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...
"Yep. If you'll call Kara, I'll take care of Skanda and Penny—though maybe not quite the way they expect."
On the appointed evening, Salazar rang the doorbell of Firestone's apartment with Penny Molina on his arm. When the door swung open, he glanced around. "I see we're the last. Penny, this is Kara Sheffield, and this is our host, Cabot Firestone. Skanda Patel I believe you know. This, people, is my prize all-A student, Penny Molina."
Salazar's sharp ears caught a sudden intake of breath—Kara's, he suspected. Penny Molina was not a girl to be dismissed with a casual glance. Reddish-gold hair cascaded down her back. Taller, younger, and more voluptuously formed than Kara, she made the attractive journalist look almost drab by comparison.
In acknowledging introductions, Penny seemed to bubble with scarcely suppressed excitement and good humor, now and then breaking into a little giggle. She expects, Salazar thought sardonically, that after the party I'll take her home and screw the spots off her.
Firestone gave Salazar a raised eyebrow that said: You turned down advances from this? Patel simply goggled, while Kara's expression remained sphinxlike.
While Firestone busied himself with drinks, Patel came out of his daze. "Miss—all—Molina, as I understand it, 'Penny' is a shortened form of a longer name. It is a nickname. Please tell me: What is it the nickname for? Penelope?"
"Worse!" cried Penny, laughing. "It's Penthesileia, also out of Greek mythology. How'd you like to be stuck with a label like that?"
"I was," said Patel. "My misguided parents inflicted 'Skandaguptakrishnalal' upon my innocent infant head. For practical reasons, I have abridged it. Your excellent health, my dear Mistress Penny!"
He hoisted his glass of bumbleberry wine and sipped. Thereafter, the party went swimmingly. Firestone's cooking was in fine form. Penny, thought Salazar, would make a better impression if her laugh were not quite so boisterous.
Salazar and Kara were pressed to tell the tale of their captivity by the Choshas and their escape. This they did, with tactful omissions. Penny said:
"Why must Terrans like your Reverend Ragnarsen always be meddling? Meddle, meddle, meddle, that's all some people think of! One missionary thought it indecent for the Kooks to run around naked; he wanted to use our army to force them to put on clothes."
"True," said Firestone. "You see, my dear, we're primates. I've watched apes and monkeys on Terra when something new is put into their cage—say, a device they're not familiar with. When they get over being afraid of it, their next thought is to take it apart. They push, pull, twist, and bang it against the floor. Like our primate ancestors, we—or at least many of us—are born meddlers.
"The Kooks, to the contrary, are closer to our Terran reptiles—stolid, single-minded, and coldly unsentimental. They're what our Terran dinosaurs might have become if the Cretaceous catastrophe hadn't wiped them out. Their needs are simpler and their curiosity less. When they want something, they go straight for it, without letting anything distract them.
"They also hold tight to what they think they know. That's why it took them a hundred thousand years to move from the hunting-gathering stage to the beginnings of industrialization, when it took us only ten thousand. Yet their brains are as big and well-developed as ours."
Under the benign influence of wine and pretty women, Patel rose to the defense of the extraterrestrials. "You must not ignore that the Kukulcanians also have their virtues. They have little crime, and their wars are piddling affairs compared to those that Terra has seen. They do not fight over obscure abstract questions like the precise nature of the gods."
Salazar, helping Firestone to clear the table, interjected: "You may not be able to say that much longer, Skanda, if Terrans like the Reverend Ragnarsen put their teachings across." After a pause, he added: "Sorry, folks, but I've got to leave you for a while. Got an errand to run—a small job but necessary." He held out a hand to Firestone. "May I, Cabot?"
Firestone placed the car keys in the hand. "I left the pilot light on; you can get up steam in a few minutes."
"But Keith—" began Penny in tones of surprise and disappointment.
"I shall be back soon," said Salazar, smiling. With calculated composure, he bowed his way out.
Once out of the apartment, he hurried down the stairs, started Firestone's car, and drove off toward di Pasquale's farm.
An hour later he chugged into the Museum courtyard, followed by a train of sixteen kyuumeis and their attendants. They found Kono and Uwangi waiting before the main entrance; for Salazar had persuaded his camp servants to sign new contracts, to go on working for him.
Salazar conferred in low tones with Chensoö, the caravan leader. Then he gathered several Kooks, unlocked the main door, and led them all into the building. There was no watchman on the premises because Salazar had, on his own responsibility, given the man the night off and the money to take his wife to a show.
Presently Kono and Uwangi staggered through the entryway, each holding an end of a heavy crate. Another crate followed, borne by another pair of Kooks. As each crate appeared, Chensoö directed its tying up with iron wire, the ends of which were twisted together and secured with a leaden seal bearing the symbol of the Empress. Salazar supervised the lashing of crates in pairs, one on either side of each kyuumei.
The loading took over two hours. It was past midnight when, having seen the caravan off on the road to Neruu, a weary Salazar returned to Firestone's apartment. He expected the party to have ended as he parked Firestone's car and rang the bell. But when Firestone opened his door and Salazar held out the keys, Firestone said: "Come in! The party's not over yet."
"Huh?"
Firestone waved toward the bedroom door. "They're in there."
"Who are?" Salazar's voice rose as he conjured up a horrid vision of Kara with ...
Firestone interrupted the fantasy. "Penny and Skanda, of course. Has this been a night! It would have done Caligula proud."
"What happened?"
"Sit down. For an hour or so it was just talk and some drinking. We played games and told stories. Then Skanda, who had shifted from bumbleberry wine to whiskey, began to show symptoms. We were still a little high, I guess, when somebody proposed penny-ante poker.
"We played for a while and drank some more. When I ran out of whiskey I opened a bottle of filegrass rum. Then your Penny Molina—"
"Not my Penny Molina!" said Salazar sharply.
"Anyway, having lost her stake, Penny offered to bet a shoe. Pretty soon we were all playing a game of strip poker. By now Skanda was pretty exhilarated, not at all like his usual sober self."
"He's not used to liquor," muttered Salazar.
"The time came when I still had my pants on, and Kara her underwear; but Skanda and Penny were both—well, you might say dressed for an orgy. Skanda began doing all sorts of foolish things. He performed a kind of bow-legged dance around the room, saying he was an incarnation of Krishna. He rolled up a piece of paper and held it sideways, pretending it was Krishna's flute.
"Then Penny, also in an advanced state, joined him. The pair did some kind of erotic Tantric dance; he was expert, while she followed as best she could. Then she picked him up and carried him—"
"Did you say she picked him up?"
"Yes; she's bigger than he and a strong girl. In they went to my bedroom, and she kicked the door shut behind her.
"Kara and I got dressed, and I walked her home and came back here. The door was still closed, and I heard a faint murmur of voices through it. Then all was silent. I'm wondering what to do with them."
Just then the bedroom door flew open. Within the frame stood Penthesileia Molina, every inch a queen of the Amazons. Staring at her frontal exposure, Salazar felt himself flushing. The sight, he thought, would arouse a marble statue.