The Stones of Nomuru

"Like a roost of goddam crows," muttered Bergen.

When Kara Sheffield and the three remaining men of Bergen's party approached the captives, the guards warily shifted their guns. Chung, in the lead, broke the news.

"I have tried to convince the High Chief that he should release you two; but when Kooks make up their minds ..." Chung shrugged. "It is like those laws of the Pedes and Mersians. At least, he agreed not to molest the rest of us. I am sorry."

"Oh, Keith!" wailed Kara. "How I wish I hadn't insisted on coming here!"

"Don't blame yourself," said Salazar. "You couldn't have foreseen this."

Bergen growled at his guide: "What'll you do if this creature kills me?"

"Return to Suvarov," said Chung with a deprecatory shrug. "I do not think your friends will wish to continue the hunt."

"And if we survive—at least, if I do? I'd still want my hunt."

Chung ducked a bow. "In that case, Mr. Bergen, you must find another guide. I fear that travel with one of your ebullient temperament is dangerous to my health."

"Hey, you've got a contract with me!"

The guide gave a pro forma smile. "It permits me to withdraw for reasons of health. Fear not; I shall send a replacement, my cousin Ma Qiali—Charley Ma, you could call him."

"When will he get here?"

"Perhaps in a sixtnight. He must come from Gueilin."

"Hell! Am I supposed to sit on my duff—" The two chiefs, surrounded by eight Kooks, crossed the turf with dignified stride. At their command, scaly hands loosened the captives' bonds, hauled the apprehensive prisoners to their feet, and hustled them back to the now-empty enclosure. Salazar and Bergen were each handed a long spear with a tapering steel head lightly spotted with brownish oxide.

As their escort retired, Salazar and Bergen faced their foe, one of the major predators of the planet Kukulcan. The dinosaurlike porondu stood a few meters off, with four Kooks holding its leashes. Much larger than the domesticated juten, which it otherwise resembled, its huge beak was carried over two meters above the ground. Its body scales were brown splashed with acrid yellow, and its arms, the size of a man's, ended in sharp-clawed talons.

"Professor!" muttered Bergen. "Looks like we've got to be allies, like it or not."

"Yep," said Salazar. "Let's keep three meters apart. When it goes after one of us, the other should try to spear it under the arm."

"Here it comes!"

The handlers simultaneously cast off their leashes and dashed for the gate, which they quickly latched behind them. With a raucous scream, the porondu lumbered towards Salazar, who gripped his spear and lunged for the creature's breast. The point was stopped by a bone.

Before Salazar could withdraw his weapon, the porondu seized the shaft in its saw-toothed beak and snapped it with a powerful jerk of its head. The archaeologist found that he held a meter of shaft without a steel spearhead. The porondu raised its head, opening its beak to show the teeth within.

Bergen ran forward and thrust his spear into the creature's side. With a shriek, the porondu wheeled, swung its head low, and smote Bergen in the ribs. The blow hurled the huge executive sideways. He fell, rolled over, and tried to sit up, but the breath had been knocked out of him. As he lay coughing and gasping, the porondu squatted down on his legs, pinning him to the ground. The porondu, which Salazar realized must weigh at least half a ton, opened its raptorial beak, then hesitated as if pondering which part of Bergen to tear off first.

Half-disarmed, Salazar did the only thing he could think of. He ran behind the squatting porondu, leaped to its back, and slid into a sitting position behind its arms.

"Get up!" he yelled in Shongo, bearing the animal over the head with the shaft of his broken spear. The porondu lurched to its feet and tried to crane its neck around to the left to seize its tormentor. Salazar whacked the beak as it approached. When it swung its head, as large as that of a horse, around to the right, the archaeologist struck it on the other side.

The porondu danced about, trying to shake off its rider; but Salazar seized one of the small arms near its base and clung precariously to his perch, wishing for a proper saddle. The beast reached back with its free arm, trying to claw the archaeologist off its back. Salazar's bush jacket ripped at the shoulder, and he felt the sting of a deep scratch on his arm but pounded the groping member until it gave up trying to seize him.

The porondu then set off at a jouncing run for the open end of the field. Soon the enclosure and the chimneys of Neruu disappeared behind a roll in the ground.

Still clutching the arm, Salazar gripped the scaly torso with his legs as best he could, wondering if the beast would run clear to the Western Ocean, thousands of kilometers away. After a kilometer, however, the monster slowed.

When at last it halted, Salazar wondered what to do next. If he slid off, he would be devoured on the spot. Although the creature had tired, it could still outrun a man on those long, ostrichlike legs.

At last Salazar shouted: "Back to Neruu, you!" and hit the porondu on the side of its head. As it shied away from the blows, it gradually turned around. Relieved, Salazar whacked its rump until it lurched into motion.