the_ethical_engineer
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| + | denied. But that ethics is pure opinion also...? Maybe there | ||
| + | are times for murder, and theft and slavery....</ | ||
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| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | < | ||
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| + | < | ||
| + | carried by. "Are they at it again?" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | face. "We have only one thing to be thankful for. That is& | ||
| + | least& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | flesh and broken bones. "The absence of weapons doesn' | ||
| + | much difference when two Pyrrans start fighting. It seems impossible | ||
| + | that this damage could be administered bare-handed."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | take our fighting very seriously. But they never think how much more | ||
| + | work it makes for me. Now I have to patch these two idiots up and try | ||
| + | to find room for them in the ward." He stalked away, irritated and | ||
| + | annoyed as always. Jason usually laughed at the doctor' | ||
| + | state, but not today.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | persistent feeling of irritation, that had arrived at the same time as | ||
| + | his discovery that it is far easier to fight a war than to administer | ||
| + | a peace. The battle at the perimeter still continued, since the massed | ||
| + | malevolence of the Pyrran life forms were not going to call a truce | ||
| + | simply because the two warring groups of humans had done so. There was | ||
| + | battle on the perimeter and a continual feeling of unrest inside the | ||
| + | city. So far there had been very little traffic between the city | ||
| + | Pyrrans and those living outside the walls, and what contact there had | ||
| + | been usually led to the kind of violence he had just witnessed. The | ||
| + | only minor note of hope in this concert of discord was the fact that | ||
| + | no one had died& | ||
| + | conflicts. In spite of the apparent deadliness of the encounters all | ||
| + | of the Pyrrans seemed to understand that, despite past hatreds, they | ||
| + | were all really on the same side. A distant rumble from the clouded | ||
| + | sky broke through his thoughts.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | ground-control office and squinting up at the overcast. "I wonder if | ||
| + | it is that ecology expedition that Brucco arranged& | ||
| + | from Ondion?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | troubles for the moment in frank admiration, since just looking at | ||
| + | Meta was enough to put a golden edge on this gloom-filled day. | ||
| + | Standing there, head back searching the sky, she managed to be | ||
| + | beautiful even in the formless Pyrran coverall. Jason put his arms | ||
| + | around her waist and exacted a great deal of pleasure from kissing the | ||
| + | golden length of her up-stretched throat.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | necessity, run along one track at a time, and at the present moment | ||
| + | she was thinking about the descending spaceship. With a quick motion, | ||
| + | scarcely aware of her action, she pulled his hands from her and pushed | ||
| + | him away, an easy enough thing for a Pyrran girl to do. But in doing | ||
| + | so she half fractured one of his wrists, numbed the other, and knocked | ||
| + | Jason to the ground.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | done, bending quickly to help him up.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | proffered hand and struggling to his feet. "When are you going to | ||
| + | realize that I'm only human, not made of chrome steel bars like the | ||
| + | rest of your people...." | ||
| + | at himself, his temper, this deadly planet and the cantankerousness of | ||
| + | its citizens that was scratching away at his nerves. He turned and | ||
| + | stamped away, angry at himself for taking out his vile mood on Meta, | ||
| + | but still too annoyed to make peace.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | foolish quarrel, but unable to. The largest blank in the Pyrran | ||
| + | personality was an almost complete lack of knowledge of human nature, | ||
| + | and her struggle to fill in the gaps& | ||
| + | to realize existed& | ||
| + | and fear were no strangers to her; but for the first time she was | ||
| + | discovering how difficult and complex was this unusual feeling of | ||
| + | love. She let Jason go because she was incapable of any other action. | ||
| + | Of course she could stop him by force, but if she had learned anything | ||
| + | in the past few weeks, it was the discovery that this was one area | ||
| + | where he was very sensitive. There was no doubt that she was far | ||
| + | stronger than he& | ||
| + | it. She went back into the ground-control room, almost eager to deal | ||
| + | with the impersonal faces of the dials and scopes, material and | ||
| + | unchanging entities that posed no conflicting problems.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | a landing, his anger forgotten temporarily in the presence of this | ||
| + | break in routine. Perhaps this was the shipful of scientific eggheads | ||
| + | that Brucco was expecting; he hoped so. It would be a pleasant treat | ||
| + | to have a conversation with someone about a topic more universal than | ||
| + | the bore dimensions of guns. With practiced eye he watched the landing | ||
| + | which was a little sloppy, either a new pilot or an old one who didn't | ||
| + | care much. It was a small ship so not many people would be aboard. | ||
| + | Then the spacer turned for a moment, in a landing correction, and he | ||
| + | had a quick glimpse of a serial number and tantalizingly familiar | ||
| + | insignia on its stern& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | click of cooling metal from the ship: no one emerged, nor did any of | ||
| + | the Pyrrans seem interested enough in the newcomer to approach it. | ||
| + | That must mean that no one had any business with it, and, of course, | ||
| + | no curiosity either, for this along with imagination was in very short | ||
| + | supply on the war-torn planet. Since no one else was making any moves, | ||
| + | Jason went forward to investigate for himself.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A stingwing that had escaped the perimeter guards dived towards him | ||
| + | and he blasted it automatically with his gun. The corpse thudded to | ||
| + | the ground and the soil churned around it as the insectile scavengers | ||
| + | fought for the flesh; only bare bones remained by the time he had | ||
| + | taken two paces.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A muffled whine of motors told him that the lower hatch was opening, | ||
| + | and Jason watched as a hairline crack appeared in the thick metal, | ||
| + | then widened as the heavy door ground outwards. Through the opening he | ||
| + | had a glimpse of a figure muffled in a heavy-duty spacesuit. That must | ||
| + | be Meta's work, she would have contacted the ship by radio while it | ||
| + | was on its way down and explained the standing orders that no | ||
| + | off-worlders were to be allowed out of their ships unless wearing the | ||
| + | heaviest armor. Since the armed truce between the human inhabitants | ||
| + | there had been a lessening of the relentless warfare the Pyrran life | ||
| + | forms waged against the city, but only to a slight degree. Deadly | ||
| + | beasts still abounded, and the air was thick with toxic diseases. A | ||
| + | stranger, unprotected, | ||
| + | ten& | ||
| + | interval.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | own power. The natives, adapted to the deadliness and heavy gravity | ||
| + | since birth, were still his superiors, but he was the only off-worlder | ||
| + | who could stand the dangers of Pyrrus. His gun whined out of his power | ||
| + | holster into his waiting hand as he searched for some target to use | ||
| + | his talents on. An armored piece of nastiness, with a lot of legs, was | ||
| + | crawling into hiding under a rock and he blasted it neatly with a | ||
| + | single shot. The gun snapped back into the holster and he turned to | ||
| + | the open door of the spacer, his morale greatly improved.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the ship. There was a hefty maser-projector clutched in the armored | ||
| + | gloves and whoever was inside the suit, the face was invisible behind | ||
| + | the thick and tinted faceplate, seemed exceedingly nervous, turning to | ||
| + | look in all directions.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | satisfaction out of his voice, " | ||
| + | don't know what kind of horror stories you may have heard about | ||
| + | Pyrrus& | ||
| + | there, but I doubt if you could move fast enough to use it."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the space armor, it clicked and a speaker diaphragm rustled.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | on this planet or if he has left?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was impossible to tell the speaker' | ||
| + | diaphragm, and no face was visible that might betray an emotion. This | ||
| + | was the moment when Jason should have shown caution, and have | ||
| + | remembered that there were thousands of policemen scattered across the | ||
| + | galaxy who would heartily enjoy putting him under arrest. Yet he | ||
| + | couldn' | ||
| + | here. And certainly there could be very little danger from a | ||
| + | spacesuited man with a rifle, not to the man who had learned to take | ||
| + | Pyrrus on its own terms, and live.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | gloved hand pointed& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | thought. He wheeled, crouched, the gun in his hand and finger | ||
| + | quivering lightly on the trigger, pointed in the indicated direction. | ||
| + | There was nothing unusual to be seen, just an empty field and the | ||
| + | control building at the edge.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | became very obvious what the stranger had been talking about. The | ||
| + | large, flanged mouth of the maser-projector ground into the small of | ||
| + | his back. His own gun snapped halfway out of its holster, buzzed | ||
| + | briefly, then slipped back as he realized his position.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | turn, lower your gun hand or do anything I don't like I'll pull this | ||
| + | trigger and...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | "You will pull the trigger and burn a nice round hole through my | ||
| + | backbone and intestines. But I would just like to know why? Who is it | ||
| + | that is so interested in my worthless old carcass that they were | ||
| + | willing to pay interstellar freight charges to send you and that | ||
| + | oversize toaster all the way here in order to threaten it?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | would not stay static for long, not on Pyrrus. He was completely right | ||
| + | because before he had finished the ground-control door burst open and | ||
| + | Meta ran out, circling to the left. At the same moment Kerk appeared | ||
| + | from behind the building, his Pyrran reflexes absorbing the situation | ||
| + | in an instant and with no perceptible delay he ran in the opposite | ||
| + | direction. Both Pyrrans had their guns ready and closed in with the | ||
| + | merciless precision of trained predators.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | if they try anything."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | " | ||
| + | half-turned his head and spoke in a quieter voice to the suited figure | ||
| + | behind him. "Now you see where you stand. Lower the gun and get back | ||
| + | into your ship, I guarantee you'll stay alive if you do that at once."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | against his back. "You are my prisoner and your friends can't save | ||
| + | you. Start walking backwards now& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | are < | ||
| + | you couldn' | ||
| + | life& | ||
| + | back into your ship and go home and we'll give you a T for trying."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | assumption of her remark punctuating Jason' | ||
| + | means more to me than you. Shall I kill him yet, Jason?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | emotionless tone. "I want to know who this is, why he came here, | ||
| + | before he dies."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | seconds to live."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | I'll count to three, then shoot. One ... two...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | up at the same instant, extended at arm's length. Jason was so close | ||
| + | to the man in the spacesuit that the guns could have been pointed at | ||
| + | him, the eyes sighting carefully over the dark muzzles.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | can't shoot him for trying to do his job. In fact I'm surprised to | ||
| + | find out that there is one honest cop left on any of the places I've | ||
| + | been."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | him, Jason. We'll take care of you."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of myself. Either of you kill him and so help me I'll kill you." Jason | ||
| + | shuffled backwards faster now until his legs hit the lower edge of the | ||
| + | hatch. He clambered into it and burst out laughing at the dumfounded | ||
| + | expressions of his friends' | ||
| + | the back of his neck. The pressure of the gun was gone and he swung | ||
| + | around, surprised to see the floor rushing up towards him, but before | ||
| + | it struck him blackness descended.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Jason wince when he moved, and when he opened his eyes the pain of the | ||
| + | light made him screw them shut again. Whatever the drug was that had | ||
| + | knocked him out, it was fast working, and seemed to be oxidized just | ||
| + | as quickly. The headache faded away to a dull throb and he could open | ||
| + | his eyes without feeling that needles were being driven into them. He | ||
| + | was seated in a standard spacechair that had been equipped with wrist | ||
| + | and ankle locks, now well secured. A man sat in the chair next to him, | ||
| + | intent on the spaceship' | ||
| + | into space. The stranger was working the computer, cutting a tape to | ||
| + | control their flight in jump-space.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | old for a policeman, though on second thought it was really hard to | ||
| + | tell his age. His hair was gray and cropped as short as a skull cap, | ||
| + | but the wrinkles on his leathery skin seemed to have been caused more | ||
| + | by exposure than advanced years. Tall and firmly erect, he appeared | ||
| + | underweight at first glance, until Jason realized this effect was | ||
| + | caused by the total absence of any excess flesh. It was as though he | ||
| + | had been cooked by the sun and leeched by the rain until only bone, | ||
| + | tendon and muscle were left. When he turned his head the muscles stood | ||
| + | out like cables under the skin of his neck and his hands at the | ||
| + | controls were the browned talons of some bird. A hard finger pressed | ||
| + | the switch that actuated the jump control, and he turned away from the | ||
| + | board to face Jason.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | but it was the safest way."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | vault. The deep-set and cold blue eyes stared fixedly from under dark | ||
| + | brows. Jason stared back just as steadily and chuckled.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | threatening to cook holes in me. For a cop you seem to be very tender | ||
| + | hearted."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | idea what Pyrrans are like, or what kind of a setup you were walking | ||
| + | into? Don't you realize that I saved your life& | ||
| + | know why. Call me a natural humanitarian. You may have a swollen head | ||
| + | and a ready trigger-finger, | ||
| + | you just weren' | ||
| + | then shot the pieces into smaller pieces, while you were still | ||
| + | thinking about pulling the trigger. You should just thank me for being | ||
| + | your savior."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | no change of expression. "You attempt to play on my sympathies to gain | ||
| + | your freedom. Why should I believe this story? I came to arrest you, | ||
| + | threatening to kill you if you didn't submit, and your friends were | ||
| + | there ready to defend you. Why should you attempt to save my life? It | ||
| + | does not make sense." | ||
| + | adjustment.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It didn't make sense, Jason agreed completely. Why had he saved this | ||
| + | oaf who meant nothing to him? It was not an easy question to answer, | ||
| + | though it had seemed so right at the time. If only Meta hadn't said | ||
| + | that they would take care of him; he knew they could and was tired of | ||
| + | it. He could take care of himself: he felt the anger rising again at | ||
| + | the remembered words. Was that the only reason he had let this cop | ||
| + | capture him? To show the Pyrrans that he was able to control his own | ||
| + | destiny? Was the human ego such a pitiable thing that it had to keep | ||
| + | reassuring itself of its own independence or lie down on its back and | ||
| + | curl up its toes?</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | certain insight into his own personality and he realized that his | ||
| + | greedy little subconscious had collected all the cues and signals from | ||
| + | the encounter at the spaceport and goaded him into a line of action | ||
| + | that looked uncomfortably like suicide. The arrival of the stranger, | ||
| + | the threat to himself, the automatic assumption by the Pyrrans that | ||
| + | they would take care of him. Apparently his ego and his subconscious | ||
| + | felt that he had been taken care of too long. They had managed to get | ||
| + | him into this spot from which he could only be extricated by his own | ||
| + | talents, far away from Pyrrus and the pressures that had been weighing | ||
| + | on him so long.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He took a deep breath and smiled. It wasn't such a bad idea after all. | ||
| + | Stupid in retrospect, but the stupidity could hopefully be kept in the | ||
| + | past. Now he had to prove that there was something other than a death | ||
| + | wish in his subconscious flight from Pyrrus, and he must find a way to | ||
| + | reverse positions with this cop, whoever he was. Which meant that he | ||
| + | had to find out a little more about the man before making any plans.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | me who you are and showing me a warrant or something under which you | ||
| + | are performing this deed of interstellar justice."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | sentencing."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | still interested in finding me. But I should warn you that there is | ||
| + | very little remaining of the three-billion, | ||
| + | that I won from your casino."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | controls and swung about in his chair. "They don't want you back | ||
| + | either. You are their planetary hero now. When you escaped with your | ||
| + | ill-gotten gains they realized that they would never see the money | ||
| + | again. So they put their propaganda mills to work and you are now | ||
| + | known throughout all the adjoining star systems as 'Jason 3-Billion', | ||
| + | the living proof of the honesty of their dishonest games, and a lure | ||
| + | for all the weak in spirit. You tempt them into gambling for money | ||
| + | instead of working honestly for it."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | rapidly to loosen up the stuck synapses. " | ||
| + | difficulty in following you. What kind of a policeman are you to | ||
| + | arrest me for trial after the charges have been dropped?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | tightly together before him, his eyes wide and penetrating. " | ||
| + | believer in Truth& | ||
| + | Cassylia have placed you on a pedestal of honor. Honoring you, | ||
| + | another& | ||
| + | they have waxed fat. But I am going to use the Truth to destroy that | ||
| + | image, and when I destroy the image I shall destroy the evil that | ||
| + | produced it."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he really felt. "Do you have a cigarette?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | more than one man. I have followers. The Truth Party is already a | ||
| + | power to be reckoned with. We have spent much time and energy in | ||
| + | tracking you down, but it was worth it. We have followed your | ||
| + | dishonest trail into the past, to Mahaut' | ||
| + | Casino on Galipto, through a series of sordid crimes that turns an | ||
| + | honest man's stomach. We have warrants for your arrest from each of | ||
| + | these places, in some cases even the results of trials and your death | ||
| + | sentence."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | were all held in my absence," | ||
| + | fleeced casinos and gamblers& | ||
| + | suckers?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | "You have been proven guilty of a number of crimes. No amount of | ||
| + | wriggling on the hook can change that. You should be thankful that | ||
| + | your revolting record will have a good use in the end. It will be the | ||
| + | lever with which we shall topple the grafting government of Cassylia."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | you," Jason said, shaking his head in wonder. "I have a very strong | ||
| + | suspicion that you are going to cause yourself& | ||
| + | people& | ||
| + | for instance& | ||
| + | servo motors whined a bit as the detector unit came to life and | ||
| + | tightened the grasp of the cuffs, limiting his movement. "A little | ||
| + | while ago I was enjoying my health and freedom and I threw it all away | ||
| + | on the impulse to save your life. I'm going to have to learn to fight | ||
| + | those impulses."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | said. "I have never taken favors nor do I owe anything to men of your | ||
| + | type. Nor will I ever."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | I had your serenity of mind about the sure order of things."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | able to recognise the Truth before you die. I will help you, talk to | ||
| + | you and explain."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | Jason asked. Mikah stood over him with the tray, undecided. Jason gave | ||
| + | a light verbal prod, very gently, because whatever else he was, Mikah | ||
| + | was not stupid. "I would prefer you to feed me of course, you'd make | ||
| + | an excellent body servant."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | sliding the tray into the slots of Jason' | ||
| + | to do it with only one hand. If you were freed you would only cause | ||
| + | trouble." | ||
| + | right wrist lock snapped open. Jason stretched his cramped fingers and | ||
| + | picked up the fork.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | attention is never obvious, but many things can be seen if you keep | ||
| + | your eyes open and your attention apparently elsewhere. A sudden | ||
| + | glimpse of someone' | ||
| + | reveals a player' | ||
| + | touched the items in the cabin: control console, screens, computer, | ||
| + | chart screen, jump control chart case, bookshelf. Everything was | ||
| + | observed, remembered and considered. Some combination of them would | ||
| + | fit into the plan.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>So far all he had was the beginning and the end of an idea. Beginning: | ||
| + | He was a prisoner in this ship, on his way back to Cassylia. End: He | ||
| + | was not going to remain a prisoner& | ||
| + | that was missing was the vital middle. It looked impossible at the | ||
| + | moment, but Jason never considered that it couldn' | ||
| + | operated on the principle that you made your own luck. You kept your | ||
| + | eyes open as things evolved and at the right moment you acted. If you | ||
| + | acted fast enough, that was good luck. If you worried over the | ||
| + | possibilities until the moment had passed, that was bad luck.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He pushed the empty plate away and stirred sugar into his cup. Mikah | ||
| + | had eaten sparingly and was now starting on his second cup of tea. His | ||
| + | eyes were fixed, unfocused in thought as he drank. He started slightly | ||
| + | when Jason called to him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | smoke my own? You'll have to dig them out for me since I can't reach | ||
| + | the pocket while I'm chained to this chair."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | drug and a carcinogen. If I gave you a cigarette, I would be giving | ||
| + | you cancer."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | rewarding flush in the other' | ||
| + | cancer-producing agents out of tobacco for centuries now. And even if | ||
| + | they hadn' | ||
| + | Cassylia to certain death. So why should you concern yourself with the | ||
| + | state of my lungs in the future?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | rules of life...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | "Not as many as you like to think. And you people who are always | ||
| + | dreaming up the rules never carry your thinking far enough. You are | ||
| + | against drugs. Which drugs? What about the tannic acid in that tea | ||
| + | you're drinking? Or the caffeine in it? It's loaded with caffeine& | ||
| + | drug that is both a strong stimulant and a diuretic. That's why you | ||
| + | won't find tea in spacesuit canteens. That's a case of a drug | ||
| + | forbidden for a good reason. Can you justify your cigarette ban the | ||
| + | same way?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | right. I'm tired, and it is not important." | ||
| + | cigarette case from Jason' | ||
| + | didn't attempt to interfere. Mikah poured himself a third cup of tea | ||
| + | with a slightly apologetic air.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | own standards. When you are in pursuit of the big Truths, you | ||
| + | sometimes let the little Truths slip. I'm not intolerant, but I do | ||
| + | tend to expect everyone else to live up to certain criteria I have set | ||
| + | for myself. Humility is something we should never forget and I thank | ||
| + | you for reminding me of it. The search for Truth is hard."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | from his voice since he wanted to keep his captor involved in the | ||
| + | conversation. Involved enough to forget about the free wrist for a | ||
| + | while. He raised the cup to his lips and let the tea touch his lips | ||
| + | without drinking any. The half-full cup supplied an unconsidered | ||
| + | reason for his free hand.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | The galaxy is filled with Truth, it's the touchstone of Life itself. | ||
| + | It's the thing that separates Mankind from the animals."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | spell them& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | have to explain yourself," | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | where none exists. Truth& | ||
| + | relationship. A way to describe a statement. A semantic tool. But | ||
| + | capital < | ||
| + | pretends to be a noun but it has no referent. It stands for nothing. | ||
| + | It means nothing. When you say 'I believe in Truth' you are really | ||
| + | saying 'I believe in nothing' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | with his finger. "Truth is a philosophical abstraction, | ||
| + | tools that mankind' | ||
| + | proof that we are not beasts ourselves, but a higher order of | ||
| + | creation. Beasts can be true& | ||
| + | see, but they cannot see Beauty."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | enjoy any comprehensible exchange of ideas. We aren't even speaking | ||
| + | the same language. Aside from who is right and who is wrong, for the | ||
| + | moment, we should go back to basics and at least agree on the meaning | ||
| + | of the terms that we are using. To begin with& | ||
| + | difference between < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | thought of a good rousing round of hair-splitting. " | ||
