by Andre Norton
8
AIRLIFT
They were air-borne once more, but Raf was not pleased. In the seatbeside him, which Captain Hobart should be occupying, there nowsquirmed an alien warrior who apparently was uncomfortable in thechair-like depression so different from the low stools he wasaccustomed to. Soriki was still in the second passenger place, but he,too, shared that with another of the men from the city who restedacross bony knees a strange weapon rather like a Terran rifle.
No, the spacemen were not prisoners. According to the officialstatement they were allies. But, Raf wondered, as against his will hefollowed the globe in a northeastern course, how long would thatfiction last if they refused to fall in with any suggestions thealiens might make? He did not doubt that there was on board the globesome surprise which could shoot the flitter out of the air, if, forexample, he adjusted the controls before him and bore west toward themountains and the safety of the space ship. Either of the aliens henow transported could bring him under control by using those weapons,which might do anything from boiling a man in some unknown ray tosmothering him in gas. He had not seen the arms in action, and he didnot want to.
Yet Hobart and Lablet did not, as far as he could tell, share hissuspicions. Lablet was eager to see the mysterious storehouse, and thecaptain was either moved by the same desire or else had long sincededuced the folly of trying to make a break for it Thus they were nowheading seaward with the captain and Lablet sharing quarters with theleaders of the expedition on board the globe, and Raf and thecom-tech, with companions--or guards--bringing up the rear. The alienshad even insisted on stripping the flitter of much of its Terranequipment before they left the city, pointing out that the clearedstorage space would be filled with salvage when they made the returnvoyage.
The globe had been trailing along the coastline, and now it angled outto glide over a long finger of cape, rocky and waterworn, whichpointed at almost a right angle into the sea. This dwindled into areef of rock, like the nail on a finger. The sea ahead was no unbrokenexpanse. Instead there was a series of islands, some merely tops ofreefs over which the waves broke, others more substantial, rising wellabove the threatening water, and one or two showing the green ofvegetation.
The chain of islets extended so far out that when the flitter passedover the last one the main continent was out of sight. Now only waterstretched beneath them. The globe skidded on as if its pilot had givenit an extra burst of power, and Raf accelerated in turn, having nodesire to lose his guide. But they were not to make the ocean-widetrip in one jump.
At midday he saw again a break in the smooth carpet of waves, anotherisland, or perhaps the southern tip of a northern continent for theland swept in that direction as far as he could see. The globespiraled down to make a neat landing on a flat plateau, and Rafprepared to join it. When the undercarriage of the flitter jarredlightly on the rock, he saw signs that this was a man-oralien-fashioned place which must have had much use in the dim pastwhen his new companions ruled all their native world.
The rock had been smoothed off to a flat surface, and at its perimeterwere several small domed buildings. Yet, as there had been in thecountryside and in the city, except at its very heart, there was anaura of desertion at the site.
Both his alien passengers jumped out of the flitter, as if only toopleased at their release from the Terran flyer. For the first time Rafwas shaken out of his own preoccupation with his dislike for thealiens to wonder if they could be moved by a similar distaste forTerrans. Lablet might be interested in that as a scientificproblem--the pilot only knew how he felt and that was not comfortable.
Soriki got out and walked across the rock, stretching. But for a longmoment Raf remained where he was, behind the controls of the flyer. Hewas as cramped and tired of travel as the com-tech, perhaps even moreso since the responsibility of the flight had been his. And had theylanded in open country he would have liked to have thrown himself downon the ground, taking off his helmet and unhooking his tunic collar tolet the fresh wind blow through his hair and across his skin. Perhapsthat would take away the arid dust of centuries, which, to his mind,had grimed him since their hours in the city. But here was no opencountry, only a landing space which reminded him too much of the roofof the building in the metropolis.
A half-dozen of the breastplated warriors filed out of the globe and wentto the nearest dome, returning with heavy boxes. Fuel--supplies--Rafshrugged off the problem. The pilot was secretly relieved when CaptainHobart dropped out of the hatch in the globe and made his way over to theflitter.
"Everything running smoothly?" he asked with a glance at the twoaliens who were Raf's passengers.
"Yes, sir. Any idea how much farther--?" Raf questioned.
Hobart shrugged. "Until we work out basic language difficulties," hemuttered, "who knows anything? There is at least one more of these waystations. They don't run on atomics, need some kind of fuel, and theyhave to have new supplies every so often. Their head man can'tunderstand why it isn't necessary for us to do the same."
"Has he suggested that his techneers want a look at our motors, sir?"
Hobart unbent a little. It was as if in that question he had readsomething which pleased him. "So far we've managed not to understandthat. And if anyone tries it on his own, refer him to me--understand?"
"Yes, sir!" Some of the relief in Raf's tone came through, and he sawthat the captain was watching him narrowly.
"You don't like these people, Kurbi?"
The pilot replied with the truth. "I don't feel easy with them, sir.Not that they've shown any unfriendliness. Maybe it's because they'realien--"
He had said the wrong thing and knew it immediately.
