[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
his face.
"That's what he said. Then he died."
"No loss," said Bekror evenly.
"N-n-no," said Sparra. She was obviously fighting off the shakes, frightened
over the night's events, even more frightened of appearing a coward in the
eves of the Tribesmen.
"They were not men the gods could love," said Ikhnan. "The Laws of the Cities
are not ours. But men who will kill because they are not allowed to defy a Law
are evil anywhere." He looked down at the dead Tribesman. "I only wish he had
died against a worthier foe."
"He died well, nonetheless," said Bekror. He picked up two of the dead man's
guns and handed them to
Ikhnan. "For his grave."
Ikhnan's eyes widened. "You know our custom, of putting the weapons of a slain
warrior's enemies on his grave?"
"Of course," said Bekror. "I have long been the enemy of the Tribes. I may be
the enemy of the Tribes again. I have never been, and never will be, ignorant
of their ways." In the silence these words produced, he went on:
"Indeed, I would propose that we bury him here and now, with both peoples
doing him honor.
However, we are too close to my lands. Someone without respect for the dead
might pollute his grave."
"If we're that close to your lands, shall we finish our talking before we have
more unwelcome visitors?"
said Blade. "The best honor we can do for this warrior is not to let his death
be wasted."
No one disagreed, and the negotiations were finished quickly. A lifter would
deliver Sparra and her squad with the weapons and explosives to an agreed-on
rendezvous in five days. When Bekror got more explosives, he would deliver
them along with the lifters themselves, when the raiders were ready to move
out.
Then Bekror's party vanished, leaving the Tribesmen and Blade to pick up their
dead and retreat. "A
wise and mighty chief," Ikhnan called Bekror. He called him other things, too,
but Blade was too absorbed in his own thoughts to remember any of them.
What had happened in the fight with the would-be assassins' sentries? And who
was the "big bitch"?
Bekror knew, at least, or thought he knew. If he didn't, Blade was no judge of
faces or voices!
Page 72
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Blade had a nasty feeling that there were going to be other players in this
game he'd begun-players he hadn't asked to sit in, and who might reveal
themselves only when it was too late to change the rules.
Chapter 21
"You're absolutely sure it was Voros himself?" said Geyrna. "You only saw him
once, in poor light, and in a hurry."
"I'm sure, Aunt," said Baliza. "Between what I saw and what I wormed out of
Bekror, it couldn't be anybody else. Unless you think it's my father the Sky
Master Blade come back again? She laughed and stretched catlike. It felt fine
to be safe at home in Kaldak again, able to relax and soak up the sun and good
food. It wasn't going to last very long, though.
"You almost said that as if it was a joke," said Geyrna. Baliza felt her face
going hot, but her aunt didn't seem to notice as she went on. "Certainly Voros
seems to be almost as good a fighter and leader as the
Sky Master. He also seems to have the same gift for talking sense and making
you realize it. I can't imagine he would have impressed that stubborn old
cynic Bekror otherwise. By the way, how was he?"
Baliza couldn't quite suppress a pleasurable wriggle at the memories. Her aunt
laughed. "Still good, eh? I
had him a few years ago myself, and I couldn't complain either."
A servant came in with beer and snacks, interrupting the flow of bawdy
chatter. When the two women were alone again, Geyrna got down to business.
"So now we know Bekror and the Tribesmen intend to launch a major strike at
Detcharn's rockets. If it's true Voros is among them, we can be sure the
training of the Tribesmen is in good hands.
"But that may not be enough. With what he'll have, Voros can only take thirty,
maybe forty men, to near the base. They'll have to walk the rest of the way.
Suppose he had two or three real Doimari lifters, such as the ones we've
captured in past wars? Suppose he could take sixty or eighty men in those
lifters all the way to the rocket base before anyone there knew anything was
wrong? And suppose, also, men were sent from the City Regiment to help Voros?"
Baliza's eyes widened. "Of course. I should have thought of that myself. Aunt,
you wouldn't be such a bad soldier yourself."
"Thank you. But I had good teachers, like Sidas. I listened to everyone who
ever talked about war while
I was around."
"You also heard some wise words from Bairam," said Kareena.
Geyrna frowned. "Not his wisdom, I think. More likely what he heard from the
Sky Master and passed on."
"You do him an injustice, I think."
"You would say that even if you didn't think it, just to annoy me."
"If more people had said it to you twenty years ago, Bairam might not have
started drinking."
"He started drinking because I would not stay fifteen years old forever. That
was what he loved, not the woman who knew she could do better at ruling Kaldak
than he."
Baliza sighed. It was an old and bitter quarrel between them, and right now
even more pointless than usual. "Forgive me, Aunt. But you know what I have
thought on this for so many years. I keep hoping that one day you'll listen."
