[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
picking up wood, studying him out of the corner of my eye.
He was an adult male, carrying a spear. That was bad. If he had been a child
he might have been on his Walk North, accidentally stumbling on us. An adult
had no reason to be here except us, and he wouldn't be here alone.
I didn't recognize him. If he wasn't from the Camchai family, that probably
meant they had enlisted the aid of other families, so we might be up against
any number. But I couldn't be sure; even in social situations I often got
individuals mixed up. Maria was good at telling them apart. I took an armload
of wood back to the camp and quietly woke her up and explained what was
happening. She walked over to the other side of the island, casually picking up
sticks, and took a look. But he was gone.
We had a whispered conference and decided to stay on the island. They
would have a hard time rushing us; the river bottom was too muddy for
running. And their spears couldn't reach us from either bank.
She's taken over the watch now. Enough talking. Try to sleep.
Brenda
What a terrible night. Nobody woke me for my afternoon watch turn, so I
slept almost until dark. Maria said she hadn't awakened me because she was
too nervous to sleep anyhow, and explained about Gab seeing the Plathy.
When the sun went down we lit the fire, and Gab joined us. We decided to
double the watch two on, one off, one person with a crazer watching each
bank. Maria curled up by the fire and tried to sleep.
They hit us about an hour before midnight, coming from Gab's side, the
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
near bank. He called out and I ran over.
Spears falling out of the darkness. We had the fire behind us, and so were
pretty good targets. Crazers don't make much light; we had to fan them and
hope we hit someone. All the time running back and forth sideways, trying to
spoil their aim. Maria woke up and I gave her the club crazer, then retired to
the other side of the island, under Gab's orders: watch for an "envelopment."
But they weren't that sophisticated.
No way to tell how many we killed. The spears came less and less
frequently, and then there were rocks, and then nothing. When dawn came,
pieces of four or five sliced-up Plathy bodies lay on the shore, any number
having been washed downstream.
I wish I could feel guilty about it. Two weeks ago, I would have. Instead, I
have to admit to a kind of manic glee. We beat them. They snuck up on us and
we beat them.
Maria
We burned both crazers down to quarter charge. A little more than half
charge on the two backup cells. But I don't expect any more attacks like last
night. They aren't dumb.
So much for the First Commandment. We've demonstrated high
technology. Some of them must have survived, to go back and tell others
about the magic. But we had no choice.
From now on we'll have to assume we're being followed, of course, and be
triply careful about ambush setups. That won't be a real problem until the last
day or two, traveling with thick jungle on both sides of the river. Why did we
have to be so cautious in siting the dome?
Well, it may turn out that we'll be glad it's where it is. What if they follow
us all the way there? If they try to encircle the clearing and wait us out, the
jungle will get them; we won't have to do a thing. Plathy skills work fine
down on their friendly island, but up where the dome is situated a hunting
party armed with clubs and spears wouldn't last a week. Free lunch for the
fauna.
We have to push on fast. Islands like this one will be common while the
river is wide and slow. We'll be fairly safe. When the jungle closes in on both
sides, though, the river will become a narrow twisting cataract. No island
protection but its noise might confound Plathy hearing, make it harder for
them to ambush us.
At any rate, this is the plan: each day on the plain, cover as much ground as
possible, consistent with getting a few hours of sleep each night. Rest up just
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
south of the jungle and then make a forced march, two days to the dome.
Maybe this haste is unnecessary. If the Plathys were their normal, rather
sensible selves, they'd cut their losses and go home. But now we have no idea
of what's normal. They may harry us until we kill them all. That would be
good for the race, leaving it relatively uncontaminated culturally. Bad for us.
A few more engagements like last night and we won't have enough power in
the crazers to make it through the jungle. Might as well stand by the river and
sing blood songs to the hungry lizards.
Gabriel
Five days of no contact, but I can't shake the feeling we're being watched.
Have been watched all the way. Now an afternoon and night of rest on this
last island, and Maria wants us to push all the way to the dome.
Physically, I suppose we can do it. The terrain isn't difficult, since a game
trail parallels the water all the way up. But the game that made the trail are
formidable. They gave us plenty of trouble when there were twelve of us. And
theoretically no Plathys.
(I wonder about that now, though. Surely someone was watching us back
when we buried the weapons. How long had they been following us? They
claimed that they never go to the mainland, except for a few brave Walkers,
and of course they always tell the truth. About what they remember, anyhow.)
I haven't recorded anything for a long time. Waiting for my state of mind to
improve. After the night of the attack I ran out of hope. Things haven't
improved but I'm talking to myself to stay awake for the rest of this watch. I
think Brenda's doing the same thing. Sitting on the other side of the island
staring at the water, mumbling. I should go remind her to pay attention. But I
can cover both banks from this side.
Besides, if they're going to hit us, I wish they'd hit us here. Clear fields of
fire all around. Of course they won't; they learn from their mistakes, Maria
says.
I'm being paranoiac. They're gone. The being-watched feeling, I don't
know. Ever since Derek got it I've been a I've been . . . loose in the head.
Trying to control this this panic. They look to me for strength, even Maria
does, but all I have is muscle, jaw muscle to keep the screams in. When that
one swam by us headed for the mainland I knew we were deep in shit.
Derek had religion. We argued long nights about that. What would he be
doing now, praying? "Nuestro Senor que vines en el cielo, alabado sea to
nombre. . . ." Good spear repellent. I miss him so.
Nobody will ever find this tooth with its feeble beep transmitter. When they
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]