on his own throat. "For a time Those Others have been growing +fewer in number and weaker. Their children are not many and sometimes +there are years when none are born at all. And they have forgotten so +much. But now, perhaps they can increase once more, not only in wisdom +and strength of arms, but in numbers. The mermen have kept a watch on +them, content to let matters rest, sure that time would defeat them. +But now, time no longer fights on our side." + +Raf watched the furred people with their short spears, their knives. +He recalled that rocky island where the aliens had unleashed the fire. +The expeditionary force would not have a chance against that. + +"But _your_ weapons would." The words addressed to him were clear, +though they had not been spoken aloud. Raf's hand went to the pocket +where two more of the blast bombs rested. "And this is your battle as +much as ours!" + +But it wasn't his fight! Dalgard had gone too far with that +suggestion. Raf had no ties on this world, the _RS 10_ was waiting to +take him away. It was strictly against all orders, all his training, +for him to become involved in alien warfare. The pilot's hand went +back to his belt. He was not going to allow himself to be pushed onto +anything foolish, whether this "colonist" could read his mind or not. + +The first ranks of the mermen had already waded past them, heading +into the way down which the escaping prisoners had come. To Raf's eyes +none of them paid any attention to the two humans as they went, though +they were probably in mental touch with his companion. + +"You are already termed one of us in _their_ eyes," Dalgard was +careful to use oral speech this time. "When you came to our rescue in +the arena they believed that you were of our kind. Do you think you +can return to walk safely through the city? So"--he drew a hissing +breath of surprise when the thought which leaped into Raf's mind was +plain to Dalgard also--"you have--there are more of you there! But +already Those Others may be moving against them because of what you +have done!" + +Raf who had been about to join the mermen stopped short. That aspect +had not struck him before. What had happened to Soriki and the +flitter, to the captain and Lablet, who had been in the heart of the +enemy territory when he had challenged the aliens? It would be only +logical that the painted people would consider them all dangerous now. +He must get out of here, back to the flitter, try to help where +unwittingly he had harmed-- + +Dalgard caught up with him. He had been able to read a little of what +had passed through the other's mind. Though it was difficult to sort +order out of the tangled thoughts. The longer he was with the +stranger, the more aware he became of the differences between them. +Outwardly they might appear of the same species, but inwardly--Dalgard +frowned--there was something that he must consider later, when they +had a thinking space. But now he could understand the other's +agitation. It was very true that Those Others might turn on the +stranger's fellows in retaliation for his deeds. + +Together they joined the mermen. There was no talk, nothing to break +the splashing sound of bodies moving against the current. As they +pressed on, Raf was sure that this was not the same way they had come. +And once more Dalgard answered his unspoken question. + +"We seek another door into the city, one long known to these +tribesmen." + +Raf would gladly have run, but he could not move faster than his +guides, and while their pace seemed deliberate, they did not pause to +rest. The whole city, he decided, must be honeycombed with these +drains. After traversing a fourth tunnel, they climbed out of the +flood onto a dry passage, which wormed along, almost turning on itself +at times. + +Side passages ran out from this corridor like rootlets from a parent +root, and small parties of mermen broke from the regiment to follow +certain ones, leaving without orders or farewells. At the fifth of +these Dalgard touched Raf's arm and drew him aside. + +"This is our way." Tensely the scout waited. If the stranger refused, +then the one plan the scout had formed during the past half-hour would +fail. He still held to the hope that Raf, with what Raf carried, could +succeed in the only project which would mean, perhaps not his safety +nor the safety of the tribe he now marched among, but the eventual +safety of Astra itself, the safety of all the harmless people of the +sea, the little creatures of the grass and the sky, of his own land at +Homeport. He would have to force Raf into action if need be. He did +not use the mind touch; he knew now the unspoken resentment which +followed that. If it became necessary--Dalgard's hands balled into +fists--he would strike down the stranger--take from him--Swiftly he +turned his thoughts from that. It might be easy, now that he had +established mental contact with this off-worlder, for the other to +pick up a thought as vivid as that. + +But luckily Raf obediently turned into the side passage with the six +mermen who were to attack at this particular point. The way grew +narrower until they crept on hands and knees between rough walls which +were not of the same construction as the larger tunnels. The smaller +mermen had no difficulty in getting through, but twice Raf's equipment +belt caught on projections and he had to fight his way free. + +They crawled one by one into a ventilation shaft much like the one he +had climbed at the Center. Dalgard's whisper reached him. + +"We are now in the building which houses their sky ship." + +"I know that one," Raf returned almost eagerly, glad at last to be +back so close to familiar territory. He climbed up the hand-and +footholds the sea-monster lamp disclosed, wishing the mermen ahead +would speed up. + +The grille at the head of the shaft had been removed, and the invaders +arose one by one into a dim and dusty place of motionless machinery, +which, by all tangible evidence, had not been entered for some time. +But the cautious manner in which the sea people strung out to approach +the far door argued that the same might not be true beyond. + +For the first time Raf noticed that his human companion now held one +of the knives of the merpeople, and he drew his stun gun. But he could +not forget the flame-throwers which might at that very moment be +trained upon the other side of that door by the aliens. They might be +walking into a trap. + +He half