Key Out of Time Read online

  6

  Loketh the Useless

  The wash of waves covered Ross's advance until he came up against thewall not too far from the spy's perch. Whoever crouched there stillleaned forward to watch Karara. And Ross's eyes, having adjusted to thegloom of the cavern, made out the outline of head and shoulders. Thenext two or three minutes were the critical ones for the Terran. He mustemerge on the ledge in the open before he could attack.

  Karara might almost have read his mind and given conscious help. For nowshe went out on the point of the ledge to whistle the dolphins' summons.Tino-rau's sleek head bobbed above water as he answered the girl with abubbling squeak. Karara knelt and the dolphin came to butt against herout-held hand.

  Ross heard a gasp from the watcher, a faint sound of movement. Kararabegan to sing softly, her voice rippling in one of the liquid chants ofher own people, the dolphin interjecting a note or two. Ross had heardthem at that before, and it made perfect cover for his move. He sprang.

  His grasp tightened on flesh, fingers closed about thin wrists. Therewas a yell of astonishment and fear from the stranger as the Terranjerked him from his perch to the ledge. Ross had his opponent flattenedunder him before he realized that the other had offered no struggle, butlay still.

  "What is it?" Karara's torch beam caught them both. Ross looked downinto a thin brown face not too different from his own. The wide-set eyeswere closed, and the mouth gaped open. Though he believed the Hawaikanunconscious, Ross still kept hold on those wrists as he moved from thesprawled body. With the girl's aid he used a length of kelp to securethe captive.

  The stranger wore a garment of glistening skintight material whichcovered body, legs, and feet, but left his lanky arms bare. A belt abouthis waist had loops for a number of objects, among them a hook-pointedknife which Ross prudently removed.

  "Why, he is only a boy," Karara said. "Where did he come from, Ross?"

  The Terran pointed to the wall crevice. "He was up there, watching you."

  Her eyes were wide and round. "Why?"

  Ross dragged his prisoner back against the wall of the cave. Afterwitnessing the fate of those who had swum ashore from the wreck, he didnot like to think what motive might have brought the Hawaikan here.Again Karara's thoughts must have matched his, for she added:

  "But he did not even draw his knife. What are you going to do with him,Ross?"

  That problem already occupied the Terran. The wisest move undoubtedlywas to kill the native out of hand. But such ruthlessness was more thanhe could stomach. And if he could learn anything from the stranger--gainsome knowledge of this new world and its ways--he would be twice winner.Why, this encounter might even lead to Ashe!

  "Ross ... his leg. See?" The girl pointed.

  The tight fit of the alien's clothing made the defect clear; the rightleg of the stranger was shrunken and twisted. He was a cripple.

  "What of it?" Ross demanded sharply. This was no time for an appeal tothe sympathies.

  But Karara did not urge any modification of the bonds as he half fearedshe would. Instead, she sat back cross-legged, an odd, withdrawnexpression making her seem remote though he could have put out his handto touch her.

  "His lameness--it could be a bridge," she observed, to Ross'smystification.

  "A bridge--what do you mean?"

  The girl shook her head. "This is only a feeling, not a true thought.But also it is important. Look, I think he is waking."

  The lids above those large eyes were fluttering. Then with a shake ofthe head, the Hawaikan blinked up at them. Blank bewilderment was allRoss could read in the stranger's expression until the alien saw Karara.Then a flood of clicking speech poured from his lips.

  He seemed utterly astounded when they made no answer. And the fluency ofhis first outburst took on a pleading note, while the expectancy of hisfirst greeting faded away.

  Karara spoke to Ross. "He is becoming afraid, very much afraid. Atfirst, I think, he was pleased ... happy."

  "But why?"

  The girl shook her head. "I do not know; I can only feel. Wait!" Herhand rose in imperious command. She did not rise to her feet, butcrawled on hands and knees to the edge of the ledge. Both dolphins werethere, raising their heads well out of the water, their actionsexpressing unusual excitement.

  "Ross!" Karara's voice rang loudly. "Ross, they can understand him!Tino-rau and Taua can understand him!"

  "You mean, they understand this language?" Ross found that fantastic,awesome as the abilities of the dolphins were.

  "No, his mind. It's his mind, Ross. Somehow he thinks in patterns theycan pick up and read! They do that, you know, with a few of us, but notin the same way. This is more direct, clearer! They're so excited!"

