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...
"Then how shall we coordinate? How many days' travel is it to Henderson?"
"Six or seven, depending on how hard one pushes. The kyuumeis are slower; one should allow them at least twelve days."
"We have enough steam trucks in Machura to carry that load, and the road to Neruu would take them."
"I know, Your Majesty. But your trucks are noisy and conspicuous, with their great clouds of steam and smoke. Even if they crossed the Sappari by the ford without getting stuck, I could never get them in and out of Henderson without waking half the city and causing a stir among the Shongorin through whose lands they would pass. But strings of laden kyuumeis are common enough so that nobody would pay much attention to one more such caravan; and the trucks are not very much faster."
Gariko asked: "Do you seriously propose to return to Henderson to 'make arrangements,' come back here to lead your train of kyuumeis to Henderson, and then return to Machura? The war may be over by then."
"No, Your Majesty. If you'll appoint a caravan leader, I shall explain where to bring his train. Then I shall leave for Henderson, with him and his caravan following. I shall get in touch with your captain as soon as he arrives. When we return to Machura, I must instruct your picked company in the new weapons or they'll waste all their ammunition to no purpose. And now, I should like to ask a favor of Your Majesty."
"What favor?."
"You know my servant Oikisha, formerly a Chosha onnifa?"
"What about her?"
"I should like you to accept the transfer of her allegiance to Your Majesty."
"For what reason?"
Salazar explained the difficulty with the Chosha belief in the proper duty of an onnifa toward her master. "To still Oikisha's importunities, Miss Sheffield and I have had to pretend to be still mated. Since we are not, this is a nuisance."
Thoughtfully, Gariko said: "When a Terran speaks of pretending to be mates' with another, does this pretense extend to copulation?"
Flushing, Salazar said: "In this case, no. Our sexual customs are too complicated to explain here."
Gariko's neck spines rippled in a way that implied amusement. "I see that my questions cause that peculiar Terran emotion called 'embarrassment'; so I shall return to our previous subject. Why can you not simply dismiss Oikisha?"
Salazar explained the rules whereby Oikisha lived. "Since I wish neither to kill or be killed by her, I thought a transfer of allegiance would solve the problem. She is intelligent and a hard worker. Perhaps you could lend me one of your people to do our camp chores on the road to Henderson."
"Oh, very well," said Gariko. "I suppose I can find a use for her. Now I must choose your caravan leader. I shall give him a letter to High Chief Miyage, asking permission to send this train through his chieftainship. But—Sarasara, if I say the load on the return trip consists of Terran guns, he will never let it pass. He will on some pretext seize them for his own use."
"Tell him the crates contain agricultural implements," said Salazar, hiding a smile.
The Empress hissed again. "Ah, you tricky Terrans I But what if Miyage pries open a box to inspect the contents?"
"Doesn't Your Majesty have an imperial seal for personal property?"
"Excellent! I shall send with the kyuumeis a supply of seals and wire for attaching them. If you will return in two hours, I shall introduce you to your captain."
VIII – THE BULLDOZER
Salazar, Kara, and Baasu, the Feënzurin native whom Gariko had sent along as helper and guide, jogged briskly along the road to Shongaro. Salazar had left the letter from the Empress to Miyage with a flunky at the palace at Biitso, without waiting to confront the hostile High Chief himself. When Baasu got used to his Terran charges, he became quite voluble:
"Honorable Sarasara, I am pleased to accompany you and your female. It is a welcome change from my usual duties."
"What is your regular line of work?" asked Salazar.
"I am a tax collector."
"Persons in your occupation are never popular, are they?"
"You are more than right, honorable sir! The office is important, indeed necessary if a nation is to function in a civilized manner. Yet no matter how honest and competent he be, the poor tax collector is despised, feared, and relegated to a low caste."
"It is the same with us Terrans," murmured Salazar sympathetically.
"The trouble," continued the Kook, "is that everybody demands a free handout from the government; but nobody wants to pay his share when the tax collector comes around!"
"That, too, sounds familiar," said the archaeologist.
They jogged into Shongaro. Chief Sambyaku was not at home, but questions discovered him in the marketplace, checking merchants' weights. At the sight of the Terrans, Sambyaku said: "Hail, honorable Sarasara! Hail, honorable Sheffira! Is all well with you?"
Salazar replied: "Thanks to the Universal Law, all is well. Is all well with you?"
After the formal greetings were properly concluded, Sambyaku said: "I must complete what I am doing; then we shall talk. Please wait in the shade."
"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night shall stay ..." muttered Salazar in English. "If you find a Kook painting his house and tell him a gang of nomad raiders will appear any minute, he'll say: 'I must finish what I am doing; then I shall flee.' " Kara giggled.
A mere half-hour sufficed to complete the chiefs inspection of weights. Sambyaku said: "Let us walk thither, where few will overhear."
They strolled down the side street where Baasu stood holding the jutens. Sambyaku came right to the point "Sarasara, granting the concession to Bergen was not my doing. High Chief Miyage overruled me, and under our customs I was compelled to accede."
"I thank Your Honor for your gracious explanation," said Salazar. "What is the present state of Bergen's project?"
"The tractor that Bergen had made to order in Biitso passed through Shongaro this afternoon. The Terrans had attached a huge blade, like a plowshare turned sideways, to the front. I compelled them to remove from the wheels of the vehicle the cleats, which would have severely damaged our streets. The High Chief had sent with the Terrans an escort of musketeers, and for a while an open conflict between his soldiers and mine appeared imminent; but, thank the Universal Law, the Terrans decided that it were better to accede to my demands than to risk a battle."
"I thank Your Honor for this news," said Salazar. "I don't wish a conflict at Nomuru; but under these circumstances anything may happen."
"I understand, honorable Sarasara. I cannot help you with armed force; but neither am I obliged to join Miyage's troop against you. Be in good health!"
"And may Your Honor enjoy good health!"
"May your clan flourish!"
The travelers jogged on. Next day, as the sun sank low, they neared Nomuru, where the road to Salazar's camp skirted the northern end of the site. On a slight rise, Salazar halted his mount and drew out a small brass telescope.
"Kookish work," he explained to Kara. "I lost my good binoculars on Bergen's hunt, haven't had time to buy another, and found this quaint object in a drawer."
He put the telescope to an eye and said: "The tractor's on the edge of the site, with a couple of Terrans working on it and four or five Kooks standing around. I think the Terrans are bolting the cleats back on the wheels."
"Should we ride past?" asked Kara.
Salazar glanced toward the sun, just disappearing behind the scattered vegetation to westward. "The machine's forty or fifty meters from the road. I think we're safe, but just in case ..."
Salazar pulled his rifle from the saddle boot, checked the magazine, and rode on, saying: "Move briskly and confidentiy, and don't talk."