Ken could see the sociologist start with surprise as he caught sight of Reeve. Lawrence gestured to him to take cover, then immediately jerked his head around. but one of the guards had noticed his action and whirled toward Ken's position.
'There he is, he gave the alarm.
Ken took to his heels, knowing what he had to do now. Once they had seen him, they would delay until they caught him. So he made a plain dash up the river bank, crouching when he broke into the open because someone was already firing lasers above his head.
He took Todd's route to the village, along the river bank, leaping underbrush and fallen logs, and digging his heels into the mulch when he hit the deeper forest. He had reached the clearing where Hrrula had killed the mda when he heard an ear-piercing whine and saw the misty cloud appear in the center of the village site.
The mist dissipated and Hrulla appeared, clad in an ankle-length pale red robe, with jewel-studded harness at waist and across his chest, and highly polished black boots.
I've only a moment, Rrev. Delay, but with no violence. Delay as long as you can.
Delay? panted Reeve, trying to regain his breath. How? Why?
Our ruling Council must be unanimous and there are two rabid xenophobes in high position with much influence. Our First Speaker has some plan to force their cooperation but it will take time.
Time, Hrrula, is the one thing I haven't got. Listen! Ken pointed back the way he had come; the shots and shouts of his pursuers were clearly audible. Stay, Hrrula. Prove to Spacedep and Codep that there are Hrrubans and we'll have all the time we need.
A mist was already surrounding Hrrula. Startled, the catman glanced wildly around as if this phenomenon were premature.
"Something's gone wrong. I'm being drawn back. Under the mess hall tables, Rrev, and up over Hu's " the last word was a bare whisper from the depths of the mist.
Christ, what's under the tables? Up over whose? Ken wondered frantically as he took off, up the clearing, kicking up mulch to show his passing. The first dip he crossed he scuffed up badly, then he cut suddenly to his left executing a wild jump over a thicket. He ran more carefully now, on his toes, although his leg muscles ached with the unaccustomed strain.
As he doubled back, he couldn't resist chuckling as his pursuers went tearing on past the dip.
With luck he could make it back to the Common before they realized they were following a dead trail.
'No violence,' huh? That was asking a lot of him with no hope held out at all. God, but Hrrula looked magnificent in that outfit.
He crossed the river again, falling and splashing in but getting across and into the woods above the Common without being seen. He returned to his previous thicket and settled down with the problem of how to get into the mess hall and look under the table and above whose what?
He saw the searchers straggling back, infuriated by their failure. He watched the consultation on the porch between Landreau and Chaminade and wished lip reading had been one of his skills. He was certain they were discussing him. It was then that the animals began to shriek and bellow, raising such an uproar that it disturbed the conference. Reeve watched Landreau beckon a guard and send him off to locate the cause of the commotion.
Grimly Reeve spotted the source the roiling clouds of dust from the direction of the pass to the plains. Not urfa this time reptiles; and undoubtedly in the force that had panicked Eckerd yesterday. Was it only yesterday that the colonists had tried to blast closed the pass?
The guard came back and his report caused Landreau to shrug with indifference. Ken saw the guard hesitate, glance to his left and address Landreau again. The spaceman's answer was sufficiently curt to bring the guard snapping to attention, make a crisp about-face and resume his position at the perimeter of the Common.
Regretting the lack of binoculars, Ken kept close watch on the growing cloud, aware of the increasing, odor on the light morning breeze. The thin whine of a com-unit alert penetrated the placid scene.
Landreau lifted his wrist up, his whole attitude one of sudden alert. Lowering his arm, he addressed a few crisp remarks to Chaminade, whose disagreement was cut short by Landreau's peremptory gesture.
Instantly the guards quick-marched to the mess hall and began herding out the colonists. At the same time, Ken saw the ship's launch rise from the landing field and head toward the ominous cloud in the valley.
Going on a reccy, Ken decided, and then wondered why in hell the colonists were being marched away from the Common, away from the landing field. That didn't make much sense. Even from this distance he could hear the frantic thud of hooves against wooden stalls, as the now hysterical animals tried to free themselves from their tethers.
Cautiously Ken rose to a crouch, crept sideways for an unobstructed view of the barn. Alarm began to grow in him as he watched the colonists herded into the corral, A flash in the distance caught his eye. The flash was repeated, stabbing through the dust cloud.
The launch was shooting laser bolts at the snakes. First sensible thing Landreau had done since he got here! Ken tried to relax but his apprehension did not dissipate. The guards now had their lasers aimed at the colonists and were moving back from the corral. Ken saw Lawrence waving his fist, make a move toward the high corral fence, saw the laser bolt dig a clod of earth right at the man's feet, saw Lawrence pull back with an angry yell, the words indistinguishable above the commotion of the horses.
Two things Ken realized simultaneously: the lasers were not killing the snakes, they were herding them toward the barn. The second was that no one was guarding the mess hall. Ken dashed toward the hall, running low and fast, leaping the railing with an agility born of desperation. As his feet hit the porch, he saw that the hall was not entirely empty. But he barged right in, clobbering one startled Codep man across the head and felling the other with a crack to the jaw.
With a fluid motion he overturned the tables nearest him, forcing his trembling hands to move slowly, searchingly across the underside. Nothing! One of the men groaned and Ken kicked him in the head with unexpected ruthlessness. He flipped over the next table. There was no way of telling at which one Hrrula had sat at that first breakfast; all had been moved many times. The third table was the jackpot. Where the center brace joined the legs, Ken felt a half-sphere. He heard the faint pop of a seal breaking as he pulled the hemisphere loose. It was the size of the first joint of his thumb, a dull brown metal covered with minute screenlike patterns. There was a small circular seam in the base which was of a softer material.
Please God let this not be made of Rralan metals, Ken prayed. He weighed it in the palm of his hand; it was heavy for its size. A frantic screaming penetrated his reflections. He glanced toward the window and saw a terrifying sight. The monstrous heads of the great snakes were all too identifiable as the creatures undulated closer and closer to the barn.
Hide, will you, Hrrubans? he cried at the device. Look what's happening because you won't meet us! In honor help us!
Whirling, he jerked the laser guns from the belts of the two unconscious Codep men. Another quick glance out the window showed him that the colonists had taken refuge in the barn itself while their guards, still firing sporadically in the dirt around the barn, were pulling back across the wide sweep of the land to the Common and the mess hall. Ken positioned himself to the side of the window and waited till the squads had drawn into sight, their tempting backs toward him.
He lobbed off several quick shots into the dust at their feet, got off another which twisted into uselessness the gun of the man nearest him. The man cried out as the overheated metal burned his hands.
Drop your guns. Raise your hands, Ken shouted, or the next shots get Landreau and Chaminade. Then he barked some unintelligible phrases in mock Hrruban, as if he had brought reinforcements. The Hrrubans' weapons are heavier than ours, Landreau. Don't try anything.