"Hoo-hah," he shouted. "Mucking bastards. Join the army and see the world, they said. Hell, they said the world. Didn't say dogmeat about any other worlds. Recruiting officers. They always lie to you-"
There was a terrible temptation to do something, but he was just rational enough to know he was suffering from oxygen starvation. Better to sit still and rage at the world. Presently he began to sing "The Friggin' Falcon."
When the balloon descended to a lower altitude, Warner could think again. This time he had few choices. His fire bricks were nearly gone, and if he didn't come down here, he'd be into the salt marshes.
The cold dry air at high altitude had left him thirsty. He pulled the plug on the water bag and drank until he was clear-headed and hungry. He munched a piece of dried meat from his ration pouch and composed a mental memo, suggesting that the next Shalnuksi ship be asked to bring a few parachutes for the Balloon Squadron.
Now that his fingers were thawed out, he could tie a large bowline in the end of the rope. He was just in time. The balloon sank so rapidly that he knew that something would break if he hit the ground this hard. The last brick went into the fire and the last of the ballast went overboard. Then he threw the loop over the side. The ground below was forested now. If he could lasso a treetop he could pull himself down, and have something to tell Elliot besides. The sergeant could use a lariat as well as an assault rifle! He'd even roped a centaur on a bet.
Warner wasn't Elliot, but then the treetops weren't centaurs. They stayed put, and eventually Warner got lucky. The loop caught a branch and went tight. By now the balloon had lost so much lift that Warner's muscles were enough to pull it down into the trees. The minute the basket was at the level of a good stout branch, Warner grabbed it with both hands and swung himself into the tree.
The branch promptly bent under his weight, letting him dangle until he lost his grip and dropped to the branch below. It bounced him like a ping-pong ball on to the next branch, and that one let him slide down on to the ground, a drop of ten feet onto leaves and needles. Warner hit with a paratrooper's five-point roll.
The first thing he did when he got his breath back was kneel and kiss the solid ground. The second thing he did was look up.
Four bearded men looked back at him. They wore homespun breeches and leather shirts. Two carried crossbows, one a spear, and one an ax. None of them looked ready to use the weapons, but none of them looked particularly friendly either.
Warner knelt and kissed the ground again, then stood up, holding his hands out to show he bore no weapons. After a moment the man with the bushiest beard laid down his crossbow, knelt, and also kissed the ground. The others followed him. Then they all stood up. The leader pointed upward at the balloon now draped over the treetops, then at Warner. Warner nodded. The leader made what Warner recognized as one of the signs against evil spirits, then raised his crossbow.
Warner shook his head sharply. They probably thought the balloon was a monster which had carried him off. "No," he said aloud. "Do not hurt it." He hoped they'd understand him. Most of Tran spoke dialects of the same language, but some of the dialects were pretty far apart.
"It is yours?" asked the leader.
So he wouldn't have to conduct the discussion in sign language. "Yes. It is my sky-beast. A wizard who is my enemy cast an evil spell on it, so that it fell from the sky. I must stay with you for some days, until I can call other wizards to my aid. They will come, take off the evil spell, and reward you well if you help me."
He looked sternly at them. "They will also punish you if you do not treat me well. The beast will see everything which happens among you, and tell the other wizards."
"You have nothing to fear," said the leader. "We are of Two Springs village, we live by law." He fumbled in his pouch and brought out a cake of what looked like ground-up nuts. Warner ate half of it. There were nutshells as well as meats in the cake, but that didn't matter. They had fed him, and that made him their guest. More than unknown wizards would punish them now if they harmed him.
He turned back to the balloon, raised his arms, and recited a few Army regulations in English. Then he smiled at the men. "The beast has seen what you did, and is glad. Now let us go to your village."
"Your beast will be safe?" said one of the men.
"It will be now that it is on the ground," said Warner. Right now the last thing he wanted to do was straw-boss a gang of Pirate Land villagers into lowering his balloon from the top of a fifty-foot tree. He wanted a drink, a meal, and a girl, and not to have to think about balloons for a while.
