Dinosaurus Planet Survivors
- Автор: Маккефри Энн
- Серия: Dinosaur Planet #2
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «Dinosaurus Planet Survivors». Краткое содержание книги:
Varian described the crossbow and Portegin laughed. “We can do better than that if Lunzie has any anesthetic left?”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Lunzie said, a trifle surprised. “Not much,” she cautioned, holding up her hand, “but enough to provide for a few medicated bolts.”
“Good, then all I need is some hardwood and I can contrive a dart gun that would immobilize your crossbow user before he could cock it.”
“So long as we get to shoot first,” Varian said.
“You’d better!” Lunzie’s expression was as uncompromising as her tone.
“I don’t want to shoot anyone,” Varian said. “Cold sleep didn’t change my moral values.”
“No, just drastically changed our circumstances. We’re five…” and Lunzie’s finger did an arc including them all, “against I haven’t figured out how many progeny in two generations from six parents. We had few advantages over the heavyworlders to begin with, and have fewer now that they’re completely ensconced in terrain we haven’t seen. They’re very well adapted to the environment.” She nodded at Kai. “You gained an advantage yesterday, Varian. We’ve got to maintain it, such as it is, no matter what we have to do to keep it. We can’t keep in constant Discipline. Above all, we have to protect the sleepers!” Her arm swung back toward the shuttle.
“I’m consoled by the fact that the giffs take that on themselves,” Kai said.
“A point, but only when none of us can assume that responsibility.” Lunzie turned back to Varian. “Aygar gave you no indication how many people are in the new settlement, or why they left the old?”
“He was as wary of me as I was of him… once we agreed not to fight anymore. But there were eight buildings in the camp they had abandoned, and the dome had evidently gone with them, for there was a circle where it had stood in the center of the octagon the other buildings formed. Each house had four rooms. And except for built-in stone shelving, they were empty.”
“Four times eight gives 32 which tells us nothing, really, said Lunzie. Tardma might have been able to produce two, maybe three children; she was the oldest. Berru and Divisti could have born a child a year easily for twenty or so, if they were forced to. I hazard they alternated paternity and kept track of whose was whose, to have as wide a gene pool as possible-”
“They’d still be in trouble by the third or fourth generation when recessive-”
“As I recall their medical records,” Lunzie gently interrupted Kai, “Bakkun, Berru, and Divisti came from different genetic stock than the other three, who were from Modrem in the Cluster. There’s also a freak genetic twist that prevents recessives from surviving on Heavyworld planets. The babies are either shipped off world or…” Lunzie sighed, continuing briskly. “So that six are, were, the finest physical specimens, with nary a blurred chromosome for three or four generations back of adjustment to heavy-gravity worlds. Prime breeders.”
“Aygar resembles Berru,” Varian said for no reason at all except the long thoughtful pause had to be broken.
“Then I’d be more careful than ever with that young man. Neither Berru or Bakkun was short on brains.”
“Which is why I never figured they’d join Paskutti,” Triv remarked.
“How could they have fallen for Gaber’s rumor that we were planted.”
“But we have been,” Varian said, unable to contain laughter that bubbled up in spite of her realization of the incredible odds against them. “At least until ARCT-10 remembers they left us here. Kai, did Tor say anything to you on your way to the compound?”
“I was far too busy hanging on to talk. And when we got to the compound, Tor began to search for the core so I went looking for the sleds. I’d just found them when I heard Tor blasting off.” He shook his head as he remembered his unworthy thoughts at that moment. “When I got back to the compound, I saw it’d left the power pack with a lifter, and the cavity where it’d found the core.”
“It never even waited to see if the sleds were operable?” Portegin asked.
“Well, those sleds are built to withstand tremendous pressures and adverse conditions,” Kai replied, temporizing.
Lunzie snorted.
“Then Tor may be back?” asked Portegin.
“I wouldn’t count on it, Portegin,” Lunzie said. She had been busy at the hearth and now brought a filled shell to Kai. “I know it tastes vile but it brought your temperature down. Drink up.”
“It smells vile, too,” Kai said, regarding the purple liquid with distaste.
“Which means it does you more good,” said Varian with a laugh.
Kai drank it all in one gulp. His violent shudder was no affectation and to take the taste away he quickly sucked at the slice of fruit Lunzie handed him.
Varian covered her smile. Kai was becoming dependent on natural foods despite his aversion to them. She was a bit startled to realize that Lunzie was advancing on her with a stern air. The medic’s fingers closed on the younger woman’s wrist, timing pulse rate.
“I’d prefer it, Varian, if you could take a full day’s rest after your exertions-”
“We both know I can’t, Lunzie. Triv and I have got to retrieve the other sleds.”
“I could go along and dismantle what we need,” Portegin suggested.
“You’re not ready for that sort of exertion yet, my friend,” Lunzie said.
“I’d rest easier if we got all the sleds here.”
“Don’t see any problem in that, Kai.” Triv rose to his feet and extending a hand pulled Varian to hers. “That four-man sled will easily take the other two, lashed into the cargo bed. All Varian’ll have to do is watch out for the fringes.”
“You can smell them coming,” Kai said.
“That’s why Varian has to come along,” Triv said. “I can’t smell anything but Ireta yet.”
“From which direction did it attack you, Kai?” Varian asked.
“Behind.” Kai grimaced. “I’d just locked the power pack into position and turned when it rushed me. I thought it was just a larger dose of Ireta’s usual stink.”
“Wait a minute,” Lunzie called as Triv and Varian moved toward the sled. She rummaged under the stores and then held both hands high. From one hung a thick coil of rope, from the other what could only be a force-field unit and, more miraculous still, a wrist comunit.
“Where did you find those?” Varian leaped over the fire in her eagerness to examine the prizes.
Lunzie permitted herself a grin at the effect of her treasure trove.
“Bonnard had the unit and the forcebelt on. Remember the mutineers never caught him so he had all his gear. You wear the forcebelt, Varian. I doubt the fringe would suck electrical impulses for long. The rope,” which she tossed to Portegin, “I synthesized out of our very plentiful vine.”
Varian buckled the forcebelt on and felt reassured by its weight about her waist. Lunzie strapped on the wrist unit.
“Now, you can keep me informed. Time’s a wasting.”
Lunzie gave Varian an encouraging grin.
“Just don’t forget the odor, Varian,” was Kai’s parting advice.
Varian and Triv hauled the sled to the lip of the cave on the far left so the air cushion would not throw dust on the fire and the convalescents. Just as they dropped over the edge, a treacherous draught caught the sled and Varian had all she could do to correct the downward plunge of the craft. Immediately they were surrounded by giffs, heads anxiously pointing seaward, although what the creatures thought they could do to save the sled, Varian didn’t know.
“How could they spot that we’re in trouble?” Triv cried, straining backward in his seat, his eyes glued on the water rushing to meet them.
Out of the corner of her eye, Varian caught a flash of thick, suckered tentacle, felt it bang against the sled’s rear flange. Then the giffs attacked the appendage, their sharp beaks slicing into the flesh until it fell away.