The Stones of Nomuru

"I once got out of a ticklish fix by reciting Macaulay's Horatius—or as much of it as I could remember.

They couldn't understand the words, but it convinced them that the Terrans could be cultured beings. Now comes the grand coitus."

Pushing and shouting, the nuptial pairs, gay in their emerald-and-white wedding paint, lined up. The females stood in the first line; the males, distinguished by the small crest of spines on their heads, formed a second line behind them.

An assistant handed High Chief Miyage a double-barreled musket with gold-chased barrels sparkling in the sunshine. The High Chief cocked one hammer, aimed at the azure sky, and pulled one trigger. The musket vomited a puff of gray smoke. At once the female Kooks set off at a run towards the un-fenced end of the field.

The chief then cocked and fired the second barrel. The bridegrooms pelted away in determined pursuit. Salazar muttered:

"The girls won't run hard enough to escape."

The runners passed the ends of the fence and continued out into open country. By the time distance shrank their figures, every female runner had been caught by, or let herself be caught by, the male who had been posted behind her. The Terrans could not clearly see because of the churning clouds of dust; but the females seemed to have dropped to hands and knees, while the males approached them from behind.

"Isn't that how Terran birds do it?" asked Kara. "I've seen Conrad's chickens in action."

"Yep. Like birds, they don't waste any time, either," he added, as the couples began to straggle back to the field.

"What next?" asked Kara.

"More speeches. All the couples deliver their own remarks."

"They seem a long-winded race."

"Yep. Oratory is their main art form. Their painting, sculpture, and music are nothing much; but their poetry, drama, and rhetoric are highly developed. A Kookish Michelangelo once made an eight-day nonstop speech."

"All in verse? Wow! I've only heard speeches that felt as if they'd been going for eight days. Since I can't understand their croak, do you think we could start back?"

"Yep. Come along." Salazar wheeled his bicycle away from the fence, carefully threading his way among the crowding Kooks. He had a foot on a pedal when a shout brought him round.

"Hey, Salazar!" roared the black-browed Conrad Bergen, emerging from the native crowd and followed by the rest of his hunting party. "What are you—by God, you've got my bitch! I'll-—"

Kara gave a small scream as Bergen started toward her, fists swinging. Salazar thrust his bicycle in front of the red-faced, wrathful man; the two antagonists and the bicycle collapsed in a tangle. After they had sorted themselves out and risen, Bergen aimed a furious swing at the archaeologist. Salazar ducked and landed a punch on Bergen's nose; but a second later another swing caught him on the side of the head and sent him sprawling.

"I'll teach you to steal my dame!" screamed Bergen, kicking his recumbent foe in the ribs. Despite the pain that shot through him, Salazar caught Bergen's booted ankle in both hands. A heave toppled the bulky Bergen, who fell with a thud that shook the trampled earth. As Salazar, slowed by the pain in his side, rose more slowly to his feet, he saw Bergen do likewise. Almost at once, a multitude of scaly talons seized upon both, and the black eyes of musket muzzles stared them in the face.

"What is this?" croaked High Chief Miyage. "These animals dare to defile our ancient ceremony? Prepare them for execution!" The forked tongue flicked out.

Scaly hands relieved Salazar and Bergen of their pistols. Bergen asked: "What's he say?"

When Salazar had translated, Bergen cried: "Hey! Do they mean that?"

"Sure."

"But—can they really do that? We're humans!"

"Who's going to stop them? Here they are the human beings; we are just monsters from outer space."

"What will they do? Shoot us?"

"They might. Beheading is their favorite method."

Chief Sambyaku squatted a curtsy to his tribal superior. To the Kooks holding Salazar and Bergen he said: "Do nothing before you receive additional commands. " The two chiefs moved away in earnest speech.

Bergen, his arms and legs firmly gripped in Kookish talons, glared at Salazar. Though stunned by the rush of events, Salazar pulled himself together, saying with professional calm:

"I said you had a medical problem. Now, unless Sambyaku can talk Miyage out of it, you'll soon learn how long a head stays conscious after it's cut off. I've always wondered if one sees the ground rushing up at one."