"That sounds like prejudice, Kurbi!" Hobart's voice carried the snapof a reprimand.
"Yes, sir," Raf said woodenly. That had done it as far as the captainwas concerned. The fierce racial and economical prejudices which hadbeen the keystones of the structure of Pax had left their shadow onTerra's thinking. Nowadays a man would better be condemned for murderthan for prejudice against another--it was the unforgivable crime. Andin that unconsidered answer Raf had rendered unreliable in the eyes ofauthority any future report on the aliens which he might be forced tomake.
Silently cursing his lack of judgment, Raf made a careful check of theflyer, which might not be necessary but going through the motions ofdoing his duty gave him some relief. Once the idea struck him ofclaiming some trouble that would take them back to the spacer forrepairs. But Hobart was too good a mechanic himself not to see throughthat.
They covered the second stage of their flight by evening, this timeputting down on an island where, by some ancient and titanic feat oflabor, the top had been sheared off a central mountain to make a base.A ring of reefs cut off the land from the action of the waves. At oncea party of aliens left the main company and made their way down themountain to prowl along the shore. They made a discovery of sorts, forRaf saw them ring in some object they had pulled up on the sand. Whatit was and what meaning it had for them they did not try to explain tothe Terrans.
The party spent the night there, the four spacemen wrapped in theirsleeping rolls by the flitter, the aliens in their globe ship. TheTerrans did not miss the fact that the others had unobtrusively postedguards at the only two places where the mountain could be climbed. Andeach of those guards cradled in the crook of his arm one of the rifleweapons.
They were aroused shortly after dawn. As far as Raf could see theisland was barren of life, or else any creature native to it keptprudently out of the way while the flyers were there. They took off,the globe rising like a balloon into the morning sky, the flitterwaiting until it was air-borne before scaling after it.
The mountainous island where they had based was the sea sentinel of anarchipelago, which they saw spread out below them as if someone hadflung a handful of pebbles into a shallow pool. Most of the islandswere merely rocky crags. But there were two which showed the green ofsmall open fields, and Raf thought he caught a glimpse of a dome h
ouseon the last.
They were now over a region thick with islands, the first collectiongiving way to a second and then a third. Raf, expecting no sudden moveon the part of the globe he trailed, was startled when the alien shipmade a downward swoop. At the same time the warrior seated beside himtugged at the sleeve of his tunic and jabbed a finger toward theground, clearly an order to follow. Raf cut speed and cautiously lostaltitude, determined that he was not going to be rushed into any movefor which he did not know the reason.
The globe was hovering over a small island set a little apart from theothers. A moment later Soriki's excited voice drew Raf's attentionfrom his controls to what was going on below.
"There's, people down there! Look at them run!"
They were too far away to be sure of the nature of the brown-graythings so close to the color of the sea-washed rock that they couldonly be detected when they moved. But it was evident that they werealive, and as Raf brought the flitter closer, he was also certain thatthey ran on their two hind feet instead of on an animal's four pads.
From the under part of the globe ship licked a tongue of fire. Withthe force of a whiplash it coursed across the rock and in its passingembrace, the creatures below writhed and withered to charred heaps.They had no chance under that methodical blasting. The alien besideRaf signaled again for a drop. He patted the weapon that he held andmotioned for Raf to release the covering of the windshield. But thepilot shook his head firmly.
This might be war. The aliens could have a very good reason for theirdeadly attack on the creatures surprised below. But he wanted no partof it, nor did he want to get any closer to the scene of slaughter.And he made an emphatic gesture that the windshield could not beopened while the flitter was air-borne.
But as he did so they glided down, and he caught a single good look atwhat was going on on the rock--a look which remained to haunt hisdreams for long years to come. For now he saw clearly the creatureswho ran fruitlessly for safety. Some reached the edge of the cliff andleaped to what was an easier death in the sea. But too many otherscould not make it and died in flaming agony. And they were not all ofone size!
Children! There was no mistaking the infant in its mother's arms, thetwo small ones who fled hand in hand until one stumbled and theburning lash caught them both as the other strove to pull the fallento its feet. Raf gagged. He triggered the controls and soared up andaway, fighting the heaving in his middle, shaking off with one savagejerk the insistent pawing hand of the alien who wanted to join in thefun.
"Did you see that?" he demanded of Soriki.
For once the com-tech sounded subdued. "Yes," he replied shortly.
"Those were children," Raf hammered home the point.
"Young ones anyway," the com-tech conceded. "Maybe they aren't people.They had fur all over them--"
Raf grinned mirthlessly. Should he now accuse Soriki of prejudice?What did it matter if a thinking creature was clothed in a space suit,silken bandages, or natural fur--it was still a thinking creature. Andhe was sure that those had been intelligent creatures he had just seenblasted without a chance to fight back. If these were the enemy thealiens feared, he could understand the vicious cruelty of the attackwhich had killed the man he had been shown back in the city. Fireagainst primitive spears was not equal, and when the spears got theirchance they must make up for much to balance the scales of justice.
