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.
They're effective that way. But sending one of theirs to colonize " He shook his head in surprise. "Whaddid he do?"
"He'd killed a patrol leader," Kris said. "I watched the pursuit from where I was hiding. "You were hiding?" Kris grinned. "On Barevi."
"Barevi?" He shot her a quirky smile. "Sounds Aborigine."
"Does, doesn't it Catteni Aborigine, at least. Barevi's one of their big distribution and R amp;R planets. Only a couple of big cities and space ports.
Slave-trading's the biggest industry there. And resupply of Catteni ships.
I figured out, from watching the guy who owned me, how to drive one of those little flitters of theirs and appropriated it one evening." She grinned at Leon.
"Managed quite handily in the jungle there until he," and she jerked her head back at Zainal, "dropped in on me. I was taking him back to where he belongs when I got caught in a riot-gassing, too."
"Hmmm.
"He knew a bit about this planet, enough to save a lot of us from getting eaten by those scavengers, or caught by the avians.
"The Cats didn't leave much for us to go on with," he said in a gloomy tone.
"Zainal says that's how they've colonized a lot of places." She shot a look at him and wondered if she'd offend with her next comment.
"Sort of like you Aussies were. We voted to call the planet Botany." "Did you now?" And Leon Dane shot her a startled look but he grinned.
"Well, it fits. Australia - well, the Sydney area at least - was settled by convicts."
"Made a good job of it, too, didn't they?"
"I take the point, Kris Bjornsen. And they had as little as we have.
Maybe less. We at least have a lot of specialists."
"Many aliens?
Deskis, Turs, Morphins, Rugarians?" Leon shrugged. "I was working more on the human injuries. But I noticed some strange-looking creatures m the hospital cave. Stick thin, like the one that came with us to fetch you.
"The Deskis. They're not doing well here. Missing some essential ingredient in their diet."
"Is that why that bloke was picking the thornbushes?"
"Hope so." Then Lenny and Ninety declared they were rested enough to take over. Kris was quite willing to give up her end of the litter, guilty though it made her feel for the rest of the way back to the camp.
Lit by many torches, Mitford, Murph, Greene and Dowdall were still interviewing new arrivals when the rescuers arrived by third moonrise.
In spite of the late hour - or was it early? - there was a great deal of activity and the smell of freshly roasted meats Instead of going into the main cavern, however, the bearers swerved to one of the lesser caves.
"Hospital," Lenny said when Kris wanted to know.
"Quite a set-up now." But there was something about the way he wouldn't meet her eyes that bothered Kris.
"I'll stay with him," she said firmly. "He'll need..
"You…" and Leon Dane prodded her chest with a firm finger, "need rest." In the better light of the torches, she realized that he was a good-looking man in his midthirties, spare as so many Australians seemed to be.
"I'll rest better with…my buddy," and she added that designation with defensive pride. Dane was looking at her now in a way that made her refer to him in that fashion.
"That way, is it?"
"NO! Not that way," she said, fiercely now.
"But I got him into this mess and I'll stand by him."
"Good on you, Sheila," Dane said, and squeezed her arm in approval. "But he'll be tended while you. and he prodded her chest with one finger, " sleep." It was a small cave and anyone entering had to stoop or risk a crack on the skull.
Inside there was more headroom, sufficient even for Zainal when he recovered. She said "when' as positively as she could to herself, though he lay far too still to suit her when his litter was placed on the waiting mound of blanket-covered boughs. There was another bed on the other side of the den and she looked longingly at it. Then turned back to see Dane checking the wound again and Zainal's pulse.
"He'll do. Tough bastard," he said again. "You," and he pointed at Kris and then the bed, "get some rest. I'll check in during the night." He gave her a grin. "Haven't lost a Catteni patient yet." Then, when she did not immediately obey his injunction, he hauled her the step to the bed and pushed her down on the boughs, spreading the blanket over her. "Sleep.
She did, rousing once or twice when she heard movement but it was always caused by Dane, checking on his patient.
When she finally woke up, she stretched luxuriously, knowing that she had slept herself out. But a low moan brought her alert instantly and scrambling to Zainal's side.
His injured leg, bare of covering apart from the compress, was twice its normal size well up into the thigh. The flesh when she gingerly touched it was almost burning to the touch. The compress was dry and clung to the suppurating flesh when she tried to check the wound.
"Oh lordee," she murmured and then banged her forehead on leaving the den. "Ouch!"
"Gotcha, did it?" said Lenny sympathetically, rising from a stool by the entrance.
"What are you doing here?" she said, inhaling against the pain of her scraped forehead. Her hand came away with dots of blood.
"Being careful not to bang my skull open like you just did," he said, grinning. There was that in his quickly averted glance that told her he was there for another reason entirely.
"Was I supposed to leave him out there to die?" she demanded.
"Don't jump on me, Kris, I like the big guy," Lenny said.
"Mitford just doesn't need any trouble."
"Mutiny on Botany, huh?"
"Huh?" Lenny echoed, totally nonplussed by her cryptic remark. "Look," he added hurriedly, "Dane'll be around again soon. Go get some breakfast. I'll be here till you get back.
"It's ridiculous with all Zainal has done for the camp that he has to have a guard - - "Now, look, Kris, I'm not so much a guard as I am a sort of orderly," and Lenny looked embarrassed, "in case he needs help.
You know what I mean?"
"I'm paranoid, I guess," she said, relaxing a little. "Dane said anything about his chances?" Lenny shrugged.
"Didn't ask. I just volunteered. I'm on duty for them, too," he said and gestured to the opening obliquely across the tunnel. "We got a lot of patients. Oh, and that Missus Bollinger had a baby boy while we were gone. Fine big lad." Kris smiled through her sigh of relief.
"That kind of good news is very welcome.
"Don't worry. Mitford's got everyone organized already," and Lenny's grin was mischievous. Then he gave her a little push towards the tunnel entrance. "G'wan. Eat.
You're off duty today, anyway, with your buddy on the sick list." Kris didn't hear any nuance in his use of "buddy' so she relaxed. She could safely leave Zainal in Lenny's charge.
"G'wan," he said, smiling kindly, and gave her a half-turn towards the entrance. "Eat. Bread's getting better now the chemist lads've got a good yeast going." She took her time, peering in at the various units in this "hospital', noticing a lot of unfamiliar faces, some obviously in a good deal of discomfort, to judge by their expressions.
She saw Anna Bollinger, sitting up in her "bed', nursing her infant and would have passed by but Anna saw her and waved her in.
"How's the Catteni? I heard he was badly hurt," she said.
Then added in a hard voice and with a scowl. "How?" From the "doorway', Kris answered, wondering about the change in her voice.
Anna had good reason to be grateful to Zainal. In a neutral voice she said: "On his way to keep people from getting scavengered in the dark, he got a thorn in the calf of his leg and had to carve it out." Anna shuddered. "Ooo, nasty. Give him my regards," and she looked lovingly down at the swaddled mite in her arms. "I'd never have had my baby if he hadn't helped me get here." She sighed. "I'm just glad it was I mean - He'll be all right?"