| + | discipline dealing with what it good or bad, or right or wrong& | ||
| + | with moral duty and obligation. Ethos means the guiding beliefs, | ||
| + | standards or ideals that characterize a group or community."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | spaceship-nights with your nose buried in the books. Now make sure the | ||
| + | difference between those two terms is very clear, because it is the | ||
| + | heart of the little communications problem we have here. Ethos is | ||
| + | inextricably linked with a single society and cannot be separated | ||
| + | from it, or it loses all meaning. Do you agree?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | The ethos of a group is just a catch-all term for the ways in which | ||
| + | the members of a group rub against each other. Right?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | again by your definition, must deal with any number of societies or | ||
| + | groups. If there are any absolute laws of ethics, they must be so | ||
| + | inclusive that they can be applied to < | ||
| + | must be as universal of application as is the law of gravity."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | prattle about your Universal Laws never really consider the exact | ||
| + | meaning of the term. My knowledge of the history of science is very | ||
| + | vague, but I'm willing to bet that the first Law of Gravity ever | ||
| + | dreamed up stated that things fell at such and such a speed, and | ||
| + | accelerated at such and such a rate. That's not a law, but an | ||
| + | observation that isn't even complete until you add 'on this planet.' | ||
| + | On a planet with a different mass there will be a different | ||
| + | observation. The law of gravity is the formula</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p> | ||
| + | <span style=" | ||
| + | <span style=" | ||
| + | <span style=" | ||
| + | </p> | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | bodies anywhere. This is a way of expressing fundamental and | ||
| + | unalterable principles that apply in all circumstances. If you are | ||
| + | going to have any real ethical laws they will have to have this same | ||
| + | universality. They will have to work on Cassylia or Pyrrus, or on any | ||
| + | planet or in any society you can find. Which brings us back to you. | ||
| + | What you so grandly call& | ||
| + | trumpets& | ||
| + | chunks of tribal ethos, aboriginal observations made by a gang of | ||
| + | desert sheepherders to keep order in the house& | ||
| + | aren't capable of any universal application, | ||
| + | Just think of the different planets that you have been on and the | ||
| + | number of weird and wonderful ways people have of reacting to each | ||
| + | other& | ||
| + | applicable in all these societies. An impossible task. Yet I'll bet | ||
| + | that you have ten rules you want me to obey, and if one of them is | ||
| + | wasted on an injunction against saying prayers to carved idols I can | ||
| + | imagine just how universal the other nine are. You aren't being | ||
| + | ethical if you try to apply them wherever you go& | ||
| + | a particularly fancy way to commit suicide!"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | jar you out of your state of moral smugness. How dare you even | ||
| + | consider having me tried for stealing money from the Cassylia casino | ||
| + | when all I was doing was conforming to their own code of ethics! They | ||
| + | run crooked gambling games, so the law under their local ethos must be | ||
| + | that crooked gambling is the norm. So I cheated them, conforming to | ||
| + | their norm. If they have also passed a law that says cheating at | ||
| + | gambling is illegal, the < | ||
| + | are bringing me back to be tried by that law you are unethical, and I | ||
| + | am the helpless victim of an evil man."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and forth before Jason, clasping and unclasping his hands with | ||
| + | agitation. "You seek to confuse me with your semantics and so-called | ||
| + | ethics that are simply opportunism and greed. There is a Higher Law | ||
| + | that cannot be argued& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | at the books on the wall. "I can prove it with your own books, some of | ||
| + | that light reading on the shelf there. Not the Aquinas& | ||
| + | the little volume with < | ||
| + | Booke of the Ordre of Chyualry'?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Lull's writing?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | this was the only book in the collection he could remember reading, | ||
| + | the odd title had stuck in his head. "Now let me see it and I shall | ||
| + | prove to you what I mean." There was no way to tell from the unchanged | ||
| + | naturalness of his words that this was the moment he had been working | ||
| + | carefully towards. He sipped the tea. None of his tenseness showing.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | perfect. An almost ideal example of your kind of thinking. Do you like | ||
| + | to read Lull?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | every line and Truths that we have forgotten in the rush of modern | ||
| + | life. A reconciliation and proof of the interrelationship between the | ||
| + | Mystical and the Concrete. By manipulation of symbols he explains | ||
| + | everything by absolute logic."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | word games. He takes a word, gives it an abstract and unreal value, | ||
| + | then proves this value by relating it to other words with the same | ||
| + | sort of nebulous antecedents. His facts aren't facts& | ||
| + | sounds. This is the key point, where your universe and mine differ. | ||
| + | You live in this world of meaningless facts that have no existence. My | ||
| + | world contains facts that can be weighed, tested, proven related to | ||
| + | other facts in a logical manner. My facts are unshakeable and | ||
| + | unarguable. They exist."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | now than Jason' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | contains facts that even you will agree are true& | ||
| + | if you don't. Hand it to me." He sounded angry, making overly bold | ||
| + | statements and Mikah fell right into the trap. He handed the volume to | ||
| + | Jason, using both hands since it was very thick, metal bound and | ||
| + | heavy.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <img src=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | for you," Jason said, opening the book. Mikah smiled wryly at this | ||
| + | assumption of his ignorance. "This is a stellar ephemeris, just as | ||
| + | packed with facts as an egg is with meat. In some ways it is a history | ||
| + | of mankind. Now look at the jump screen there on the control console | ||
| + | and you will see what I mean. Do you see the horizontal green line? | ||
| + | Well, that's our course."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | said. "Get on with your proof."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | red dot on the green line is our ship's position. The number above the | ||
| + | screen our next navigational point, the spot where a star's | ||
| + | gravitational field it strong enough to be detected in jump space. The | ||
| + | number is the star's code listing. DB89-046-229. I'll look it up in | ||
| + | the book"& | ||
| + | name. A row of code symbols though that tell a lot about it. This | ||
| + | little symbol means that there is a planet or planets suitable for man | ||
| + | to live on. Doesn' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | dot approaching on the course line is the PMP. Point of Maximum | ||
| + | Proximity. When the red dot and green dot coincide...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | that something was wrong. He was just an instant too late.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | jump screen into the delicate circuits behind. Before it hit he had | ||
| + | thrown the second book. There was a tinkling crash, a flare of light | ||
| + | and the crackle of shorted circuits.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the ship through into normal space.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | transition. Locked into the chair, Jason fought the heaving of his | ||
| + | stomach and the blackness before his eyes. As Mikah dragged himself to | ||
| + | his feet, Jason took careful aim and sent the tray and dishes hurtling | ||
| + | into the smoking ruin of the jump computer.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | incontrovertible, | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | but his voice under control.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | control so we can't get to another star. However there' | ||
| + | with our space drive, so we can make a landing on one of the | ||
| + | planets& | ||
| + | habitation."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | You will have gained nothing."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | not have the slightest intention of continuing the trip, no matter | ||
| + | what Mikah Samon thought.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | chair arm," he ordered, and locked the cuff into place again. He | ||
| + | stumbled as the drive started and the ship changed direction. "What | ||
| + | was that?" he asked.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | is wrong, so it has taken over. You can override it with the manuals, | ||
| + | but don't bother yet. The ship can do a better job than either of us | ||
| + | with its senses and stored data. It will find the planet we're looking | ||
| + | for, plot a course and get us there with the most economy of time and | ||
| + | fuel. When we get into the atmosphere you can take over and look for a | ||
| + | spot to set down."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | take control and get a call out on the emergency band. Someone will | ||
| + | hear it." As he started forward the ship lurched again and all the | ||
| + | lights went out. In the darkness flames could be seen flickering | ||
| + | inside the controls. There was a hiss of foam and they vanished. With | ||
| + | a weak flicker the emergency lighting circuit came on.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | can't stomach it any more than I could."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | teeth, as he went to the controls. "You attempt to kill us both. You | ||
| + | have no respect for your own life or mine. You're a man who deserves | ||
| + | the worst punishment the law allows."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | chances& | ||
| + | carrying me back to certain death. The worst my wrecking the controls | ||
| + | can do is administer the same end. So I took a chance. There is a | ||
| + | bigger risk factor for you of course, but I'm afraid I didn't take | ||
| + | that into consideration. After all, this entire affair is your idea. | ||
| + | You'll just have to take the consequences of your own actions and not | ||
| + | scold me for them."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | alert. Now will you tell me what to do to save < | ||
| + | of the controls work."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the safety housing."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | speak. "Read one of your books, Mikah," | ||
| + | consolation in your philosophy. There' | ||
| + | to the computer now, and whatever is left of the circuits."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | than good."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It took two ship-days of very erratic flight to reach the planet. A | ||
| + | haze of clouds obscured the atmosphere. They approached from the night | ||
| + | side and no details were visible. Or lights.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | asked.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | only ocean in this hemisphere."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | should get us down safely& | ||
| + | the rest of our lives on this lost planet at the end of the universe."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | cuffs while we go down. It will probably be a rough landing and I'd | ||
| + | like to have some kind of a chance."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | won't try to escape during the landing?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | take your chances. Let neither of us think it will be any different."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | chair.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | quickly climbed the scale to a shrill scream. The drive cut out and | ||
| + | they were in free fall. Air friction heated the outer hull white-hot | ||
| + | and the interior temperature quickly rose in spite of the cooling | ||
| + | unit.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Are we through& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | folded up& | ||
| + | pieces all over the landscape, or the computer is saving itself for | ||
| + | one last effort. I hope that's it. They build computers smart these | ||
| + | days, all sort of problem-solving circuits. The hull and engines are | ||
| + | in good shape& | ||
| + | this a good human pilot would let the ship drop as far and fast as it | ||
| + | could before switching on the drive. Then turn it on full& | ||
| + | gees or more, whatever he figured the passengers could take on the | ||
| + | couches. The hull would take a beating, but who cares. The control | ||
| + | circuits would be used the shortest amount of time in the simplest | ||
| + | manner."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | acceleration chair.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | you go to bed? It could be a bad landing and we might want to go | ||
| + | places in a hurry."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | intend to shoot if you try anything. Once we are down you will be | ||
| + | locked in again."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | uncontrollable gasps, sank them deep into the yielding couches. | ||
| + | Mikah' | ||
| + | difference, Jason could not stand nor move. He hovered on the border | ||
| + | of consciousness, | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | it didn't start again. The two men stared at each other, unmoving, for | ||
| + | the unmeasurable unit of time that the ship fell.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As the ship dropped it turned and hit at an angle. The end came for | ||
| + | Jason in an engulfing wave of thunder, shock and pain. Sudden impact | ||
| + | pushed him against the restraining straps, burst them with the inertia | ||
| + | of his body, hurled him across the control room. His last conscious | ||
| + | thought was to protect his head. He was lifting his arm when he struck | ||
| + | the wall.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Cold that slices into the flesh before it numbs and kills.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | cold was so great it filled the universe. Cold water he realized as he | ||
| + | coughed it from his mouth and nose. Something was around him and it | ||
| + | took an effort to recognize it as Mikah' | ||
| + | face above the surface while he swam. A receding blackness in the | ||
| + | water could only have been the ship, giving off bubbles and groans as | ||
| + | it died. The cold water didn't hurt now and Jason was just relaxing | ||
| + | when he felt something solid under his feet.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | carry you ... can't carry myself...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | beasts that could not stand erect. Everything had an unreality to it | ||
| + | and Jason found it hard to think. He should not stop, that he was sure | ||
| + | of, but what else could he do? There was a flickering in the darkness, | ||
| + | a wavering light coming towards them. Jason could say nothing, but he | ||
| + | heard Mikah cry out for help.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | pulled to his feet as the flame approached.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was a nightmare. It wasn't a man but a thing that held the flare. A | ||
| + | thing of angles, sharp corners, fang-faced and horrible. It had a | ||
| + | clubbed extremity it used to strike down Mikah. The tall man fell | ||
| + | wordlessly and the creature turned towards Jason. He had no strength | ||
| + | to fight with, though he struggled to climb to his feet. His fingers | ||
| + | scratched at the frosted sand, but he could not rise, and exhausted | ||
| + | with this last effort he fell forward face down. Unconsciousness | ||
| + | pulled at his brain but he would not submit. The flickering torchlight | ||
| + | came closer and the scuffle of heavy feet in the sand; he could not | ||
| + | have this horror behind him. With the last of his strength he levered | ||
| + | himself over and lay on his back, staring up at the thing that stood | ||
| + | over him, with the darkness of exhaustion filming his eyes.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | <p>It did not kill him at once, but stood staring down at him, and as | ||
| + | the slow seconds ticked by and Jason was still alive he forced himself | ||
| + | to consider this menace that appeared from the blackness.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | realized it was human. The meaning of the question picked at the edge | ||
| + | of his exhausted brain, he felt he could almost understand it, though | ||
| + | he had never heard the language before. He tried to answer but there | ||
| + | was only a hoarse gargle from his throat.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | running feet. As they came closer Jason had a clearer look at the man | ||
| + | above him and could understand why he had mistaken him for some | ||
| + | inhuman creature. His limbs were completely wrapped in lengths of | ||
| + | stained leather, his chest and body protected by thick and overlapping | ||
| + | leather plates covered with blood-red designs. Over his head was | ||
| + | fitted the cochlea shaped shell of some animal, spiraling to a point | ||
| + | in front: two small openings had been drilled in it for eye holes. | ||
| + | Great, finger-long teeth had been set in the lower edge of the shell | ||
| + | to heighten the already fearsome appearance. The only thing at all | ||
| + | human about the creature was the matted and filthy beard that trickled | ||
| + | out of the shell below the teeth. There were too many other details | ||
| + | for Jason to absorb so suddenly; something bulky slung behind one | ||
| + | shoulder, dark objects at the waist, a heavy club reached and prodded | ||
| + | Jason in the ribs, but he was too close to unconsciousness to resist.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A guttural command halted the torch-bearers a full five meters from | ||
| + | the spot where Jason lay. He wondered vaguely why the armored man had | ||
| + | not let them approach closer since the light from their torches barely | ||
| + | reached this far: everything on this planet seemed inexplicable. For a | ||
| + | few moments Jason must have lost consciousness because when he looked | ||
| + | again the torch was stuck in the sand at his side and the armored man | ||
| + | had one of Jason' | ||
| + | only writhe feebly but not prevent the theft, for some reason he could | ||
| + | not force his body to follow his will. His sense of time seemed to | ||
| + | have altered as well and though every second dragged heavily by events | ||
| + | occurred with startling rapidity.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | stopping every few seconds to glance up at the row of torch-bearers. | ||
| + | The magnetic seals were alien to him, the sharp teeth sewn into the | ||
| + | leather over his knuckles dug into Jason' | ||
| + | open the seals or to tear the resistant metalcloth. He was growling | ||
| + | with impatience when he accidentally touched the release button on the | ||
| + | medikit and it dropped into his hand. The shining gadget seemed to | ||
| + | please him, but when one of the sharp needles slipped through his | ||
| + | thick hand-coverings and stabbed him he howled with rage, throwing the | ||
| + | machine down, and grinding it into a splintered ruin in the sand. The | ||
| + | loss of this irreplaceable device goaded Jason into motion, he sat up | ||
| + | and was trying to reach the medikit when unconsciousness surged over | ||
| + | him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to awareness. There were some foul-smelling hides draped over him that | ||
| + | retained a little of his body heat. He pulled away the stifling fold | ||
| + | that covered his face and stared up at the stars, cold points of light | ||
| + | that glittered in the frigid night. The air was a stimulant and he | ||
| + | sucked deep gasps of it that burned his throat but seemed to clear his | ||
| + | thoughts. For the first time he realized that his disorientation had | ||
| + | been caused by that crack on the head he had received when the ship | ||
| + | crashed; his exploring fingers found a swollen rawness on his skull. | ||
| + | He must have a brain concussion, that would explain his earlier | ||
| + | inability to move or think straight. The cold air was numbing his face | ||
| + | and he willingly pulled the hairy skin back over his head.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He wondered what had happened to Mikah Samon after the local thug in | ||
| + | the horror outfit had bashed him with the club. This was a messy and | ||
| + | unexpected end for the man after he had managed to survive the crash | ||
| + | of the ship. Jason had no special affection for the under-nourished | ||
| + | zealot, but he did owe him a life. Mikah had saved him after the | ||
| + | crash, only to be murdered himself by this local assassin. Jason made | ||
| + | a mental note to kill the man just as soon as he was physically up to | ||
| + | it, at the same time he was a little astonished at his reflexive | ||
| + | acceptance of the need for this blood-thirsty atonement of a life for | ||
| + | a life. Apparently his long stay on Pyrrus had trodden down his normal | ||
| + | dislike for killing except in self-defense and from what he had seen | ||
| + | so far of this world the Pyrran training would certainly be most | ||
| + | useful. The sky showed gray through a tear in the hide and he pushed | ||
| + | it back to look at the dawn.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | He hair was matted and caked with dark blood, but he was still | ||
| + | breathing.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | painfully up onto one elbow and took a good look at this world where | ||
| + | his spaceship sabotage had landed them.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was a grim desert, lumped with huddled bodies like the aftermath of | ||
| + | a battle at world' | ||
| + | holding their skins around them, the only signs of life in that | ||
| + | immense waste of gritty sand. On one side a ridge of dunes cut off | ||
| + | sight of the sea, but he could hear the dull boom of waves on the | ||
| + | shore. White frost rimed the ground and the chill wind made his eyes | ||
| + | blink and water. On the top of the dunes a remembered figure suddenly | ||
| + | appeared, the armored man, doing something with what appeared to be | ||
| + | lengths of rope; there was metallic tinkling, suddenly cut off. Mikah | ||
| + | Samon groaned and stirred.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | blood-shot eyeballs I have ever seen."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | type who watched historical spaceopera on the TV. I have no idea where | ||
| + | we are& | ||
| + | you are up to it."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | darkness, like a demon from hell. We fought...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | fight there was. I had a better look at your demon, though I was in no | ||
| + | better condition to fight him than you were. He's a man dressed in a | ||
| + | weird outfit out of an addict' | ||
| + | of this crew of rugged campers. Other than that I have little idea of | ||
| + | what is going on& | ||
| + | then back if I have to kill him for them."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | not talk of killing a man for material gain. You are evil, Jason, | ||
| + | and.... My boots are gone& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | discovery. " | ||
| + | Baal-zebub!"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | on your demonology. Were you just listing them& | ||
| + | aid?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wind whistling around his almost-bare body quickly gave his skin a | ||
| + | light touch of blue. "I am going to find the evil creature that did | ||
| + | this and force him to return what is mine."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | a wrestling grip, twisted it and brought the man thudding to the | ||
| + | ground. The fall dazed him and Jason pulled the skins back over the | ||
| + | raw-boned form.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | saved yours. You're bare-handed and wounded& | ||
| + | mountain up there is a walking armory, and anyone with the personality | ||
| + | to wear that kind of an outfit will kill you as easily as he picks his | ||
| + | teeth. So take it easy and try to avoid trouble. There' | ||
| + | this mess& | ||
| + | I'm going to find it. In fact I'm going to take a walk right now and | ||
| + | start my research. Agreed?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A groan was his only answer since Mikah was unconscious again, fresh | ||
| + | blood seeping from his injured scalp. Jason stood and wrapped his | ||
| + | hides about his body as some protection from the wind, tying the loose | ||
| + | ends together. Then he kicked through the sand until he found a smooth | ||
| + | rock that would fit inside his fist with just the end protruding, and | ||
| + | thus armed made his way out through the stirring forms of the | ||
| + | sleepers.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | above the horizon. The people were all awake now, a shuffling, | ||
| + | scratching herd of about thirty men, women and children. They were | ||
| + | identical in their filth and crude skin wrappings, milling about with | ||
| + | a random motion or sitting blankly on the ground. They showed no | ||
| + | interest at all in the two strangers. Jason handed a tarred leather | ||
| + | cup to Mikah and squatted next to him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | I didn't find any food." He still had the stone in his hand and while | ||
| + | he talked he rubbed it on the sand: the end was moist and red and some | ||
| + | long hairs were stuck in it.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | than you can see from here. Just this crowd of broken down types, a | ||
| + | few bundles rolled in hide, and some of them are carrying skin water | ||
| + | bottles. They have a simple me-stronger pecking order so I pecked a | ||
| + | bit and we can drink. Food comes next."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | obviously still suffering the after-effects of the blow. Jason looked | ||
| + | at the contused skull, and decided not to touch it. The wound had bled | ||
| + | freely and clotted. Washing it off with the highly dubious water would | ||
| + | accomplish little and might add infection to their other troubles.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | know why they are here, what they are doing or where they are going, | ||
| + | but their status is painfully clear& | ||
| + | the hill is the boss. The rest of us are slaves."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | head. "It is abominable. The slaves must be freed."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | are only two slaves that need freeing here, you and I. These people | ||
| + | seem nicely adjusted to the < | ||
| + | it. I'm not starting any abolitionist campaigns until I can see my way | ||
| + | clearly out of this mess, and I probably won't start any then either. | ||
| + | This planet has been going on a long time without me, and will | ||
| + | probably keep rolling along once I'm gone."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | free."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | thing right now that is going to make me free is me. Which may be bad | ||
| + | poetry, but is still the truth. The situation here is rough but not | ||
| + | unbeatable& | ||
| + | you care, seems to have gone off on a hunt of some kind. He's not far | ||
| + | away and will be back soon, so I'll try and give you the entire setup | ||
