The Science Fiction anthology. Andre Norton

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      The two of them turned immediately.

      “You two scout ahead,” Extrone said. “See if you can pick up some tracks.”

      “Yes, sir,” Ri said, and instantly the two of them readjusted their shoulder straps and started off.

      Shortly they were inside of the scrub forest, safe from sight. “Let’s wait here,” Mia said.

      “No, we better go on. He may have sent a spy in.”

      They pushed on, being careful to blaze the trees, because they were not professional guides.

      “We don’t want to get too near,” Ri said after toiling through the forest for many minutes. “Without guns, we don’t want to get near enough for the farn beast to charge us.”

      They stopped. The forest was dense, the vines clinging.

      “He’ll want the bearers to hack a path for him,” Mia said. “But we go it alone. Damn him.”

      Ri twisted his mouth into a sour frown. He wiped at his forehead. “Hot. By God, it’s hot. I didn’t think it was this hot, the first time we were here.”

      Mia said, “The first time, we weren’t guides. We didn’t notice it so much then.”

      They fought a few yards more into the forest.

      Then it ended. Or, rather, there was a wide gap. Before them lay a blast area, unmistakable. The grass was beginning to grow again, but the tree stumps were roasted from the rocket breath.

      “This isn’t ours!” Ri said. “This looks like it was made nearly a year ago!”

      Mia’s eyes narrowed. “The military from Xnile?”

      “No,” Ri said. “They don’t have any rockets this small. And I don’t think there’s another cargo rocket on this planet outside of the one we leased from the Club. Except the one he brought.”

      “The ones who discovered the farn beasts in the first place?” Mia asked. “You think it’s their blast?”

      “So?” Ri said. “But who are they?”

      It was Mia’s turn to shrug. “Whoever they were, they couldn’t have been hunters. They’d have kept the secret better.”

      “We didn’t do so damned well.”

      “We didn’t have a chance,” Mia objected. “Everybody and his brother had heard the rumor that farn beasts were somewhere around here. It wasn’t our fault Extrone found out.”

      “I wish we hadn’t shot our guide, then. I wish he was here instead of us.”

      Mia shook perspiration out of his eyes. “We should have shot our pilot, too. That was our mistake. The pilot must have been the one who told Extrone we’d hunted this area.”

      “I didn’t think a Club pilot would do that.”

      “After Extrone said he’d hunt farn beasts, even if it meant going to the alien system? Listen, you don’t know.... Wait a minute.”

      There was perspiration on Ri’s upper lip.

      “I didn’t tell Extrone, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Mia said.

      Ri’s mouth twisted. “I didn’t say you did.”

      “Listen,” Mia said in a hoarse whisper. “I just thought. Listen. To hell with how he found out. Here’s the point. Maybe he’ll shoot us, too, when the hunt’s over.”

      Ri licked his lips. “No. He wouldn’t do that. We’re not—not just anybody. He couldn’t kill us like that. Not even him. And besides, why would he want to do that? It wouldn’t do any good to shoot us. Too many people already know about the farn beasts. You said that yourself.”

      Mia said, “I hope you’re right.” They stood side by side, studying the blast area in silence. Finally, Mia said, “We better be getting back.”

      “What’ll we tell him?”

      “That we saw tracks. What else can we tell him?”

      They turned back along their trail, stumbling over vines.

      “It gets hotter at sunset,” Ri said nervously.

      “The breeze dies down.”

      “It’s screwy. I didn’t think farn beasts had this wide a range. There must be a lot of them, to be on both sides of the ridge like this.”

      “There may be a pass,” Mia said, pushing a vine away.

      Ri wrinkled his brow, panting. “I guess that’s it. If there were a lot of them, we’d have heard something before we did. But even so, it’s damned funny, when you think about it.”

      Mia looked up at the darkening sky. “We better hurry,” he said.

      When it came over the hastily established camp, the rocket was low, obviously looking for a landing site. It was a military craft, from the outpost on the near moon, and forward, near the nose, there was the blazoned emblem of the Ninth Fleet. The rocket roared directly over Extrone’s tent, turned slowly, spouting fuel expensively, and settled into the scrub forest, turning the vegetation beneath it sere by its blasts.

      Extrone sat on an upholstered stool before his tent and spat disgustedly and combed his beard with his blunt fingers.

      Shortly, from the direction of the rocket, a group of four high-ranking officers came out of the forest, heading toward him. They were spruce, the officers, with military discipline holding their waists in and knees almost stiff.

      “What in hell do you want?” Extrone asked.

      They stopped a respectful distance away. “Sir....” one began.

      “Haven’t I told you gentlemen that rockets frighten the game?” Extrone demanded, ominously not raising his voice.

      “Sir,” the lead officer said, “it’s another alien ship. It was sighted a few hours ago, off this very planet, sir.”

      Extrone’s face looked much too innocent. “How did it get there, gentlemen? Why wasn’t it destroyed?”

      “We lost it again, sir. Temporarily, sir.”

      “So?” Extrone mocked.

      “We thought you ought to return to a safer planet, sir. Until we could locate and destroy it.”

      Extrone stared at them for a space. Then, indifferently, he turned away, in the direction of a resting bearer. “You!” he said. “Hey! Bring me a drink!” He faced the officers again. He smiled maliciously. “I’m staying here.”

      The lead officer licked his firm lower lip. “But, sir....”

      Extrone СКАЧАТЬ