"Perhaps I will, one day. Certainly not before we've stamped Detcharn and his
plans into the ground."
She sipped her beer. "But let's be serious again. To get those Doimari lifters
and additional men, we're
going to have to go to Sidas."
"So?"
"Sidas is a hard-headed son of a munfan, as you should know. Sidas is also
Page 73
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
very shrewd, and he's going to notice you're full of thoughts you won't
confess, about this mysterious Voros. He may ask questions.
When he does, you'd better be ready to tell him the truth, or as much of it as
you know yourself."
"I'll do my best."
"Your best had better be pretty damned good, Baliza!"
"You next, Shangbari," the woman Sparra said.
Shangbari lay down, his fire rifle pointing out in front of him. It was
strange, obeying a woman so easily.
But it no longer seemed un-Lawful. Voros followed the Laws of the Cities,
which said that women might be warriors and hunters; Shangbari had sworn to
follow Voros.
Some of the warriors of the Red Cats had still been stupid enough to think
that Sparra was a woman for bedding, in spite of their oaths. Some of those
would not be thinking of women for many days-or at least thinking would be all
they could do. Sparra had done the work on them herself, too. She'd said that
Voros taught her those ways of fighting.
Was there anything about war Voros did not know or could not teach? Shangbari
doubted it. Certainly he did not wonder that the Red Cats were beginning to
call the new leader "Voros the Wise."
"All right, Shangbari," Sparra said. "This is an Oltec rifle. Remember, it
shoots burning hot light, not single bullets. You must take your finger off
the trigger the moment you hit the target. Otherwise the rifle will lose its
magic too quickly."
"I understand." He'd begun to understand more than he wanted to admit to this
woman or even to
Voros. Among the things he'd begun to understand was that there was no magic
in Oltec. If you had the right tools and knew how to use them, it was no
harder to make one of the "magic" rifles than it was to tan a hide or sharpen
a spear.
Someday the Tribes would have those tools and know how to make their own
rifles. Then they could avenge their dead on all the Cities. But-if there were
people in the Cities like Voros and Sparra-yes, and
Bekror-might there not be peace someday between Tribe and City?
That thought was so new and frightening that Shangbari had to grip his rifle
more tightly than ever. He did not want Sparra to see his hands shaking, or
miss his target.
He was ready to shoot again, when suddenly a City sky-machine passed over the
clearing. A moment later if floated down to a landing place on the other side [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szkicerysunki.xlx.pl
his face.
"That's what he said. Then he died."
"No loss," said Bekror evenly.
"N-n-no," said Sparra. She was obviously fighting off the shakes, frightened
over the night's events, even more frightened of appearing a coward in the
eves of the Tribesmen.
"They were not men the gods could love," said Ikhnan. "The Laws of the Cities
are not ours. But men who will kill because they are not allowed to defy a Law
are evil anywhere." He looked down at the dead Tribesman. "I only wish he had
died against a worthier foe."
"He died well, nonetheless," said Bekror. He picked up two of the dead man's
guns and handed them to
Ikhnan. "For his grave."
Ikhnan's eyes widened. "You know our custom, of putting the weapons of a slain
warrior's enemies on his grave?"
"Of course," said Bekror. "I have long been the enemy of the Tribes. I may be
the enemy of the Tribes again. I have never been, and never will be, ignorant
of their ways." In the silence these words produced, he went on:
"Indeed, I would propose that we bury him here and now, with both peoples
doing him honor.
However, we are too close to my lands. Someone without respect for the dead
might pollute his grave."
"If we're that close to your lands, shall we finish our talking before we have
more unwelcome visitors?"
said Blade. "The best honor we can do for this warrior is not to let his death
be wasted."
No one disagreed, and the negotiations were finished quickly. A lifter would
deliver Sparra and her squad with the weapons and explosives to an agreed-on
rendezvous in five days. When Bekror got more explosives, he would deliver
them along with the lifters themselves, when the raiders were ready to move
out.
Then Bekror's party vanished, leaving the Tribesmen and Blade to pick up their
dead and retreat. "A
wise and mighty chief," Ikhnan called Bekror. He called him other things, too,
but Blade was too absorbed in his own thoughts to remember any of them.
What had happened in the fight with the would-be assassins' sentries? And who
was the "big bitch"?
Bekror knew, at least, or thought he knew. If he didn't, Blade was no judge of
faces or voices!
Page 72
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Blade had a nasty feeling that there were going to be other players in this
game he'd begun-players he hadn't asked to sit in, and who might reveal
themselves only when it was too late to change the rules.
Chapter 21
"You're absolutely sure it was Voros himself?" said Geyrna. "You only saw him
once, in poor light, and in a hurry."