expected one of those disconcerting thought answers from +Dalgard. But the scout was playing safe--nothing must upset the +stranger. Confronted by what had to be done, he might be influenced +into acting for them. So Dalgard strode softly ahead, apparently not +interested in Raf. + +One of the mermen worked at the door, using the point of his spear as +a lever. Here again was a vista of machinery. But these machines were +alive; a faint hum came from their casings. The mermen scattered, +taking cover, a move copied by the two humans. + +The pilot remained in hiding, but he saw one of the furred people +running on as light-footedly as a shadow. Then his arm drew back, and +he cast his spear. Raf fancied he could hear a faint whistle as the +weapon cut the air. There was a cry, and the merman ran on, vanishing +into the shadows, to return a second or two later wiping stains from +his weapon. Out of their places of concealment, his fellows gathered +about him. And the humans followed. + +Now they were fronted by a ramp leading up, and the mermen took it +quickly, their bare, scaled feet setting up a whispering echo which +was drowned by the clop of Raf's boots. Once more the party was alert, +ready for trouble, and taking his cue from them, he kept his stun gun +in his hand. + +But the maneuver at the head of the ramp surprised him. For, though he +had heard no signal, all the party but one plastered their bodies back +against the wall, Dalgard pulling Raf into position beside him, the +scout's muscular bare arm pinning the pilot into a narrow space. One +merman stood at the crack of the door at the top of the ramp. He +pushed the barrier open and crept in. + +Meanwhile those who waited poised their spears, all aimed at that +door. Raf fingered the button on his gun to "spray" as he had when he +had faced the attack of the scavengers in the arena tunnels. + +There was a cry, a shout with a summons in it. And the venturesome +merman thudded back through the door. But he was not alone. Two of the +black guardsmen, their flamers spitting fiery death, ran behind him, +and the curling lash of one of those flames almost wreathed the runner +before he swung aside. Raf fired without consciously aiming. Both of +the sentries fell forward, to slide limply down the ramp. + +Then Dalgard pulled him on. "The way is open," he said. "This is it!" +There was an excited exultation in his voice. + + + + +17 + +DESTRUCTION UNLEASHED + + +The space they now entered must be the core of the building, Raf +thought a little dazedly. For there, towering over them was the round +bulb of the globe. And about its open hatch were piles of the material +which he had last seen in the warehouse on the other continent. The +unloading of the alien ship had been hastily interrupted. + +Since neither the merman nor Dalgard took cover, Raf judged that they +did not fear attack now. But when he turned his attention away from +the ship, he found not only the colony scout but most of the sea +people gathered about him as if waiting for some action on his part. + +"What is it?" He could feel it, that strong pressure, that band +united, in willing him into some move. His stubborn streak of +independence made his reaction contrary. He was not going to be pushed +into anything. + +"In this hour," Dalgard spoke aloud, avoiding the mind touch which +might stiffen Raf's rebellion. He wished that some older, wiser Elder +from Homeport were there. So little time--Yet this stranger with +practically no effort might accomplish all they had come to do, if he +could only be persuaded into action. "In this hour, here is the heart +of what civilization remains to Those Others. Destroy it, and it will +not matter whether they kill us. For in the days to come they will +have nothing left." + +Raf understood. This was why he had been brought here. They wanted +him to use the blast bombs. And one part of him _was_ calculating the +best places to set his two remaining bombs for the wildest possible +destruction. That part of him could accept the logic of Dalgard's +reasoning. He doubted if the aliens could repair the globe if it were +damaged, and he was sure that much which they had brought back from +the eastern continent was irreplaceable. The bombs had not been +intended for such a use. They were defensive, anti-personal weapons to +be employed as he had done against the lizard in the arena. But placed +properly--Without thinking his hands went to the sealed pocket in the +breast of his tunic. + +Dalgard saw that gesture and inside him some taut cord began to +unwind. Then the stranger's hands dropped, and he swung around to face +the colony scout squarely, a scowl twisting his black brows almost +together. + +"This isn't my fight," he stated flatly. "I've got to get back to the +flitter, to my spacer--" + +What was the matter? Dalgard tried to understand. If the aliens won +now, this stranger was in as great a danger as were the rest of them. +Did he believe that Those Others would allow any colony to be +established on a world they ruled? + +"There will be no future for you here," he spoke slowly, trying with +all his power to get through to the other. "They will not allow you to +found another Homeport. You will have no colony--" + +"Will you get it into your thick head," burst out the pilot, "that I'm +not here to start a colony! We can take off from this blasted planet +whenever we want to. We didn't come here to stay!" + +Beneath the suntan, Dalgard's face whitened. The other had come from +no outlaw ship, seeking a refuge across space, as his own people had +fled to a new life from tyranny. His first fears had been correct! +This was a representative of Pax, doubtless sent to hunt down the +descendants of those who had escaped its throttling dictatorship. The +slender strangely garbed Terran might be of the same blood as his own, +but he was as great an enemy as Those Others! + +"Pax!" He did not know that he had said that word aloud. + +The other laughed. "You are living back in history. Pax has been dead +and gone almost two centuries. I'm of the Federation of Free Men--" + +"Will the stranger use his fire now?" The question formed in Dalgard's +mind. The mermen were growing impatient, as well they might. This was +no time for talk, but for action. Could Raf be persuaded to aid them? +A Federation of Free Men--Free Men! That was what they were fighting +for here and now. + +"You are free," he said. "The sea people won their freedom