10
"You're wearing a new perfume?" said Warner, toying with his glass. Gwen smiled and picked up the wine jug to refill it.
"Yes. Marselius Caesar sent it. He said it was a gift from the Lady Octavia."
"How is she?"
"She is well, but unhappy that I won't be coming with the army."
"I'm glad you're not going."
"I'm not," she said tartly. Warner covered himself by taking a sip from his glass and mopping his plate with a piece of bread.
It was frustrating. She'd obviously laid on this dinner and put on the blue gown to welcome him. She looked good, she smelled good, and he was damned sure she'd feel good if he got close enough. So far though, that blue gown might have been armor plate.
Then she giggled.
"Yes?" he prompted.
"I was thinking about that girl, the one on the second night."
Warner was puzzled for a moment. "Oh. You mean the one who was afraid the sky-beast could see us."
"Yes. Did she really think it would tell tales to the other wizards?"
"I don't think it was the other wizards she was worried about. I think she was afraid the Great Balloon God was going to tell her husband."
"Oh." She giggled again.
He wondered what had gotten into Gwen, other than more wine than usual. She was curious about everything he'd done in Two Springs village, including the girls he'd bedded. You'd have thought she'd be jealous of that.
"You know, I think I should have seen this before," she said. "The people really think a balloon is magical. Even some of the people around the university, who can see that it's a machine. Out in the villages, if someone comes in a balloon, they'll think he's a wizard. They'll listen to what he says! We can start teaching them all the things they won't learn otherwise!"
Warner stared. It made a weird kind of sense. If the teaching squads went out with a balloon, they'd get a lot more attention. People wouldn't sit around waiting for Old MacDonald or the village granny to try the star knowledge. It might not even have to be a man-carrying balloon, either. That would save a lot of cloth and-"The surinomaz processing!" Gwen looked ready to jump out of her chair. "We can start in that village where the midwives know how to make surinomaz into a medicine. If they'll teach the wizards what they know, we can prove that the surinomaz is useful. People will start wanting to grow it. Larry, you may have just saved a whole planet!"
Warner got up and went around the table. "Gwen, you're as smart as you are beautiful. You thought of what to do with the balloons. I just went along for the ride, so to speak."
She stood up and kissed him on the cheek. "Larry, you're a lot braver than you think you are."
Warner put his arms around her and bent to kiss her ups. For a moment he thought she would turn away. Then her face came up and their lips met. Hers trembled, then opened. He tightened his grip. Small fireworks started to go off in various parts of his body.
He held her closely, then let his hands wander downwards.
"Don't."
"Don't what?"
She sighed. "Maybe I mean 'do.' It's been a long time. But just for the moment, I'd like to be held, and not have to think about what happens next."
"Suits me." He held her, and they stood that way for a while.
This could be damn serious, Warner thought. She's one hell of a girl. Nobody like her. And we've done pretty well, running this place. Is it time La
rry Warner settled down?
To what? Fidelity? She'd want that. More'n the local girls would. Monogamy, too. And she knows I'm no damned wizard. But it wouldn't be so bad, and besides, it don't have to be decided now. Nobody's said anything about forever, just tonight…
He bent to kiss her again.
Crash! Wood slammed against stone and metal rang.
"Dog!"
An angry voice made more echoes in the room. Something struck Larry Warner's head. A hard blow, that left a ringing in his ears. Gwen screamed.
Warner fell to the floor as if unconscious. The instant he was down he snap-rolled under the table, then rolled again to get behind it. As he stood he drew his Walther.380 automatic, wishing it were the.45 hanging by the door with his jacket. The Walther would just have to do. By the time he was back on his feet he had spread his legs and was holding the piece in both hands, his eye sighting down the barrel at the kilted figure in the room- "Larry! No!" Gwen shouted. "No!" She dashed across the room and into Warner's line of fire.
He'd almost squeezed off the round! He jerked the piece upwards to point at the ceiling, and from pure rage and frustration he fired. The shot sounded very loud in the enclosed room.