| + | quickly.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | form of Esperanto, the language all the Terido worlds speak. This | ||
| + | altered language plus the fact that these people live about one step | ||
| + | above the stone-age culture is pretty sure evidence that they are cut | ||
| + | off from any contact with the rest of the galaxy, though I hope not. | ||
| + | There may be a trading base somewhere on the planet, and if there is | ||
| + | we'll find it later. We have enough other things to worry about right | ||
| + | now, but at least we can speak the language. These people have | ||
| + | contracted and lost a lot of sounds and even introduced a glottal | ||
| + | stop, something that < | ||
| + | meaning can still be made out."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | up and listen. These locals are born and bred slaves and it is all | ||
| + | they know. There is a little squabbling in the ranks with the bigger | ||
| + | ones pushing the work on the weak ones when Ch'aka isn't looking, but | ||
| + | I have that situation well in hand. Ch'aka is our big problem, and we | ||
| + | have to find out a lot more things before we can tackle him. He is | ||
| + | boss, fighter, father, provider and destiny for this mob, and he seems | ||
| + | to know his job. So try to be a good slave for a while...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | back to the ground& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | in this arrangement. Do what everyone else does, obey orders, and you | ||
| + | stand a good chance of staying alive until we can find a way out of | ||
| + | this tangle."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | returned. The slaves climbed quickly to their feet, grabbing up their | ||
| + | bundles, and began to form a single widespaced line. Jason helped | ||
| + | Mikah to stand and wrap strips of skin around his feet then supported | ||
| + | most of his weight as they stumbled to a place in the open formation. | ||
| + | Once they were all in position Ch'aka kicked the nearest one and they | ||
| + | began walking slowly forward looking carefully at the ground as they | ||
| + | went. Jason had no idea of the significance of the action, but as long | ||
| + | as he and Mikah weren' | ||
| + | cut out for him just to keep the wounded man on his feet. Somehow | ||
| + | Mikah managed to dredge up enough strength to keep going.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | was too far away for Jason to make out the cause of the excitement, | ||
| + | but the man bent over and scratched a hole with a short length of | ||
| + | pointed wood. In a few seconds he dug up something round and not quite | ||
| + | the size of his hand. He raised it over his head and brought the thing | ||
| + | to Ch'aka at a shambling run. The slavemaster took it and bit off a | ||
| + | chunk, and when the man who had found it turned away he gave him a | ||
| + | lusty kick. The line moved forward again.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | ate as well. Only when his immediate hunger was satisfied did he make | ||
| + | any attempt to be the good provider. When the next one was found he | ||
| + | called over a slave and threw the object into a crudely woven basket | ||
| + | he was carrying on his back. After this the basket-toting slave walked | ||
| + | directly in front of Ch'aka who was carefully watchful that every one | ||
| + | of the things that was dug up went into the basket. Jason wondered | ||
| + | what they were& | ||
| + | stomach reminded him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | let Mikah sink to a sitting position when they stopped and watched | ||
| + | with interest as the slave attacked the ground with his piece of wood, | ||
| + | scratching around a tiny sprig of green that projected from the desert | ||
| + | sand. His burrowings uncovered a wrinkled gray object from which the | ||
| + | green leaves were growing, a root or tuber of some kind. It appeared | ||
| + | as edible as a piece of stone to Jason, but obviously not to the slave | ||
| + | who drooled heavily and actually had the temerity to sniff the root. | ||
| + | Ch'aka howled with anger at this and when the slave had dropped the | ||
| + | root into the basket with the others he received a kick so strong that | ||
| + | he had to limp back painfully to his position in the line.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | around while he poked through the basket. He called them over one at a | ||
| + | time and gave them one or more of the roots according to some merit | ||
| + | system of his own. The basket was almost empty when he poked his club | ||
| + | at Jason.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | well enough, because he grunted and dug through the contents of the | ||
| + | basket. His masked face stared at them and Jason could feel the impact | ||
| + | of the unseen watching eyes. The club pointed again.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the slaver could imagine.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | deliver a lecture on astronomy. "When do we eat?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | shoes. You a slave here. My slave. You both my slaves."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | slaves have to eat. Where' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | root which he broke in half and threw onto the sand in front of Jason.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | could. He handed one to Mikah and took a tentative bite out of the | ||
| + | other one: it was gritty with sand and tasted like slightly rancid | ||
| + | wax. It took a distinct effort to eat the repulsive thing but he did. | ||
| + | Without a doubt it was food, no matter how unwholesome, | ||
| + | until something better came along.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | between his teeth.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | just temporary& | ||
| + | started to climb to his feet. Jason pulled him back down. "This is a | ||
| + | strange planet, you're injured, we have no food or water, and no idea | ||
| + | at all how to survive in this place. The only thing we can do to stay | ||
| + | alive is to go along with what Old Ugly there says. If he wants to | ||
| + | call us slaves, fine& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | get rid of them. That way you end up alive-free rather than dead-free, | ||
| + | a much more attractive state. Now shut up and eat. We can't do | ||
| + | anything until you are out of the walking wounded class."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and in addition to helping Mikah, Jason found two of the < | ||
| + | edible roots. They stopped before dusk and dropped gratefully to the | ||
| + | sand. When the food was divided they received a slightly larger | ||
| + | portion, as evidence perhaps of Jason' | ||
| + | men were exhausted and fell asleep as soon as it was dark.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | walking routine. Their foodsearching always paralleled the unseen sea, | ||
| + | and one slave walked the crest of the dunes that hid the water from | ||
| + | sight. He must have seen something of interest because he leaped down | ||
| + | from the mound and waved both arms wildly. Ch'aka ran heavily to the | ||
| + | dunes and talked with the scout, then booted the man from his | ||
| + | presence.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | slung from his back and disclosed an efficient looking crossbow, | ||
| + | cocking it by winding on a built-in crank. This complicated and deadly | ||
| + | piece of machinery seemed very much out of place with the primitive | ||
| + | slave-holding society, and Jason wished that he could get a better | ||
| + | look at the device. Ch'aka fumbled a quarrel from another pouch and | ||
| + | fitted it to the bow. The slaves sat silently on the sand while their | ||
| + | master stalked along the base of the dunes, then wormed his way over | ||
| + | them and out of sight, creeping silently on his stomach. A few minutes | ||
| + | later there was a scream of pain from behind the dunes and all the | ||
| + | slaves jumped to their feet and raced to see. Jason left Mikah where | ||
| + | he lay and was in the first rank of observers that broke over the | ||
| + | hillocks and onto the shore.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | quality of the shot and what a mighty hunter Ch'aka was. Jason had to | ||
| + | admit there was a certain truth in the claims. A large, furred | ||
| + | amphibian lay at the water' | ||
| + | bolt projecting from its thick neck and a thin stream of blood running | ||
| + | down to mix with the surging waves.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | things. "When do we eat?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | regained his breath after the stalk. Then after cocking the crossbow | ||
| + | again he stalked over to the beast and with his knife cut out the | ||
| + | quarrel, notching it against the bowstring still dripping with blood.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | crossbow at the slave who approached the kill. Ch'aka had left his | ||
| + | knife in the animal and Opisweni pulled it free and began to | ||
| + | methodically flay and butcher the beast. All the time he worked he | ||
| + | carefully kept his back turned to Ch'aka and the aimed bow.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | joined the others in searching the shore for driftwood. Ch'aka had all | ||
| + | the weapons as well as a constant fear of assassination. If Opisweni | ||
| + | tried to use the knife for anything other than the intended piece of | ||
| + | work, he would get the crossbow quarrel in the back of his head. Very | ||
| + | efficient.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | returned with his contribution the < | ||
| + | large chunks. Ch'aka kicked his slaves away from the heap of wood and | ||
| + | produced a small device from another of his sacks. Interested, Jason | ||
| + | pushed as close as he dared, into the front rank of the watching | ||
| + | circle. Though he had never seen one of them before, the operation of | ||
| + | the firemaker was obvious to him. A spring-loaded arm drove a fragment | ||
| + | of stone against a piece of steel, sparks flew out and were caught in | ||
| + | a cup of tinder, where Ch'aka blew on them until they burst into | ||
| + | flame.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | evidence of a higher level of culture than that possessed by these | ||
| + | slave-holding nomads. This was the first bit of evidence that Jason | ||
| + | had seen that there might be more to the cultural life of this planet | ||
| + | than they had seen since their landing. Later, while they were gorging | ||
| + | themselves on the seared meat, he drew Mikah aside and pointed this | ||
| + | out.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <img src=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | crossbow or firelighter. We must find out where they came from and see | ||
| + | about getting there ourselves. I had a quick look at the quarrel when | ||
| + | Ch'aka pulled it out, and I'll swear that it was turned from steel."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | There will be authorities, | ||
| + | situation, obtain transportation to Cassylia. I will not place you | ||
| + | under arrest again until that time."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | absolutely impossible, and Jason probed at his moral armor to see if | ||
| + | there were any weak spots. " | ||
| + | back to get killed? After all we are companions in trouble& | ||
| + | save your life."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <img src=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | completely evil, and given the right training could be fitted for a | ||
| + | useful place in society. But my personal grief must not be allowed to | ||
| + | alter events: you forget that you committed a crime and must pay the | ||
| + | penalty."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | slaves.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | have light yet to look for < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | desert. More of the edible roots were found, and once they stopped | ||
| + | briefly to fill the water bags at a spring that bubbled up out of the | ||
| + | sand. The sun dropped towards the horizon and what little warmth it | ||
| + | possessed was absorbed by a bank of clouds. Jason looked around and | ||
| + | shivered& | ||
| + | nudged Mikah who still leaned heavily on him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | program?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | surprisingly enough, neither did any of the other slaves nor Ch' | ||
| + | The dots expanded and became another row of marchers, apparently | ||
| + | absorbed in the same task as Jason' | ||
| + | making a slow examination of the sand, followed behind by the solitary | ||
| + | figure of their master. The two lines slowly approached each other, | ||
| + | paralleling the shore.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | slaves stopped as soon as they reached it, dropping with satisfied | ||
| + | grunts onto the sand. The cairn was obviously a border marker and | ||
| + | Ch'aka walked to it and rested his foot on one of the stones, watching | ||
| + | while the other line of slaves approached. They, too, stopped at the | ||
| + | cairn and settled to the ground: both groups stared with dull-eyed | ||
| + | lack of interest and only the slave-masters showed any animation. The | ||
| + | other master stopped a good ten paces before he reached Ch'aka and | ||
| + | waved an evil looking stone hammer over his head.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | warlike. Both men shook their weapons and shouted a few insults, then | ||
| + | settled down to a quiet conversation. Fasimba was garbed in the same | ||
| + | type of hideous and fear-inspiring outfit as Ch' | ||
| + | unimportant details. Instead of a conch, his head was encased in the | ||
| + | skull of one of the amphibious < | ||
| + | extra tusks and horns. The differences between the two men were all | ||
| + | minor, and mostly a matter of decoration or variation of weapon | ||
| + | design. They were obviously slave masters and equals.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | you owe me?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | for you from the D' | ||
| + | owe other one."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | ocean."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | one he had half-crippled with a kick the day before. Pulling him to | ||
| + | his feet he booted him towards the other mob.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | kick.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | stories, work hard."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | still strong enough to knock him sprawling. Before he could get up | ||
| + | Ch'aka had clutched Mikah Samon by the arm and dragged him across the | ||
| + | invisible line to the other group of slaves. Fasimba stalked over to | ||
| + | examine him, prodding him with a spiked toe.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | had come, and Jason shouted after Ch' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of someone else...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his club.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | kill you."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he could do. He had a few qualms about Mikah' | ||
| + | survived the wound he was certainly not the type to bow to the | ||
| + | inevitabilities of slave-holding life. Yet Jason had done his best to | ||
| + | save him and that was that. Now Jason would think about Jason for a | ||
| + | while.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | slaves were out of sight, then stopped for the night. Jason settled | ||
| + | himself into the lee of a mound that broke the force of the wind a bit | ||
| + | and unwrapped a piece of scorched meat he had salvaged from the | ||
| + | earlier feast. It was tough and oily but far superior to the barely | ||
| + | edible < | ||
| + | chewed noisily on the bone and watched while one of the other slaves | ||
| + | sidled over towards him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | when she talked did Jason realize that this was a girl; all the slaves | ||
| + | were alike in their matted hair and skin wrappings. He ripped off a | ||
| + | chunk of meat.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | generosity he intended to get some information from his captive | ||
| + | audience.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | index finger of her free hand scratched for enemies in her tangled | ||
| + | hair.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | you ask a slave if she has always been a slave?</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Ch' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | gnawing at the meat. "And the D' | ||
| + | from& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | grease from her fingers.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hospitality. Who are the D' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | looked for a soft spot in the sand to sit down. "They live in the | ||
| + | desert. They go around in < | ||
| + | things. One of them gave me my best thing. If I show it to you, you | ||
| + | won't take it?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | made. Here, here's some more meat. Now let me see your best thing."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | something that she concealed in her clenched fist. She held it out | ||
| + | proudly and opened it and there was enough light left for Jason to | ||
| + | make out the rough form of a red glass bead.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | sorrow when he looked at the pathetic bauble. This girl's ancestors | ||
| + | had come to this planet in spaceships with a knowledge of the most | ||
| + | advanced sciences. Cut off, their children had degenerated into this, | ||
| + | barely conscious slaves, who could pride a worthless piece of glass | ||
| + | above all things.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | line when the endless < | ||
| + | questioned her and before noon had extracted all of her meager | ||
| + | knowledge of affairs beyond the barren coastal plain where they lived. | ||
| + | The ocean was a mystery that produced edible animals, fish and an | ||
| + | occasional human corpse. Ships could be seen from time to time | ||
| + | offshore but nothing was known about them. On the other flank the | ||
| + | territory was bounded by desert even more inhospitable than the one in | ||
| + | which they scratched out their existence, a waste of lifeless sand, | ||
| + | habitable only by the D' | ||
| + | last could be animals& | ||
| + | either was possible from Ijale' | ||
| + | desert, these made up all of her world and she could conceive of | ||
| + | nothing that might exist beyond.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he had every intention of finding out where it came from. In order to | ||
| + | do that he was going to have to change his slave status when the | ||
| + | proper time came. He was developing a certain facility in dodging | ||
| + | Ch' | ||
| + | Being a slave left him with no responsibilities other than obeying | ||
| + | orders and he had ample opportunity to discover what he could about | ||
| + | this planet, so that when he finally did leave he would be as well | ||
| + | prepared as was possible.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | distance, on a course paralleling their own, and Jason expected a | ||
| + | repeat performance of the previous day's meeting. He was agreeably | ||
| + | surprised that it was not. The sight of the others threw Ch'aka into | ||
| + | an immediate rage that sent his slaves rushing for safety in all | ||
| + | directions. By leaping into the air, howling with anger and beating | ||
| + | his club against his thick leather armor he managed to work himself | ||
| + | into quite a state before starting off on a slogging run. Jason, | ||
| + | followed close behind him, greatly interested by this new turn of | ||
| + | affairs. Ahead of them the other slaves scattered and from their midst | ||
| + | burst another armed and armored figure. They churned towards each | ||
| + | other at top speed and Jason hoped for a shattering crash when they | ||
| + | met. However they slowed before they hit and began circling each | ||
| + | other, spitting curses.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | touch of formality this time.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | your carrion-meat slaves!"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | with his club that would have broken the other man in two if it had | ||
| + | connected. But M' | ||
| + | counter-blow with his own club that Ch'aka easily avoided. There | ||
| + | followed a quick exchange of club-work that did little more than fan | ||
| + | the air, until suddenly both men were locked together and the fight | ||
| + | began in earnest. They rolled together on the ground grunting | ||
| + | savagely, tearing at each other. The heavy clubs were of no use this | ||
| + | close and were dropped in favor of knives and knees: Jason could | ||
| + | understand now why Ch'aka had the long tusks strapped to his kneecaps. | ||
| + | It was a no-holds-barred fight and each man was trying as hard as | ||
| + | possible to kill his opponent. The leather armor made this difficult | ||
| + | and the struggle continued, littering the sand with broken off animal | ||
| + | teeth, discarded weapons and other debris. It looked like it would be | ||
| + | called a draw when both men separated for a breather, but they dived | ||
| + | right back in again.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was Ch'aka who broke the stalemate when he plunged his dagger into | ||
| + | the ground and on the next roll caught the handle in his mouth. | ||
| + | Holding his opponent' | ||
| + | and managed to find a weak spot in the other' | ||
| + | and pulled free and when he climbed to his feet blood was running down | ||
| + | his arm and dripping from his fingertips. Ch'aka jumped after him but | ||
| + | the wounded man grabbed up his club in time to ward off the charge. | ||
| + | Stumbling backward he managed to pick up most of his discarded weapons | ||
| + | with his wounded arm and beat a hasty retreat. Ch'aka ran after him a | ||
| + | short way, shouting praise of his own strength and abilities and of | ||
| + | his opponent' | ||
| + | animal lying in the churned up sand and quickly picked it up before | ||
| + | Ch'aka turned back.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the battleground and scavenged anything of military value. Though | ||
| + | there was still some hours of daylight left he signaled a halt and | ||
| + | distributed the evening ration of < | ||
| + | portion reflectively while Ijale leaned against his side, her shoulder | ||
| + | moving rhythmically as she scratched some hidden mite. Lice were | ||
| + | inescapable, | ||
| + | emerged with clicking jaws whenever the warmth of human flesh came | ||
| + | near. Jason had his quota of the pests and found his scratching | ||
| + | keeping time with hers. This syncopation of scratch triggered the | ||
| + | anger that had been building within him, slow and unnoticed.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | this slave business. Which way is the nearest spot in the desert where | ||
| + | I can find the D' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hospitality and his boot long enough and feel like striking out for | ||
| + | myself."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | killed."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | ruminated over it. " | ||
| + | no particular desire now to kill Ch' | ||
| + | boots. And I don't see how killing him will help me any."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | you can do what you want."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>Of course. Now that he had been told, the social setup appeared | ||
| + | obvious. Because he had seen slaves and slave-holders, | ||
| + | the mistaken notion that they were different classes of society, when | ||
| + | in reality there was only one class, what might be called the | ||
| + | dog-eat-dog class. He should have been aware of this when he had seen | ||
| + | how careful Ch'aka was to never allow anyone within striking distance | ||
| + | of him, and how he vanished each night to some hidden spot. This was | ||
| + | free enterprise with a vengeance, carried to its absolute extreme with | ||
| + | every man out for himself, every other man's hand turned against him, | ||
| + | and your station in life determined by the strength of your arm and | ||
| + | the speed of your reflexes. Anyone who stayed alone placed himself | ||
| + | outside this society and was therefore an enemy of it and sure to be | ||
| + | killed on sight. All of which added up to the fact that he had to kill | ||
| + | Ch'aka if he wanted to get ahead. He still had no desire to do it, but | ||
| + | he had to.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Jason made a careful note of the direction that he took. Of course the | ||
| + | slave master would circle about before he concealed himself, but with | ||
| + | a little luck Jason would find him. And kill him. He had no special | ||
| + | love of midnight assassination, | ||
| + | always believed that killing a sleeping man was a cowardly way to | ||
| + | terminate another' | ||
| + | solutions, and he was no match for the heavily armored man in open | ||
| + | combat, therefore the assassin' | ||
| + | managed to doze fitfully until some time after midnight, then slipped | ||
| + | silently from under his skin coverings. Silently he skirted the | ||
| + | sleepers and crept into the darkness between the dunes.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Jason persisted. He made careful sweeps in wider and wider arcs, | ||
| + | working his way out from the sleeping slaves. There were gullies and | ||
| + | shadowed ravines and all of them had to be searched with utmost care. | ||
| + | The slave master was sleeping in one of them and would be alert for | ||
| + | any sound. The fact that he had also made special precautions to guard | ||
| + | against assassination was only apparent to Jason after he heard the | ||
| + | bell ring. It was a tiny sound, barely detectable, but he froze | ||
| + | instantly. There was a thin strand pressing against his arm, and when | ||
| + | he drew back carefully the bell sounded again. He cursed silently for | ||
| + | his stupidity, only remembering now about the bells he had heard from | ||
| + | Ch' | ||
| + | with a network of string that would sound alarm bells if anyone | ||
| + | attempted to approach in the dark. Slowly and soundlessly Jason drew | ||
| + | back deeper into the gully.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his head, coming directly towards Jason. Jason rolled desperately | ||
| + | sideways and the club crashed into the ground, then he was up and | ||
| + | running at top speed down the gully. Rocks twisted under his feet and | ||
| + | he knew that if he tripped he was dead, yet he had no choice other | ||
| + | than flight. The heavily armored Ch'aka could not keep up with him and | ||
| + | Jason managed to stay on his feet until the other was left behind. | ||
| + | Ch'aka shouted with rage and hurled curses after him, but he could not | ||
| + | catch him. Jason, panting for breath, vanished into the darkness and | ||
| + | made a slow circle back to the sleeping camp. The noise would have | ||
| + | roused them and he stayed away for an estimated hour, shivering in the | ||
| + | icy predawn, before he slipped back to his waiting skins. The sky was | ||
| + | beginning to gray and he lay awake wondering if he had been | ||
| + | recognized: he didn't think he had.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As the red sun climbed over the horizon Ch'aka appeared on top of the | ||
| + | dunes, shaking with rage.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | glaring right and left, and no one stirred except to draw away from | ||
| + | his stamping feet. "Who did it?" he shouted again as he came near the | ||
| + | spot where Jason lay.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | club. He had the sharpened horn in his hand but knew better than to | ||
| + | try and stand up to Ch'aka in open combat; there had to be another | ||
| + | way. He looked back quickly to see his enemy still following and | ||