when Those +Others fought among themselves. My people came across the star void in +search of freedom, paying in blood to win it. But these, these are not +the weapons of the free." He pointed to the supplies about the globe, +to the globe itself. + +The mermen were waiting no longer. With the butts of their spears they +smashed anything breakable. But the damage one could do by hand in the +short space of time granted them--Raf was surprised that a guard was +not already down upon them--was sharply limited. The piled-up secrets +of an old race, a race which had once ruled a planet. He thought +fleetingly of Lablet's preoccupation with this spoil, of Hobart's hope +of gaining knowledge they could take back with them. But would the +aliens keep their part of the bargain? He no longer believed that. + +Why not give these barbarians a chance, and the colonists. Sure, he +was breaking the stiffest rule of the Service. But, perhaps by now the +flitter was gone, he might never reach the _RS 10_. It was not his +war, right enough. But he'd give the weaker side a fighting chance. + +Dalgard followed him into the globe ship, climbing the ladders to the +engine level, watching with curious eyes as Raf inspected the driving +power of the ship and made the best disposition possible of one of the +bombs. + +Then they were on the ladder once more as the ship shook under them, +plates buckling as a great wound tore three decks apart. Raf laughed +recklessly. Now that he was committed to this course, he had a +small-boy delight in the destruction. + +"They won't raise her again in a hurry," he confided to Dalgard. But +the other did not share his triumph. + +"They come--we must move fast," the scout urged. + +When they jumped from the hatch, they discovered that the mermen had +been busy in their turn. As many of the supplies as they could move +had been pushed and piled into one great mass. Broken crystal littered +the floor in shards and puddles of strange chemicals mingled smells to +become a throat-rasping fog. Raf eyed those doubtfully. Some of those +fumes might combine in the blast-- + +Once again Dalgard read his mind and waved the mermen back, sending +them through the door to the ramp and the lower engine room. Raf stood +in the doorway, the bomb in his hand, knowing that it was time for him +to make the most accurate cast of his life. + +The sphere left his fingers, was a gleam in the murky air. It struck +the pile of material. Then the whole world was hidden by a blinding +glare. + +It was dark--black dark. And he was swinging back and forth through +this total darkness. He was a ball, a blast bomb being tossed from +hand to hand through the dark by painted warriors who laughed shrilly +at his pain, tossed through the dark. Fear such as he had never known, +even under the last acceleration pressure of the take-off from Terra, +beat through Raf's veins away from his laboring heart. He was helpless +in the dark! + +"Not alone--" the words came out of somewhere, he didn't know whether +he heard them, or, in some queer way, felt them. "You are safe--not +alone." + +That brought a measure of comfort. But he was still in the dark, and +he was moving--he could not will his hands to move--yet he was moving. +He was being carried! + +The flitter--he was back on the flitter! They were air-borne. But who +was piloting? + +"Captain! Soriki!" he appealed for reassurance. And then was aware +that there was no familiar motor hum, none of that pressure of rushing +air to which he had been so long accustomed that he missed it only +now. + +"You are safe--" Again that would-be comfort. But Raf tried to move +his arms, twist his body, be sure that he rested in the flitter. Then +another thought, only vaguely alarming at first, but which grew +swiftly to panic proportions--He was in the alien globe--He was a +prisoner! + +"You are safe!" the words beat in his mind. + +"But where--where?" he felt as if he were screaming that at the full +power of his lungs. He must get out of this dark envelope, be free. +Free! Free Men--He was Raf Kurbi of the Federation of Free Men, member +of the crew of the Spacer _RS 10_. But there had been something else +about free men-- + +Painfully he pulled fragments of pictures out of the past, assembled a +jigsaw of wild action. And all of it ended in a blinding flash, +blinding! + +Raf cowered mentally if not physically, as his mind seized upon that +last word. The blinding flash, then this depth of darkness. Had he +been--? + +"You are safe." + +Maybe he was safe, he thought, with an anger born of honest fear, but +was he--blind? And where was he? What had happened to him since that +moment when the blast bomb had exploded? + +"I am blind," he spat out, wanting to be told that his fears were only +fears and not the truth. + +"Your eyes are covered," the answer came quickly enough, and for a +short space he was comforted until he realized that the reply was not +a flat denial of his statement. + +"Soriki?" he tried again. "Captain? Lablet?" + +"Your companions"--there was a moment of hesitation, and then came +what he was sure was the truth--"have escaped. Their ship took to the +air when the Center was invaded." + +So, he wasn't on the flitter. That was Raf's first reaction. Then, he +must still be with the mermen, with the young stranger who claimed to +be one of a lost Terran colony. But they couldn't leave him behind! +Raf struggled against the power which held him motionless. + +"Be quiet!" That was not soothing; it had the snap of a command, so +sharp and with such authority in it that he obeyed. "You have been +hurt; the gel must do its work. Sleep now. It is good to sleep--" + +Dalgard walked by the hammock, using all the quieting power he +possessed to ease the stranger, who now bore little resemblance to the +lithe, swiftly moving, other-worldly figure of the day before. +Stripped of his burned rags of clothing, coated with the healing stuff +of the merpeople--that thick jelly substance which was their bulwark +against illness and hurt--lashed into a hammock of sea fibers, he had +the outward appearance of a thick bundle of supplies. The scout had +seen miracles of healing performed by the gel, he could only hope for +one now. "Sleep--" he made the soothing suggestion over and over and +felt the other begin to relax, to sink into the semicoma in which he +must rest for at least another day. + +It was true that they had watched the strange flying machine take