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.
"Where is this flitter?" he demanded curtly.
She pointed, furious that she obeyed him so instantly and that she couldn't control the chattering of her teeth or the trembling of her body. He reached for her hand, relaxing his grip a little at her involuntary gasp of pain.
Replace "grubby paws' with "high-gravity paws', she told herself in an effort to keep up her spirits as she stepped out in front of him.
"I'll have to lead the way through the thorns," she said. "Or maybe thorns don't bother Catteni hides?" she added pertly.
To her surprise, he grinned at her.
"It is perhaps fortunate for you that they do.
As she turned, she realized that she had never seen a Catteni smile before. She noticed, too, that he was following carefully in her footsteps. It was good to know that he was no more anxious to disturb the thorn-bushes with their vicious little barbs than she was.
They were halfway to the hidden flitter when both heard, off to the right in the valley, the staccato volley of loud Catteni voices.
Mahomet paused, dropping to a half-crouch, instinctively angling his body so that he did not touch the close-growing vegetation. He listened, and although the words were too distorted for Kris to catch, he evidently understood them. A humourless smile touched his lips and his eyes gleamed with a light that frightened Kris.
"They have seen movement here. Hurry!" he said in a low voice.
Kris broke into a jog trot; the twisting path made a faster pace unwise. When they broke into the dell just before the extensive thicket, she paused.
"Where? Are you lost?" he asked.
"Through those bushes. Watch. And when I say move, move!" He frowned sceptically as she picked up a handful of small stones. With a practised ease and careful gauge, she threw in a broad cast to left and right, watching and counting the thorn sprays to be sure she had triggered every bush. To be on the safe side, she scooped up one more handful of pebbles and threw that in a wider arc.
No further thorns showered.
"Move!" His reaction time was so much faster than hers that he was hallway across the clearing before she got to the V. She dashed in front of him. "We have five minutes to cross before they re-arm." An expression that was almost respectful crossed his face. Impatiently, she tugged at him and then began to weave her way among the bushes, following her well memorized private route through this obstacle. When she made the last turn and he saw the flitter, its nose cushioned in the heavy cluster of thorn-thicket limbs, he gave what Kris assumed was a Catteni chuckle.
She waved open the flitter door and regally gestured for him to enter. He walked straight to the instrument panel, grunting as he activated the main switch.
"Half a tank of fuel," he muttered and cursorily checked the other readings. He glanced up at the transparent top, camouflaged by the intertwining leafy limbs, at the bed she had made herself on the deck, at the utensils she had fashioned from spare parts in the lockers.
"So it was you who stole the commander's personal car," he said, looking intently at her Kris jerked her chin up.
"At least I landed it in one piece," she said.
At that he gave one bark of laughter.
"Dropping it in a thicket like this?"
"On purpose!"
"You're one of the new species?"
"I'm a Terran," she said with haughty pride, her stance marred by a convulsive shiver.
"Thin-skinned species," he remarked. He looked at her chest, noticed the slight heave from her recent exertions that made her breasts strain against the all too inadequate covering and slowly started to stroke her shoulder with one finger. His touch was unexpectedly feather-light and more. "Soft to the touch," he said absently. "I haven't tried a Terran yet "And you're not going to start on this one," she said, jumping as far away from him as she could in the confines of the cabin.
His expression altered from bemusement to annoyance.
"I will if i so choose."
"I saved your life!"
"Which is why I intend to reward you suitably "By raping me?" She felt for and found a heavy metal tool. Not that such a comparative "toothpick' would do a Catteni much damage but she was determined to try.
A Catteni was not her idea of a candidate for the role of lover.
"Raping you?" His surprise was ludicrous.
"Did you think Terran women would faint with joy to he had by the likes of you?" she said, speaking in a low menacing voice and resetting her grip on the tool.
"None have complained - -" He broke off, ducking with incredible reflexes to a crouch as they both heard harsh cursing.
In the next instant, he had one large hand over her mouth and was pinning her body to his like a fly to sticky paper. The metal tool dangled uselessly in her hand. Neither of them had closed the flitter door and the vrrh vrrh as the thorn-bushes released their darts was plaluly audible. There were loud exclamations of disgust and further cursings. Screwing her eyes around, she could just see the Catteni's face and his left eye dancing with malicious amusement.
An authoritative voice uttered a rough command, and even Kris understood that it would probably translate "get the hell out of here.
Nothing came this way." Mahomet shifted her slightly, looking down at her face as he dropped his hand from her mouth, a gesture that was in part a challenge for her to scream. She glared back at him. He knew perfectly well that she stood to lose more if she did cry out.
They stayed like that until wildlife noises were again to be heard outside the flitter. Then he stood her back on her feet and glanced about him again.
"This car has been gone five months. Why have you stayed so long alone? Are there others of you near by?" He peered out of the one portion of the wraparound window that had a view of more than branches.
"Just me." She still had the metal tool in her hand and was wondering if she could hit him hard enough to knock him unconscious.
"Why were other Catteni so bent on catching you?"
"Oh," and he shrugged negligently, "a tactical error. I was forced to kill their patrol leader. He had insulted a brother emassi," and now she caught the syllables of the strange word. "As I was without allies, I withdrew." "He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day?"
"The next day," he corrected her absently.
"The next day!"
"Certainly. It is the Catteni Law that a quarrel may not be continued past the same hour of the following day. I have only to lie hidden," and he grinned at her, "until tomorrow at sun zenith and then I can return."
"They won't be waiting for you?" He shook his head violently. "Against the Law. Otherwise, we Catteni would quickly exterminate each other."
"You honestly mean to tell me that, if they can't find you before noon tomorrow, they have to give up?" He nodded.
"Even when you killed their patrol leader?" He looked surprised.
"It was a fair fight."
"I didn't know you Catteni fought fair."
"We do,' and he bridled at her accusation, then his face cleared of irritation and he grinned. "Oh, you think it wasn't fair of us to take over your planet?" j "Precisely." He straddled the pilot's chair and rested his heavily muscled forearms on the back of it, highly amused by her indignation.
"Your planet had no defences. It was pathetically easy to subjugate." "You do that a lot, then?"
"A highly profitable business, I assure you…How have you fed yourself?" he asked and she heard the most incredible sound coming from him, and realized that Catteni stomachs could rumble with hunger just like humans'. Oddly enough that made him seem less menacing.
"There's a lot edible in this forest and I fish from the river."
"You do?"
"I come from an ingenious species," she said. "I've had no trouble at all keeping myself well led.