| + | narrowly missed tripping over the outstretched leg of a slave. They | ||
| + | were all against him! They were all against each other and no man was | ||
| + | safe from any other man's hand. He ran free of the slaves and | ||
| + | scrambled to the top of a shifting dune, pulling himself up the steep | ||
| + | slope by clutching at the coarse grass on the summit. He turned at the | ||
| + | top and kicked sand into Ch' | ||
| + | to run when the slaver swung down his crossbow and notched a steel | ||
| + | quarrel. Ch'aka chased him again, panting heavily.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | counterattack. The slaves were out of sight and it would be a battle | ||
| + | only between the two of them. Scrambling up a slope of broken rock he | ||
| + | reversed himself suddenly and leaped back down. Ch'aka was taken by | ||
| + | surprise and had his club only half-raised when Jason was upon him, | ||
| + | and he swung wildly. Jason ducked under the blow and used Ch' | ||
| + | momentum to help throw him as he grabbed the club arm and pulled. Face | ||
| + | down the armored man crashed against the stones and Jason was | ||
| + | straddling his back even as he fell, clutching for his chin. He | ||
| + | lacerated his fingers on a jagged tooth necklace then grasped the | ||
| + | man's thick beard and pulled back. For a single long instant, before | ||
| + | he could writhe free and roll over, Ch' | ||
| + | and in that instant Jason plunged the sharp horn deep into the soft | ||
| + | flesh of the throat. Hot blood burst over his hand and Ch'aka | ||
| + | shuddered horribly under him and died.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | with his victim. The cold wind swept about them carrying the rustling | ||
| + | grains of sand, chilling the sweat on his body. Sighing once he wiped | ||
| + | his bloody hands on the sand and began to strip the corpse. Thick | ||
| + | straps held the shell helmet over the dead man's head and when he | ||
| + | unknotted them and pulled it away he saw that Ch'aka was well past | ||
| + | middle age. There was some gray in his beard, but his scraggly hair | ||
| + | was completely gray, his face and balding head pallid white from being | ||
| + | concealed under the helmet. It took a long time to get the wrappings | ||
| + | and armor off and retie them over himself, but it was finally done. | ||
| + | Under the skin and claw wrappings on Ch' | ||
| + | filthy but undamaged, and Jason drew them on happily. When at last, | ||
| + | after scouring it out with sand, he had strapped on the helmet, Ch'aka | ||
| + | was reborn. The corpse on the sand was just another dead slave. Jason | ||
| + | scraped a shallow grave, interred and covered it. Then, slung about | ||
| + | with weapons, bags and crossbow, the club in his hand, he stalked back | ||
| + | to the waiting slaves. As soon as he appeared they scrambled to their | ||
| + | feet and formed a line. Jason saw Ijale looking at him worriedly, | ||
| + | trying to discover who had won the battle.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <img src=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | small, frightened smile and turned away. "About face all and head back | ||
| + | the way we came. There is a new day dawning for you slaves. I know you | ||
| + | don't believe this yet, but there are some big changes in store."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He whistled while he strolled after the line and chewed happily on the | ||
| + | first < | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | <p class=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | back to the safety of the sea. He took his helmet off, the thing was | ||
| + | giving him a headache, and called Ijale over to him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Ch' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | then turning away. He grumbled and pushed the basket of < | ||
| + | to her.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | social setup. Tell me, do you or any of the others ever have any | ||
| + | desire to be free?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | when you are not a slave, or a slave owner, free to go where you want | ||
| + | and do what you want."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | could I find any < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | made him. I like to eat."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | doesn' | ||
| + | some radical changes in this environment I am not going to have much | ||
| + | luck in freeing anyone, and I had better take all the precautions of a | ||
| + | Ch'aka to see that I can stay alive."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He picked up his club and stalked off into the darkness, silently | ||
| + | circling the camp until he found a good-sized knoll with smooth sides. | ||
| + | Working by touch he pulled the little pegs from their bag and planted | ||
| + | them in rows, carefully laying the leather strings in their forked | ||
| + | tops. The ends of the strings were fastened to delicately balanced | ||
| + | steel bells that tinkled at the slightest touch. Thus protected he lay | ||
| + | down in the center of his warning spiderweb and spent a restless | ||
| + | night, half awake, waiting tensely for the bells to ring.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>In the morning the march continued and they came to the barrier cairn, | ||
| + | and when the slaves stopped Jason urged them past it. They did this | ||
| + | happily, looking forward to witnessing a good fight for possession of | ||
| + | the violated territory. Their hopes were justified when later in the | ||
| + | day the other row of slaves was seen far off to the right, and a | ||
| + | figure detached itself and ran towards them.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | meant what he said. " | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the formalities. I don't want any of your land and the old treaty or | ||
| + | whatever it is still holds. I just want to talk to you."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | "You got new voice, Ch' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | trade back a slave from you and then we'll go."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hammer angrily. "Not as good as me, Ch' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | master. Look, can't we get to the point, then I'll get my mob out of | ||
| + | here." He looked at the row of approaching slaves, trying to pick out | ||
| + | Mikah. "I want back the slave who had the hole in his head. I'll give | ||
| + | you two slaves in trade, your choice. What do you say to that?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | two of yours. But hole-in-head gone. Too much trouble. Talk all the | ||
| + | time. I got sore foot from kicking him. Got rid of him."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | arrows?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | around in a pouch and pulled out a < | ||
| + | eat."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | could use a poisoned < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | these things ever are."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | poisoned < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | them. "But I tell you it is perfectly good."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | up the vegetable as he left.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | almost completely in two and that the break had been craftily covered | ||
| + | by clay. " | ||
| + | "just wait until your friend eats the < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | suspicious Fasimba dogging their steps. Only after Jason and his band | ||
| + | had passed the border did the others return to their normal foraging. | ||
| + | Then began the long walk to the borders of the inland desert. Since | ||
| + | they had to search for < | ||
| + | part of three days to reach their destination. Jason merely started | ||
| + | the line in the correct direction, but as soon as he was out of sight | ||
| + | of the sea he had only a rough idea of the correct course, however he | ||
| + | did not confide his ignorance to the slaves and they marched steadily | ||
| + | on, along what was obviously a well-known route to them. Along the way | ||
| + | they collected and consumed a good number of < | ||
| + | from which they refilled the skin bags, and pointed out a huddled | ||
| + | animal sitting by a hole that Jason, to their un-voiced disgust, | ||
| + | managed to miss completely with a bolt from the crossbow.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>On the morning of the third day Jason saw a line of demarcation on the | ||
| + | flattened horizon and before the midday meal they came to a sea of | ||
| + | billowing, bluish-gray sand. The ending of what he had been accustomed | ||
| + | to thinking of as the desert was startling. Beneath their feet were | ||
| + | yellow sand and gravel, while occasional shrubs managed a sickly | ||
| + | existence as did some grass and the life-giving < | ||
| + | well as men lived here and, ruthless though survival was, they were at | ||
| + | least alive. In the wastes ahead no life was possible or visible, | ||
| + | though there seemed to be no doubt that the D' | ||
| + | This must mean that though it looked unlimited& | ||
| + | to be& | ||
| + | as well, if they weren' | ||
| + | just be made out on the distant horizon.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | merely scowled and looked away. Jason was having a problem with | ||
| + | discipline. The slaves would not do a thing he asked unless he kicked | ||
| + | them. Their conditioning had been so thorough that an order | ||
| + | unaccompanied by a kick just wasn't an order and his continued | ||
| + | reluctance to impose the physical coercion with the spoken command was | ||
| + | just being taken as a sign of weakness. Already some of the burlier | ||
| + | slaves were licking their lips and sizing him up. His efforts to | ||
| + | improve the life of the slaves were being blocked completely by the | ||
| + | slaves themselves. With a mumbled curse at the continued obduracy of | ||
| + | the human race Jason sank the toe of his boot into the man.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <img src=" | ||
| + | <span class=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and when they approached Jason saw that it was an outcropping of rock | ||
| + | that had been built up with a wall of bricks or boulders to a uniform | ||
| + | height. A good number of men could be concealed behind that wall and | ||
| + | he was not going to risk his precious slaves or even more precious | ||
| + | skin anywhere near it. At his shout the line halted and settled to the | ||
| + | sand while he stalked a few meters in front, settling his club in his | ||
| + | hand and suspiciously examined the structure.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | around the corner and walked slowly towards Jason. He was dressed in | ||
| + | loose-fitting robes and carried a basket on one arm, and when he had | ||
| + | reached a point roughly halfway between Jason and the rock he had just | ||
| + | quitted he halted and sat crosslegged in the sand, the basket at his | ||
| + | side. Jason looked carefully in all directions and decided the | ||
| + | position was safe enough. There were no places of concealment where | ||
| + | armed men might have hidden and he had no fear of the single man. Club | ||
| + | ready he walked out and stopped a full three paces from the other.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | you again after that little ... difficulty we had."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He remained seated while he talked, stroking the few strands of his | ||
| + | scraggly beard. His head was shaven smooth and as sunburned and | ||
| + | leathery brown as the rest of his face, the most prominent feature of | ||
| + | which was the magnificent prow of a nose that terminated in flaring | ||
| + | nostrils and was used as sturdy support for a pair of handmade | ||
| + | sunglasses. They appeared to be carved completely of bone and fit | ||
| + | tightly to the face, their flat, solid fronts were cut with thin | ||
| + | transverse slashes. This eye protection, the things could only have | ||
| + | been for weak eyes, and the network of wrinkles indicated the man was | ||
| + | quite old and would present no danger to Jason.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | dog and I hope he died in great pain when you killed him. Now sit | ||
| + | friend Ch'aka and drink with me." He carefully opened the basket and | ||
| + | removed a stone crock and two crockery mugs.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | manners. This < | ||
| + | instantly from Jason' | ||
| + | "And what your name?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | apparatus back into the basket. "What is it that you want& | ||
| + | reason that is? We always need slaves and we are always willing to | ||
| + | trade."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | is not necessary to talk as ungrammatically as the coastal barbarians, | ||
| + | since I can tell by your accent that you are a man of education. What | ||
| + | slave is it that you want?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | abandoned his linguistic ruse and put himself even more on guard, | ||
| + | taking a quick look around at the empty sands. This dried up old bird | ||
| + | was a lot brighter than he looked and he would have to stay on guard.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | we can talk more business."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | oldster put two fingers into his mouth and whistled shrilly between | ||
| + | them. There was the rustle of shifting sand and Jason wheeled to see | ||
| + | men apparently climbing out of the empty desert, pushing back wooden | ||
| + | covers over which the sand had been smoothed. There were six of them, | ||
| + | with shields and clubs, and Jason cursed his stupidity at meeting | ||
| + | Edipon on a spot of the other' | ||
| + | but the oldster was already scampering for the safety of the rock. | ||
| + | Jason howled in anger and ran at the nearest man who was still only | ||
| + | halfway out of his hiding place. The man took Jason' | ||
| + | upraised shield and was toppled back into the pit by the force of it. | ||
| + | Jason ran on but another was ahead of him, swinging his own war club | ||
| + | in readiness. There was no way around so Jason ran into him at full | ||
| + | speed with all of his pendant teeth and horns gnashing and clattering. | ||
| + | The man fell back under the attack and Jason split his shield with his | ||
| + | club, and would have done further damage except that the other men | ||
| + | arrived at that moment and he had to face them.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was a brief and wicked battle, with Jason giving just a little more | ||
| + | than he received. Two of the attackers were down and a third holding | ||
| + | his cracked head when the weight of numbers carried Jason to the | ||
| + | ground. He called to his slaves for aid, then cursed them when they | ||
| + | only remained seated, while his arms were pinioned with rope and his | ||
| + | weapons stripped from his body. One of the victors waved to the slaves | ||
| + | who now stood and docilely marched into the desert. Jason was dragged, | ||
| + | snarling with rage, in the same direction.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | once through it Jason' | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | He could now understand how, to her uneducated eye, there could exist | ||
| + | an uncertainty as to whether the thing was an animal or not. The | ||
| + | vehicle was a good ten meters long, shaped roughly like a boat, and | ||
| + | bore on the front a large and obviously false animal head covered with | ||
| + | fur and resplendent with rows of carved teeth and glistening crystal | ||
| + | eyes. There were hide coverings and not-too realistic legs hanging | ||
| + | about the thing, surely not enough camouflage to fool a sophisticated | ||
| + | six-year old.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <img src=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | savages, but the same civilized child would recognize this as a | ||
| + | vehicle as soon as he saw the six large wheels below. They were cut | ||
| + | with deep treads and made from some resilient looking substance. No | ||
| + | motive power was visible, but Jason almost hooted with joy at the | ||
| + | prominent stink of burnt fuel. This crude looking contrivance had some | ||
| + | artificial source of power, which might be the product of a local | ||
| + | industrial revolution or have been purchased from off-world traders. | ||
| + | Either possibility offered the chance of eventual escape from this | ||
| + | nameless planet.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | kicked up the gangplank and into the < | ||
| + | had subdued and bound Jason carried him up and dumped him onto the | ||
| + | deck where he lay quietly and examined what could be seen of the | ||
| + | desert-vehicle' | ||
| + | deck and one of the men fitted what could only have been a tiller | ||
| + | handle over the squared top of it. If this monolithic apparatus | ||
| + | steered with the front pair of wheels it must be driven with the rear, | ||
| + | so Jason flopped around on the deck until he could look towards the | ||
| + | stern. A cabin, the width of the deck, was situated here, windowless | ||
| + | and with a single inset door fitted with a grand selection of locks | ||
| + | and bolts. Any doubt that this was the engine room was displaced by | ||
| + | the black metal smokestack that rose up through the cabin roof.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | "Bring in the entranceway. Narsisi stand forward to indicate the way | ||
| + | to the < | ||
| + | sacred powers to move us towards Putl' | ||
| + | cabin, then stopped to point to one of the club bearers. "Erebo you | ||
| + | lazy sod, did you remember to fill the watercup of the gods this time, | ||
| + | because they grow thirsty?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | concealing curtain over it. There was much clanking and rattling as | ||
| + | the locks and bolts were opened and he let himself inside. Within a | ||
| + | few minutes a black cloud of greasy smoke rolled out of the smokestack | ||
| + | and was whipped away by the wind. Almost an hour passed before the | ||
| + | sacred powers were ready to move, and they announced their willingness | ||
| + | to proceed by screaming and blowing their white breath up in the air. | ||
| + | Four of the slaves screamed counterpoint and fainted, while the rest | ||
| + | looked as if they would be happier off dead. Jason had had some | ||
| + | experience with primitive machines before so the safety valve on the | ||
| + | boiler came as no great surprise. He was also prepared when the | ||
| + | vehicle shuddered and began to move slowly out into the desert. From | ||
| + | the amount of smoke and the quantity of steam escaping from under the | ||
| + | stern he didn't think the engine was very efficient, but primitive as | ||
| + | it was it moved the < | ||
| + | at a creeping yet steady pace.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the side but were clubbed down. The robe-wrapped D' | ||
| + | firmly working their way through the ranks of the captives, pouring | ||
| + | ladlefuls of dark liquid down their throats. The first ones to receive | ||
| + | it were already slumped unconscious or dead, though the chances were | ||
| + | better that they were unconscious since there was no reason for their | ||
| + | captors to kill them after going to such lengths to get them in the | ||
| + | first place. Jason believed this, but the terrified slaves did not | ||
| + | have the solace of his philosophy so struggled on, thinking that they | ||
| + | were fighting for their lives. When Jason' | ||
| + | submit meekly, in spite of his beliefs, and managed to bite some | ||
| + | fingers and kick one man in the stomach before they sat on him, held | ||
| + | his nose and poured a measure of the burning liquid down his throat. | ||
| + | It hurt and he was dizzy, and he tried to will himself to throw up, | ||
| + | but this was the last thing that he remembered.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | Jason' | ||
| + | Something hard was pressing into his back and his wrists hurt. Memory | ||
| + | seeped back slowly, the fight, the capture and the potion that had | ||
| + | been forced upon him. When he opened his eyes he saw a flickering | ||
| + | yellow lamp overhead, hung from a chain. He blinked at it and tried to | ||
| + | gather enough energy to sit up. A familiar face swam in front of the | ||
| + | light and Jason squinted his eyes at it and groaned.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | grave questions to put to you."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wouldn' | ||
| + | how about telling me a thing or two about the local setup, you should | ||
| + | know something since you have been a slave of the D' | ||
| + | than I have." Jason realized that the pain in his wrists came from | ||
| + | heavy iron shackles. A chain passed through them and was stapled to a | ||
| + | thick wooden bar on which his head had been resting. "Why the | ||
| + | chains& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | returned irresistibly to his own topic.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | brought in with the other slaves of Ch'aka and chained to the bar | ||
| + | while you were unconscious. There was an empty place next to mine and | ||
| + | I told them I would tend you if they placed you there, and they did. | ||
| + | Now there is something I must know. Before they stripped you I saw | ||
| + | that you were wearing the armor and helmet of Ch' | ||
| + | man& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | throat. He took a long drink of water from the bowl. "You sound very | ||
| + | vindictive, Mikah you old fraud. Where is all the turn-the-other-cheek | ||
| + | stuff now? Don't tell me you could possibly hate the man just because he | ||
| + | hit you on the head, fractured your skull and sold you down the river as a | ||
| + | slave reject? In case you have been brooding over this injustice you can | ||
| + | now be cheered because the evil Ch'aka is no more. He is buried in the | ||
| + | trackless wastes and after all the applicants were sifted out I got the | ||
| + | job."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | advantages and I possessed only my native ingenuity, which luckily | ||
| + | proved to be enough. It was touch and go for a while because when I | ||
| + | tried to assassinate him in his sleep& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | tackle a monster like that face-to-face do you? Though it ended up | ||
| + | that way, since he had some neat gadgets for keeping track of people | ||
| + | in the dark. Briefly, we fought, I won, I became Ch' | ||
| + | reign was neither long nor noble. I followed you as far as the desert | ||
| + | where I was neatly trapped by a shrewd old bird name of Edipon who | ||
| + | demoted me back to the ranks and took away all my slaves as well. Now | ||
| + | that's my story. So tell me yours, where we are, what goes on here?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the restraint of the chain, and pointed the finger of judgment at | ||
| + | Jason. "Two more charges must be added to your role of infamy. I | ||
| + | sicken myself, Jason, that I could ever have felt sympathy for you and | ||
| + | tried to help you. I will still help you, but only to stay alive so | ||
| + | that you may be taken back to Cassylia for trial and execution."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <img src=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | execution." | ||
| + | you ever hear of presumed innocence until proven guilty? It only | ||
| + | happens to be the mainstay of all jurisprudence. And how could you | ||
| + | possibly justify trying me on Cassylia for actions that occurred on | ||
| + | this planet& | ||
| + | away from his tribe and executing him for anthropophagy."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | so loathsome I shudder to think of it. Of course a man who does that | ||
| + | must be executed."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | certainly have grounds for action. But not if he joins the rest of his | ||
| + | jolly tribe for a good roast of enemy. Don't you see the obvious point | ||
| + | here& | ||
| + | environment? | ||
| + | as moral as the churchgoer in yours."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | all human society."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | morality breaks down. All laws and ideas are historical and relative, | ||
| + | not absolute. They are relevant to their particular time and place and | ||
| + | taken out of context they lose their importance. Within the context of | ||
| + | this grubby society I acted in a most straightforward and honest | ||
| + | manner. I attempted to assassinate my master& | ||
| + | ambitious boy can get ahead in this hard world, and which was | ||
| + | undoubtedly the way Ch'aka himself got the job in the first place. | ||
| + | Assassination didn't work but combat did, and the results were the | ||
| + | same. Once in power I took good care of my slaves, though of course | ||
| + | they didn't appreciate it since they didn't want good care, they only | ||
| + | wanted my job, that being the law of the land. The only thing I really | ||
| + | did wrong was to not live up to my obligations as a slave holder and | ||
| + | keep them marching up and down the beaches forever. Instead I came | ||
| + | looking for you and was trapped and broken back to slavery where I | ||
| + | belong for pulling such a stupid trick."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | building. "On your feet slaves!" | ||
| + | opening.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A chorus of shufflings and groans broke out as the men stirred to | ||
| + | life. Jason could see now that he was one of twenty slaves shackled to | ||
| + | the long bar, apparently the entire trunk of a good-sized tree. The | ||
| + | man chained at the far end seemed to be a leader of sorts because he | ||
| + | cursed and goaded the others to life. When they were all standing he | ||
| + | snapped his commands in a hectoring tone of voice.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | put them away so they can't drop out, remember nothing to eat or drink | ||
| + | all day unless you have a bowl. And let's work together today, | ||
| + | everyone pull his weight, that's the only way to do it. That goes for | ||
| + | all you men, specially you new men. Give them a day's work here and | ||
| + | they give you a day's food...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | unperturbed. "Now altogether ... < | ||
| + | hands around the bar, get a good grip and ... < | ||
| + | of the ground, that's the way. And ... < | ||
| + | the door we go."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | through his Pyrran coverall and the remnants of Ch' | ||
| + | trappings that Jason had been allowed to keep. His captors had torn | ||
| + | off the claw-studded feet but not bothered the wrappings underneath, | ||
| + | so they hadn't found his boots. This was the only bright spot on an | ||
| + | otherwise unlimited vista of blackest gloom. Jason tried to be | ||
| + | thankful for small blessings, but only shivered some more. As soon as | ||
| + | possible this situation had to be changed since he had already served | ||
| + | his term as slave on this backwoods planet and was cut out for better | ||
| + | things.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>On order the slaves lined up against the walls of the yard. Presenting | ||
| + | their bowls like scruffy penitents they accepted dippers of lukewarm | ||
| + | soup from another slave who pushed along a wheeled tub of the stuff: | ||
| + | he was chained to the tub. Jason' | ||
| + | the sludge. It was < | ||
| + | worse& | ||
| + | But survival was more important than fastidiousness, | ||
| + | evil stuff down.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | fascinated interest displaced all of Jason' | ||
| + | of the yard was a large capstan into which the first group of slaves | ||
| + | were already fitting the end of their bar. Jason' | ||
| + | others, shuffled into position and seated their bars, making a four | ||
| + | spoked wheel out of the capstan. An overseer shouted and the slaves | ||