off +from a roof top. And none of the mermen who had survived the battle +which had raged through the city had seen any of the off-worlder's +kind among the living or the dead of the alien forces. Perhaps, +thinking Raf dead, they had returned to their space ship. + +Now there were other, more immediate, problems to be met. They had +done everything that they could to insure the well-being of the +stranger, without whom they could not have delivered that one +necessary blow which meant a new future for Astra. + +The aliens were not all dead. Some had gone down under the spears of +the mermen, but more of the sea people had died by the superior +weapons of their foes. To the aliens, until they discovered what had +happened to the globe and its cargo, it would seem an overwhelming +triumph, for less than a quarter of the invading force fought its way +back to safety in the underground ways. Yes, it would appear to be a +victory for Those Others. But--now time was on the other side of the +scales. + +Dalgard doubted if the globe would ever fly again. And the loss of the +storehouse plunder could never be repaired. By its destruction they +had insured the future for their people, the mermen, the slowly +growing settlement at Homeport. + +They were well out of the city, in the open country, traveling along a +rocky gorge, through which a river provided a highway to the sea. +Dalgard had no idea as yet how he could win back across the waste of +water to his own people. While the mermen with whom he had stormed the +city were friendly, they were not of the tribes he knew, and their own +connection with the eastern continent was through messages passed +between islands and the depths. + +Then there was the stranger--Dalgard knew that the ship which had +brought him to this planet was somewhere in the north. Perhaps when he +recovered, they could travel in that direction. But for the moment it +was good just to be free, to feel the soft winds of summer lick his +skin, to walk slowly under the sun, carrying the little bundle of +things which belonged to the stranger, with a knife once more at his +belt and friends about him. + +But within the quarter-hour their peace was broken. Dalgard heard it +first, his landsman's ears serving him where the complicated sense +which gave the sea people warning did not operate. That shrill +keening--he knew it of old. And at his warning the majority of the +mermen plunged into the stream, becoming drifting shadows below the +surface of the water. Only the four who were carrying the hammock +stood their ground. But the scout, having told them to deposit their +burden under the shelter of an overhanging ledge of rock, waved them +to join their fellows. Until that menace in the sky was beaten, they +dare not travel overland. + +Was it still after him alone, hunting him by some mysterious built-in +sense as it had overseas? He could see it now, moving in circles back +and forth across the gorge, probably ready to dive on any prey +venturing into the open. + +Had it not been for the stranger, Dalgard could have taken to the +water almost as quickly and easily as his companions. But they could +not float the pilot down the stream, thus dissolving the thick coating +of gel which was healing his terrible flash burns. And Those Others, +were they following the trail of their mechanical hound as they had +before? + +Dalgard sent out questing tendrils of thought. Nowhere did he +encounter the flashes which announced the proximity of Those Others. +No, it would appear that they had unleashed the hound to do what +damage it could, perhaps to serve them as a marker for a future +counterattack. At present it was alone. And he relayed that +information to the mermen. + +If they could knock out the hound--his hand went to the tender scrape +on his own scalp where that box had left its glancing mark--if they +could knock out the hound--But how? As accurate marksmen as the mermen +were with their spears, he was not sure they could bring down the box. +Its sudden darts and dips were too erratic. Then what? Because as long +as it bobbed there, he and the stranger were imprisoned in this +pocket of the gorge wall. + +Dalgard sat down, the bundle of the stranger's belongings beside him. +Then, he carefully unfastened the scorched cloth which formed that bag +and examined its contents. There was the belt with its pouches, +sheaths, and tool case. And the weapon which the stranger had used to +such good effect during their escape from the arena. Dalgard took up +the gun. It was light in weight, and it fitted into his hand almost as +if it had been molded to his measure. + +He aimed at the hovering box, pressed the button as he had seen the +other do, with no results. The stun ray, which had acted upon living +creatures, could not govern the delicate mechanism in the hound's +interior. Dalgard laid it aside. There were no more of the bombs, nor +would they have been effective against such a target. As far as he +could see, there was nothing among Raf's possessions which could help +them now. + +One of the black shadows in the water moved to shore. The box swooped, +death striking at the merman who ran to shelter. A second followed +him, eluding the attack of the hound by a matter of inches. Now the +box buzzed angrily. + +Dalgard, catching their thoughts, hurried to aid them. They undid the +knots of the hammock about the helpless stranger, leaving about him +only the necessary bandage ties. Now they had a crude net, woven, as +Dalgard knew, of undersea fibers strong enough to hold captive +plunging monsters a dozen times the size of the box. If they could net +it! + +He had seen the exploits of the mermen hunters, knew their skill with +net and spear. But to scoop a flying thing out of the air was a new +problem. + +"Not so!" the thought cut across his. "They have used such as this to +hunt us before, long ago. We had believed they were all lost. It must +be caught and broken, or it will hunt and kill and hunt again, for it +does not tire nor can it be beaten from any trail it is set upon. +Now--" + +"I will do that, for you have the knowledge--" the scout cut in +quickly. After his other meeting with the hound he had no liking for +the task he had taken on, but there must be bait to draw the box +within striking distance. + +"Stand upright and move toward those rocks." The mermen changed +position, the net, now with stones in certain loops to weigh it, +caught in their three-fingered