Dinosaurus Planet Survivors
- Автор: Маккефри Энн
- Серия: Dinosaur Planet #2
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «Dinosaurus Planet Survivors». Краткое содержание книги:
As Kai made his way across the amphitheater to the shuttle, he found the unpopulated campsite eerie. On the other hand, he would have few distractions while he organized the information on the finds Dimenon and Margit had made the previous day-a rich source of metals as well as transuranics the heavyworlders would have acquired had their takeover not been challenged!
No sooner had he reached the shuttle’s iris airlock than he heard the frantic buzz of the comunit. He raced to the pilot’s compartment, and slammed on the transmit toggle so hard he could feel it jar his hand.
“Zaid-Dayan to EV Base!” the signal flashed. Then the screen displayed the control deck of the Zaid-Dayan, and Commander Sassinak. “I was beginning to think that you’d all left the compound. Kai, have you transport? We have a large Thek convoy approaching and requesting landing permission. Their message was first directed toward the giff cave beacon.”
“Ah,” Kai said, recalling a significant oversight, “we forgot to dismantle Portegin’s beacon from the giff cave.”
“No real harm done.” But Sassiness’ grin suggested that Varian had been quite surprised to have had to communicate with laconic Thek.
“Is Tor among the incoming?”
“They have not identified themselves.”
“I’ve no transport here.”
“The pinnace is on its way.”
Kai had recorded messages on the comunit for anyone calling in to base and checked the perimeter of the encampment for gaps in the screen before he heard the supersonic bang of the pinnace’s arrival. The globe brightened momentarily, then resumed its normal color. Ford was the pilot.
“I’ve brought our stewards back. They really hated to leave the mess hall in such a state,” Ford said. Kai grinned farewell as the first man reinstalled the forcescreen veil. Then Kai entered the pinnace.
Ford gestured for him to take a seat and belt up.
“I’ve never seen such a concentration of our friendly allies before. Our science officer has been monitoring the ones on Dimenon’s site and he swears they’ve enlarged considerably.”
“Dimenon thinks they’ve been gorging themselves. And they have apparently consumed every trace of the ancient cores which were ghosting our core screen.”
Fordeliton swung the pinnace about, almost on its tail fins, and before Kai had a chance to grab a breath, had jammed on the power. Even with the advanced design of the pinnace, the g-forces of supersonic speed were uncomfortable.
“How many have been sighted?” Kai managed to ask through lips pressed against his face bones. Abruptly the pressure eased.
“Nine, three of them nearly as big as the transport. Or so they appear on our sensors.”
Kai was surprised at the magnitude of the visitors. “Any small units?” If only Tor was among them…”
“There are three Great-Big Bears, three Medium-Size Bears, and three Teeny-Tiny Bears,” Fordeliton gave Kai a totally unrepentant grin. “Don’t worry. One of Sassiness’ specialties is Thek conversation.” Then he grinned with a definite hint of malice. “Though I wonder if the good commander will be able to cope with such a concentration of our noble allies.”
The speedy pinnace accomplished the journey in minutes. Ford was deftly dropping their forward speed when an urgent signal was beamed from the Zaid-Dayan, giving alternative landing coordinates.
“They want us down by the settlement,” Ford said, glancing at the area map, and veered in the appropriate direction as he flipped on the forward screen for a visual check of their arrival. “And I can see why!”
Leaning forward against the seat belt, unwilling to lose a single detail of the extraordinary sight before them, Kai gasped in astonishment.
Fordeliton’s whimsical reference to the awesome Thek caused Kai to grin with a wayward appreciation of that irreverence. His grin broadened as he watched three Teeny-Tiny Bears, which were likely to be taller than his nearly two meters, settling down by the main air lock of the Zaid-Dayan, where sailors were quick-marching into the ceremonial formation. One of the Medium-Size Bears was slowly descending behind the three. The other two Medium-Size Bears could be seen positioning themselves to either side of the massive prow of the heavyworlder transport. In one quick glance Kai took in that deployment and then turned his incredulous gaze toward the three immense Great-Big Bears which were sedately lowering themselves onto the grid beyond the transport.
“It is extremely lucky, isn’t it,” Fordeliton remarked, “that the Iretans made such a big landing grid. Otherwise those big brutes wouldn’t have risked a landing here. Whooops! Spoke too soon.”
Fordeliton was hovering above the appointed landing site, maintaining the pinnace at an altitude which gave them a superb view of the event. With great dignity and no visible means of propulsion, the three Great-Big Bears lowered their bulks onto the grid. And continued their downward movement while the grid began to smoke, melt, and bubble. Molten iron began to ooze out around the three Great-Big Theks. Fordeliton roared with such infectious laughter that Kai joined in. Suddenly the continued decline of the Theks ceased, the molten metal about their bases went from red to dull cold metal in an instant, solidifying.
“That was close, wasn’t it?” Fordeliton flung out his arms, giving Kai a buffet on the chest for which he instantly apologized. “I just hope someone got it on tape. That’s one to save for posterity. What if they had just kept on melting down, down, down?”
“No chance of that, I’m afraid. The grid was built here because there’s a rock shelf under that plateau that would stop even the Thek.” Kai grinned at Fordeliton. “But I doubt the heavyworlders meant to accommodate Thek. Have you ever seen any that big before?”
“I thought that they stayed put at that size. Kai, what have you got on this forsaken planet to wrench them out of their comfortable niches? Do Thek inhabit niches? Or mountain tops? Never mind.”
Fordeliton landed the pinnace. He and Kai quickly made their way toward the Zaid-Dayan, where Sassinak and a contingent of her officers were advancing to where the Theks were squatting. Fordeliton and Kai joined the group. Sassinak noted their arrival with a nod of her head.
Suddenly a sound stopped everyone, and one of the not so Teeny-Tiny Bears moved forward.
“Kaaaaaiiiieeee!” The sound was both command and recognition.
Kai looked inquiringly at Sassinak.
“That does sound like your name, Kai. It’s all yours.” The commander gestured him forward. To his astonishment, she winked as he passed.
“Tor?” he asked, coming to a halt in front of the Thek, for surely it had to be his acquaintance from the ARCT-10. No other Thek could have recognized one human among so many. “Tor?” It was awesome enough to be raced by four Thek, overheard by five more; it would be slightly less daunting if he spoke through a Thek he knew.
“Tor responds.”
Kai breathed a sigh of relief, and then realized that Tor was answering an unasked question. Or rather the question Kai had fruitlessly posed of the Thek removal squad.
With a speed that blurred movement, a Thek pseudo-pod extended a core to Kai. When he reached out to take it, the core was withdrawn beyond his grasp and he thrust his hands behind him, feeling more like a small miscreant than ever in this Thek presence.
“Toooo hotttt. Eggsamine.”
Hands still behind him, Kai leaned forward and peered obediently at the core. It looked like the same type of ancient device which Tor had recovered from their abandoned campsite.