| + | groaned and threw their weight against the bars until they shuddered | ||
| + | and began to turn, then trudging slowly they kept the wheel moving. | ||
| + | Once this slogging labor was under way Jason turned his attention to | ||
| + | the crude mechanism that they were powering.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A vertical shaft from the capstan turned a creaking wooden wheel that | ||
| + | set a series of leather belts into motion. Some of them vanished | ||
| + | through openings into a large stone building, while the strongest | ||
| + | strap of all turned the rocker arm of what could only be a | ||
| + | counterbalanced pump. This all seemed like a highly inefficient way to | ||
| + | go about pumping water since there certainly must be natural springs | ||
| + | and lakes somewhere around. The pungent smell that filled the yard was | ||
| + | hauntingly familiar, and Jason had just reached the conclusion that | ||
| + | water couldn' | ||
| + | came from the standpipe of the pump and a thick black stream bubbled | ||
| + | out.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | attentions to pushing when the overseer gave him an ugly look and | ||
| + | cracked his whip menacingly.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Mountains were visible nearby, and hills, towering above the | ||
| + | surrounding walls. The captured slaves had been drugged so they would | ||
| + | not even know in which direction they had been brought to this hidden | ||
| + | site, or how long the trip was. Here in this guarded valley they | ||
| + | labored to pump the crude oil that their masters used to power their | ||
| + | big desert wagons. Or did they use crude oil for this? The petroleum | ||
| + | was gurgling out in a solid stream now, and running down an open | ||
| + | trough that vanished through the wall into the same building as the | ||
| + | turning belts. And what barbaric devilishness went on in there? A | ||
| + | thick chimney crowned the building and produced clouds of black smoke, | ||
| + | while from the various openings in the wall came a tremendous stench | ||
| + | that threatened to lift the top off his head.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At the same moment that he realized what was going on in the building | ||
| + | a guarded door was opened and Edipon came out, blowing his sizable | ||
| + | nose in a scrap of rag. The creaking wheel turned and when its | ||
| + | rotation brought Jason around again he called out to him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Ch' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | obvious that slaves held no interest for him, no matter what their | ||
| + | position had been before their fall. The slave-driver ran over with a | ||
| + | roar, raising his whip, while the slow rotation of the wheel carried | ||
| + | Jason away. He shouted back over his shoulder.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | an answer and the whip was already whistling down. It was time for the | ||
| + | hard sell. "You had better hear me& | ||
| + | out first is best</ | ||
| + | landed.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | overseer who was raising his whip for another blow, but their impact | ||
| + | on Edipon was as dramatic as if he had stepped on a hot coal. He | ||
| + | shuddered to a halt and wheeled about, and even at this distance Jason | ||
| + | could see that a sickly gray tone had replaced his normal browned | ||
| + | color of his skin.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | gape-mouthed overseer lowered his whip while the slaves stumbled and | ||
| + | halted and the wheel groaned to a stop. In the sudden silence Edipon' | ||
| + | steps echoed loudly as he ran to Jason, halting a hand's breadth away, | ||
| + | his lips drawn back from his teeth with tension as if he were prepared | ||
| + | to bite.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | fingers half-plucked a knife from his belt.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | gone home, but unless he proceeded carefully so would Edipon' | ||
| + | knife& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | front of all these strangers. I know what happens here because I come | ||
| + | from a place far away where we do this kind of thing all the time. I | ||
| + | can help you. I can show you how to get more of the best, and how to | ||
| + | make your < | ||
| + | bar first and let's get to some place private where we can have a nice | ||
| + | chat."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Jason, fingering the edge of his knife. Jason only returned a smile of | ||
| + | pure innocence and tapped his fingers happily on the bar, just marking | ||
| + | time while he waited to be released. Yet in spite of the cold there | ||
| + | was a rivulet of sweat trickling down his spine. He was gambling | ||
| + | everything on Edipon' | ||
| + | overcome the immediate desire to silence the slave who knew so much | ||
| + | about things so secret, hoping that he would remember that slaves | ||
| + | could always be killed, and that it wouldn' | ||
| + | questions first. Curiosity won and the knife dropped back into the | ||
| + | sheath while Jason let his breath out in a relieved sigh. It had been | ||
| + | entirely too close, even for a professional gambler; his own life on | ||
| + | the board was a little higher stakes than he enjoyed playing for.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | strode agitatedly away. The other slaves watched wide-eyed as the | ||
| + | blacksmith was rushed out, and with much confusion and shouted orders | ||
| + | Jason' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | him to the ground. Jason just smiled and touched his finger to his | ||
| + | lips as his chain was released and they led him away. He was free from | ||
| + | bondage and he would stay that way if he could convince Edipon that he | ||
| + | would be better off in some capacity other than dumb labor.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | self-indulgence that he had seen on this planet. The furniture was | ||
| + | carefully constructed, | ||
| + | it, and there was a woven cover on the bed. Edipon stood by a table, | ||
| + | tapping his fingers nervously on the dark polished surface. "Lock him | ||
| + | up," he ordered the guards, and Jason was secured to a sturdy ringbolt | ||
| + | that projected from the wall. As soon as the guards were gone he stood | ||
| + | before Jason and drew his knife. "Tell me what you know or I will kill | ||
| + | you at once."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | know all the secrets of nature& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Jason pulled at his lower lip, wondering just how intelligent Edipon | ||
| + | was, and just how frank he could be with him. This was no time to get | ||
| + | tangled up in lies about planetary geography: it might be best to try | ||
| + | him on a small dose of the truth. "If I told you I came from another | ||
| + | planet, another world in the sky up among the stars, would you believe | ||
| + | me?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | world beyond the sky, but I have always dismissed this as religious | ||
| + | drivel, fit only for women."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | men whose ships crossed the emptiness of space as your < | ||
| + | over the desert. Your people have forgotten about that and lost the | ||
| + | science and knowledge you once had, but in other worlds the knowledge | ||
| + | is still held."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | same thing. I'll prove my point. You know that I could never have been | ||
| + | inside your mysterious building out there, and I imagine you can be | ||
| + | sure no one has told me its secrets. Yet I'll bet you that I can | ||
| + | describe fairly accurately what is in there& | ||
| + | machinery, but from knowing what must be done to oil in order to get | ||
| + | the products you need. Do you want to hear?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the knife loosely in his palm.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | pot still used for fractional distillation. Your crude oil runs into a | ||
| + | tank of some kind, and you pipe it from there to a retort, some big | ||
| + | vessel that you can seal airtight. Once it is closed you light a fire | ||
| + | under the thing and try to get all the oil to an even temperature. A | ||
| + | gas rises from the oil and you take it off through a pipe and run it | ||
| + | through a condenser, probably more pipe with water running over it. | ||
| + | Then you put a bucket under the open end of the pipe and out of it | ||
| + | drips the juice that you burn in your < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | stuck out of his head like boiled eggs. " | ||
| + | tottered towards Jason with the knife extended. "You couldn' | ||
| + | seen, not through stone walls, yet only my family have seen, no | ||
| + | others& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | years in my country." | ||
| + | knife in case the old man's nerves did not settle down. " | ||
| + | to steal your secrets, in fact they are pretty small potatoes where I | ||
| + | come from since every farmer has a still for cooking up his own mash | ||
| + | and saving on taxes. I'll bet I can even put in some improvements for | ||
| + | you, sight unseen. How do you monitor the temperature on your cooking | ||
| + | brew? Do you have thermometers?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | moment, drawn on by the joys of a technical discussion.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to take a big jump in quality, if you have anyone here who can do some | ||
| + | simple glassblowing. Though it might be easier to rig up a coiled | ||
| + | bi-metallic strip. You're trying to boil off your various fractions, | ||
| + | and unless you keep an even and controlled temperature you are going | ||
| + | to have a mixed brew. The thing you want for your engines are the most | ||
| + | volatile fractions, the liquids that boil off first like gasoline and | ||
| + | benzene. After that you raise the temperature and collect kerosene for | ||
| + | your lamps and so forth right on down the line until you have a nice | ||
| + | mass of tar left to pave your roads with. How does that sound to you?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his cheek betrayed his inner tension. "What you have described is the | ||
| + | truth, though you were wrong on some small things. But I am not | ||
| + | interested in your thermometer nor in improving our water-of-power, | ||
| + | has been good enough for my family for generations and it is good | ||
| + | enough for me...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | you rich rewards. We can be generous when needs be. You have seen our | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | with the sacred powers to make us move. Can you tell me what power | ||
| + | moves the < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | powers of extrapolation. Stripping away all the < | ||
| + | powers</ | ||
| + | work with very little praying involved. There could be a number of | ||
| + | ways of moving those barns, but let's think of the simplest. This is | ||
| + | top of the head now, so no penalties if I miss any of the fine points.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | handle it, plus the fact there was a lot to do about the water tank | ||
| + | and it took you almost an hour to get under way. That sounds like you | ||
| + | were getting up a head of steam& | ||
| + | that. So it is steam. You go in, lock the door of course, then open a | ||
| + | couple of valves until the fuel drips into the firebox, then you light | ||
| + | it. Maybe you have a pressure gauge, or maybe you just wait until the | ||
| + | safety valve pops to tell you if you have a head of steam. Which can | ||
| + | be dangerous since a sticking valve could blow the whole works right | ||
| + | over the mountain.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | cylinders and get the thing moving. After that you just enjoy the | ||
| + | trip, of course making sure the water is feeding to your boiler all | ||
| + | right, that your pressure stays up, your fire is hot enough, all your | ||
| + | bearings are lubricated and the rest...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | holding his robe up above his bony knees. Bouncing with excitement he | ||
| + | jabbed his knife into the table top and rushed over to Jason and | ||
| + | grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him until his chain rattled.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | said?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | right?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | one of the Appsalan devil-boxes." | ||
| + | "You know more about their ... what do you call it, < | ||
| + | I do. I have only spent my life tending them and cursing the people | ||
| + | of Appsala who keep the secret from us. But you will reveal it to us! | ||
| + | We will build our own engines and if they want water-of-power they | ||
| + | will have to pay dearly for it."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | never heard anything so confused in my entire life."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Appsalan secrets to us. I see the dawn of a new day for Putl' | ||
| + | arriving." | ||
| + | son, Narsisi, who arrived as they were unlocking Jason who recognized | ||
| + | him as the same droop-eyed and sleepy looking D' | ||
| + | helping Edipon to drive their ungainly vehicle.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | if he makes any attempt to escape. Otherwise do not harm him, for he | ||
| + | is very valuable. Come."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He tugged on the chain, but Jason only dug his heels in and did not | ||
| + | move. They looked at him, astonished.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to Putl' | ||
| + | operation goes any further. We'll work out something with chains or | ||
| + | guards so I can't escape, but the slavery thing is out."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Though reluctant, I am still an employee, skilled labor, and I intend | ||
| + | to be treated that way. Figure it out for yourself. Kill a slave and | ||
| + | what do you lose? Very little if there is another slave in the pens | ||
| + | that can push in the same place. But kill me and what do you get? | ||
| + | Brains on your club& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | well as sleepy.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | else that can do the work he is to do for us. I can understand him and | ||
| + | I do not like it. There are only slaves and slavers, anything else is | ||
| + | against the natural order. But he has us trapped between < | ||
| + | the sand-storm so we must allow him some freedoms. Bring the slave now | ||
| + | ... I mean the employee ... and we will see if he can do the things he | ||
| + | has promised. If he does not, < | ||
| + | him because I do not like his revolutionary ideas."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | doors, which were pulled open to reveal the massive forms of seven | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | most beautiful of constructions, | ||
| + | hearts, carrying us fleetly across the sands, bearing on their backs | ||
| + | immense loads and only three of the things are able to move."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <img src=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | an inner courtyard where stood four immense black boxes painted with | ||
| + | death-heads, | ||
| + | symbols all of a sinister appearance.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | return. Oh yes, they let us use their engines, but after running for a | ||
| + | few months the cursed things stop and will not go again, then we must | ||
| + | bring them back to the city to exchange for a new one, and pay again | ||
| + | and again."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | engines. "Why don't you just crack into them and fix them yourself, | ||
| + | they can't be very complex."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | boxes at the thought. "We have tried that, in my father' | ||
| + | day, since we are not superstitious like the slaves and know that | ||
| + | these are man-made not god-made. However the tricky serpents of | ||
| + | Appsala hide their secrets with immense cunning. If any attempt is | ||
| + | made to break the covering horrible death leaks out and fills the air. | ||
| + | Men who breathe the air die, and even those who are solely touched by | ||
| + | it develop immense blisters and die in pain. The man of Appsala | ||
| + | laughed when this happened to our people and after that raised the | ||
| + | price even higher."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Narsisi behind him at the end of the chain. The thing was higher than | ||
| + | his head and almost twice as long. A heavy shaft emerged through | ||
| + | openings on opposite sides, probably the power takeoff for the wheels. | ||
| + | Through an opening in the side he could see inset handles and two | ||
| + | small colored disks, and above this were three funnel-shaped openings | ||
| + | shaped and painted like mouths. By standing on tiptoe Jason looked on | ||
| + | top but there was only a flanged, sooty opening that must be for | ||
| + | attachment of a smokestack. There was only one more opening, a | ||
| + | smallish one in the rear, and no other controls on the garish | ||
| + | container.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | you work the controls."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | allowed to browbeat the help anymore. There are no secrets here. Not | ||
| + | only that, but I probably know more about this thing than you do just | ||
| + | by looking at it. Oil, water and fuel go in these three openings, you | ||
| + | poke a light in somewhere, probably in that smoky hole under the | ||
| + | controls, open one of those valves for fuel supply, another one is to | ||
| + | make the engine go slower and faster, and the third is for your water | ||
| + | feed. The disks are indicators of some kind." Narsisi paled and | ||
| + | stepped back. "So keep the trap shut while I talk to your dad."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and woebetide if they shall go empty for the powers will halt or | ||
| + | worse. Fire goes in here as you guessed, and when the green finger | ||
| + | comes forward this lever may be turned for motion. The next is for | ||
| + | great speed or going slow. The very last is under the sign of the red | ||
| + | finger, which when it points indicates need, and the handle must be | ||
| + | turned and held until the finger retires. White breath comes from the | ||
| + | opening in back. That is all there is."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wall, rapping it with his knuckles until it boomed. "They give you the | ||
| + | minimum of controls to run the thing, so you won't learn anything | ||
| + | about the basic principles involved. Without the theory you would | ||
| + | never know what the handles control, or that the green indicator comes | ||
| + | out when you have operating pressure or the red one when the water | ||
| + | level is low in the boiler. Very neat. And the whole thing sealed up | ||
| + | in a can and booby-trapped in case you have any ideas of going into | ||
| + | business for yourself.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | I would say that it has one of the vesicant war gases, like mustard | ||
| + | gas, sealed inside there in liquid form. Anyone who tries to cut their | ||
| + | way in will quickly forget their ambitions after a dose of that. Yet | ||
| + | there must be a way to get inside the case and service the engine, | ||
| + | they aren't just going to throw them away after a few months' | ||
| + | considering the level of technology displayed by this monstrosity I | ||
| + | should be able to find the tricks and get around any other built-in | ||
| + | traps. I think I'll take the job."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | labor. There are always certain working conditions and agreements | ||
| + | involved, all of which I'll be happy to list for you."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | Narsisi whined. "To have the woman of course is natural, as well as to | ||
| + | have quarters of your own, my father has given his permission. But he | ||
| + | also said that I and my brothers are to help you, that the secrets of | ||
| + | the engine are to be revealed to no one else."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | join me in the work. You can explain that he comes from the same land | ||
| + | that I do, and that your secrets are mere children' | ||
| + | if dad wants any other reasons tell him that I need skilled aid, | ||
| + | someone who knows how to handle tools and who can be trusted to follow | ||
| + | directions exactly as given. You and your brothers have entirely too | ||
| + | many ideas of your own about how things should be done, and a tendency | ||
| + | to leave details up to the gods and have a good bash with the hammer | ||
| + | if things don't work the way they should."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | over the oil stove planning the next step. It had taken most of the | ||
| + | day to lay down logs for rollers and to push the sealed engine out | ||
| + | into the sandy valley, far from the well site; open space was needed | ||
| + | for any experiments where a mistake could release a cloud of war gas. | ||
| + | Even Edipon had finally seen the sense of this, though all of his | ||
| + | tendencies were to conduct the experiments with great secretiveness | ||
| + | behind locked doors. He had granted permission only after skin walls | ||
| + | had been erected to form an enclosure that could be guarded; it was | ||
| + | only incidental that they acted as a much-appreciated windbreak.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | removed from Jason' | ||
| + | had to shuffle when he walked but his arms were completely free, a | ||
| + | great improvement over the chains, even though one of the brothers | ||
| + | kept watch with a cocked crossbow as long as Jason wasn't fastened | ||
| + | down. Now he had to get some tools and some idea of the technical | ||
| + | knowledge of these people before he could proceed, which would | ||
| + | necessarily entail one more battle over their precious secrets.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | ulcers another twinge."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | very little pleasure out of his new project.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | cook for you, and I have just given permission for the other slave to | ||
| + | help you. Now more requests& | ||
| + | my body?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | my work, and a peek at your machine shop or wherever it is you do your | ||
| + | mechanical work. I have to have some idea of the way you people solve | ||
| + | mechanical problems before I can go to work on that box of tricks out | ||
| + | there in the desert."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and finish off a few more. Will you lead the way?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Jason, and there was much rattling of keys and worried looks. A brace | ||
| + | of elderly D' | ||
| + | interior and joined in a shouted argument with Edipon whose will | ||
| + | finally prevailed. Chained again, and guarded like a murderer, Jason | ||
| + | was begrudgingly led into the dark interior, the contents of which was | ||
| + | depressingly anticlimactic.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hand-forged and clumsy tools. The work was of the crudest, the product | ||
| + | of a sort of neolithic machine age. The distilling retort had been | ||
| + | laboriously formed from sheet copper and clumsily riveted together. It | ||
| + | leaked mightily as did the soldered seams on the hand-formed pipe. | ||
| + | Most of the tools were blacksmith' | ||
| + | beating out shapes on the anvil. The only things that gladdened | ||
| + | Jason' | ||
| + | the slave-power drive belts. In the tool holder of the lathe was | ||
| + | clamped a chip of some hard mineral that did a good enough job of | ||
| + | cutting the forged iron and low-carbon steel. Even more cheering was | ||
| + | the screw-thread advance on the cutting head that was used to produce | ||
| + | the massive nuts and bolts that secured the < | ||
| + | shafts. It could have been worse. Jason sorted out the smallest and | ||
| + | handiest tools and put them aside for his own use in the morning. The | ||
| + | light was almost gone and there would be no more work this day.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | showed him to the kennellike room that was to be his private quarters. | ||
| + | The heavy bolt thudded shut in the door behind him and he winced at | ||
| + | the thick fumes of half-burnt kerosene through which the light of the | ||
| + | single-wick lamp barely penetrated. Ijale crouched over the small oil | ||
| + | stove cooking something in a pottery bowl. She looked up and smiled | ||
| + | hesitatingly at Jason, then turned back to the stove. Jason walked | ||
| + | over, sniffed and shuddered.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and < | ||
| + | the diet."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | powerful...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | away."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | do what he will. His slave thanks you."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He lifted her chin and the dumb obedience in her eyes made him wince. | ||
| + | " | ||
| + | and we'll get out of it together."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | release your slaves and lead us home again where we can march and find | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | mind, except when we get out of here we are going in the other | ||
| + | direction, as far away from your < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | scratching inside her leather wrappings with the other. Jason found | ||
| + | himself scratching as well, and realized from sore spots on his hide | ||
| + | that he had been doing an awful lot of this since he had been dragged | ||
| + | out of the ocean of this inhospitable planet.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | door. "This place is a far cry from civilization as I know it, but | ||
| + | that is no reason why we can't be as comfortable as possible." | ||
| + | and bolts rattled outside the door and Narsisi pushed his gloom-ridden | ||
| + | face in.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | crock in the corner. "There is water there enough for days."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | as much as that and I want it now. And some soap, if there is such | ||
| + | stuff in this barbaric place."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | way with the water by explaining it was needed for religious rites to | ||
| + | make sure that he would not fail in the work tomorrow. It came in a | ||
| + | varied collection of containers along with a shallow bowl full of | ||
| + | powerful soft soap.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | surprise for you."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the floor. "This should serve as a drain, at least the water went away | ||
| + | when I poured some into it."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the wall and shuddered when he poured it over her. She screamed when | ||
| + | he rubbed the slippery soap into her hair, and he continued with his | ||
| + | hand over her mouth so that she wouldn' | ||
| + | rubbed the soap into his own head, too, and it tingled delightfully as | ||
| + | it soaked through to his scalp. Some of it was in his ears, muffling | ||
| + | them, so the first intimation he had that the door was opened was the | ||
| + | sound of Mikah' | ||
| + | pointed and shaking with wrath. Narsisi was standing behind him, | ||
| + | peering over his shoulder with fascination at this weird religious | ||
| + | rite.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to your will, humiliate her, strip her clothes from her and gaze upon | ||
| + | her though you are not united in lawful wedlock." | ||
| + | from sight with a raised arm. "You are evil, Jason, a demon of evil | ||
| + | and must be brought to justice& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the door with one of his practiced Ch'aka kicks. "The only evil here | ||
| + | is in your mind, you snooping scut. I'm giving the girl the first | ||
