The Stones of Nomuru
- Автор: Де Камп Лайон Спрэг
- Серия: Viagens Interplanetarias #7
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «The Stones of Nomuru». Краткое содержание книги:
Mild-mannered Terra archeologist Keith Salazar was just minding his business, digging up the alien past on an out-of-the-way site on the planet Kukulcan, when suddenly he was beseiged by intruders on his scholarly peace: hostile natives, an indifferent ex-wife, and a demon developer with rapacious eyes glued on both his site and his true love.
In the course of protecting his dig, regaining his loved one and vanquishing his rival, Salazar will fight a giant reptilian predator bare-handed, leap into snake-filled pits, engineer the planet's first imperial conquest, lead and train a battalion of alien riflemen, and hold a séance. Pretty exciting work--but then maybe Keith Salazar wasn't such a milquetoast after all...
When they halted at midday for a snack, Salazar said: "Kara, if I bend over, will you give me a swift kick?"
"Whatever for?"
"Stupidity. Should have remembered that the smell of carrion would draw other predators. And I shouldn't have yelled when I woke up, but roused you quietly. We might have slithered away without that jabberwock's noticing us."
"Could you have shot the beast?"
"With this popgun? I'd only have annoyed the critter." He struck his forehead with the heel of his hand. "Seems as how I can't do anything right."
She put an arm around him and squeezed. "Nonsense, Keith! You're a fine, brave man, so pull yourself together! If it had been anyone else, we'd be the carrion by now. No, don't try to kiss me! You're only a friend, but the best friend a woman could have."
Salazar sighed and turned his eyes skyward like a martyred saint Instead of an angel, he saw a hurato swinging down from a branch by its prehensile tail, with the evident intention of stealing the bundle of meat.
Salazar rose and shouted: "Get away!" and the arboreal carnivore retreated. Picking up his burdens, the archaeologist helped Kara to her feet, saying: "Let's go!"
When Keith Salazar and Kara Sheffield entered the big tent at Nomuru, Galina Bartch and Marcel Frappot were at work in the laboratory, washing fragments of stone, brick, and metal in large metal trays. Hearing the gentle splash of their labors, Salazar led Kara to the laboratory. Galina, a fragment of brick in one hand and a toothbrush in the other, screamed.
"Prividyeniye!" she shrieked.
Smiling, Salazar shook his head. "No, not ghosts."
"Grand Dieu!" echoed Frappot. "We were told that you were dead!"
"The report is somewhat exaggerated," said Salazar. "We're alive and hungry enough to eat a kyuumei, horns and all. Who told you we were dead?"
Frappot said, "First, Kono and Uwangi came in, saying that you had all been captured by the Choshas while they fled. Then that man Bergen, the developer, came through four or five days ago, with Pokrovskii and a Kook guide, all of them half-starved. He told us that his whole hunting party had been seized by the Choshas and condemned to death. All of you had managed to escape, but the natives recaptured you and Miss Sheffield."
"One of his lies," said Salazar. "He bought his way out, with his pals. Kara came back and helped me escape. Why wasn't Travers with them?"
"Bergen said that Travers was killed during the flight. When they pitched camp, he took a bucket to fetch water, and a fyunga got him. Bergen heard him scream and ran out with his heavy rifle; but the fyunga was disappearing with Travers in its jaws. Bergen fired but could not stop it. He seemed much upset, since Travers had a wife and child back in Suvarov."
"Travers mentioned a family," said Salazar. "He seemed like a kindhearted young man, if full of impractical ideas for turning the Kooks into twenty-third-century Terrans with scales. Tell me, what's been going on here? Where's Ito?"
"Ito went to Henderson to get supplies and to report to Doctor Patel that Bergen's survey crew had chased us off the dig."
"Chased you off? How come?"
"A couple of days after Bergen's visit," said Frappot, "this gang arrived with transits and tapes and ordered us off. They said Mr. Bergen had obtained a lease from High Chief Miyage, and they wanted to get started on the development. They had the—how do you say it—the muscle of us."
