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...
While the beaked face showed no emotion, the neck spines rippled in a pleased way. Even the unemotional Kooks, Salazar thought, were not proof against flattery. "Have you any idea when His Highness's decision will come?"
"Not during the emergency, certainly," said the officer.
"I understand. Where can one now find the High Chief?"
"The army is mustering at the village of Hetori, near the frontier."
Salazar considered. "Is that a little place on the lower Tsugaa, near Mount Zu?"
"Aye, or so I have been told."
Salazar was thankful for Kookish veracity. Kooks were terrible liars. Although they did sometimes lie, one skilled in their ways could detect the lie by the movement of their neck spines. Perhaps, he thought, that accounts for their being so law-abiding. He said:
"Thank you. May you be in robust health!"
"And may the honorable Sarasara's health be robust!"
"May you lead a tranquil life! ..."
Next morning, Salazar stood on the edge of the Nomuru site, peering across it. A dozen of Captain Te's guardsmen patrolled the site. Three stood near Salazar. The rippling of their cervical spines betrayed nervous apprehension beneath their stolid exteriors.
Probably, thought Salazar, they have heard of the stunts I've gotten away with lately, mainly by dumb luck. He strolled about the site, pocked by the rectangular test pits. Bergen's tractor still lay half in and half out of one hole.
The chugging of a steam car caused Salazar to turn. The car stopped with a hiss and a puff of white vapor on the edge of the site. Besides the Kook driver, the car carried Conrad Bergen and Oleg Pokrovskii. These climbed down and walked towards Salazar. As they came, several Kooks clustered around them. These the bulky black-browed Bergen ignored and strode straight for Salazar, who unsnapped the flap at the top of his pistol holster. Near Salazar, Captain Te barked:
"No violence!"
Bergen roared: "Go on, Keith, take your hand off your goddam gun! I'm not going to shoot you, even if you deserve it! I just came out to see how the site's doing, so I can get to work as soon as Miyage makes his decision."
"You mean, if he decides for you," rasped Salazar, suppressing an urge to draw and shoot Bergen dead.
"I'm not worried. What are you doing here? Thought you were in Feënzun."
"I finished my business there and came by, for the same reason you did. How did you get that car here, with the Sappari bridge in the shape it's in?"
"Oh, hell! I built my own bridge."
"You what?"
"Built my own bridge. Had it prefabricated in my shops and strung it over the Sappari a sixtnight ago. Had to wait for the concrete in the dead men to harden before putting any weight on it."
"You do get things done," muttered Salazar. Much as he detested Bergen, he had to admit a wry admiration for the developer's energy.
"Sure. If I waited for Chief Sammy to fix the old bridge, we'd be dead of old age before he got around to it. When we get the resort built, maybe I'll hire you to lecture the guests on Kook history and culture, for the eggheads who like that sort of thing." Bergen gave a contemptuous snort of laughter. "Come on, Oleg!"
Off went the pair with their escort of musketeers. Mentally cursing himself as an ineffectual intellectual, Salazar returned to his camp, got out maps, and studied the route to Hetori. Early next morning he and Kono were on their way before the diurnal species of the leather-winged zutas had begun to squawk and chatter.
They took the road south to Neruu, where they turned east towards Hetori and the Chosha country. Although this road was a mere track, unsuited to wheeled traffic, it was easy to follow. Most of the Shongo forces heading for the frontier had gone this way, so that the surface of the road itself and of the ground on either side was trampled.
Three days later, Salazar and Kono rode past the isolated conical peak of Mount Zu. The road skirted the base of the peak, curving around toward the village of Hetori, which lay between the mountain and the river Tsugaa. At this point, the river formed the boundary between Shongosi and the lands of the nomadic Choshas; and here could be found the only good ford for many kilometers.
The vegetation became scrubby and widely scattered, save for gallery forests along the streams. East of the Tsugaa, as Salazar had noted during his captivity and escape, the trees petered out altogether, and the land stretched into a wide, grassy plain.
On the open spaces along the river, Shongo infantry marched and juten cavalry maneuvered. When Salazar rode into the camp, he was at once surrounded by well-armed guards.
"Who be ye and what would ye?" they barked.
Salazar explained. He asked to see Chief Sambyaku, whereupon the soldiers led him to the headquarters tent, whence Sambyaku presently issued.
"Sarasara!" welcomed the chief. "Is all well with you?"
"Yes, indeed. Is all well with the chief?"
"Indeed it is. Is all well with the honorable Sarasara's clan?"
Salazar and the chief had not finished their formal greetings when High Chief Miyage bustled out of the same tent. "Sarasara!" he croaked. "What in the name of the ancestral spirits do you here?" His tongue flicked.
Salazar said tartly: "Does Your Highness wish an answer forthwith without the usual greetings?"
"Aye; we have no time here for empty ritual. Speak!"
"I am here, Your Highness, to see how things go; since the outcome of the impending conflict affects the practice of my profession. If you should lose, and my site fall to the Choshas—"
"You try by talk of defeat to destroy our spirit ere the battle be joined!" cried the High Chief furiously. "We know not why ye plot against us, unless it be some scurvy Terran scheme to steal our lands. In any case, we will not have you lurking about here, weaving webs to entrap us. Begone, instantly, or we will have you shot!" On command, the bodyguards cocked and raised their muskets.
Salazar looked at Chief Sambyaku. The chief made a vague gesture, while the movement of his neck bristles implied: Sorry, honorable Sarasara, but you know how it is. I can do nothing.
"At least," said Salazar, "let us replenish the food for our journey homeward."
"That were but reasonable," added Sambyaku.
Miyage grunted. "You are a Terran-lover, Sambyaku; but custom demands that the alien be succored. We will spare you a week's rations. If you wish more, you can shoot a wild beast with that newfangled gun of yours." The High Chief turned to his entourage and barked: "Captain Yeron! See to the alien."
An hour later, Salazar and Kono rode back the way they had come. When Hetori and the camp were hidden by the curve of Mount Zu, Salazar left the trampled road and turned toward the mountain. At its base he dismounted, telling Kono:
"Get down, Kono. We shall have to lead the beasts."
"Does the honorable Terran mean to scale the mountain?"
"Yes. Come along!"
The twilight was deepening and nocturnal zutas flitted about, replacing the diurnal ones, when Salazar reached the top of the hill. After resting with his back to a tree to recover his breath, he wandered over the crest.
Eventually he found an outcrop of granite on the eastern slope. By pitching camp above this rocky, treeless surface, he obtained a splendid view of the camp of the Shongo army, the village, the river beyond, and the plain across the river. If the Shongorin had known beans about warfare, he thought, they would have posted lookouts on the hill as soon as they reached Hetori.
While Kono set up the tent, Salazar buttoned his poignette. Thin with distance came Kara's voice:
"Keith! Is it you?"