hands. + +Dalgard moved, fighting against hunching his shoulders, against +hurrying the pace. He saw the shadow of the flitting death, and flung +himself down beside the boulder the mermen had pointed out. Then he +rolled over, half surprised not to be struck. + +The hound was still in the air but over it now was draped the net, the +rocks in its fringes weighing it down in spite of its jerky attempts +to rise. In its struggles to be free, it might almost have led the +watcher to believe that it had intelligence of a sort. Now the mermen +were coming out of the stream, picking up rocks as they advanced. And +a hail of stones flew through the air, while others of the sea people +sprang to catch the dangling ends of the net and drag the captive to +earth. + +In the end they smashed it completely, burying the remains under a +pile of rocks. Then, retrieving their net, they once more fastened Raf +into it and turned downstream, as intent as ever upon reaching the +sea. Dalgard wondered whether Those Others would ever discover what +had become of their hound. Or had it in some way communicated with its +masters, so that now they were aware that it had been destroyed. But +he was sure they had nothing more to fear, that the way to the sea was +open. + +In mid-morning of the second day they came out upon shelving sand and +saw before them the waves which promised safety and escape to the +mermen. Dalgard sat down in the blue-gray sand beside Raf. The sea +people had assured him that the stranger was making a good recovery, +that within a matter of hours he could be freed from his cocoon of +healing. + +Dalgard squinted at the sun sparkling on the waves. Where now? To the +north where the space ship waited? If what he read in Raf's mind was +true the other wanted to leave Astra, to voyage back to that other +world which was only a legend to Dalgard, and a black, unhappy legend +at that. If the Elders were here, had a chance to contact these men +from Terra--Dalgard's eyes narrowed, would they choose to? Another +chain of thought had been slowly developing in his mind during these +past hours when he had been so closely companioned with the stranger. +And almost he had come to a decision which would have seemed very odd +even days before. + +No, there was no way of suddenly bringing the Elders here, of +transferring his burden of decision to them. Dalgard cupped his chin +in his hand and tried to imagine what it would be like to shut oneself +up in a small metal-walled spacer and set out blindly to leave one +world for another. His ancestors had done that, and they had traveled +in cold sleep, ignorant of whether they would ever reach their goal. +They had been very brave, or very desperate, men. + +But--Dalgard measured sand, sun, and sky, watching the mermen sporting +in the waves--but for him Astra was enough. He wanted nothing but this +land, this world. There was nothing which drew him back. He would try +to locate the spacer for the sake of the stranger; Astra owed Raf all +they could manage to give him. But the ship was as alien to Homeport +as it now existed as the city's globe might have been. + + + + +18 + +NOT YET-- + + +Raf lay on his back, cushioned in the sand, his face turned up to the +sky. Moisture smarted in his eyes, trickled down his cheeks as he +tried to will himself to _see_! The yellow haze which had been his day +had faded into grayness and now to the dark he feared so much that he +dared not even speak of it. Somewhere over him the stars were icy +points of light--but he could not see them. They were very far away, +but no farther than he was from safety, from comfort (now the spacer +seemed a haven of ease), from the expert treatment which might save, +save his sight! + +He supposed he should be thankful to that other one who was a slow +voice speaking out of the mist, a thought now and then when his inner +panic brought him almost to the breaking point. In some manner he had +been carried out of the reach of the aliens, treated for his searing +wounds, and now he was led along, fed, tended--Why didn't they go away +and leave him alone! He had no chance of reaching the spacer-- + +It was so easy to remember those mountains, the heights over which he +had lifted the flitter. There wasn't one chance in a million of his +winning over those and across the miles of empty plains beyond to +where the _RS 10_ stood waiting, ready to rise again. The crew must +believe him dead. His fists clenched upon sand, and it gritted between +his fingers, sifted away. Why wasn't he dead! Why had that barbarian +dragged him here, continued to coax him, put food into his hands, +those hands which were only vague shapes when he held them just before +his straining, aching eyes. + +"It is not as bad as you think," the words came again out of the fog, +spoken with a gentleness which rasped Raf's nerves. "Healing is not +done in a second, or even in a day. You cannot force the return of +strength--" + +A hand, warm, vibrant with life, pressed on his forehead--a human, +flesh-covered hand, not one of the cool, scaled paws of the furred +people. Though those hands, too, had been laid upon him enough during +the past few days, steadying him, leading him, guiding him to food and +water. Now, under that firm, knowing touch he felt some of the +ever-present fear subside, felt a relaxation. + +"My ship--They will take off without me!" He could not help but voice +that plaint, as he had so many times before during that foggy, +nightmare journey. + +"They have not done so yet." + +He struggled up, flung off that calming hand, turned angrily toward +where he thought the other was. "How can you be sure?" + +"Word has come. The ship is still there, though the small flyer has +returned to it." + +This assurance was something new. Raf's suspicions could not stand up +against the note of certainty in the other's voice. He got awkwardly +to his feet. If the ship was still here, then they must still think +him alive--They might come back! He had a chance--a real chance! + +"Then they are waiting for me--They'll come!" + +He could not see the soberness with which Dalgard listened to that. +The star ship had not lifted, that message had found its way south, +passed along by hopper and merman. But the scout doubted if the +explorers were waiting for the return of Raf. He believed that they +would not have left the city had they not thought the pilot already +dead. + +As to going north now--His picture