Star Born Page 7

  7

  MANY EYES, MANY EARS

  This was not the first time Dalgard had faced the raging fury of asnake-devil thirsting for a kill. The slaying he had done in the arenawas an exception to the rule, not the usual hunter's luck. And nowthat he saw the creature crouched at the far end of the hall he wasready. Sssuri, also, followed their familiar pattern, separating fromhis companion and slipping along the wall toward the monster, ready toattract its attention at the proper moment.

  Only one doubt remained in Dalgard's mind. This devil had not acted inthe normal brainless fashion of its kin. What if it was able to assessthe very simple maneuvers, which always before had completely baffledits species, and attacked not the moving merman but the waitingarcher?

  It was backed against another door, a closed one, as if it had fledfor refuge to some aid it had expected and did not find. But as Sssurimoved, its long neck straightened until it was almost at right angleswith its narrow shoulders, and from its snake's jaws proceeded ahorrific hissing which arose to a scream as its leg muscles tensed fora spring.

  At just the right moment Sssuri's arm went back, his spear sangthrough the air. And the snake-devil, with an incredible twist of itsneck, caught the haft of the weapon between its teeth, crunching theiron-hard substance into powder. But with that move it exposed itsthroat, and the arrow from Dalgard's bow was buried head-deep in thesoft inner flesh.

  The snake-devil spat out the spear and tried to raise its head. Butthe muscles were already weakening. It fought the poison long enoughto take a single step forward, its small red eyes alight withbrainless hate. Then it crashed and lay twisting. Dalgard lowered hisbow. There was no need for a second shot.

  Sssuri regarded the remains of his spear unhappily. Not only was itthe product of long hours of work, but no merman ever felt fullyequipped to face the world without such a weapon to hand. He salvagedthe barbed head and broke it free of the shred of haft the snake-devilhad left. Knotting it at his belt he turned to Dalgard.

  "Shall we see what lies beyond?"

  Dalgard crossed the hall to test the door. It did not yield to aninward push, but rolled far enough into the wall to allow themthrough.

  On the other side was a room which amazed the scout. The colonists hadtheir laboratory, their workshops, in which they experimented andtried to preserve the remnants of knowledge their forefathers hadbrought across space, as well as to discover new. But the extent ofthis storehouse with its bewildering mass of odd machines, tanks,bales, and stocked shelves and tables, was too much to be taken inwithout a careful and minute examination.

  "We are not the first to walk here." Sssuri had given little attentionto what was stacked about him. Instead he bent over the disturbed dustin one aisle. Dalgard noted as he went to join the merman that therewere gaps on those tables which ran the full length of the room, linesleft in the grimy deposit of years which told of things recentlymoved. And then he saw what had interested Sssuri: tracks, someresembling those which his own bare feet might leave, except thatthere were only three toes!

  "_They._"

  Dalgard who had been a hunter and a tracker before he was an explorercrouched for a clearer view. Yes, they were recent, yet not made todayor even yesterday; there was a thin film of dust resettled in each.

  "Some days ago. They are not in the city now," the merman declaredwith certainty. "But they will come again."

  "How do you know that?"

  Sssuri's hand swept about to include the wealth around them. "Theyhave taken some, perhaps to them the most needful. But they will notbe able to resist gathering the rest. Surely they will return, perhapsnot once but many times. Until--"

  "Until they come to stay." Dalgard was grim as he completed thatsentence for the other.

  "That is what they will work for. This land was once under theirmastery. This world was theirs before they threw it away warring amongthemselves. Yes, they dream of holding all once more. But"--Sssuri'syellow eyes took on some of the fire which had shone in those of thesnake-devil during its last seconds of life--"that must not be so!"

  "If they take the land, you have the sea," Dalgard pointed out. Themermen had a means of escape. But what of his own clansmen? Largefamilies were unknown among the Terran colonists. In the little morethan a century they had been on this planet their numbers, from theforty-five survivors of the voyage, had grown to only some two hundredand fifty, of which only a hundred and twenty were old enough or youngenough to fight. And for them there was no retreat or hiding place.

  "We do not go bask to the depths!" There was stern determination inthat declaration from Sssuri. His tribe had been long hunted, and itwasn't until they had made a loose alliance with the Terran coloniststhat they had dared to leave the dangerous ocean depths, where theywere the prey of monsters more ferocious and cunning than anysnake-devil, to house their families in the coast caves and on thesmall islands off-shore, to increase in numbers and develop new skillsof civilization. No, knowing the stubbornness which was bred intotheir small, furry bodies, Dalgard did not believe that many of thesea people would willingly go back into the sunless depths. They wouldnot surrender tamely to the rulership of the loathed race.

  "I don't see," Dalgard spoke aloud, half to himself, as he studied thetables closely packed, the machines standing on bases about the walls,the wealth of alien technology, "what we can do to stop them."

  The restriction drilled into him from early childhood, that theknowledge of Those Others was not for his race and in some waydangerous, gave him an uneasy feeling of guilt just to be standingthere. Danger, danger which was far worse than physical, lurkedthere. And he could bring it to life by merely putting out his handand picking up any one of those fascinating objects which lay onlyinches away. For the pull of curiosity was warring inside him againstthe stern warnings of his Elders.

