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fucking Explorer! You are stupid and boring and your gun is weak!"
Her voice sounded raspy. I pictured crystal fragments lying ragged in her
throat as bits of broken glass splintered off her tissues. Other attacks might
bounce off her hide, but the sonics were killing her. Was she dying already? I
pressed forward as fast as I could; Jelca would soon be in my sights.
He was moving again moving for a better shot at Oar, but also moving into
clear view. It was a gamble on his part... but he must have thought I was
still on the other side of the forest, back where the trail came out of the
trees. The rocks gave him adequate cover in that direction; he might think he
was safe.
I'd teach him otherwise.
Slowly I cocked my arm back, ready to hurl a stone into the side of his head.
His concentration was centered on Oar; he wouldn't see it coming. But before I
could throw, Oar surged to her feet yelling hoarsely and brandishing the axe.
Jelca shied away, and lifted his stunner. I could imagine his finger
tightening on the trigger... so I heaved the stone with all my strength, a
shot aimed at his body rather than his head, because I couldn't afford to
miss. Maybe Oar could withstand another blast and maybe she couldn't.
The stone hit him on the upper arm not his gun hand, but I prayed it was
enough to foul his aim. Without waiting to see, I sprinted forward, grabbing
another rock from my arsenal and hurling it in Jelca's direction. He spun
toward me, ready to fire... but the incoming stone made him duck and then Oar
was screaming, racing at him with the axe. Jelca shot her again, pointblank
range, then flinched as my next stone caught him on the shoulder. I had swung
out wide, far enough that he would need to turn away from Oar to aim at me;
and she was still standing, still holding the axe, even if the last shot had
temporarily numbed her.
With a cry, Jelca fled toward the elevator. I held another rock ready in case
he turned around, but he didn't. He ran straight to the hidden entrance; a
moment later, the door whisked open, then closed. Still wary, I kept my grip
on the stone in my hand as I approached Oar.
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"Festina," she whispered, "I do not feel good."
She fell into my arms.
Damage Assessment
I dragged her to cover in case Jelca was being tricky; he might be waiting to
leap out of the elevator and shoot us both. The safest place I could find was
just inside the edge of the woods: far enough to be out of stunner range, but
with a clear view of the elevator entrance if Jelca tried to sneak out.
Once we were safe, I examined Oar. She was bad. Fluid dribbled out of her
ears, thin fluid with a smell like vinegar. Her breathing crackled each time
she inhaled. After her collapse, she had wet herself; I mopped up as best I
could with a handful of soft-rotted pine needles.
There were no wounds on the outside of her body no chance for me to feel
useful by applying bandages. I pulled the first aid kit from my belt pouch and
looked for anything else that might be useful. Nothing. Antibiotics and
disinfectants intended for a human metabolism, not hers.
And the scalpel, of course.
I wished I had brought my Bumbler at least I could have used it to scan her
on various wavelengths. As it was, her body was as clear as ever, internal
damage invisible.
Oh well,I thought,this time I won't be tempted to operate.
Camping Out
Unable to help Oar, I turned to the problem of Jelca. With due caution, I
approached the outcrop hiding the elevator entrance... and he was gone, back
down to the city.
When I pressed my palm against the plate that opened the door, nothing
happened. I tried it again. And again.
No luck.
Jelca must have shorted out the controls. He didn't want me chasing after
him. More importantly, he didn't want Ullis or a rescue party coming up to
find me and the truth.
I wasted several minutes smashing the door with rocks, then trying to pry it
open with a stick. Even before I started, I knew the effort would prove
futile. The door was thick metal, its frame embedded deep into the mountain
itself. Nothing I could do would budge it.
Back in the woods, Oar was still unconscious, still breathing. The shadows
under the trees had thickened; only the peaks of nearby mountains caught any
sunlight. I would need a fire soon to drive off the chill... and perhaps
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firelight would be good for Oar too. The IR from the flames might be like
giving her intravenous nutrients.
In case Jelca tried to bushwhack us during the night, I built the fire in
front of the elevator entrance. If he tried to come out, we'd see him
immediately. I had also leaned a pile of stones up against the door. If it
started to move, the pile would topple down with enough noise to raise the
alarm.
Once I had propped Oar in front of the fire, I warmed myself a bit, then set
out for the lark-plane, only half a klick away. If it was still in one piece,
I could fly Oar home back to her own village, where I could lay her out in the
Tower of Ancestors and let her absorb a full spectrum of energy. That was the
only way I could think to help her; if she drank in enough strength, her body
might repair itself. Even better, Oar's mother was there in the tower...
dormant yes, but she might stir herself if she saw Oar was seriously injured.
For all I knew, Oar's mother might tell me about some miraculous med-tech
machine that could fix Oar in seconds.
When I got to the lark, I saw it was not going anywhere. Athelrod's crew had
ripped out circuit boards, left wires dangling, even cut away part of one
wing. The plane looked like the victim of vandals; and perhaps it was. I was
beginning to think that the High Council's greatest crime was not committed
against Explorers, but against the people of Melaquin. We were cultural
pollutants, contaminating an otherwise pristine environment. Think of Tobit
and his homebrew... think of the people who had been forced out of this city
by Explorer activities... think of the glass lark in front of me, kept intact
for four thousand years, but torn to useless junk as soon as it fell into
Explorer hands.
And that was ignoring what Jelca intended to do.
Back at the campfire, I sat beside Oar as night drew in. My belt pouch still
contained protein rations the flavorless kind that supply your nutritional [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]