"Are they out there now?"
"I suppose so. That is why Ito, he went to the museum. Galina and me, we have been working on the specimens until Ito comes back with instructions. But what of your adventures?"
"I want to go see these alleged surveyors first," said Salazar.
Galina frowned. "Please, Keith! You and Miss Sheffield look as if you would drop dead if you took another step. Had you not better rest?"
"After I've spoken to these people," said Salazar. "You go lie down, Kara."
"May I have a bath and a bite to eat first?" said Kara in a weak voice.
"Sure; I'll have Kono fix you a bath and Uwangi rustle you some grub. You'll have hot water, no twigs under your bare feet, and no hungry porondu waiting to pounce." Both gave the ghost of a laugh.
"Refer you to some incident of your escape?" asked Frappot.
"Yep. Come on, Kara; let's find Kono and Uwangi."
On the site, Salazar discovered a crew of five men and one woman. The men were squinting through a transit, driving stakes, and stretching strings along the ground. The woman held a clipboard from which she read off numbers and made notations. Aching at every step, Salazar strolled as casually as he could to the group, saying:
"Excuse me, but who's in charge here?"
"I am," said the woman, a massive, leathery brunette. "Who are you?"
"Doctor Salazar, from the University," Salazar did not ordinarily introduce himself by title, but in this case he would need all the prestige he could command. "And you, madam?"
"I'm Selina Kovacs, working for Mr. Bergen. What do you want?"
"Do I understand correctly that you drove my archaeologists off the site?"
"We couldn't have 'em futzing around and getting in our way. After we finish the survey, you can dig all the silly holes you want, until the bulldozer arrives."
"Did you tell my people that Bergen had closed a lease on this site?"
"Yeah, or at least it's so near to closing it might as well be. And Mr. Bergen wants to get going here."
"I think you've been misinformed. Bergen got back from his hunting trip only a few days ago, and it takes the Kooks longer than that to agree to any deal with Terrans."
"Says you. All I know is, we got our orders, and we're going to carry them out. And nobody better try to stop us!"
The five men had lined up, scowling grimly, behind Kovacs. Three were about Salazar's size, but the remaining two were egregiously large and powerful. Moreover, a couple of the men wore pistols in holsters. Salazar was glad that he still had his rifle slung across his back. Something about having a gun in evidence tends to restrain unfriendly folk who might otherwise make trouble.
"We shall see," Salazar answered, turning away.
Salazar borrowed Galina's poignette, his own having been lost to the Choshas. He called his boss, Dr. Skanda Patel, the director of the Museum, to report his survival. He and Kara decided that a day of rest was in order before she returned to Henderson to file her story and he accompanied her to report to Patel at the Museum. So they spent most of the next day sleeping while their clothes were being washed and repaired. When Salazar left his room for a bite of lunch, Frappot remarked:
"Separate beds? Juste ciel! After being alone with her so long in the wilds, I should think that you and she, you would have made some other arrangement." The graduate student seemed genuinely upset.
Salazar grinned. "Mêlez-vous de vos affaires donc, mon petit!"
The next day still found both Kara and Salazar too worn and footsore to leave the camp; but early the following day they set out for Henderson on their bicycles. The third time that the rough trail forced them to dismount and push their vehicles, Salazar muttered: "Damn it, I think I'll learn to ride a juten after all; an animal is more practical in this country. I've been meaning to learn, but there always seemed to be something more urgent to do. I think I'll ask Sambyaku to find me a mount and a teacher."
When they remounted on a smoother stretch, they observed another cyclist coming towards them. Salazar cried: "Ito!"
The stocky Kurita hurried forward, saying: "Taihen da! Keith! And Miss Sheffield! Why are you not dead?"
"Because we beat the odds and escaped from the Choshas. I've had more close calls in the last sixtnight than in the preceding decade on Kukulcan. Galina and Marcel will tell you. What's Patel doing about Bergen's resort plan?"