  Ross glanced at the prisoner. The alien had wriggled about, striving toraise his head against the wall as a support. His captor pulled theHawaikan into a sitting position, but the native accepted that aidalmost as if he were not even aware of Ross's hands on his body. Hestared with a kind of horrified disbelief at the bobbing dolphin heads.

  "He is afraid," Karara reported. "He has never known such communicationbefore."

  "Can they ask him questions?" demanded Ross. If this odd mental tiebetween Terran dolphin and Hawaikan did exist, then there was a chanceto learn about this world.

  "They can try. Now he only knows fear, and they must break throughthat."

  What followed was the most unusual four-sided conversation Ross couldhave ever imagined. He put a question to Karara, who relayed it to thedolphins. In turn, they asked it mentally of the Hawaikan and conveyedhis answer back via the same route.

  It took some time to allay the fears of the stranger. But at last theHawaikan entered wholeheartedly into the exchange.

  "He is the son of the lord ruling the castle above." Karara produced thefirst rational and complete answer. "But for some reason he is notaccepted by his own kind. Perhaps," she added on her own, "it is becausehe is crippled. The sea is his home, as he expresses it, and he believesme to be some mythical being out of it. He saw me swimming, masked, andwith the dolphins, and he is sure I change shape at will."

  She hesitated. "Ross, I get something odd here. He does know, or thinkshe knows, creatures who can appear and disappear at will. And he isafraid of their powers."

  "Gods and goddesses--perfectly natural."

  Karara shook her head. "No, this is more concrete than a religiousbelief."

  Ross had a sudden inspiration. Hurriedly he described the cloaked figurewho had driven the castle people from the piles of salvage. "Ask himabout that one."

  She relayed the question. Ross saw the prisoner's head jerk around. TheHawaikan looked from Karara to her companion, a shade of speculation inhis expression.

  "He wants to know why you ask about the Foanna? Surely you must wellknow what manner of beings they are."

  "Listen--" Ross was sure now that he had made a real discovery, thoughits importance he could not guess, "tell him we come from where thereare no Foanna. That we have powers and must know of their powers."

  If he could only carry on this interrogation straight and not have todepend upon a double translation! And could he even be sure hisquestions reached the alien undistorted?

  Wearily Ross sat back on his heels. Then he glanced at Karara with atwinge of concern. If he was tired by their roundabout communication,she must be doubly so. There was a droop to her shoulders, and her lastreply had come in a voice hoarse with fatigue. Abruptly he started up.

  "That's enough--for now."

  Which was true. He had to have time for evaluation, to adjust to whatthey had learned during the steady stream of questions passed back andforth. And in that moment he was conscious of his hunger, just as hisvoice was paper dry from lack of drink. The canister of supplies he hadleft by the cave entrance ...

  "We need food and drink." He fumbled with his mask, but Karara motionedhim back from the water.

  "Taua brings ... Wait!"

  The dolphin trailed the net of containers to the
m. Ross unscrewed one,pulled out a bulb of fresh water. A second box yielded the dry wafers ofemergency rations.

  Then, after a moment's hesitation, Ross crossed to the prisoner, cut hiswrist bonds, and pressed both a bulb and a wafer into his hold. TheHawaikan watched the Terrans eat before he bit into the wafer, chewingit with vigor, turning the bulb around in his fingers with alertinterest before he sucked at its contents.

  As Ross chewed and swallowed, mechanically and certainly with no relish,he fitted one fact to another to make a picture of this Hawaikan timeperiod in which they were now marooned. Of course, his picture was basedon facts they had learned from their captive. Perhaps he had purposelymisled them or fogged some essentials. But could he have done that in amental contact? Ross would simply have to accept everything with acertain amount of cautious skepticism.

  Anyway, there were the Wreckers of the castle--petty lordlings settingup their holds along the coasts, preying upon the shipping which was thelifeblood of this island-water world. The Terrans had seen them inaction last night and today. And if the captive's information wascorrect, it was not only the storm's fury which brought the waves'harvest. The Wreckers had some method of attracting ships to crack up ontheir reefs.

  Some method of attraction.... And that force which had pulled theTerrans through the time gate; could there be a connection? However,there remained the Wreckers on the cliff. And their prey, the seafarersof the ocean, with an understandably deep enmity between them.