of the land ahead had been built up +from reports gained from the sea people. It could be done, but with +Raf to be nursed and guided, lacking even the outrigger Dalgard had +used in home waters, it would take days--weeks, probably--to cover +the territory which lay between them and the plains where the star +ship had planeted. + +But he owed Raf a great deal, and it was summer, the season of warm +calms. So far he had not been able to work out any plan for a return +to his own land. It might be that they were both doomed to exile. But +it was not necessary to face that drear future yet, not until they had +expended every possible effort. So now he said willingly enough, "We +are going north." + +Raf sat down again in the sand. He wanted to run, to push on until his +feet were too tired to carry him any farther. But now he fought that +impulse, lay down once more. Though he doubted if he could sleep. + +Dalgard watched the stars, sketched out a map of action for the +morning. They must follow the shore line where they could keep in +touch with the mermen, though along this coast the sea people did not +come to land with the freedom their fellows showed on the eastern +continent--they had lived too long in fear of Those Others. + +But since the war party had reached the coast, there had been no sign +of any retaliation, and as several days passed, Dalgard had begun to +believe that they had little to fear. Perhaps the blow they had struck +at the heart of the citadel had been more drastic than they had hoped. +He had listened since that hour in the gorge for the shrilling of one +of the air hounds. And when it did not come the thought that maybe it +was the last of its kind had been heartening. + +At last the scout lay down beside the off-world man, listening to the +soft hiss of waves on sand, the distant cluttering of night insects. +And his last waking thought was a wish for his bow. + +There was another day of patient plodding; two, three. Raf, led by the +hand, helped over rocks and obstacles which were only dark blurs to +his watering eyes, raged inwardly and sometimes outwardly, against the +slowness of their advance, his own helplessness. His fear grew until +he refused to credit the fact that the blurs were sharpening in +outline, that he could now count five fingers on the hand he sometimes +waved despairingly before his face. + +When he spoke of the future, he never said "if we reach the ship" but +always "when," refusing to admit that perhaps they would not be in +time. And Dalgard by his anxiety, tried to get more news from the +north. + +"When we get there, will you come back to earth with us?" the pilot +asked suddenly on the fifth day. + +It was a question Dalgard had once asked himself. But now he knew the +answer; there was only one he dared give. + +"We are not ready--" + +"I don't understand what you mean." Raf was almost querulous. "It is +your home world. Pax is gone; the Federation would welcome you +eagerly. Just think what it would mean--a Terran colony among the +stars!" + +"A Terran colony." Dalgard put out a hand, steadied Raf over a stretch +of rough shingle. "Yes, once we were a Terran colony. But--can you now +truthfully swear that I am a Terran like yourself?" + +Raf faced the misty figure, trying to force his memory to put features +there, to sharpen outlines. The scout was of middle height, a little +shorter in stature than the crewmen with whom the pilot had lived so +long. His hair was fair, as was his skin under its sun tan. He was +unusually light on his feet and possessed a wiry strength Raf could +testify to. But there was that disconcerting habit of mind reading and +other elusive differences. + +Dalgard smiled, though the other could not see that. + +"You see," deliberately he used the mind touch as if to accent those +differences the more, "once our roots were the same, but now from +these roots different plants have grown. And we must be left to +ourselves a space before we mingle once more. My father's father's +father's father was a Terran, but I am--what? We have something that +you have not, just as you have developed during centuries of +separation qualities of mind and body we do not know. You live with +machines. And, since we could not keep machines in this world, having +no power to repair or rebuild, we have been forced to turn in other +directions. To go back to the old ways now would be throwing away +clues to mysteries we have not yet fully explored, turning aside from +discoveries ready to be made. To you I am a barbarian, hardly higher +in the scale of civilization than the mermen--" + +Raf flushed, would have given a quick and polite denial, had he not +known that his thoughts had been read. Dalgard laughed. His amusement +was not directed against the pilot, rather it invited him to share the +joke. And reluctantly, Raf's peeling lips relaxed in a smile. + +"But," he offered one argument the other had not cited, "what if you +do go down this other path of yours so far that we no longer have any +common meeting ground?" He had forgotten his own problem in the +other's. + +"I do not believe that will ever happen. Perhaps our bodies may +change; climate, food, ways of life can all influence the body. Our +minds may change; already my people with each new generation are +better equipped to use the mind touch, can communicate more clearly +with the animals and the mermen. But those who were in the beginning +born of Terra shall always have a common heritage. There are and will +be other lost colonies among the stars. We could not have been the +only outlaws who broke forth during the rule of Pax, and before the +blight of that dictatorship, there were at least two expeditions that +went forth on Galactic explorations. + +"A thousand years from now stranger will meet with stranger, but when +they make the sign of peace and sit down with one another, they shall +find that words come more easily, though one may seem outwardly +monstrous to the other. Only, _now_ we must go our own way. We are +youths setting forth on our journey of testing, while the Elders wish +us well but stand aside." + +"You don't want what we have to offer?" This was a new idea to Raf. + +"Did you truly want what the city people had to offer?" + +That caught the pilot up. He could remember with unusual distinctness +how he had disliked, somehow feared the things they had brought from +the city storehouse, how he had privately hoped that Hobart and Lablet +would be content to let well enough alone and not bring that knowledge +of an alien race back with them. If he had not secretly known that +aversion, he would not have been able to destroy the globe and the +treasures piled about it. + +"But"--his protest was hot, angry--"we are not _them_! We can do much +for you." + +"Can you?" The calm question sank into his mind as might a stone into +a troubled pool, and the ripples of its passing changed an idea or +two. "I wish that you might see Homeport. Perhaps then it would be +easier for you to understand. No, your knowledge is not corrupt, it +would not carry with it the same seeds of disaster as that of Those +Others. But it would be too easy for us to accept, to walk a softer +road, to forget what we have so far won. Just give us time--" + +Raf cupped his palms over his watering eyes. He wanted badly to see +clearly the other's face, to be able to read his expression. Yet it +seemed that somehow he _was_ able to see that sober face, as sincere +as the words in his mind. + +"You will come again," Dalgard said with certainty. "And we shall be +waiting because you, Raf Kurbi, made it possible." There was something +so solemn about that that Raf looked up in surprise. + +"When you destroyed the core of Those Other's holding, you gave us our +chance. For had you not done that we, the mermen, the other harmless, +happy creatures of this world, would have been wiped out. There would +be no new beginning here, only a dark and horrible end." + +Raf blinked; to his surprise that other figure standing in the direct +sunlight did not waver, and beyond the proudly held head was a stretch +of turquoise sky. He could see the color! + +"Yes, you shall see with your eyes--and with your mind," now Dalgard +spoke aloud. "And if the Spirit which rules all space is kind, you +shall return to your own people. For you have served His cause well." + +Then, as if he were embarrassed by his own solemnity, Dalgard ended +with a most prosaic inquiry: "Would you like shellfish for eating?" + +Moments later, wading out into the water-swirled sand, his boots +kicked off, his toes feeling for the elusive shelled creatures no one +could see, Raf felt happier, freer than he could ever remember having +been before. It was going to be all right. He could _see_! He would +find the ship! He laughed aloud at nothing and heard an answering +chuckle and then a whoop of triumph from the scout stooping to claw +one of their prey out of hiding. + +It was after they had eaten that Dalgard asked another question, one +which did not seem important to Raf. "You have a close friend among +the crew of your ship?" + +Raf hesitated. Now that he was obliged to consider the point, did he +have any friends--let alone a close one--among the crew of the _RS +10_? Certainly he did not claim Wonstead who had shared his +quarters--he honestly did not care if he never saw him again. The +officers, the experts such as Lablet--quickly face and character of +each swept through his mind and was as swiftly discarded. There was +Soriki--He could not claim the com-tech as any special friend, but at +least during their period together among the aliens he had come to +know him better. + +Now, as if Dalgard had read his mind--and he probably had, thought +Raf with a flash of the old resentment--he had another question. + +"And what was he--is he like?" + +Though the pilot could see little reason for this he answered as best +he could, trying to build first a physical picture of the com-tech and +then doing a little guessing as to what lay under the other's +space-burned skin. + +Dalgard lay on his back, gazing up into the blue-green sky. Yet Raf +knew that he was intent on every word. A merman padded up, settled +down cross-legged beside the scout, as if he too were enthralled by +the pilot's halting description of a man he might never see again. +Then a second of the sea people came and a third, until Raf felt that +some sort of a noiseless council was in progress. His words trailed +away, and then Dalgard offered an explanation. + +"It will take us many, many days to reach the place where your ship +is. And before we are able to complete that journey your friends may +be gone. So we shall try something else--with your aid." + +Raf fingered the little bundle of his possessions. Even his helmet +with its com phone was missing. + +"No," again Dalgard read his mind. "Your machines are of no use to you +now. We shall try _our_ way." + +"How?" Wild thoughts of a big signal fire--But how could that be +sighted across a mountain range. Of some sort of an improvised com +unit-- + +"I said _our_ way." There was a smile on Dalgard's face, visible to +Raf's slowly clearing vision. "We shall provide another kind of +machine, and these"--he waved at the mermen--"will give us the power, +or so we hope. Lie here," he gestured to the sand beside him, "and +think only of your friend in the ship, in his natural surroundings. +Try to hold that picture constant in your mind, letting no other +thought trouble it." + +"Do you mean--send a message to him mentally!" Raf's reply was half +protest. + +"Did I not so reach you when we were in the city--even before I knew +of you as an individual?" the scout reminded him. "And such messages +are doubly possible when they are sent from friend to friend." + +"But we were close then." + +"That is why--" again Dalgard indicated the mermen. "For them this is +the natural means of communication. They will pick up your reaching +thought, amplify it with their power, beam it north. Since your friend +deals with matters of communication, let us hope that he will be +sensitive to this method." + +Raf was only half convinced that it might work But he remembered how +Dalgard had established contact with him, before, as the scout had +pointed out, they had met. It was that voiceless cry for aid which had +pulled him into this adventure in the first place. It was only fitting +that something of the same process give _him_ help in return. + +Obediently he stretched out on the sand and closed his dim eyes, +trying to picture Soriki in the small cabin which held the com, +slouched in his bucket seat, his deceptive posture that of a lax +idler, as he had seen him so many times. Soriki--his broad face with +its flat cheekbones, its wide cheerful mouth, its heavy-lidded eyes. +And having fixed Soriki's face, he tried to believe that he was now +confronting the com-tech, speaking directly to