| + | scrubbing of her life and you should be giving me a medal for bringing | ||
| + | sanitation to the natives instead of howling like that." He pushed | ||
| + | them both out the door and shouted at Narsisi. "I wanted this slave, | ||
| + | but not < | ||
| + | slammed the door and made a mental note to get hold of a bolt to be | ||
| + | placed on this side as well.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | physically to mind. He was scrubbed raw and clean and the itching was | ||
| + | gone even from his sprouting beard. The metalcloth of his Pyrran | ||
| + | coverall had dried almost as soon as it had been washed so he was | ||
| + | wearing clean clothes as well. Ijale was still recovering from the | ||
| + | traumatic effects of her bath, but she looked positively attractive | ||
| + | with her skin cleaned and her hair washed and combed a bit. He would | ||
| + | have to find some of the local cloth for her since it would be a shame | ||
| + | to ruin the good work by letting her get back into the badly cured | ||
| + | skins she was used to wearing. It was with a sensation of positive | ||
| + | good feeling that he bellowed for the door to be opened and stamped | ||
| + | through the cool morning to his place of labor. Mikah was already | ||
| + | there, looking scruffy and angry as he rattled his chains; Jason gave | ||
| + | him the friendliest of smiles that only rubbed salt into the other' | ||
| + | moral wounds.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | big job to do today." | ||
| + | hands together with anticipation.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | secrets. He carefully scratched away some of the paint and discovered | ||
| + | a crimped and soldered joint where the sides met, but no other | ||
| + | revealing marks. After an hour spent tapping all over with his ear | ||
| + | pressed to the metal he was sure that the hood was just what he had | ||
| + | thought it was when he first examined the thing& | ||
| + | container filled with liquid. Puncture it and you were dead. It was | ||
| + | there merely to hide the secrets of the engine, and served no other | ||
| + | function. Yet it had to be passed to service the steam engine& | ||
| + | it? The construction was roughly cubical, and the hood covered only | ||
| + | five sides. What about the sixth, the base?</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to examine it. A wide flange, apparently of cast iron, projected all | ||
| + | around, and was penetrated by four large bolt holes. The protective | ||
| + | casing seemed to be soldered to the base, but there must be stronger | ||
| + | concealed attachments because it would not move even after he | ||
| + | carefully scratched away some of the solder at the base. Therefore the | ||
| + | answer simply had to be on the sixth side.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | reluctantly from the warmth of the stove and shuffled up. "Come close | ||
| + | and look at this medieval motive-power while we talk, as if we are | ||
| + | discussing business. Are you going to co-operate with me?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | touch, as you have others."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | not worried about the state of your soul, you can battle that out on | ||
| + | your own time. But if you work with me I'll find a way to get us out | ||
| + | of this place and to the city that made this engine, because if there | ||
| + | is a way off this planet we'll find it only in the city."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | purpose of this trip to get me back to justice? You're not going to | ||
| + | accomplish that by rotting out the rest of your life as a slave."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | what you say is true. I will help you here so that we can escape."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | three good-sized poles, the kind we were chained to in the pumping | ||
| + | gang. Bring them back here along with a couple of shovels."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | since Edipon would not admit them inside, and it was up to Jason and | ||
| + | Mikah to drag them laboriously to the site. The D' | ||
| + | did physical labor, thought it was very funny when Jason suggested | ||
| + | that they help. Once in position by the engine, Jason dug channels | ||
| + | beneath it and forced the bars under. When this was done he took turns | ||
| + | with Mikah in digging out the sand beneath until the engine stood over | ||
| + | a pit supported only by the bars. Jason let himself down and examined | ||
| + | the bottom of the machine. It was smooth and featureless.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | was cleared around the edges. Here the solid metal gave way to solder | ||
| + | and he picked at this until he discovered that a piece of sheet metal | ||
| + | had been soldered at the edges and fastened to the bedplate. "Very | ||
| + | tricky, these Appsalanoj," | ||
| + | knife blade. When one end was loose he slowly pulled the sheet of | ||
| + | metal away, making positive that there was nothing attached to it, nor | ||
| + | that it had been booby-trapped in any way. It came off easily enough | ||
| + | and clanged down into the pit. The revealed surface was smooth metal, | ||
| + | featureless and hard.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | off his hands. It was almost dark. " | ||
| + | and I want to think a bit before I go ahead. So far luck has been on | ||
| + | our side, but I don't think it should be this easy. I hope you brought | ||
| + | your suitcase with you, Mikah, because you're moving in with me."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | stabbed him in the chest with his finger to drive home the point. "You | ||
| + | are moving in with me because that is essential to our plans. And if | ||
| + | you stop referring to my moral weaknesses I'll stop talking about | ||
| + | yours. Now come on."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and Jason go to the far wall and turn their backs and promise not to | ||
| + | look while he bathed behind a screen of skins. Jason did this but | ||
| + | exacted a small revenge by telling Ijale jokes so that they tittered | ||
| + | together and Mikah would be sure they were laughing at him. The screen | ||
| + | of skins remained after the bath, and was reinforced, and Mikah | ||
| + | retired behind it to sleep. Their food still consisted only of | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | growing used to them.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | tackled the underside of the baseplate. He had been thinking about it | ||
| + | a good part of the night and he put his theories to the test at once. | ||
| + | By pressing hard on a knife he could make a good groove in the metal. | ||
| + | It was not as soft as the solder, but seemed to be some simple alloy | ||
| + | containing a good percentage of lead. What could it be concealing? | ||
| + | Probing carefully with the point of the knife he covered the bottom in | ||
| + | a regular pattern. The depth of the metal was uniformly deep except in | ||
| + | two spots where he found irregularities, | ||
| + | the rectangular base, and equidistant from the ends and sides. Picking | ||
| + | and scraping he uncovered two familiar looking shapes each as big as | ||
| + | his head.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | you think they are."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | can't be sure& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | make you think of."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | are so big& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | we are getting very close now to the mystery of how to open the | ||
| + | engine& | ||
| + | is as easy as this to crack the secret. I'm going to whittle a wooden | ||
| + | template of the nut, then have a wrench made. While I'm gone you stay | ||
| + | down here and pick all the metal off the bolt and out of the screw | ||
| + | threads. I can put off doing it while we think this thing through, but | ||
| + | sooner or later I'm going to have to take a stab at turning one of | ||
| + | those nuts. And I find it very hard to forget about that mustard gas."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of the old men who enjoyed the title of Masters of the Still went into | ||
| + | consultation over it. One of them was a fair blacksmith and after a | ||
| + | ritual sacrifice and a round of prayers he shoved a bar of iron into | ||
| + | the charcoal and Jason pumped the bellows until it glowed white hot. | ||
| + | With much hammering and cursing it was laboriously formed into a | ||
| + | sturdy open-end wrench with an offset head to get at the countersunk | ||
| + | nuts. Jason made sure that the opening was slightly undersized, then | ||
| + | took the untempered wrench to the work site and filed the jaws to an | ||
| + | exact fit. After being reheated and quenched in oil he had the tool | ||
| + | that he hoped would do the job.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | was waiting near the engine when Jason returned with the completed | ||
| + | wrench.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | devilish Appsalanoj have concealed within solid metal. Who would have | ||
| + | suspected! It still seems to me impossible that one metal could be | ||
| + | hidden within another, how could that be done?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <img src=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the molten covering metal poured into it. It must have a much lower | ||
| + | melting point than the steel of the engine so there would be no | ||
| + | damage. They just have a better knowledge of metal technology in the | ||
| + | city and counted on your ignorance."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the trick, and since they didn't they are the stupid ones. Does that | ||
| + | satisfy you?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | poison-hood will be released and can simply be lifted off."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | traps ready when the nut is turned. I will send a strong slave to turn | ||
| + | them while we watch from a distance, his death will not matter."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | like to take advantage of the offer, I cannot. I've been over the same | ||
| + | ground and reached the reluctant conclusion that this is one job of | ||
| + | work that I have to do myself. Taking off those nuts looks entirely | ||
| + | too easy, and that's what makes me suspicious. I'm going to do it and | ||
| + | look out for any more trickery at the same time& | ||
| + | that only I can do. Now I suggest you withdraw with the troops to a | ||
| + | safer spot."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the sand and Jason was alone. The leather walls flapped slackly in the | ||
| + | wind and there was no other sound. Jason spat on his palms, controlled | ||
| + | a slight shiver and slid into the pit. The wrench fitted neatly over | ||
| + | the nut, he wrapped both hands around it and, bracing his leg against | ||
| + | the pit wall, began to pull.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | nut, scraped clean of metal by the industrious Mikah. Something about | ||
| + | them looked very wrong but he didn't know quite what.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | assistant poked his head tentatively around the screen. "Nip over to | ||
| + | the petroleum works and get me one of their bolts threaded with a nut, | ||
| + | any size, it doesn' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | bolt, then waved him out to rejoin the others. Back in the pit he held | ||
| + | it up next to the protruding section of Appsalan bolt and chortled | ||
| + | with joy. The threads on the angle bolt were canted at a slightly | ||
| + | different angle: where one ran up, the other ran down. The Appsalan | ||
| + | threads had been cut in reverse, with a lefthand thread.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | differences as there were planets, yet one of the few things they all | ||
| + | had in common, inherited from their terrestrial ancestors, was a | ||
| + | uniformity of thread. Jason had never thought about it before, but | ||
| + | when he mentally ran through his experiences on different planets he | ||
| + | realized that they were all the same. Screws went into wood, bolts | ||
| + | went into threaded holes and nuts all went onto bolts when you turned | ||
| + | them with a clockwise motion. Counterclockwise removed them. In his | ||
| + | hand was the crude D' | ||
| + | moved in the same manner. But the engine bolt did not work that | ||
| + | way& | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | bolt and slowly applied pressure in what felt like the completely | ||
| + | wrong direction, as if he were tightening not loosening. It gave | ||
| + | slowly, first a quarter then a half turn. And bit by bit the | ||
| + | projection threads vanished until they were level with the surface of | ||
| + | the nut. It turned easily now and within a minute it fell into the | ||
| + | pit& | ||
| + | edge he carefully sniffed the air, ready to run at the slightest smell | ||
| + | of gas. There was nothing.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | effects. Jason pushed a sharp chisel between the upper case and the | ||
| + | baseplate where he had removed the solder, and when he leaned on it | ||
| + | the case shifted slightly, held down only by its own weight.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the distance. "Come on back& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | projecting bolts and made appreciative sounds when Jason leaned on the | ||
| + | chisel and showed how the case was free.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | "and I'm sure that grabbing and heaving is the wrong way. That was my | ||
| + | first idea too, but the people who assembled that thing had some bad | ||
| + | trouble in store for anyone who tightened those nuts instead of | ||
| + | loosening them. Until we find out what that is we are going to tread | ||
| + | very lightly. Do you have any big blocks of ice around here, Edipon? | ||
| + | It is winter now, isn't it?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | direction, rubbing abstractedly at the reddened tip of his prominent | ||
| + | nose. "Of course it is winter. Ice, there must be ice at the higher | ||
| + | lakes in the mountain, they are always frozen at this time of the | ||
| + | year. But what do you want ice for?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | can stack. I'm not going to lift the hood& | ||
| + | engine out from underneath it!"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>By the time the slaves had brought the ice down from the distant lakes | ||
| + | Jason had rigged a strong wooden frame flat on the ground around the | ||
| + | engine and pushed sharpened metal wedges under the hood, then had | ||
| + | secured the wedges to the frame. Now, if the engine was lowered into | ||
| + | the pit, the hood would stay above supported by the wedges. The ice | ||
| + | would take care of this. Jason built a foundation of ice under the | ||
| + | engine then slipped out the supporting bars. Now as the ice slowly | ||
| + | melted the engine would be gently lowered into the pit.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the pit ringed with smoking oil stoves. Water began to run down into | ||
| + | the pit and Mikah went to work bailing it out, while the gap between | ||
| + | the hood and the baseplate widened. The melting continued for the rest | ||
| + | of the day and almost all of the night. Red-eyed and exhausted Jason | ||
| + | and Mikah supervised the soggy sinking and when the D' | ||
| + | returned at dawn the engine rested safely in a pool of mud on the | ||
| + | bottom of the pit: the hood was off.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | born yesterday," | ||
| + | top of the engine," | ||
| + | the size of a small barrel, filled with an oily greenish liquid; it | ||
| + | was clamped down tightly with padded supports. " | ||
| + | The nuts I took off were on the threaded ends of two bars that held | ||
| + | the hood on, but instead of being fastened directly to the hood they | ||
| + | were connected by a crossbar that rested on top of that jug. If either | ||
| + | nut was tightened instead of being loosened, the bar would have bent | ||
| + | and broken the glass. I'll give you exactly one guess as to what would | ||
| + | have happened then."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | suggest that as soon as we have dug a deep hole in the desert the hood | ||
| + | and container be buried and forgotten about. I doubt if the engine has | ||
| + | many other surprises in store, but I'll be careful as I work on it."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | with joy.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | enough to convince that the job will be as easy as stealing < | ||
| + | from a blind man. The engine is as inefficient and clumsy in | ||
| + | construction as your petroleum still. If you people put one tenth of | ||
| + | the energy into research and improving your product as you do into | ||
| + | hiding it from the competition, | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | now fix this engine and the other engines. A new day is breaking for | ||
| + | us!"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | "I have two days sleep to make up. See if you can talk your sons into | ||
| + | wiping the water off that engine before it rusts away, and when I get | ||
| + | back I'll see what I can do about getting it into running condition."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | extracting as many concessions as possible. By hinting that there | ||
| + | might be more traps in the engine permission was easily gained to do | ||
| + | all the work on the original site instead of inside the sealed and | ||
| + | guarded buildings. A covered shed gave them protection from the | ||
| + | weather and a test stand was constructed to hold the engines when | ||
| + | Jason worked on them. This was of a unique design and built to Jason' | ||
| + | exacting specification, | ||
| + | heard of or seen a test stand before Jason had his way.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | it by melting down the original bearing metal and casting it in | ||
| + | position. When he unbolted the head of the massive single cylinder he | ||
| + | shuddered at the clearance around the piston; he could fit his fingers | ||
| + | into the opening between the piston and the cylinder wall; by | ||
| + | introducing cylinder rings he doubled the compression and power | ||
| + | output. When Edipon saw the turn of speed the rebuilt engine gave his | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | reward. This turned out to be a small piece of meat every day to | ||
| + | relieve the monotony of the < | ||
| + | make sure that his valuable property did not escape.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | pieces of equipment that had nothing at all to do with his | ||
| + | engine-overhauling business. While these were being assembled he went | ||
| + | about lining up a little aid.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he was helping to haul a log towards his workshop. Narsisi and one of | ||
| + | his brothers lazed along out of earshot, bored by the routine of the | ||
| + | guard duty.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | gaping open with the effort of thought.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the guards to notice anything."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | grasping eagerly for coveted weapon.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | you want to kill someone else?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | scratched his head perplexedly until Narsisi lashed him back to work. | ||
| + | Jason sighed and found another slave to try his sales program on.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It took a while, but the idea was eventually percolating through the | ||
| + | ranks of the slaves. All they had to look forward to from the | ||
| + | D' | ||
| + | them something else, weapons, a chance to kill their masters, and even | ||
| + | more killing later when they marched on Appsala. It was difficult for | ||
| + | them to grasp the idea that they must work together to accomplish this | ||
| + | and not kill Jason and each other as soon as they received weapons.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was a chancy plan at best, and would probably break down long | ||
| + | before any visit could be made to the city. But the revolt should be | ||
| + | enough to free them from bondage, even if the slaves fled afterwards. | ||
| + | There were less than fifty D' | ||
| + | with their women and children at some other settlement further back in | ||
| + | the hills. It would not be too hard to kill them or chase them off and | ||
| + | long before they could bring reinforcements Jason and his runaway | ||
| + | slaves would be gone. There was just one factor missing from his plans | ||
| + | and a new draft of slaves solved even that problem for him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | rubbing his hands together with glee. The guard shoved Mikah in after | ||
| + | him and locked the door. Jason secured it with his own interior bolt | ||
| + | then waved the two others over to the corner farthest from the door | ||
| + | and tiny window opening.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | mercenary or a soldier of some kind that they captured on a skirmish. | ||
| + | He knows that they will never let him live long enough to leave here, | ||
| + | so he was grateful for any suggestions I had."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | starting towards the cooking fire.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | "The soldier knows where Appsala is and can lead us there. The time | ||
| + | has come to think about leaving this place."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He had all of her attention now, and Mikah' | ||
| + | she gasped.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | crack into every room in this place, a few weapons, the key to the | ||
| + | armory and every able bodied slave on my side."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | D' | ||
| + | least we get away."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and knocked him to the floor. Ijale held his legs down while Jason | ||
| + | squatted on his chest and covered his mouth.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | rebuilding stolen engines? They are guarding us too well for there to | ||
| + | be much chance of our breaking out on our own, so we need allies. We | ||
| + | have them ready made, all the slaves."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | survival that these poor devils will ever have. Now they are human | ||
| + | cattle, beaten and killed on whim. You can't be feeling sorry for the | ||
| + | D' | ||
| + | seen them beat people to death. Do you feel that they are too nice to | ||
| + | suffer a revolution?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | if the other' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | feel no mercy for them and they should be wiped out and blotted from | ||
| + | the face of the earth as was Sodom and Gomorrah. But it cannot be done | ||
| + | by revolution, revolution is evil, inherently evil."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | governments that now exist, since that's about how many were founded | ||
| + | by revolution. Nice, liberal democratic governments& | ||
| + | by a bunch of lads with guns and the immense desire to run things in a | ||
| + | manner more beneficial to themselves. How else do you get rid of the | ||
| + | powers on your neck if there is no way to legally vote them away? If | ||
| + | you can't vote them& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | hands disgustedly. " | ||
| + | prison break? No, you wouldn' | ||
| + | it& | ||
| + | people and restore them to the lands from which they were stolen. The | ||
| + | tiny fact that the slave holders regard them as property and won't | ||
| + | think much of the idea, therefore might get hurt in the process, | ||
| + | shouldn' | ||
| + | Movement?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | with me on the plans or you will be left behind when we go. You have | ||
| + | my word on that." He stomped over and helped himself to some soup and | ||
| + | waited for his anger to simmer down.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | rapidly cooling soup as into an oracular crystal ball, seeking | ||
| + | guidance there. Jason turned his back in disgust.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his shoulder. "Not that there is much chance that you ever will coming | ||
| + | as you do from a society with its feet firmly planted on the ground, | ||
| + | or on the grave to be more accurate. Your people see only concrete | ||
| + | facts, and only the most obvious ones, and as simple an abstraction as | ||
| + | ' | ||
| + | in abstractions of abstractions, | ||
| + | better. I bet he even worries about how many angels can dance on the | ||
| + | head of a pin."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | "But I do think about it once in a while, it is a problem that cannot | ||
| + | be lightly dismissed."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | only one who is right." | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | claims to infallibility but I am sure that I can see the difference | ||
| + | between abstractions and facts a lot better than either of you, and I | ||
| + | am certainly more adroit at handling them. The Jason dinAlt fan club | ||
| + | meeting is now adjourned." | ||
| + | patted himself on the back.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | antipietist...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | second, or of standing by while you sin, and fear for the weakness of | ||
| + | my own soul that I have not been able to resist temptation as I | ||
| + | should. It grieves me, but I must do my duty." He banged loudly on the | ||
| + | door. " | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | slipped in the spilled soup and fell. As he stood again the locks | ||
| + | rattled on the door and it opened. If he could reach Mikah before the | ||
| + | idiot opened his mouth he would close it forever, or at least knock | ||
| + | him out before it was too late.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It was too late. Narsisi poked his head in and blinked sleepily; Mikah | ||
| + | struck his most dramatic pose and pointed to Jason. "Seize and arrest | ||
| + | that man, I denounce him for attempted revolution, for planning red | ||
| + | murder!"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | personal belongings that lay against the wall. He scrabbled in it, | ||
| + | then kicked the contents about and finally came up with a | ||
| + | metal-forming hammer that had a weighty solid lead head.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | had been dumbly watching the performance and mulling over Mikah' | ||
| + | words. Slow as he appeared, there was nothing wrong with his reflexes | ||
| + | and his shield snapped up and took Jason' | ||
| + | over neatly and rapped Jason on the back of the hand: the numbed | ||
| + | fingers opened and the hammer dropped to the floor.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he said, pushing Jason and Mikah ahead of him out the door. He locked | ||
| + | it and called for one of his brothers to stand guard, then poked his | ||
| + | captives down the hall. They shuffled along in their leg-irons, Mikah | ||
| + | nobly as a martyr and Jason seething and grinding his teeth.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | sized up the situation even faster than Narsisi could relate it.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | held a mean little glitter when he leveled them at Jason. "I knew the | ||
| + | time would come when you would try to overthrow me, which was why I | ||
| + | permitted this other to assist you and to learn your skills. As I | ||
| + | expected he has betrayed you to gain your position, which I award him | ||
| + | now."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | word this pious crook tells you, Edipon. I'm not planning any | ||
| + | revolutions, | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | told me& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | judgment. The slave Mikah has betrayed the slave Jason, and whether | ||