"Larry!" Gwen screamed again. Then she saw where the pistol was pointed.
"Move!" Warner commanded. "No son of a bitch comes bustin' in on me! I'll blow the bastard away-" He stopped shouting as he realized who the intruder was. "Caradoc?"
The archer captain had been in command of the search party that found Warner. He'd stayed behind to see that the balloon was safely loaded on the pack animals. And, Warner realized, he'd not only finished that task in record time, he must have ridden like hell to get here. Why? To see Gwen. And maybe jealous of Warner, too.
Now he stood there defiantly. "If you have honor, you will allow me a weapon," Caradoc said. "You may have your star weapons, and I my bow…"
Warner laughed. "You talk about honor, Boy Scout. Not me. I fight for pay. And you're dead."
"Larry, you can't." Gwen wasn't shouting any longer.
"Why not?"
"Captain Galloway will have you shot, that's why."
"I need no woman to argue for my life!" Caradoc shouted.
"You need something you haven't got," Warner said. "You also need to explain how you got in here."
"Miss Tremaine!" The shout came from the hall.
"Jesus, that's Elliot," Warner said. He raised his voice. "In here, Sergeant Major."
Elliot came in. His.45 was cocked and ready. He looked at Warner, then at Caradoc. "Okay, Professor, what's happening?"
"Nothing," Gwen said. "It's nothing at all. Please leave."
"Not friggin' likely."
"It's okay, Sarge," Warner said. "We were showin' Captain Caradoc a couple of moves, and maybe it got out of hand. I let a round go into the ceiling."
Elliot looked suspiciously at them. "Sure that's all?"
"Yeah."
"It's all right," Gwen said.
"Okay, if you say so." He snapped on the safety and holstered his pistol. "If you say so."
Warner waited until Elliot was gone before he spoke again. "I'm still waiting to know how you got in here, Captain," he said finally. "Past the guards. My guards. They weren't supposed to let anyone in here, not anyone at all. But I guess I know, don't I? You had them betray their trust. You being their commander and all, you could do that. So now you just tell me why I shouldn't have them and you both up on charges?"
For the first time Caradoc looked worried. "There is no reason," he said finally. "You are correct. But the men are not at fault."
"Larry-"
"Yes, my lady?"
"Larry, don't do that. He-had a right to think he could come here."
"I see."
"I have said it already," Caradoc said. "I will not listen more to-"
He's going to try it, Warner thought. He'll come for me. He's one of those, one of the berserker types and he'll dive for the gun. When he does, it'll be chancy. A.380 just isn't that much slug. No fancy shooting, just empty the damn piece into him and take my chances after that. Should work.
But damn all, I don't really want to kill him- Abruptly Warner put the pistol in his pocket.
"What are you doing?" Caradoc demanded. "Have you discovered honor, or-"
"Main thing is, I'm unarmed," Warner said. "And you, my friend, aren't going to try unarmed combat with me. You've seen me practicing."
Caradoc fingered his sword. "Get a weapon. Any weapon," he said. "It may be that Caradoc, son of Cadaric, is a fool.. It will never be said that he slew an unarmed man."
"Nobody's going to be slain," Warner said. "Gwen, would you please leave us?" He changed to English. "I got some talking to do with Muscles here."
"You're sure it's all right?"
"Yeah, no problems now."
"I want promises from both of you. That you won't fight," she said. She looked thoroughly miserable.
"Sure," Warner said.
"I swear I will not draw weapons against this man except on a field of honor with all due ceremony," Caradoc said.
"Good enough for me," Warner said. He eyed Caradoc thoughtfully. I didn't promise I wouldn't draw weapons if he gets physical. "Gwen?"
"Oh, all right." She paused in the door. "I–I'm really sorry."
"Have a seat," Warner said. He indicated the table. "There's wine and glasses. Have some."
"You make free with the lady's table. As if-as if it is your table."
"No," Warner said. "That is not the way of it. But understand that the Lady Gwen and I are from the same lands. I have known her for many years. I know she would wish us to make ourselves comfortable."
