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charged. Jason, cursing, 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 caro shuddered and got under way.
For the moment the attackers were held back by the walls of flame, and they
screamed 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 shouts grew fainter and the fires grew dimmer
behind them as they streaked down the valley at a suicidal pace, hissing and
rattling over the bumps. Jason dung to the tiller and shouted for Mikah to come
relieve him. For if he let go of the thing they would turn and crash in an instant,
and as long as he held it he couldn't cut down the steam. Some of this finally got
through to Mikah and he crawled forward, grasping desperately at every
handhold, until he crouched beside Jason.
"Grab this tiller and hold it straight, and steer around anything big enough
to see."
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; it would be at least an hour
before they could raise steam in the caro, and no one on foot could possibly have
matched their own headlong pace. The lantern he had used earlier had vanished
during the wild ride, so Jason dug out another one of his own construction.
"On your feet, Snarbi," he ordered. "I've cracked us all out of slavery, and
now it is time for you to do some of the guiding that you were telling me about. I
never did have a chance to build headlights for this machine, so you will have to
walk ahead with this light and pick out a nice smooth track going in the right
direction."
Snarbi climbed down unsteadily and walked out in front of them. Jason
opened 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's side,
shivering with cold and fright. He patted her shoulder.
"Relax," he said. "From now on this is just a pleasure trip."
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10
They were six days out of Putl'ko and their supplies were almost
exhausted. The country, once they were away from the mountains, became more
fertile, and 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, for 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, and who knew
about the local game, this task had been assigned to him. With longer contact, his
fear of the caro had lessened, and his self-esteem rose with his ability as a hunter
recognized. He strolled arrogantly out into the kneehigh grass, crossbow over his
shoulder, whistling tunelessly through his teeth. Jason stared after him and once
again felt a growing unease.
"I don't trust that wall-eyed mercenary. I don't trust him for one second,"
he muttered.
'Were you talking to me?" Mikah asked.
"I wasn't, but I might as well now. Have you noticed anything interesting
about the country we have been passing through, anything different?"
"Nothing. It is a wilderness, untouched by the hand of man."
"Then you must be blind, because I have been seeing things the last 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
krenoj. "Leave that stuff-it tastes just as bad whatever is done to it, and if Snarhi
has any luck we'll be having roast meat. Tell me, have you seen anything strange
or different about the land we passed through today?'
"Nothing strange. just signs of people. In which passed places where grass
was flat and branches broken, as if a caro passed two or three days ago, maybe
more. And once there was a place where someone had built a cooking fire, but
that was very old."
"Nothing to be seen, Mikah?" Jason said, with raised eyebrows. "See what
a lifetime of kreno hunting can do for the sense of observation and terrain."
"I am no savage. You cannot expect me to look out for that sort of thing."
"I don't. I have learned to expect very little from you besides trouble. Only
now I am going to need your help. This is Snarbi's last night of freedom, whether
he knows it or not, and I don't want him standing guard tonight, so you and I will
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r r
split the shift."
Mikah was astonished, "I do not understand. What do you mean when you
say this is his last night of freedom?"
"It should be obvious by now, even to you, how the social ethic works on
this planet. What did you think you were going to do when we came to Appsala-
follow Snarbi like sheep to the slaughter? I 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't know too
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, and then I'll do a scout of the city."
"You are going to chain this poor man, make a slave of him for no reason!"
"I'm not going to make a slave of him, I'm just going to chain him to make
sure he doesn't lead us into some trap that will benefit him. This souped-up caro
is valuable enough to tempt any of the locals, and if he can sell me as an engine-
mechanic slave his fortune is made."
"I will not hear this!" Mikah stormed. "You condemn the man on no
evidence at all, just because of your mean-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."
"Well, this man is guilty, if you want to put it that way, guilty of being a
member of this broken-down society, which means that he will always act in
certain ways at certain times. Haven't you learned anything about these people [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]