"Then they should have posted themselves closer to the train, so they could pick targets. As it was, they fired at random, sprinkling bullets over the landscape the way half-trained Terran soldiers do. A few through the locomotive boiler would have stopped it. If they had charged as soon as the train halted or if those bandits on jutens had arrived sooner, they would have reached us before you could get my gun into action."
"They weren't the only stupid ones," said Salazar. "Knowing we were dealing with fellow Terrans and not just the orderly, peaceable Kooks, we ought to have kept our guns with us."
"You amaze me, Kirk," said Suzette. "You always seemed such a quiet, harmless little fellow. And here you turn into a fearless warrior, saving us all!" Salazar winced.
"It's the same with his father," said Ritter.
Salazar looked at his feet. "Well—ah—it all happened so suddenly that I didn't have time to get scared. Now that it's over, don't be surprised if I faint."
In fact, Kirk Salazar was as surprised by his own performance as the Doctors Ritter. A shy, gauche young man of average height and slender build, he had thought of himself as a weak-kneed wimp who would probably panic under stress and be too frightened or confused to do anything right. He had also supposed that if ever forced to kill a fellow human being, he would be so filled with guilt and revulsion that he would either puke or go into a hopeless funk.
Here he had shot a couple of fellow Terrans with resolution and dispatch, with no more reaction than if they had been mere biological specimens! Perhaps he had hopes of attaining his father's calm competence in tight situations.
"But who," asked Suzette Ritter, "would have wanted to attack us? As far as I know, we have no enemies on Sunga."
Tchitchagov grunted. "I thought Cantemir might be up to something when he rushed away from Sungecho. Knowing the Patel Society to be ardent conservationists, he might think they would make trouble for Dumfries's project. So he tried to wipe us out with one blow."
Ritter said: "Sounds fantastic, but people try all sorts of strange things away from the Settlements, where Terran laws don't apply and the Kooks won't bother. Kirk, were any Kooks on the flatcars hit?"
"Apparently not; were they, Choku?" Then Salazar struck his forehead with his palm. "I'm stupid again! That first man I shot was trying to uncouple this car. I suppose they wanted to catch us alive while letting the Kooks and the rest of the train go on."
"Cantemir is clever," said Tchitchagov. "He knows that Yaamo would not stand for shooting up his people, but if Terrans want to kill one another, who cares?"
Salazar said: "I don't think they really meant to kill us, or we should have dead and wounded all over. They stop the train, shoot a lot to immobilize us, detach the car, let the rest go on, and order us to leave the car with our hands up. What they'd do then, I have no idea. Too bad we couldn't have collected that first Terran I shot for evidence."
"if we could prove he acted under Cantemir's orders," said Ritter. "George would deny it, of course."
Conductor Zuiha scrambled down from the pile of luggage forward and entered the soft-fare car, calling: "Iss anyone hurt here?"
Tchitchagov raised his wounded arm. "I think I am the only one."
"You are rucky," said Zuiha. "I wirr ask superiors not to ret monsters from ozzer pranets ride on trains. If you ay-yens wish to kirr each ozzer, prease do it where it wi' not endanger human rife or disrupp rayroad." Neck bristles rippling with indignation, the conductor departed.
Two hours late, the Unriu Express pulled into Amoen. The station platform was lit by the smoky light of vegetable-oil lanterns, giving off a sour-sweet smell.
On the platform, Patelians clustered around Tchitchagov, asking about his wound. Salazar expected an explosion of complaints, but the only fuss was from Mrs. Eagleton, whose suitcase had been missing when the baggage car had been unloaded. A harassed Tchitchagov explained:
"But madam, it undoubtedly fell out through the gap that Mr. Salazar made in the tarpaulin to get my gun."
"Well, then, commandeer a special car to go back to look for it!"
"I fear that is impossible."
"But you can't expect me to go on without my things!"
"You will have to borrow from the other ladies."
The argument continued until Tchitchagov said: "Excuse me, but I must sit down. I feel a little faint."
"Here," said Hilbert Ritter, pushing his own massive suitcase forward. "Sit here, Igor. Think you can manage the field trip?"
"I do not know. I should get to a Terran doctor, but the nearest is at Sungecho." Tchitchagov looked up. "Hilbert, could you take over for me? I will give you my maps and everything."
Ritter looked doubtful. "Why not ask young Salazar here? As a biology student, he's at least as well qualified. How about it, Kirk?"
"Well, ah—" began Salazar, but Tchitchagov spoke:
"No, Hilbert. He is a brave young man, but you have had much more experience with handling groups."
The argument limped along until Salazar, looking along the platform, cried: "Alexis!"
She strode toward them, followed by a small procession of Kooks bearing gear of poles and canvas lashed into large, elongated bundles.
"Good heavens!" said Suzette Ritter. "The last I heard, she never wanted to set eyes on us again."
Ritter shrugged. "You've known her as long as I have, darling."
"Hey there!" Alexis called. "How are my dear old fuds? And Kirk Salazar! Just the people I wanted!"
"Good evening, Miss Ritter!" said Choku, standing at Salazar's elbow.
Alexis paused. "You are—oh, I see! You're that Choku who worked for Kashani and then for me. Is that right?"
"Iss right," said Choku. "Iss aw wey wiss you?"
"All is well with me. Is all well with you?"
"Sanks to pranetary spirit Metasu, aw iss wey wiss me.
Alexis cut short the endless formulas required by Kukulcanian etiquette and turned to her parents. Ritter asked:
"What brings you here, Alexis?"
"I'm going to take you back with me, to our community, to show you what a happy, harmonious life we've achieved."
"I fear not. Igor is hurt, and I've agreed to take his place while he goes down the line to get patched up."
Alexis's face fell. "Oh. No, really; I insist on your coming up the mountain with me, as we originally planned. I'll prove I'm right."
"Sorry, but I'm needed here."
"Oh, damn! At least you'll come, won't you, Mother?"
Suzette said: "I'd love to, but—ah—I'd better stay with your father. He'll need me."
"Oh, go to hell, both of you! Kirk, you'll come! The community is near the edge of the venom-tree forest, so it'll give you a base for research."
"When are you starting out?" asked Salazar cautiously. "I don't suppose you'd set forth at night."
"Don't be silly! Kooks can't see worth a damn in the dark. We'll light out before dawn. It's about twenty-seven kilometers, which we could never do in a day on foot, so I brought my Kooks along with litters. They trot ahead on those long legs at a dead run all day."
"Sounds interesting," said Salazar, "but now I'd better help get everybody settled. Igor's rented the town hall as barracks, since there are no hotels."
"You don't want to bunk with all those old lizard-bat chasers! I'm camping, and you'll be at least as comfortable as on a pallet in the town hall. Inflatable mattresses and everything. Come on!"
Feeling inadequate in the face of this masterful female, Salazar let himself be cajoled and bullied into following her off the platform. Choku trailed after him with Salazar's bag. The Kook said:
"Honorable boss!"
"Aye?"
"There is something that I fain would tell you, but it is also something whereof I promised to say naught." In the dim light Salazar saw Choku's neck spines rippling in an unusual manner. "That makes a painful choice."