  Once when Dalgard had been very small he had raided his father's tripbag after the next to the last exploring journey the elder Nordis hadmade. And he had found a clear block of some kind of greenish crystal,in the heart of which threadlike lines of color wove patterns whichwere utterly strange. When he had turned the block in his hand, thoselines had whirled and changed to form new and intricate designs. Andwhen he had watched them intently it had seemed that somethinghappened inside his mind and he knew, here and there, a word, afragment of alien thought--just as he normally communicated with thecub who was Sssuri or the hoppers of the field. And his surprise hadbeen so great that he had gone running to his father with the cube andthe story of what happened when one watched it.

  But there had been no praise for his discovery. Instead he had beenhurried off to the chamber where an old, old man, the son of the GreatMan who had planned to bring them across space, lay in his bed. AndForken Kordov himself had talked to Dalgard in his old voice, a voiceas withered and thin as the hands crossed helplessly on his shrunkenbody, explaining in simple, kindly words that the knowledge which layin the cubes, in the oddly shaped books which the Terrans sometimescame across in the ruins, was not for them. That his owngreat-grandfather Dard Nordis, who had been one of the first of themutant line of sensitives, had discovered that. And Dalgard, impressedby Forken, by his father's concern, and by all the circumstances ofthat day, had never forgotten nor lost that warning.

  "_We_ cannot hope to stop them," Sssuri pointed out. "But we mustlearn when they will come again and be waiting for them--with yourpeople and mine. For I tell you now, brother of the knife, they mustnot be allowed to rise once more!"

  "And how can we foretell their coming?" Dalgard wanted to know.

  "Perhaps that alone we cannot do. But when they come they will notleave speedily. They have stayed here before without harm, and theirdistrust has been lulled. When next they come, it will be onlyaccording to their natures that they will wish to stay longer. Notsnatching up the closest to hand of these treasures of theirs, butchoosing out with care those things which will give them the bestresults. Therefore they may make a camp, and we can summon others toaid us."

/>   "To return to Homeport will take several days even if we push,"pointed out the scout.

  "Word can pass swifter than man," the merman returned, with confidencein his own plan of action. "We shall put other eyes, other ears, manyeyes, many ears, to service for us. Be assured we are not the onlyones to fear the return of Those Others from overseas."

  Dalgard caught his meaning. Yes, it would not be the first time thehoppers and other small animals living in the grasslands, the runnersand even the moth birds that only the mermen could mind touch, wouldrelay a message across the land. It might not be an accuratemessage--to transmit that by small animal brains was impossible--butthe meaning would reach both merman and colony Elders: trouble in thenorth, help needed there. And since Dalgard was the only explorer atpresent who had chosen the northern trails, his people would know thathe had sent that warning and would act upon it, as Sssuri's messagewould in turn be heeded by the warriors of his tribe.

  Yes, it could be done. But what of the traces they had left here--theslaughtered snake-devils--?

  Sssuri had an answer for that also. "Let them believe that one of myrace came here, or that a party of us ventured to explore inland. Wecan make it appear that way. But they must not know of you. I do notbelieve that they ever learned of you or how your fathers came fromthe sky. And so that may swing the battle in our favor if it comes toopen warfare."

  What the merman said was sensible enough, and Dalgard was willing toobey orders. As he left the storehouse, Sssuri trailed him, scuffingeach dusty print the scout left. Perhaps a master of trailcraft couldunravel that spoor, but the colonist was ready to believe that no suchmaster existed in the ranks of Those Others.

  In the outer hall the merman approached the now dead snake-devil andjerked from its loose skin the arrow which had killed it. Loosing thehead of his ruined spear from his belt, he dug and gouged at the smallwound, tearing it so that its original nature was concealed forever.Then they retraced their way through the underground passages untilthey reached the sanded arena. Already insects buzzed hungrily aboutthe hulks of the dead monsters.

  There was a shrill squeal as the remaining infant reptile fled fromthe pouch where it had hidden. Sssuri hurled his knife, and the bladecaught the small devil above the shoulder line, half cutting, halfsnapping its tender neck, so that it bounded aimlessly on to crashagainst the wall and fall back squirming feebly.

  They collected the darts which had killed the others. Dalgard took theopportunity to study those bands on the forearms of the adults. To histouch they had the slick smoothness of metal, yet he was unfamiliarwith the material. It possessed the ruddy fire of copper, but throughit ran small black veins. He would have liked to have taken one withhim for investigation, but it was out of the question to pry it offthat scaled limb.

  Sssuri straightened up from his last gruesome bit of stage-settingwith a sigh of relief. "Go ahead." He pointed to one of the otherarchways. "I will confuse the trail."

  Dalgard obeyed, treading as lightly as he could, avoiding allstretches in which he could leave a clear print. Sssuri ran lightlyback and forth mixing the few impressions to the best of his ability.