  Those two parties Ross could understand and be prepared to deal with, hethought. But there remained the Foanna. And, from their prisoner'sexplanation, the Foanna were a very different matter.

  They possessed a power which did not depend upon swords or ships or thenatural tools and weapons of men. No, they had strengths which wereunearthly, to give them superiority in all but one way--numbers. Thoughthe Foanna had their warriors and servants, as Ross had seen on thebeach, they, themselves, were of another race--a very old and dying raceof which few remained. How many, their enemies could not say, for theFoanna had no separate identities known to the outer world. Theyappeared, gave their orders, levied their demands, opposed or aided asthey wished--always just one or two at a time--always so muffled intheir cloaks that even their physical appearances remained a mystery.But there was no mystery about their powers. Ross gathered that noWrecker lord, no matter how much a leader among his own kind, howambitious, had yet dared to oppose actively one of the Foanna, though hemight make a token protest against some demand from them.

  And certainly the captive's description of those powers in actionsuggested a supernatural origin of Foanna knowledge, or at least for itsapplication. But Ross thought that the answer might be that theypossessed the remnants of some almost forgotten technical know-how, theheritage of a very old race. He had tried to learn something of theorigin of the Foanna themselves, wondering if the robed ones could befrom the galactic empire. But the answer had come that the Foanna wereolder than recorded time, that they had lived in the great citadelbefore the race of the Terrans' prisoner had risen from very primitivesavagery.

  "What do we do now?" Karara broke in upon Ross's thoughts as sherefastened the containers.

  "These slaves that the Wreckers take upon occasion ... Maybe Ashe...."Ross was catching at very fragile straws; he had to. And the strangerhad said that able-bodied men who swam ashore relatively uninjured weretaken captive. Several had been the night before.

  "Loketh."

  Ross and Karara looked around. The prisoner put down the water bulb, andone of his hands made a gesture they could not mistake; he pointed tohimself and repeated that word, "Loketh."

  The Terran touched his own chest. "Ross Murdock."

  Perhaps the other was as impatient as he with their roundabout method ofcommunication and had decided to try and speed it up. The analyzer! Ashehad included the analyzer with the equipment by the gate. If Ross couldfind that ... why, then the major problem could be behind them. Swiftlyhe explained to Karara, and with a vigorous nod of assent she called toTaua, ordering the rest of the salvage material from the gate be broughtto them.

  "Loketh." Ross pointed to the youth. "Ross." That was himself. "Karara."He indicated the girl.

  "Rosss." The alien made a clicking hiss of the first name. "Karara--" Hedid better with the second.

  Ross carefully unpacked the box Taua had located. He had only slightknowledge of how the device worked. It was intended to record a strangelanguage, break it down into symbols already familiar to the TimeAgents. But could it also be used as a translator with a totally alientongue? He could only hope that the rough handling of its journeythrough the gate had not damaged it and that the experiment mightpossibly work.

  Putting the box between them, he explained what he wanted; and Kararatook up the small micro-disk, speaking slowly and distinctly the sameliquid syllables she had used in the dolphin song. Ross clicked thelever when she was finished, and watched the small screen. The symbolswhich flashed there had meaning for him right enough; he could translatewhat she had just taped. The machine still worked to that extent.

  Now he pushed the box into place before Loketh and made the visiblyreluctant Hawaikan take the disk from Karara. Then through the dolphinlink Ross passed on definite instructions. Would it work as well totranslate a stellar tongue as it had with languages past and present ofhis own planet?

  Reluctantly Loketh began to talk to the disk, at first in a very rapidmumble and then, as there was no frightening response, with less speedand more confidence. There were symbol lines on the vista-plate inaccordance, and some of them made sense! Ross was elated.

  "Ask him: Can one enter the castle unseen to check on the slaves?"

  "For what reason?"

  Ross was sure he had read those symbols correctly.

  "Tell him--that one of our kind may be among them."

  Loketh did not reply so quickly this time. His eyes, grave andmeasuring, studied Ross, then Karara, then Ross again.

  "There is a way ... discovered by this useless one."

  Ross did not pay attention to the odd adjective Loketh chose to describehimself. He pressed to the important matter.

  "Can and will he show me that way?"

  Again that long moment of appraisal on the part of Loketh before heanswered. Ross found himself reading the reply symbols aloud.

  "If you dare, then I will lead."