him. + +"Come--come and get me--south--seashore--Soriki come and get me!" The +words formed a kind of chant, a chant aimed at that familiar face in +its familiar surroundings. "South--come and get me--" Raf struggled to +think only of that, to allow nothing to break through that chant or +disturb his picture of the scene he had called from memory. + +How long that attempt at communication lasted the pilot could not +tell, for somehow he slipped from the deep concentration into sleep, +dreamless and untroubled, from which he awoke with the befogged +feeling that something important had happened. But had he gotten +through? + +The ring of mermen was gone, and it was dawn, gray, chill with the +forewarnings of rain in the air. He was reassured because he was +certain that in spite of the gloom his sight was a fraction clearer +than it had been the day before. But had they gotten through? As he +arose, brushing the sand from him, he saw the scout splashing out of +the sea, a fish impaled on his spear. + +"Did we get through?" Raf blurted out. + +"Since your friend cannot reply with the mind touch, we do not know. +But later we shall try again." To Raf's peering gaze Dalgard's face +had a drawn, gaunt look as if he had been at hard labor during the +hours just past. He walked up the beach slowly, without the springing +step Raf had come to associate with him. As he settled down to gut the +fish with one of the bone knives, the scout repeated, "We can try +again--!" + +Half an hour later, as the rain swept in from the sea, Raf knew that +they would not have to try. His head went up, his face eager. He had +known that sound too long and too well ever to mistake it--the drone +of a flitter motor cutting through the swish of the falling water. +Some trick of the cliffs behind them must be magnifying and projecting +the sound, for he could not sight the machine. But it was coming. He +whirled to Dalgard, only to see that the other was on his feet and had +taken up his spear. + +"It is the flitter! Soriki heard--they're coming!" Raf hastened to +assure him. + +For the last time he saw Dalgard's slow, warm smile, clearer than he +had ever seen it before. Then the scout turned and trotted away, +toward a fringing rock wall. Before he dropped out of sight behind +that barrier he raised the spear in salute. + +"Swift and fortunate voyaging!" He gave the farewell of Homeport. + +Then Raf understood. The colonist meant just what he had said: he +wanted no contact with the space ship. To Raf he had owed a debt and +now that was paid. But the time was not yet when the men of Astra and +the men of Terra should meet. A hundred years from now perhaps--or a +thousand--but not yet. And remembering what had summoned the flitter +winging toward him, Raf drew a deep breath. What would the men of +Astra accomplish in a hundred years? What could those of Terra do to +match them in knowledge? It was a challenge, and he alone knew just +how much of a challenge. Homeport must remain his own secret. He had +been guided to this place, saved by the mermen alone. Dalgard and his +people must not exist as far as the crew of the _RS 10_ were +concerned. + +For the last time he experienced the intimacy of the mind touch. "That +is it--brother!" Then the sensation was gone as the black blot of the +flitter buzzed out of the clouds. + +From behind the rocks Dalgard watched the pilot enter the strange +machine. For a single moment he had an impulse to shout, to run +forward, to surrender to his desire to see the others, the ship which +had brought them through space and would, they confidently believed, +take them back to the Terra he knew only as a legend of the past. But +he mastered that desire. He had been right. The road had already +forked and there was no going back. He must carry this secret all the +rest of his life--he must be strong-willed enough so that Homeport +would never know. Time--give them time to be what they could be. Then +in a hundred years--or a thousand--But not yet! + + * * * * * + + +"Nobody today is telling better stories of straight-forward interstellar +adventure." + + --_New York Herald-Tribune_ + + When Raf Kurbi's Terran spaceship burst into unexplored skies + of the far planet Astra and was immediately made welcome by + the natives of a once-mighty metropolis, Kurbi was unaware of + three vital things: + + One was that Astra already harbored an Earth + colony--descended from refugees from the world of the + previous century. + + Two was that these men and women were facing the greatest + danger of their existence from a new outburst of the inhuman + fiends who had once tyrannized Astra. + + Three was that the natives who were buying Kurbi's science + know-how were those very fiends--and their intentions were + implacably deadly for all humans, whether Earth born or STAR + BORN. + + _It's an Andre Norton space adventure--and therefore the tops + in its field!_ + + * * * * * + + +Quotes from the reviews: + +"All science-fiction fans will thrill to these new adventures created by +Andre Norton.... All who enjoy a good adventure about the unknown parts +of our galaxy will find this an enchanting story." + + --_Jackson _(_Tenn._) _Sun_ + +"Superb science-fiction." + + --_Montgomery Advertiser_ + +"Andre Norton adds another star to her literary laurels." + + --_Cleveland Press_ + +"A good, clearly thought-out story." + + --_New York Times_ + +"Exciting and adventure-laden." + + --_Library Journal_ + +"Suspense and excitement.... A storyteller of the first class, this is +one of her best." + + --_Fantasy & Science Fiction_ + + * * * * * + + +NOW AVAILABLE AGAIN! + +PERRY RHODAN + +95c each + +#1 Enterprise Stardust Scheer & Ernsting +#2 The Radiant Dome Scheer & Ernsting +#3 Galactic Alarm Mahr & Shols +#4 Invasion from Space Ernsting & Mahr +#5 The Vega Sector Scheer & Mahr +#6 Secret of the Time Vault Darlton +#7 Fortress of the Six Moons Scheer +#8 The Galactic Riddle Darlton +#9 Quest through Space and Time Darlton +#10 The Ghosts of Gol Mahr +#11 Planet of the Dying Sun Mahr +#12 Rebels of Tuglan Darlton +#13 The Immortal Unknown Darlton +#14 Venus in Danger Mahr +#15 Escape To Venus Mahr +#16 Secret Barrier X Shols +#17 The Venus Trap Mahr +#18 Menace of the Mutant Master Darlton +#19 Mutants vs. Mutants Darlton +#20 The Thrall of Hypno Darlton + +_Available wherever paperbacks an sold or use this coupon._ + + * * * * * + +ace books, (Dept. 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