| + | the slave Jason is planning rebellion or not is completely | ||
| + | unimportant. His assistant would have not denounced him unless he was | ||
| + | sure that he could do the work as well, which is the only fact that | ||
| + | has any importance to me. Your ideas about a worker-class have | ||
| + | troubled me Jason. I will be glad to kill them and you at the same | ||
| + | time. Chain him with the slaves. Mikah, I award you Jason' | ||
| + | and woman, and as long as you do the work well I will not kill you. Do | ||
| + | it a long time and you will live a long time.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | shouted back as he was kicked from the room.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | half an hour new shackles were on Jason' | ||
| + | the wall in a dark room filled with other slaves. His leg-irons had | ||
| + | been left on as an additional reminder of his new status. He rattled | ||
| + | the chains and examined them in the dim light of a distant lamp as | ||
| + | soon as the door was closed.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and asked in a hoarse whisper.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | look at the man who had a fine case of strabismus, his eyes pointing | ||
| + | in independent directions. "You look familiar ... are you the new | ||
| + | slave I talked to today?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | dagger, seven kills and two possibles on my record, you can check it | ||
| + | yourself at the guild hall."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | back to Appsala."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | I want to keep it small. Instead of freeing all these slaves what do | ||
| + | you say to the idea that we two escape by ourselves?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | stupid people. They just get in the way. Keep the operation small and | ||
| + | fast, that's what I always say."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | fingertip. He had managed to shove his best file and a lockpick into | ||
| + | hiding there while Mikah was betraying him back in their room. The | ||
| + | attack on Narsisi with the hammer had just been a cover up.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and hardening steel, and the experiments had been successful. He | ||
| + | picked out the clay that covered the cut he had made in his leg-cuffs | ||
| + | and tackled the soft iron with vigor; within three minutes they were | ||
| + | lying on the floor.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | but the exhausted slaves were all asleep and had heard nothing. | ||
| + | Wrapping a piece of leather around it to muffle the sound he began to | ||
| + | file a link in the chain that secured the shackles on his wrists. | ||
| + | " | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | whole row of slaves together, the other end goes out through a hole in | ||
| + | the wall."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | we're both free. See if you can't slip the chain through the holes in | ||
| + | your shackles and lay it down without letting the next slave know what | ||
| + | is happening. We'll wear these iron cuffs for now, there is no time to | ||
| + | play around with them and they shouldn' | ||
| + | guards come through here at all during the night to check on the | ||
| + | slaves?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | on the chain."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | going to need plenty of time& | ||
| + | link. "See if you can get enough of a grip on the other end of this | ||
| + | link while I hold this end, we'll try and bend it open a bit." They | ||
| + | strained silently until the opening gaped wide and the next link | ||
| + | fitted through the cut.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | drifted noiselessly to the door.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the slaves."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | just light enough to make out the large keyhole of a massive inset | ||
| + | lock. Jason probed lightly with the pick and curled his lip in | ||
| + | contempt.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | stiffest of his leather wrappings and after flattening it out pushed | ||
| + | it under the badly fitting bottom edge of the door, leaving just a bit | ||
| + | to hold onto. Then he poked lightly at the key through the keyhole and | ||
| + | heard it thud to the ground outside. When he pulled the leather back | ||
| + | in the key was lying in the center of it. The door unlocked silently | ||
| + | and a moment later they were outside, staring tensely into the | ||
| + | darkness.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | by the throat and pulled him back.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | are you going to get to Appsala without food or water, and if you find | ||
| + | some& | ||
| + | instructions. I'm going to lock this door first so that no one | ||
| + | stumbles onto our escape by accident. Then we are going to get some | ||
| + | transport and leave here in style. Agreed?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | bit and let some air into the man's lungs. A labored groan must have | ||
| + | meant assent because Snarbi tottered after him when he made his way | ||
| + | through the dark alleys between the buildings.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the few sentries were only looking for trouble from the outside. It | ||
| + | was equally easy to approach Jason' | ||
| + | rear and slip through it at the spot where Jason had cut the leather | ||
| + | and sewn up the opening with thin twine.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | commanded the shivering Snarbi, then slipped towards the front | ||
| + | entrance with a small sledge hammer clutched in his fist. He was | ||
| + | pleased to see one of Edipon' | ||
| + | against a pole and dozing. Jason gently lifted his leather helm with | ||
| + | his free hand and tapped once with the hammer: the guard slept even | ||
| + | more soundly.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | clicked a firelighter to the wick of a lantern.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | be seen by the sentries, I made sure of that when I sited the place. | ||
| + | And we have a piece of work to do before we leave& | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | in the statement to justify it. His most recently rebuilt and most | ||
| + | powerful engine was still bolted to the test stand, a fact that | ||
| + | justified all the night' | ||
| + | other debris of the camp and two of them were to be bolted to the | ||
| + | engine while it was still on the stand. The ends of the driving axle | ||
| + | cleared the edges of the stand, Jason threaded the securing wheel | ||
| + | bolts into place and utilized Snarbi to tighten them.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>At the other end of the stand was a strong, swiveling post that had | ||
| + | been a support for his test instruments, | ||
| + | for this small task. It was. When the instruments were stripped away a | ||
| + | single bar remained projecting backwards like a tiller handle. When a | ||
| + | third wheel was fitted with a stub axle and slid into place in the | ||
| + | forked lower end of the post the test stand looked remarkably like a | ||
| + | three-wheeled, | ||
| + | mounted on legs. This is exactly what it was, what Jason had designed | ||
| + | it to be from the first, and the supporting legs came away with the | ||
| + | same ease that the other parts had been attached. Escape had always | ||
| + | taken first priority in his plans.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Jason filled the tanks. He started the fire under the boiler and | ||
| + | loaded aboard tools and the small supply of < | ||
| + | set aside from their rations. All of this took time, but not time | ||
| + | enough. It would soon be dawn and they would have to leave before | ||
| + | then, and he could no longer avoid making up his mind. He could not | ||
| + | leave Ijale here, and if he went to get her he could not refuse to | ||
| + | take Mikah as well. The man had saved his life, no matter what | ||
| + | murderous idiocies he had managed to pull since that time. Jason | ||
| + | believed that you owed something to a man who prolonged your | ||
| + | existence, but he also wondered just how much he still owed. In | ||
| + | Mikah' | ||
| + | not overdrawn. Perhaps this one last time.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | said, jumping to the ground and loading on equipment.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | cannot! It will burn and consume me& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | rolling junk pile was made by men and repaired and improved by me, no | ||
| + | demons involved. It burns oil to make heat that makes steam that goes | ||
| + | to this tube to push that rod to make those wheels go around so we can | ||
| + | move, and that is as much of the theory of the steam engine as you are | ||
| + | going to get from me. Maybe you can understand this better& | ||
| + | get you safely away from here. Therefore, you will stay and do as I | ||
| + | say or I will beat your brains in. Clear?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | disk, see it? If it should pop out before I come back turn < | ||
| + | handle in < | ||
| + | won't blow and wake the whole country and we'll still have a head of | ||
| + | steam."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <img src=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the refinery station. Instead of a club or a dagger he was armed with | ||
| + | a well tempered broadsword that he had managed to manufacture under | ||
| + | the noses of the guards. They had examined everything he brought from | ||
| + | the worksite, since he had been working in the evenings in his room, | ||
| + | but ignored everything he manufactured as being beyond their | ||
| + | comprehension. This primordial mental attitude had been of immense | ||
| + | value for in addition to the sword he carried a sack of molotails, a | ||
| + | simple weapon of assault whose origins were lost in pre-history. Small | ||
| + | crocks were filled with the most combustible of the refinery' | ||
| + | fractions and wrapped around outside with cloth that he had soaked in | ||
| + | the same liquid. The stench made him dizzy and he hoped that they | ||
| + | would repay his efforts when the time came, since they were completely | ||
| + | untried. In use one lit the outer covering and threw them. The | ||
| + | crockery burst on impact and the fuse ignited the contents. | ||
| + | Theoretically.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | unmistakable twinge of regret. His subconscious had obviously been | ||
| + | hoping that there would be a disturbance and he would have to retreat | ||
| + | to save himself, his subconscious obviously being very short on | ||
| + | interest in saving the slave girl and his nemesis, particularly at the | ||
| + | risk of his own skin. His subconscious was disappointed. He was in the | ||
| + | building where his quarters lay, trying to peek around the corner to | ||
| + | see if a guard was at the door. There was, and he seemed to be dozing, | ||
| + | but something jerked him awake. He had heard nothing but he sniffed | ||
| + | the air and wrinkled his nose; the powerful smell of water-of-power | ||
| + | from Jason' | ||
| + | could pull back.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | echoing shout and lunged. The blade went right under the man's | ||
| + | guard& | ||
| + | full in the throat. He expired with a bubbling wail that stirred | ||
| + | voices deeper in the building. Jason sprang over the corpse and tore | ||
| + | at the multifold bolts and locks that sealed the door. Footsteps were | ||
| + | running in the distance when he finally threw the door open and ran | ||
| + | in.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | dazed Ijale towards the door and exacted a great deal of pleasure from | ||
| + | landing a tremendous kick that literally lifted Mikah through the | ||
| + | opening, where he collided with Edipon who had just run up waving a | ||
| + | club. Jason leaped over the tumbled forms, rapped Edipon behind the | ||
| + | ear with the hilt of his sword and dragged Mikah to his feet.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | companions. "I have a < | ||
| + | cursed them and they finally broke into clumsy motion. There were | ||
| + | shouts from behind him and an armed mob of D' | ||
| + | Jason pulled down the hall light, burning his hand on the hot base at | ||
| + | the same time, and applied its open flame to one of his molotails. The | ||
| + | wick caught with a roar of flame and he threw it at approaching | ||
| + | soldiers before it could burn his hand. It flew towards them, hit the | ||
| + | wall and broke, inflammable fuel spurted in every direction and the | ||
| + | flame went out.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | work he was dead. The D' | ||
| + | walk through the puddle of spilled water-of-power and in that instant | ||
| + | he hurled the second fire bomb. This one burst nicely too, and lived | ||
| + | up to its maker' | ||
| + | well and the passageway filled with a curtain of fire. Holding his | ||
| + | hand around the lamp flame so it wouldn' | ||
| + | others.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>So far the alarm had not spread outside of the building and Jason | ||
| + | bolted the door from the outside. By the time this was broken open and | ||
| + | the confusion sorted out they would be clear of the buildings. There | ||
| + | was no need for the lamp now and would only give him away. He blew it | ||
| + | out and from the desert came a continuous and ear-piercing scream.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | engine!"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He bumped into Ijale and Mikah who were milling about confusedly in | ||
| + | the dark, kicked Mikah again out of sheer malice and hatred of all | ||
| + | mankind, and led them towards the worksite at a dead run.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | them. The D' | ||
| + | before, which they apparently thought this was, and did an incredible | ||
| + | amount of rushing about and shouting. Matters were not helped by the | ||
| + | burning building nor the unconscious form of Edipon that was carried | ||
| + | from the blaze. All the D' | ||
| + | the safety valve, that was still bleeding irreplacable steam into the | ||
| + | night air, and there was much milling about.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>In the confusion the fleeing slaves were not noticed, and Jason led | ||
| + | them around the guard post on the walls and directly towards the | ||
| + | worksite. They were spotted as they crossed the empty ground and after | ||
| + | some hesitation the guard ran in pursuit. Jason was leading the enemy | ||
| + | directly to his precious steam-wagon, | ||
| + | was certainly making its presence known in any case, and unless he | ||
| + | reached it at once the head of steam would be gone and they would be | ||
| + | trapped. He leaped the still recumbent guard at the entrance and ran | ||
| + | towards his machine. Snarbi was cowering behind one wheel but there | ||
| + | was no time to give him any attention. As Jason jumped onto the | ||
| + | platform the safety valve closed and the sudden stillness was | ||
| + | frightening. The steam was gone.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | indicator: there wasn't enough steam left to roll the meters. Water | ||
| + | gurgled and the boiler hissed and clacked at him while screams of | ||
| + | anger came from the D' | ||
| + | the bootleg < | ||
| + | firebox; it caught fire and he turned and hurled it at them. The angry | ||
| + | cries turned into screams of fear as the tongues of flame licked up at | ||
| + | the pursuers and they retreated in disorder. Jason ran after them and | ||
| + | hastened their departure with another molotail. They seemed to be | ||
| + | retreating as far as the refinery walls, but he could not be sure in | ||
| + | the darkness if some of them weren' | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He hurried back to the < | ||
| + | indicator and opened the fuel feed wide. As an afterthought he wired | ||
| + | down the safety valve since his reinforced boiler should hold more | ||
| + | pressure than the valve had been originally adjusted for. Once this | ||
| + | was finished he chewed at his oily fingernails since there was nothing | ||
| + | else that could be done until the pressure built up again. The | ||
| + | D' | ||
| + | attack the worksite. If they had enough steam before this happened, | ||
| + | they would escape. If not& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | thing and push," Jason said.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | If so I will give no aid...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | guide to show us the way. You don't have to come& | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | barbarians."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | center, far from all the walls, and pointing towards the desert. Down | ||
| + | the valley I guess, is that right, Snarbi?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | from the earlier throttling, Jason was pleased to notice.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | along the sides so you won't get bounced off, if we ever start moving | ||
| + | that is."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | they might need was already loaded, then reluctantly climbed aboard | ||
| + | himself. He blew out the lantern and they sat there in the darkness, | ||
| + | their faces lit from below by the flickering glow from the firebox, | ||
| + | while the tension mounted. There was no way to measure time since each | ||
| + | second took an eternity to drag by.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | few moments imagination had peopled the night with silent hordes | ||
| + | creeping towards them, huddling about the thin barrier of leather, | ||
| + | ready to swoop down and crush them in an instant.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | platform. " | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the floor planks a few times until he quieted.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | brute, Jason, to punish him for his natural feelings. Cease your | ||
| + | sadistic attack and join me in a prayer."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | watched the boiler, we would all be safely away from here by now. And | ||
| + | if you have enough breath for a prayer, put it to better use by | ||
| + | blowing into the firebox. It's not going to be wishes or prayers that | ||
| + | gets us out of here, just a head of steam."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A howled battlecry was echoed by massed voices and a squad of | ||
| + | D' | ||
| + | rear of the leather wall went down and more armed men swarmed over it. | ||
| + | The immobile < | ||
| + | who laughed happily as they charged. Jason cursed and lit four | ||
| + | molotails at the same time and hurled them two and two in opposite | ||
| + | directions. Before they hit he had jumped to the steam valve and wound | ||
| + | it open; with a hissing clank the < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | screamed even louder as the machine moved away at right angles from | ||
| + | between their two groups. The air whistled with crossbow bolts, but | ||
| + | most were badly aimed and only a few thudded into the baggage. With | ||
| + | each revolution of the wheels their speed picked up and when they hit | ||
| + | the walls the hides parted with a creaking snap. Strips of leather | ||
| + | whipped at them, then they were through.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the valley at a suicidal pace, hissing, rattling and crashing over the | ||
| + | bumps. Jason clung to the tiller and shouted for Mikah to come relieve | ||
| + | him, since if he let go of the thing they would turn and crash in an | ||
| + | instant, and as long as he held it he couldn' | ||
| + | Some of this finally penetrated to Mikah because he crawled forward | ||
| + | grasping desperately to every hand-hold until he crouched beside | ||
| + | Jason.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | enough to see."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>As soon as the steering was taken over Jason worked his way back to | ||
| + | the engine and throttled down; they slowed to a clanking walk then | ||
| + | stopped completely. Ijale moaned and Jason felt as if every inch of | ||
| + | his body had been beaten with hammers. There was no sign of pursuit | ||
| + | since it would be at least an hour before they could raise steam in | ||
| + | the < | ||
| + | headlong pace. The lantern he had used earlier had vanished during the | ||
| + | wild ride so Jason dug out another one of his own construction.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | slavery so now it is time for you to do some of the guiding that you | ||
| + | were telling me about. Walk ahead with this light and pick out a nice | ||
| + | smooth track going in the right direction. I never did have a chance | ||
| + | to build headlights for this machine so you will have to do instead."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the valve a bit and they clattered forward on his trail as Mikah | ||
| + | turned the tiller to follow. Ijale crawled over and settled herself | ||
| + | against Jason' | ||
| + | shoulder.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | exhausted. The country, once they were away from the mountains, became | ||
| + | more fertile, an undulating pampas of grass with enough streams and | ||
| + | herds of beasts to assure that they did not starve. It was fuel that | ||
| + | mattered, and that afternoon Jason had opened their last jar. They | ||
| + | stopped a few hours before dark since their fresh meat was gone, and | ||
| + | Snarbi took the crossbow and went out to shoot something for the pot. | ||
| + | Since he was the only one who could handle the clumsy weapon with any | ||
| + | kind of skill in spite of his ocular deficiencies, | ||
| + | the local game, this task had been assigned to him. With longer | ||
| + | contact his fear of the < | ||
| + | at his recognized ability as a hunter. He strolled arrogantly out into | ||
| + | the knee-high grass, crossbow over his shoulder, whistling tunelessly | ||
| + | through his teeth. Jason stared after him and once again felt a | ||
| + | growing unease.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | second," | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | interesting about the country we have been passing through, anything | ||
| + | different?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | two days, and I know just as little about woodcraft as you do. Ijale," | ||
| + | he called, and she looked up from the boiler over which she was | ||
| + | heating a thin stew of their last < | ||
| + | tastes just as bad whatever is done to it, and if Snarbi has any luck | ||
| + | we'll be having roast in any case. Tell me, have you seen anything | ||
| + | strange or different about the land we passed through today."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the grass was flat and branches broken as if a < | ||
| + | three days ago, maybe more. And once there was a place where someone | ||
| + | had built a cooking fire, but that was very old."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | what a lifetime of < | ||
| + | observation and terrain."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | thing."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | trouble. Only now I am going to need your help. This is Snarbi' | ||
| + | night of freedom whether he knows it or not, and I don't want him | ||
| + | standing guard tonight, so you and I will split the shift."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | his last night of freedom?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | ethic works on this planet. What did you think we were going to do | ||
| + | when we came to Appsala& | ||
| + | have no idea what he is planning. I just know he must be planning | ||
| + | something. When I ask him about the city he only answers in | ||
| + | generalities. Of course he is a hired mercenary who wouldn' | ||
| + | much of the details, but he must know a lot more than he is telling | ||
| + | us. He says we are still four days away from the city. My guess is | ||
| + | that we are no more than one or two. In the morning I intend to grab | ||
| + | him and tie him up, then swing over to those hills there and find a | ||
| + | place to hole up. I'll fix some chains for Snarbi so he can't get | ||
| + | away, then I'll do a scout of the city...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | reason!"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | doesn' | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | sell me as an engine-mechanic slave his fortune is made."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | evidence at all, just because of your nasty minded suspicions. Judge | ||
| + | not lest ye be judged yourself! And you play the hypocrite as well, | ||
| + | because I well remember your telling me that a man is innocent until | ||
| + | proven guilty."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | being a member of this broken down society, which means that he will | ||
| + | always act in certain ways at certain times. Haven' | ||
| + | anything about these people yet? Ijale!" | ||
| + | munching on a < | ||
| + | me, what is your opinion? We are coming soon to a place where Snarbi | ||
| + | has friends, or people who will help him. What do you think he will | ||
| + | do?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | bite.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | we three are with him when we come to the people, and the people see | ||
| + | us and the < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | they will fight us, make us slaves, take the < | ||
| + | Snarbi at once."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | but quit when he saw Jason pick up a heavy hammer.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | conforming to a local code of ethic, like saluting in the army or not | ||
| + | eating with your fingers in polite society. In fact I'm being a little | ||
| + | slipshod, since by local custom I should kill him before he can make | ||
| + | us trouble."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | upon such flimsy evidence."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | making sure that he can't cause me any trouble. You don't have to | ||
| + | agree with me to help me, just don't get in my way. And split the | ||
| + | guard with me tonight. Whatever I do in the morning will be on my | ||
| + | shoulders and no concern of yours."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | through the high grass.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | before them. "Cut him up, makes good chops and roast. We eat tonight."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He was completely innocent and without guile and the only thing guilty | ||
| + | about him was his shifty gaze which could be blamed completely on his | ||
| + | crossed eyes. Jason wondered for a second if his assessment of the | ||
| + | danger was correct, then remembered where he was and lost his doubts. | ||
| + | Snarbi would be committing no crime if he tried to kill or enslave | ||
| + | them, just doing what any ordinary, decent slave-holding barbarian | ||
| + | would do in his place. Jason searched through his tool box for some | ||
| + | rivets that could be used to fasten the leg irons on the man.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | quickly asleep. Jason, tired from the labors of the trip and heavy | ||
| + | with food, forced himself to remain awake, trying to keep alert for | ||
| + | trouble both from within and from without. When he became too sleepy | ||
| + | he paced around the camp until the cold drove him back to the shelter | ||
| + | of the still-warm boiler. Above him the stars wheeled slowly and when | ||
| + | a prominent one reached the zenith he estimated it was midnight, or a | ||
| + | bit after. He shook Mikah awake.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | don't forget a careful watch there," | ||
| + | silent form. "Wake me up at once if there' | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | first light of dawn touched the sky. Only the brighter stars were | ||
| + | visible on the eastern horizon and he could see a ground fog rising | ||