"I'm sure, Aunt," said Baliza. "Between what I saw and what I wormed out of
Bekror, it couldn't be anybody else. Unless you think it's my father the Sky
Master Blade come back again? She laughed and stretched catlike. It felt fine
to be safe at home in Kaldak again, able to relax and soak up the sun and good
food. It wasn't going to last very long, though.
"You almost said that as if it was a joke," said Geyrna. Baliza felt her face
going hot, but her aunt didn't seem to notice as she went on. "Certainly Voros
seems to be almost as good a fighter and leader as the
Sky Master. He also seems to have the same gift for talking sense and making
you realize it. I can't imagine he would have impressed that stubborn old
cynic Bekror otherwise. By the way, how was he?"
Baliza couldn't quite suppress a pleasurable wriggle at the memories. Her aunt
laughed. "Still good, eh? I
had him a few years ago myself, and I couldn't complain either."
A servant came in with beer and snacks, interrupting the flow of bawdy
chatter. When the two women were alone again, Geyrna got down to business.
"So now we know Bekror and the Tribesmen intend to launch a major strike at
Detcharn's rockets. If it's true Voros is among them, we can be sure the
training of the Tribesmen is in good hands.
"But that may not be enough. With what he'll have, Voros can only take thirty,
maybe forty men, to near the base. They'll have to walk the rest of the way.
Suppose he had two or three real Doimari lifters, such as the ones we've
captured in past wars? Suppose he could take sixty or eighty men in those
lifters all the way to the rocket base before anyone there knew anything was
wrong? And suppose, also, men were sent from the City Regiment to help Voros?"
Baliza's eyes widened. "Of course. I should have thought of that myself. Aunt,
you wouldn't be such a bad soldier yourself."
"Thank you. But I had good teachers, like Sidas. I listened to everyone who
ever talked about war while
I was around."
"You also heard some wise words from Bairam," said Kareena.
Geyrna frowned. "Not his wisdom, I think. More likely what he heard from the
Sky Master and passed on."
"You do him an injustice, I think."
"You would say that even if you didn't think it, just to annoy me."
"If more people had said it to you twenty years ago, Bairam might not have
started drinking."
"He started drinking because I would not stay fifteen years old forever. That
was what he loved, not the woman who knew she could do better at ruling Kaldak
than he."
Baliza sighed. It was an old and bitter quarrel between them, and right now
even more pointless than usual. "Forgive me, Aunt. But you know what I have
thought on this for so many years. I keep hoping that one day you'll listen."
"Perhaps I will, one day. Certainly not before we've stamped Detcharn and his
plans into the ground."
She sipped her beer. "But let's be serious again. To get those Doimari lifters
and additional men, we're
going to have to go to Sidas."
"So?"
"Sidas is a hard-headed son of a munfan, as you should know. Sidas is also
Page 73
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
very shrewd, and he's going to notice you're full of thoughts you won't
confess, about this mysterious Voros. He may ask questions.
When he does, you'd better be ready to tell him the truth, or as much of it as
you know yourself."
"I'll do my best."
"Your best had better be pretty damned good, Baliza!"
"You next, Shangbari," the woman Sparra said.
Shangbari lay down, his fire rifle pointing out in front of him. It was
strange, obeying a woman so easily.
But it no longer seemed un-Lawful. Voros followed the Laws of the Cities,
which said that women might be warriors and hunters; Shangbari had sworn to
follow Voros.
Some of the warriors of the Red Cats had still been stupid enough to think
that Sparra was a woman for bedding, in spite of their oaths. Some of those
would not be thinking of women for many days-or at least thinking would be all
they could do. Sparra had done the work on them herself, too. She'd said that
Voros taught her those ways of fighting.
Was there anything about war Voros did not know or could not teach? Shangbari
doubted it. Certainly he did not wonder that the Red Cats were beginning to
call the new leader "Voros the Wise."
"All right, Shangbari," Sparra said. "This is an Oltec rifle. Remember, it
shoots burning hot light, not single bullets. You must take your finger off
the trigger the moment you hit the target. Otherwise the rifle will lose its
magic too quickly."
"I understand." He'd begun to understand more than he wanted to admit to this
woman or even to
Voros. Among the things he'd begun to understand was that there was no magic
in Oltec. If you had the right tools and knew how to use them, it was no
harder to make one of the "magic" rifles than it was to tan a hide or sharpen
a spear.
Someday the Tribes would have those tools and know how to make their own
rifles. Then they could avenge their dead on all the Cities. But-if there were
people in the Cities like Voros and Sparra-yes, and
Bekror-might there not be peace someday between Tribe and City?
That thought was so new and frightening that Shangbari had to grip his rifle
more tightly than ever. He did not want Sparra to see his hands shaking, or
miss his target.
He was ready to shoot again, when suddenly a City sky-machine passed over the
clearing. A moment later if floated down to a landing place on the other side [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]