I covered a considerable area of territory without seeing a human being, but at last I discovered a lone man coming out of a canyon in the hills several miles north of the big camp I have mentioned. As I dropped toward him, he turned and looked up. He did not run; but stood his ground, and I saw him draw the pistol at his hip.
"Don't fire!" I called to him as I glided past. "We are friends."
"What do you want?" he shouted back.
I circled and few back, landing a couple of hundred yards from him. "I am a stranger here," I shouted to him. "I want to ask for information."
He approached the ship quite boldly, but he kept his weapon in readiness for any eventuality. I dropped down from the cockpit and went forward to meet him, raising my right hand to show that it held no weapon. He raised his left—he wasn't taking any chances; but the gesture signified a friendly attitude, or at least not a belligerent one.
A half smile touched his lips as I descended from the ship. "So you are a human being, after all," he said. "At first I didn't know but that you were a part of that thing, whatever it is. Where are you from? What do you want of me?"
"We are strangers here," I told him. "We do not even know in what country we are. We want to know the disposition of the people here toward strangers, and if there is a city where we might be received hospitably."
"This is the land of Anlap ," he said, "and we are in the kingdom of Korva ."
"What city is that back by the sea? There was fighting going on there."
"You saw fighting?" he demanded. "How was it going? Had the city fallen?" He seemed eager for news.
"The city had not fallen," I said, "and the defenders seemed in good spirits."
He breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly his brow clouded. "How do I know you're not a Zani spy?" he demanded.
I shrugged. "You don't," I said, "but I'm not. I don't even know what a Zani is."
"No, you couldn't be," he said presently. "With that yellow hair of yours I don't know what you could be—certainly not of our race."
"Well, how about answering some of my questions?" I inquired with a smile.
He smiled in return. "That's right. You wanted to know the disposition of the people of Korva to strangers and the name of the city by the sea. Well, before the Zanis seized the government, you would have been treated well in any Korvan city. But now it is different. Sanara, the city you asked about, would welcome you; it has not yet fallen under the domination of the Zanis. They are trying to reduce it now, and if it capitulates the last stronghold of freedom in Korva will have fallen."
"You are from Sanara?" I asked.
"Yes, at present. I had always lived in Amlot, the capital, until the Zanis came into power; then I couldn't go back, because I had been fighting them."
"I just flew over a big camp south of here," I said; "was that a Zani camp?"
"Yes. I'd give anything to see it. How many men have they?"
"I don't know; but it's a large camp, and more soldiers and supplies are coming in from the southwest."
"From Amlot," he said. "Oh, if I could but see that!"
"You can," I told him.
"How?" he demanded.
I pointed toward the ship. He looked just a little bit taken aback, but only for a second.
"All right," he said. "You will not regret your kindness. May I ask your name? Mine is Taman ."
"And mine is Carson ."
He looked at me curiously. "What country are you from? I have never before seen an Amtorian with yellow hair."
"It is a long story," I said. "Suffice it to say that I am not an Amtorian; I am from another world."
We walked toward the ship together, he, in the meantime, having returned his pistol to its holster. When we reached it, he saw Duare for the first time. I could just note a faint expression of surprise, which he hid admirably. He was evidently a man of refinement. I introduced them, and then showed him how to enter the rear cockpit and fasten his lifebelt.
Of course I couldn't see him when we took off, but he afterward told me that he believed his end had come. I flew him directly back to the Zani camp and along the highway toward Amlot.
"This is wonderful!" he exclaimed time and again. "I can see everything. I can even count the battalions and the guns and the wagons."
"Tell me when you've seen enough," I said.
"I think I've seen all that's necessary. Poor Sanara! How can it withstand such a horde? And I may not even be able to get back and make my report. The city must be surrounded by troops by now. I just barely got out an ax ago." An ax is equivalent to twenty days of Amtorian time, or slightly over twenty-two days, eleven hours of Earth time.
"The city is entirely surrounded," I told him. "I doubt that you could possibly pass through the lines even at night."
"Would you—" he hesitated.
"Would I what?" I asked, though I guessed what he wished to ask me.
"But no," he said; "it would be too much to ask of a stranger. You would be risking your life and that of your companion."
"Is there any place large enough for me to land inside the walls of Sanara?" I asked.
He laughed. "You guessed well," he said. "How much space do you require?"
I told him.
"Yes," he said; "there is a large field near the center of town where races were held. You could land there easily."
"A couple of more questions," I suggested.
"Certainly! Ask as many as you please."
"Have you sufficient influence with the military authorities to ensure our safety? I am, of course, thinking of my mate. I cannot risk harm befalling her."
"I give you the word of a nobleman that you will both be safe under my protection," he assured me.
"And that we shall be permitted to leave the city whenever we choose, and that our ship will not be molested or detained?"
"Again you have my word for all that you have asked," he said; "but still I think it is too much to ask of you—too much to permit you to do for a stranger."
I turned to Duare. "What is your answer, Duare?" I asked.
"I think that I shall like Sanara," she said.
I turned the ship's nose in the direction of the Korvan seaport.
Chapter 5—Sanara
Taman was profuse in his gratitude, but not too profuse. I felt from the first that he was going to prove a likable fellow; and I know that Duare liked him, too. She ordinarily seldom enters into conversation with strangers. The old taboos of the jong's daughter are not to be easily dispelled, but she talked with Taman on the flight to Sanara, asking him many questions.
"You will like our people," he told her. "Of course, now, under the strain of a long siege, conditions are not normal nor are the people; but they will welcome you and treat you well. I shall take you both into my own home, where I know that my wife can make you comfortable even under the present conditions."
As we passed over the Zanis' lines they commenced to take pot shots at us, but I was flying too high for their fire to have been effective even against an unprotected ship. Taman and I had discussed the matter of landing. I was a little fearful that the defenders might become frightened at this strange craft were it to attempt a landing in the city, especially as this time we would be approaching from enemy country. I suggested a plan which he thought might work out satisfactorily; so he wrote a note on a piece of paper which he had and tied it to one of the large nuts we had brought with us. In fact he wrote several notes, tying each one to a different nut. Each note stated that he was in the anator they saw flying above the city and asked the commander to have the racing field cleared so that we could make a safe landing. If the note were received and permission to land was granted, they were to send several men with flags to the windward end of the field with instructions to wave them until they saw us come in for a landing. This would accomplish two purposes—show us that we would not be fired on and also give me the direction of the wind at the field.