Caradoc went to the table and sat. He waited until Warner had poured for both of them, then drained his glass in one gulp. "It is not finished," he said finally.
"Maybe it is," Warner said.
"You have sometimes acted as a friend," Caradoc said. He stared moodily into his empty wine glass. "And I think I have been a fool."
"We all are, sometimes," Warner said.
Caradoc took in a deep breath. "Lord Warner," he said formally. "What is the Lady Gwen to you?"
"Why is that your business?"
"Perhaps it is not. And yet-If she has been more than a friend, without you promising a lawful marriage, I will have your blood. No, hear me out," he said, raising a hand as Warner opened his mouth to reply.
"I know that if I kill you, the Lord Eqeta Rick will have my head. You are worth ten of me, in his plans for facing the Time. Perhaps he is even right to value you so highly.
"I do know this, however. No lord can ask me to stand by like a capon, while you play the cock with Gwen. I love her. If she does not love me, then let her say so and she can be free to bed any man she wishes. Until she speaks her mind, beware of my sword."
Warner nodded. Nobly said, he thought. Corny, but noble. Larry me lad, you didn't think it through. Old Musclebound here isn't just a rival for a quick roll in the hay. He wants to marry the girl. Come to that, you were thinking about it too- That was when she was right here, and we were about to go in there.
He means it all. He'll challenge me if he thinks I've wronged her. And what the hell, I might not win. He's good with a sword, and better with that bow. Warner shuddered at the thought of a belly wound. And suppose I win? Captain Galloway would have my hide. And Caradoc's got relatives and they'll all want my blood. He's sure as hell got more relatives than I have rounds. Sooner or later one of them will get me. Unless Captain Rick buys off Caradoc's family. He might do that, and then lock me in some castle tower and let me have a girl once in a while if I'm a good little wizard…
What was it Samuel Johnson said about sex? "The expense is damnable, the position is ridiculous, and the pleasure is fleeting." Yep. Just now I can sympathize.
"You've no horns from me," Warner said. "My word on it."
The look of relief on Caradoc's face made Warner glad he'd said it. Hell, Gwen was all right
, but there were other girls, and Jesus, the archer seems like he's really in love with her.
Warner poured more wine for both of them. "Caradoc, I like Gwen. I like her a lot. She's smart and pretty and I can talk about a lot of things with her I can't talk about with anyone else. I don't love her. She doesn't love me. If there is anyone she loves besides her dead husband, it's you." He hoped that wasn't laying it on too thick.
"Nothing has happened between us that you need to worry about. Nothing will, either. If you get her to marry you, I'll dance at the wedding and take your kids up in my balloon."
Caradoc's face twisted. He was trying to talk, but nothing happened.
"You mean that-" Caradoc said finally.
"Sure do."
"But-" Caradoc sighed. "And yet it is too late."
"Why in the name of Yatar's pissoir is it too late?"
"I have betrayed my trust-"
"Not by me," Warner said. "If anybody has you on charges for that, it'll be the lady." He laughed. "Go to her, you Yatar-damned idiot!"
Gwen sat in the chair by her bed, her face buried in her hands. She felt frightened, ashamed, and guilty all at once, and she wasn't sure which was the worst.
She'd done wrong by her own standards, never mind those of Tran. She'd as good as played the tease with Larry Warner, and that was something she always' tried not to do. Usually she succeeded too, particularly when she liked the man as much as she did Larry.
She'd hurt Caradoc even worse, and more stupidly. She'd never played off one man against another. Nobody deserved that, not even some of the real turkeys she'd met the summer she worked as a secretary. Certainly Caradoc didn't.
So much for her own standards. She'd done an even worse job by the standards of Tran, and right now they were what really counted. A woman was a wife, daughter, or mother of some man on this planet. She could also be a widow for a while, but her time for that was running out. Even if it wasn't, being a widow didn't give her the right to play around after a respectable man had made an offer of honorable marriage. Noblewomen here had more rights than she'd expected, but this wasn't one of them.
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