  They backtracked to the river, retrieved the boat and recrossed, toleave the city behind and strike into the open country beyond itssinister walls. Night was falling, and Dalgard was very glad that hewas not to spend the time of darkness within those haunted buildings.But he knew that it was more than a dislike for being shut up in thealien dwellings which had brought Sssuri out into the fields. Thesecond part of their plan must be put into operation.

  While Dalgard willed his body motionless, the merman lay relaxed uponthe ground before him as he might have floated upon his beloved wavesin some secluded cove. His brilliant eyes were closed. Yet Dalgardknew that Sssuri was far from asleep, and with all his own power hetried to join in the broadcast: that urgency which should send somehopper, some night runner, on to spread the rumor that there wastrouble in the north, that danger existed and must be investigated.They had already met one colony of runners ranging southward toescape. But if they could send another such tribe traveling, arouseand aim south a hopper exodus, the story would spread until the fringewould reach the animals who lived in peace within touch of Homeport.

  The sun was gone, the dark gathered fast. Dalgard could not even seethe clustered buildings of the city now. And since he lacked Sssuri'srange and staying power, he had no idea whether their efforts had metwith even a shadow of success. He shivered in the bite of the wind anddared to lay his hand on Sssuri's shoulder, feeling anew the electricshock of warmth and bursting life which was always there.

  Having so broken the other's absorption he asked a question: "Would itnot be well, brother of the knife, if with the rising sun you returnedto the sea and struck out to join your tribesmen, leaving me here towatch until you return?"

  Sssuri's answer came with a speed which suggested that he, too, hadbeen considering that problem. "We shall see what happens with thesun's rising. It is true that in the sea I can travel with greaterspeed, that there are hunting parties of my people striking into thesewaters. But they will not come to this city without good reason. It isan accursed place."

  With the early morning the city drew them once more. Dalgard'scuriosity pulled him to that storehouse. He could not stifle the hopethat with luck he might find something there which would solve theirproblem for them. If there could only be a way to avoid open conflictwith Those Others, some solution whereby the aliens need never know ofthe existence of the Colony. For so many generations, even centuries,the aliens had been confined, or had confined themselves, safelyoverseas on the western continent. Perhaps if now they were faced bysome new catastrophe, they would never attempt to come east again. Hehad visions of discovering and activating some trap set to protecttheir treasures which could be turned against them. But he realizedthat he lacked the technical knowledge which would have aided him inthe search for such a weapon.

  The remnants of Terran science and mechanics, which the outlaws hadbrought with them from their native world, had been handed on; theexperiments they had managed since with crude equipment had beencarefully recorded, and he was acquainted with the outlines of most ofthem. But the few destructive arms they had imported were long sinceworn out or lacked charges, and they had not been able to duplicatethem. Just as they had torn asunder the ship in which they had crossedspace, to use its parts for the building of Homeport, so had theyhoarded all else they had brought. But they were limited by lack ofmaterials on Astra, and their fear of the knowledge of the aliens hadkept them from experimenting with things found in the ruins.

  There might be hundreds of objects on the shelves of that storageplace, which, properly used, would reduce not only just the room andits contents to glowing slag, but take half the city with it. But hehad no idea which, or which combination, would do it.

  And here Sssuri could be no help. The mermen had made great stridesforward in biological and mental sciences, but mechanics was a closedsection of learning because of their enforced habitat under the sea,and of machines they knew less than the colonists.

  "I have been thinking--" Sssuri broke into his companion's chain ofreasoning, "of what we may do. And perhaps there is a way to reach thesea more swiftly than by returning overland."

  "Downriver? But you said that way may have its watching devices."

  "Which would be centered on objects coming upstream, not down. But inthis city there should be yet another way--"

  He did not enlarge upon that, but since he apparently knew what he wasdoing, Dalgard let him play guide once more. They recrossed thesluggish river, the scout looking into its murky depths with littlerelish for it as a means of transportation. Though it had an oily,flowing current, there was a suggestion of stagnant water withunpleasant surprises waiting beneath its turgid surface.

  For the second time they entered the arena. Avoiding the bodies,Sssuri made a circuit of the sanded floor. He did not turn in at thearchway which led to the storage place, but paus
ed before another asif there lay what he had been searching for.

  Dalgard's less sensitive nostrils picked up a new scent, thenot-to-be-missed fetor of damp underground ways where water stood.The merman edged around a barred gate as Dalgard sniffed again. Thesmell of damp was crossed by other and even less appetizing odors, buthe did not catch the stench of the snake-devils. And, relying onSssuri's judgment, he followed the merman into the dark.

  Once again patches of violet light glimmered over their heads as thepassage narrowed and sloped downward. Dalgard tried to remember thegeneral geography of the section which was above them now. He hadassumed that this way with its dank chill must give on the river. Butwhen they had pattered on for a long distance, he knew that eitherthey had passed beneath the stream or that he was totally lost as todirection.

  As their eyes adjusted to the gloom of the passage the violet lightgrew stronger. So Dalgard saw clearly when Sssuri whirled and facedback along the way they had come, his body in a half crouch, his knifeready in his hand.

  Dalgard, his bow useless in the damp, drew his own sword-knife. But,though his mind probed and he listened, he could sense or hear nothingon their trail.