| + | from the grass around them. Near him were the huddled forms of the two | ||
| + | sleepers and the farthest one shifted in his sleep and he realized it | ||
| + | was Mikah.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | grabbed the other man by the shoulders. "What are you doing asleep?" | ||
| + | he raged. "You were supposed to be on guard."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | morning Snarbi awoke and offered to take his turn. I could not refuse | ||
| + | him...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to your unfair action. Therefore, I left him on guard."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | handful of hair from his newgrown beard. "Then where is he? Do you see | ||
| + | anyone on guard?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wakening Ijale. "He seems to have gone. He has proven his | ||
| + | untrustworthiness and in the future we will not allow him to stand | ||
| + | guard."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | realized he had no time for such indulgences and dived for the | ||
| + | steamobile. The firelighter worked at the first shot, for a rare | ||
| + | change, and he lit the boiler. It roared merrily but when he tapped | ||
| + | the indicator he saw the fuel was almost gone. There would be enough | ||
| + | left in the last jug to take them to safety before whatever trouble | ||
| + | Snarbi was planning arrived. But the jug was gone.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | with Snarbi who, afraid as he was of the steam engine, apparently knew | ||
| + | enough from observing Jason fueling the thing that it could not move | ||
| + | without the vital liquid. An empty feeling of resignation had replaced | ||
| + | Jason' | ||
| + | with anything, particularly when it involved an ethical point. He | ||
| + | stared at the man, now calmly eating a bit of cold roast and marveled | ||
| + | at the unruffled calm. "This doesn' | ||
| + | have condemned us all to slavery again?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | creatures or sink to the level of the animals."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | survive?</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | judgment, " | ||
| + | fate no matter how you squirm. Or you live as I have done, as a man of | ||
| + | conviction, knowing what is right and not letting your head be turned | ||
| + | by the petty needs of the day. And if one lives this way one can die | ||
| + | happy."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | back again glumly before he picked it up. "To think that I ever | ||
| + | thought I could teach you anything about the reality of existence here | ||
| + | when you have never experienced reality before nor ever will until the | ||
| + | day you die. You carry your own attitudes, which are your reality, | ||
| + | around with you all the time, and they are more solid to you than this | ||
| + | ground we are sitting upon."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to the true light, but you turn away and will not see. You ignore the | ||
| + | Eternal Law for the exigencies of the moment and are, therefore, | ||
| + | damned."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | fuel level was at the absolute bottom.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | this machine. The fuel is gone and it's finished."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | we would find out that he was missing at dawn. Whatever kind of | ||
| + | trouble he is bringing is already on the way and we wouldn' | ||
| + | to escape on foot. So we might as well save our energy. But they | ||
| + | aren't getting my handmade, super-charged steamobile!" | ||
| + | sudden vehemence, grabbing up the crossbow. "Back both of you, far | ||
| + | back. They' | ||
| + | go with it. If they want one of these hot-rod steam wagons, they are | ||
| + | going to have to pay for it!"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | quarrel hit the boiler. It went up with a most satisfactory bang and | ||
| + | small pieces of metal and wood rained down all around. In the distance | ||
| + | he heard shouting and the barking of dogs.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <img src=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | tall grass and when they were closer large dogs were also visible, | ||
| + | tugging at their leashes. Though they must have come far in a few | ||
| + | hours they approached at a steady trot, experienced runners, in thin | ||
| + | leather garments each carrying a short, laminated bow and a full | ||
| + | quiver of arrows. They swooped up in a semicircle, their great hounds | ||
| + | slavering to be loosed, and stopped when the three strangers were | ||
| + | within bow range. They notched their arrows and waited with alert | ||
| + | patience, staying well clear of the smoking ruins of the caroj, until | ||
| + | Snarbi finally staggered up half supported by two other runners.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | What happened to the < | ||
| + | the smoking wreck and would have collapsed except for the sustaining | ||
| + | arms. Evidently the new slaves decreased in value with the loss of the | ||
| + | machine. He stumbled over to it and, when none of the soldiers would | ||
| + | help him, gathered up what he could find of Jason' | ||
| + | tools. When he had bundled them up, and the foot cavalry had seen that | ||
| + | he suffered no injury from the contact, they reluctantly agreed to | ||
| + | carry them. One of the soldiers, identical in dress with the others, | ||
| + | seemed to be in charge, and when he signaled a return they closed in | ||
| + | on the three prisoners and nudged them to their feet with drawn bows.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | going to finish my breakfast first. I see an endless vista of < | ||
| + | stretching out before me and intend to enjoy this last meal before | ||
| + | entering servitude."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | orders. "Who is this?" he asked Snarbi, pointing at the still seated | ||
| + | Jason. "Is there any reason why I should not kill him."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the one who built the devil-wagon and knows all of its secrets. Hertug | ||
| + | Persson will torture him to build another."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | gentlemen, let's go. And on the way perhaps someone can tell me just | ||
| + | who Hertug Persson is and what is going to happen next."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Hertug of the Perssonoj. I have fought for the Perssonoj and they knew | ||
| + | me and I saw the Hertug himself and he believed me. The Perssonoj are | ||
| + | very powerful in Appsala and have many powerful secrets, but not as | ||
| + | powerful as the Trozelligoj who have the secret of the < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | them the secret of the < | ||
| + | to Jason' | ||
| + | will help them torture you until you tell."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | when the traitor fell he walked the length of his body. None of the | ||
| + | soldiers paid any attention to this exchange and when they had passed | ||
| + | Snarbi staggered to his feet and tottered after them shouting curses. | ||
| + | Jason did not hear them, he had troubles enough as it was.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | that was being slowly washed into the sea. Only when they had come | ||
| + | closer was it clear that the smoke was from the multifold chimneys, | ||
| + | both large and small, that studded the buildings, and that the city | ||
| + | began at the shore and covered a number of islands in what must be a | ||
| + | shallow lagoon. Large sea-going ships were tied up at the seaward side | ||
| + | of the city and closer to the mainland smaller craft were being poled | ||
| + | through the canals. Jason searched anxiously for a spaceport or any | ||
| + | signs of interstellar culture but saw nothing. Then the hills | ||
| + | intervened as the trail cut off to one side and approached the sea | ||
| + | some distance from the city.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A fair-sized sailing vessel was tied up at the end of a stone wharf, | ||
| + | obviously awaiting them, and the captives were tied hand and foot and | ||
| + | tossed into the hold. Jason managed to wriggle around until he could | ||
| + | get his eye to a crack between two badly fitting planks and recited a | ||
| + | running travelogue of the cruise, apparently for the edification of | ||
| + | his companions, but really for his own benefit since the sound of his | ||
| + | own voice always cheered and encouraged him.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and ancient city of Appsala, famed for its loathsome customs, | ||
| + | murderous natives and archaic sanitation facilities, of which this | ||
| + | watery channel this ship is now entering seems to be the major cloaca. | ||
| + | There are islands on both sides, the smaller ones covered with hovels | ||
| + | so decrepit that in comparison the holes in the ground of the humblest | ||
| + | animals appear to be palaces, while the larger islands appear to be | ||
| + | forts, each one walled and barbicaned and presenting a warlike face to | ||
| + | the world. There couldn' | ||
| + | am led to believe that each one is undoubtedly the guarded stronghold | ||
| + | of one of the tribes, groups or clans that our friend Judas told us | ||
| + | about. Look on these monuments to ultimate selfishness and beware: | ||
| + | this is the end product of the system that begins with slave-holders | ||
| + | like the former Ch'aka with their tribes of < | ||
| + | builds up through familiar hierarchies like the D' | ||
| + | its zenith of depravity behind those strong walls. It is still | ||
| + | absolute power that rules absolutely, each man out for all that he can | ||
| + | get and the only way to climb being over the bodies of others, and all | ||
| + | physical discoveries and inventions being treated as private and | ||
| + | personal secrets to be hidden and used only for personal gain. Never | ||
| + | have I seen human greed and selfishness carried to such extremes and I | ||
| + | admire Homo sapiens' | ||
| + | how it hurts."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | precarious perch into the stinking bilge. "The descent of man," he | ||
| + | muttered and inched his way out.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the ship came to a halt. The hatch above was slid back and the three | ||
| + | captives were rushed to the deck. The ship was tied up to a dock in a | ||
| + | pool of water surrounded by buildings and high walls. Behind them a | ||
| + | large sea gate was just swinging shut, through which the ship had | ||
| + | entered from the canal. They could see no more because they were | ||
| + | pushed into a doorway and through halls and past guards until they | ||
| + | ended up in a large central room. It was unfurnished except for the | ||
| + | dais at the far end on which stood a large and rusty iron throne. The | ||
| + | man on the throne, undoubtedly the Hertug Persson, sported a | ||
| + | magnificent white beard and shoulder length hair, his nose was round | ||
| + | and red, his eyes blue and watery. He nibbled at a < | ||
| + | delicately on a two-tined iron fork.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | at once?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | shouted in unison, waving their hands in the air at the same time. | ||
| + | Jason missed the first chorus, but came in on the second. Only Mikah | ||
| + | did not join in the chant-and-wave, | ||
| + | voice after the pledge of allegiance was completed.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | terminated on the top of Mikah' | ||
| + | floor.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | asked and Snarbi pointed at Jason.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | monster that burns and moves them, I know because I watched him do it. | ||
| + | He also made balls of fire that burned the D' | ||
| + | things. I brought him to be your slave so that he could make < | ||
| + | for the Perssonoj. Here are the pieces of the < | ||
| + | after it was consumed by its own fire." Snarbi shook the tools and | ||
| + | burnt fragments out onto the floor and the Hertug curled his lip at | ||
| + | them.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | mean nothing. How can you prove to me, slave, that you can do the | ||
| + | things he says?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | matter, which would be a neat revenge against Snarbi who would | ||
| + | certainly meet a sticky end for causing all this trouble for nothing, | ||
| + | but he discarded the thought as fast as it came. Partly for | ||
| + | humanitarian reasons, Snarbi could not help being what he was, but | ||
| + | mostly because he had no particular desire to be put to the question. | ||
| + | He knew nothing about the local torture methods, and he wanted to keep | ||
| + | it that way.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | about everything. I can build machines that walk, that talk, that run, | ||
| + | fly, swim, bark like a dog and roll on their backs."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | use. But I must first know what is the specialty of your clan, if you | ||
| + | know what I mean. Like the Trozelligoj make < | ||
| + | pump oil. What do your people do?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | of the Perssonoj!"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | these parts."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | chest. "We can talk across the width of the country and always know | ||
| + | where our enemies are. We can send magic on wires to kill, or magic to | ||
| + | make light in a glass ball or magic that will pluck the sword from an | ||
| + | enemy' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | good to hear. If you have some heavy forging equipment...."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | soldiers grabbed Jason.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | long in the tooth and each wore a brazen, sun-burst type decoration on | ||
| + | his chest. They were undoubtedly adept in the secret electrical arts | ||
| + | and they fingered their weapons and grumbled with unconcealed anger at | ||
| + | Jason' | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | be killed."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | a little time I can improve on your electrical works, if your | ||
| + | technology is on the same level as the rest of this planet."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | pointing to a barred, locked and guarded door at the other end of the | ||
| + | room. "There is no way you can have seen what is there, but if you can | ||
| + | tell me what lies beyond it I will know you are the wizard that you | ||
| + | claim you are."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | before," | ||
| + | electricity, | ||
| + | power that way, so you must have a generator of some sort. That will | ||
| + | be a big magnet, a piece of special iron that can pick up other iron, | ||
| + | and you spin it around fast next to some coils of wire and out comes | ||
| + | electricity. You pipe this through copper wire to whatever devices you | ||
| + | have, and they can't be very many. You say you talk across the | ||
| + | country. I'll bet you don't talk at all but send little clicks, dots | ||
| + | and dashes.... I'm right aren't I?" The foot shuffling and rising buzz | ||
| + | from the adepts was a sure sign that he was hitting close. "I have an | ||
| + | idea for you, I think I'll invent the telephone. Instead of the old | ||
| + | clikkety-clack how would you like to < | ||
| + | Speak into a gadget here and have your voice come out at the far end | ||
| + | of the wire?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the old days this could be done, but we have tried and have failed. | ||
| + | Can you do this thing?"</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | promises I have to see your equipment."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | end avarice won over taboo and the door to the holy of holies was | ||
| + | opened for Jason while two of the < | ||
| + | daggers, stood at his sides. At almost the same instant Jason looked | ||
| + | in through the door he heard the sound.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | certain finite measures of time and have been measured over and over | ||
| + | again with a great deal of accuracy. The commands of the brain, speedy | ||
| + | as they may be, must be carried by sluggish nerves and put into | ||
| + | operation by inert lumps of muscle. Therefore to say that Jason' | ||
| + | reactions were instantaneous is to tell a lie, or at least exaggerate. | ||
| + | Only to his watchers did his actions appear to take place that fast; | ||
| + | they were older, and less alert, and had not had the advantage of | ||
| + | Pyrran survival training. So to their point of view the sacred portal | ||
| + | was opened and Jason vanished in a flurry of activity. Two lightning | ||
| + | blows sent his guardians spinning, and before they had fallen to the | ||
| + | floor their supposed captive was through the door and it was slammed | ||
| + | in their faces. Before the first dumfounded Persson could jump forward | ||
| + | the bolt grated home inside and the door was sealed.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | opened he had had a good view of the inside of the room, of a slave | ||
| + | cranking the handle on a crude collection of junk that could only have | ||
| + | been a generator. Thick wires looped across the room from the thing to | ||
| + | a man who stood before some blades of copper pushing at them with a | ||
| + | wooden stick, while above his head fat sparks leaped the gap between | ||
| + | two brassy spheres. As if to complete this illustration for a | ||
| + | bronze-age edition of "First Steps in Electricity" | ||
| + | twisted up from the spark gap and vanished out a small window. The | ||
| + | entire thing might have been labeled "How to Generate A Radio Signal | ||
| + | in the Crudest Manner." | ||
| + | smallest fraction of a second, and at almost the very same instant, he | ||
| + | heard the sound.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | volcano or some giant explosion. It rumbled and rolled, muffled by | ||
| + | distance, yet still clear. It resembled none of these things to Jason, | ||
| + | but made him think only of a high altitude rocket or jet, cleaving | ||
| + | through the atmosphere.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>It must have been the juxtaposition of these two things, occurring as | ||
| + | they did at the same time, the view of a radio transmitter, | ||
| + | how crude, and the thought that there might be a civilized craft or | ||
| + | some kind up there containing men who would come to his aid if he | ||
| + | could only contact them. The idea was an insane one, but even as he | ||
| + | realized that fact he was through the door and bolting it behind him. | ||
| + | Perhaps he did it because he had been pushed around entirely too much | ||
| + | and felt like pushing someone else for a change. In any case it was | ||
| + | done, insane or not, and he might as well carry through.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | he lowered his eyes and kept cranking. The man who had been working | ||
| + | the transmitter spun about, startled by the slam of the door and the | ||
| + | muffled pounding and shouts that followed instantly from the other | ||
| + | side. He groped for his dagger when he saw the stranger, but before it | ||
| + | was clear of the scabbard Jason was on him and after a few quick | ||
| + | Pyrran infighting blows the man lost all interest in what was | ||
| + | happening and slid to the floor. Jason straddled his body, picked the | ||
| + | stick up, nodded to the slave who began cranking faster, and began to | ||
| + | tap out a message.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to him he spelled out J-A-S-O-N D-A-L-T H-R-E.... N-E-E-D A-I-D.... | ||
| + | R-I-C-H.... R-E-W-A-R-D ... F-O-R ... H-E-L-P....</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He varied this a bit, repeated his name often, and tried other themes | ||
| + | appealing for off-world aid. It was a slim chance that he had heard a | ||
| + | rocket, and even slimmer chance that they would pick his message out | ||
| + | of the static if they happened to be listening. He had no evidence | ||
| + | that any off-worlders were in contact with this planet, merely hope. | ||
| + | He tapped on and the slave ground away industriously. His arm was | ||
| + | growing tired by the time the old guard in the other room found | ||
| + | something heavy enough to swing and broke the door down. Jason stopped | ||
| + | tapping and turned to face the apoplectic Hertug, rubbing his tired | ||
| + | wrist.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | improvements."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | and your only chance to wrap up all the industrial secrets in one big | ||
| + | bundle," | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A gigantic explosion slammed into the room; a crack appeared in one | ||
| + | wall and dust floated down from the ceiling. There was a sound of | ||
| + | snapping small arms fire in the distance.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | roll of wire at the startled men in the doorway and followed instantly | ||
| + | after it in a headlong dive. There was a flurry of action, most of the | ||
| + | damage being done by his boots, then he was through and running out of | ||
| + | the throne room with the men bellowing in pursuit.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>A small war seemed to be raging ahead, the sharp explosions of gunfire | ||
| + | being mixed with the heavier thud of bombs and grenades. Walls were | ||
| + | down, doors blasted open while confused soldiers rushed in panic | ||
| + | through the clouds of dust. One of them tried to stop Jason who kept | ||
| + | on going, carrying the man's club with him. Sunlight shone ahead and | ||
| + | he dived through a riven wall and landed, rolling in the open ground | ||
| + | next to the dock. A spaceship' | ||
| + | hot from the speed of descent, and next to it stood Meta keeping up a | ||
| + | continuous fire with her gun, happily juggling micro-grenades with her | ||
| + | free hand.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <div class=" | ||
| + | <img src=" | ||
| + | </ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | this planet for a month now, waiting for some word from you. There are | ||
| + | dozens of radio transmitters on this continent and I have been | ||
| + | monitoring them all." She fired a long burst at an upper story where | ||
| + | some bowmen had been foolish enough to appear, then ran to Jason, eyes | ||
| + | wet with tears. "Oh, darling, I was so worried."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | She kept her eyes open while she was doing this but only had to fire | ||
| + | once.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | dazed Mikah.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | should recognize the man, he's the one who arrested me."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | powerful kick of the Pyrran automatic was like a caress on the heel of | ||
| + | his hand.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | has tried to lose it for me a dozen times since. Let's get upstairs to | ||
| + | the ship and I'll tell you about it. There are more healthy spots than | ||
| + | this to have a conversation."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | < | ||
| + | awash with alcoholic drink, Jason collapsed into the acceleration | ||
| + | couch and firmly swore that life was worth living after all.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | without them for a while. Or the better things either." | ||
| + | and took Meta's hand. She pulled it away and fed more digits into the | ||
| + | computer.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | might warm to.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | away and charted a directional trace before it went into jump-space. | ||
| + | We identified the markings and I went to Cassylia, but the ship had | ||
| + | never arrived there. I back-tracked the straight-line course and found | ||
| + | three possible planets near enough to have registered in the ship | ||
| + | during jump-space flight. Two are highly organized with modern | ||
| + | spaceports and would have known if the ship had landed. It hadn' | ||
| + | Therefore you must have forced the ship down on the planet we just | ||
| + | left. And once you were there you would find one of the radios to send | ||
| + | a message. Which is what you did. It is obvious. Who is she?" The | ||
| + | final words were in a distinctly chillier tone of voice, and there | ||
| + | could be only one she, Ijale, who crouched across the room, obviously | ||
| + | unhappy and wide-eyed with fear at this voyage in a spaceship, not | ||
| + | understanding the language the others spoke.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | too. I couldn' | ||
| + | brutal than you can possibly imagine. There is an entire planetful of | ||
| + | slaves back there, and of course I can't save them all. But I can do | ||
| + | this much, take out the one person there who would rather see me live | ||
| + | than die."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Meta's voice left no doubt as to what she wanted to do with her. Jason | ||
| + | had already given this a good deal of thought, and if Ijale was going | ||
| + | to live much longer she had to be separated as soon as possible from | ||
| + | the deadly threat of female Pyrran jealousy.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | money to leave a deposit in a bank that will last her for years. Make | ||
| + | arrangements for it to be paid out only a bit at a time, so no matter | ||
| + | how she is cheated she will still have enough. I'm not going to worry | ||
| + | about her, if she was able to survive in the < | ||
| + | get along well anywhere on a settled world."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He could hear the complaints on when he broke the news to Ijale, but | ||
| + | it was for her own survival.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | remembered voice spoke from the doorway. Mikah stood there, clutching | ||
| + | to the jamb, a turban of bandages on his head.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | Ijale and spoke in her own language. "Did you hear that? Mikah is | ||
| + | going to take you home with him and look after you. I'll arrange for | ||
| + | some money to be paid to you for all your needs, he'll explain to you | ||
| + | what money is. I want you to listen to him carefully, note exactly | ||
| + | what he says, then do the exact opposite. You must promise me you will | ||
| + | do that and never break your word. In that way you may make some | ||
| + | mistakes and will be wrong sometimes, but all the rest of the time | ||
| + | things will go very smoothly."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | wailed.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | the familiar groove. "She will obey you, I know that, so no matter how | ||
| + | I labor she will always do as you say."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | your particular brand of illogic to get any pleasure from it. The rest | ||
| + | of us are happier bending a bit under the impact of existence, and | ||
| + | exacting a mite more pleasure from the physical life around us."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | behind the door jamb and it held a pistol that he had found below. "I | ||
| + | am taking command of this ship. You will secure the two women so that | ||
| + | they can cause no trouble, then we will proceed to Cassylia for your | ||
| + | trial."</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | a good five meters from him with her hands filled with navigational | ||
| + | notes. She slowly raised her head and looked at Jason and a smile | ||
| + | broke across her face.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| + | to Cassylia." | ||
| + | |||
| + | <p>He sighed happily and there was a sudden rush of feet behind his back. | ||
| + | No shots were fired but a hoarse scream, a thud and a sharp cracking | ||
| + | noise told him that Mikah had lost his last argument.</ | ||
| + | |||
| + | <hr style=" | ||
| + | |||
| + | </ | ||
the_ethical_engineer.1407021286.txt.gz · Last modified: (external edit)