Freedom's Landing
- Автор: Маккефри Энн
- Серия: Catteni Sequence #1
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «Freedom's Landing». Краткое содержание книги:
The alien Catteni value strength and intelligence in their slaves—and Kristin has managed to survive her enslavement while hundreds of other humans have not. But her trial has just begun, for now she finds herself part of a massive experiment. The aliens have discovered a new world, and they have a simple way of finding out if it’s habitable: drop hundreds of slaves on the surface and see what happens.
If they survive, colonization can begin. If not, there are always more slaves.
"Oh, gawd. Didn't think of that." He flushed with embarrassment. "Jay Greene," he identified himself.
"Denver."
"I'm Kris Bjomsen and Denver's where I was also caught." She had eased Patti down to the ground.
Patti clung to her legs, still whimpering and mumbling unintelligible pleas. "It's OK, honey, it's OK. I'll carry you.
You're my buddy, aren't you?" She divested herself of the blanket rolls and her ration bars but kept the cups and Patti's food.
"Hi, Patti Sue," the man said, leaning down to her. "I'm Jay Greene, and I'm just going to lift you to Kris's back.
Save her a bit. Is that OK?"
"Just do it, Jay," Kris said and was nearly strangled by Patti who almost sprang from Jay's hands to Kris's back.
"Wow!" Greene said softly. "Hard lines." Kris shifted the girl to a more comfortable position, feeling bones grind in the slender body.
"Let's get back in line. We'll be the tail that wags the dog pretty soon."
"Don't fret, ma'am. I won't leave your sight."
"Not while you have my rations, you won't." The last part of that heroic march was uphill, scrambling on a rock-strewn surface where Greene often had to grab Kris to keep her balanced. She was concentrating so hard on not falling that Kris didn't really see where they were going until they got there. A wide ridge with - when she had a moment to look - a fantastic view of the patchwork of fields and hedging that seemed to stretch out for miles and miles into the twilight. The column also stretched in front of her, and there weren't that many behind, they'd dropped back so far. All along the way marchers were sitting down where they stood, too tired to move much further or worry about the hardness of this night's accommodation.
"I don't think much of this as a campsite," Greene said, looking about him. He pushed a spot clear of rocks and pebbles and pointed it out to Kris. "This is as good as any." This time Patti was too exhausted to even whimper when Greene very gently lifted her off Kris's back. She gave a loud sigh of relief. Scuffed a second patch clear for herself and sat down with a "whoof' of relief. Greene handed her the blankets and the food as he swept a place clean.
"Gimme the cups and I'll get us all some water," he said and she handed them over, realizing that she was done.
She hadn't the energy to get her own water!
When he came back they managed to prop Patti Sue to a sitting position while Kris fed her again and used some of the water to wash her face and then her own.
"Hey, we got a Prometheus in this ragtaggle gwup, Greene said, pointing towards the front of the column.
Kris cried out in surprise and relief. Somehow the torches bobbing along the ridge in their direction reassured her as nothing else could have. Tears came to her eyes and she bit her lip and averted her face from Greene.
She didn't want to spoil the impression that she was a survivor type.
It was a long time, and darkness had fallen, before the torch bearers made it to the rear where she was. Patti was asleep, her head pillowed on Kris's thighs. A few people seemed to have enough energy to talk, or complain: the Deskis were emitting their odd susurrahs from the tight little circle they had created. The Rugarians had curled up in hairy balls, blankets hauled over their faces. Kris was too tired to sleep, her back muscles aching from the day's strain and her neck taut. She rotated her shoulders and waggled her shoulder blades trying to ease things.
Then she felt Greene's hands begin a massage for which she was intensely grateful.
She was drowsing when light roused her to attention.
Mitford, Zainal, Taglione and two others she didn't know were checking on the column.
"You OK, Bjornsen?" Mitford asked, one hand lightly resting on her shoulder.
"She carried her buddy here half the afternoon," Greene spoke up.
"Shut up," Kris said in protest. "She doesn't weigh much."
"And she's your buddy," Mitford said, nodding. "Know this is a lousy campsite…" Beyond him, Zainal was talking to the Deski that had been awakened by the torch. It was a male, his eyes wide with an anxiety which abated when Zainal had finished speaking. "Best we can do. Zainal and a couple others are going to scout forward to see if there're any caves near enough. He thinks we'll be safe enough on the open ridge tonight. You're Jay Greene?"
"That's me."
"Can you hang awake a while?"
"Sure can." Greene got to his feet, stiffly, but made it upright.
"OK, you keep an eye open here. You'll wake Bass you know him?
Good, at second moon set," and now Mitford pointed to the moons just rising, one much larger and ahead of its smaller companion. "This planet has five.
Useful for lack of any other markers." He turned his head towards the lanky figure of Bass who was coming into the torchiight, the rest of the rear guard clustered behind him.
"You hear that? Greene here will relieve you. Cumber, Bass'll get you up and you'll be on until the fourth moon goes down, then you wake Movi. Don't cheat and mix up your moon sets, now hear me!"
"We hear and obey,' Bass said, according Mitford a fancy eastern salaam.
"I leave you the torch," Mitford said and handed the one he held to Jay Greene. "It won't last all night long "cos the nights here are long, but it should help."
"Gotcha." Mitford started to retrace his steps to the front. Zainal favoured Kris with a long look and then pivoted to follow the sergeant and the others.
Kris wrapped herself up well in the blanket, moving Patti until she got as comfortable as she could - after digging up a couple of rocks. The Catteni also did a good line in warm blankets. She finally got rested enough to fall asleep.
As Mitford, Zainal, Taglione and the others tiredly retraced their steps to the front of the column, the sergeant reflected on the wisdom of keeping the Cat alive. For starters, he liked the guy's style when he had to brave it out among folks who had no cause to like his species. Of course, Mitford knew that the psychological moment to waste Zainal had passed back in the field, when the Cat got to his feet. He was one big mother and no-one, not even Mitford, would have taken him on single-handed. Guys like Arnie, who'd had too long a taste of Catteni whips, might just organize a lynch party at some auspicious moment. But there were ways of avoiding murder if you knew who victim and murderer were. Mitford had defused a couple of similar situations. Then, too, the big guy kept coming out with damned useful gen: like the five moons. Was he deliberately parcelling out these gems or was he putting on an elaborate act? Years in the Marines had taught Mitford how to spot liars and malingerers. Zainal was neither but he knew exactly what sort Arnie was.
For most of Mitford's life, in particular since he'd enlisted as an enthusiastic, lying sixteen year old, the sun had ruled Mitford's days: from boot camp to his one tour in "Nam, through his two jaunts to Kuwait, until he'd been nabbed, by aliens, in a hammock on his dad's verandah.
Idly his thoughts ranged to wondering if his old unit had seen any action against the Catteni on Earth but reports from the old world were few and far between.
All the more reason for making the one they were stuck on now better. And if keeping the Cat they had alive was one way of doing it, Chuck Mitford would see he lived.
He wondered exactly how that tall blonde Bjornsen had met the Cat.
She hadn't been lying, but she hadn't told all the facts. Whatever!
She'd been clever in handling the situation and keeping the Cat alive.
She had class, that one. And she was good people, the way she'd lugged that poor scared kid all day long.
Taglione stumbled again and this time didn't throw off the Cat's hand when it went out to steady him. Maybe they could integrate him, though Mitford doubted it.
Too much feeling against Catteni right now. He'd have to figure out some way of using the Cat without keeping him about all the time.