He did not even wonder why his emotions were so wholeheartedlyenlisted upon the side of the furred people. Nor did he try to analyzehis feelings. He was only sure that more than ever he wanted to befree of the aliens and out of this whole venture.
The warrior sharing his seat was sulking now, twisting about to lookback at the island as Raf circled in ever-widening glides to get awayfrom the site and yet not lose track of the globe when it would havefinished its dirty business and take once more to the air. But thealien ship was in no hurry to leave.
"They are making sure," Soriki reported. "Giving the whole island afire bath. I wonder what that stuff is--"
"I'd just as soon not know," Raf returned from between set teeth. "Ifthat is one of their pieces of precious knowledge, we're as well offwithout it--" he stopped short. Perhaps he had said too much. ButTerra had been racked by the torrid horror of atomic war, until allhis kind had been so revolted that it was bred into them not to meddleagain with such weapons. And war by fire aroused in them that oldhorror. Surely Soriki must feel it too, and when the com-tech did notcomment, Raf was sure of that. He hoped that the slaughter had madesome impression on the captain and on Lablet into the bargain.
But when, as if sated with killing, the globe rose again from itsposition over the island, moving almost sluggishly into the fresh sky,he had to follow it on. More islands were below, and he feared thateach one might show some sign of life and tempt the killers to asecond hunting.
Luckily that did not happen. The chains of islands became a cape asthey had on the coast of the western continent. And now the globeswung to the south, trailing the shore line. Forests made greensplotches with bluish overtones running from the sea cliffs back tocarpet the land. So far no signs of civilization were to be seen. Thisland was as untouched as that where the spacer had landed.
Then they saw the bay, stretching out wide arms to engulf the sea. Itcould have harbored a whole fleet. And marching down to its waterswere broad levels of buildings, a giant's staircase leading from seato cliff tops.
"They had it here--!"
Raf saw what Soriki meant by that outburst. Destruction had struck. Hehad seen the atomic ruins of his own world, those which were freeenough from radiation to explore. But he had never seen anything likethese chilling scars. In long strips the very stone which providedfoundation for the tiered city had been churned and boiled, had run inrivulets of lava down to the sea, enclosing narrow tongues of stilluntouched structures. The fire whip the globe had used, magnified tosome infinitely greater extent--? It could be.
The alien at his side pressed tightly against the windshield gazingdown at the ruins. And now he mouthed a gabble of words which wasechoed by his fellow sitting with Soriki. Their excitement must meanthat this was their goal. Raf slacked speed, waiting for the globe topoint a way to a landing.
But to his surprise the alien ship shot forward inland. The long daywas almost over as they came to a second city with a river knotting aribbon through its middle. Here were no traces of the fury which hadladed the seaport with havoc. This collection of buildings seemedwhole and perfect.
There was, oddly enough, no landing strip within the city. The globecoasted over the rough oval and came down in open fields to the west.It was a maneuver which Raf copied, though he first dropped a flare asa precaution and brought the flier down in its red glare, with thewarrior expressing shrill disapproval.
"I don't think they like fireworks," Soriki remarked.
Raf snorted. "So they don't like fireworks! Well, I don't likecrack-ups, and I'm the pilot!" But he didn't believe that the com-techwas really protesting. Soriki had been very quiet since they hadwitnessed the attack on the island.
"Grim-looking place," was his second comment as they touched ground.
Since Raf privately had held that opinion of all the alien settlementshe had so far seen, he agreed. Their two alien passengers were out ofthe flitter as soon as he opened the bubble shield. And as they stoodby the Terran flyer, they held their weapons ready, facing out intothe dusk as if they half expected trouble. After the earlier episodethat day, Raf did not wonder at their preparedness. Terror begetsterror, and ruthlessness arouses retaliation in kind.
"Kurbi! Soriki!" Hobart's voice sounded out of the shadows. "Staywhere you are for the present."
Soriki settled deeper in his seat. "He doesn't have to tell me tobrake jets," he muttered. "I like it here--"
Raf did not need to echo that. He had a strong surmise that had hebeen tempted to roam away from the flitter the move would not havebeen encouraged by the alien guardsmen. If this was their treasurecity, they would not welc
ome any independent investigation bystrangers.
When the captain joined them, he was accompanied by the officer whohad first shown Raf the globe. And the warrior was either disturbed orangry, for he was talking in a steady stream and his hands werewhirling in explanatory gestures.
"They didn't like that flare," Hobart remarked. But there was noreproof in his words. As a spacer pilot he knew that Raf had only donewhat duty demanded. "We're to remain here--for the night."
"Where's Lablet?" Soriki wanted to know.
"He's staying with Yussoz, the alien commander. He thinks he has thelanguage problem about solved."
"Good enough." Soriki pulled out his bed roll. "We're out of touchwith the ship--"
There was a second of silence, unduly prolonged it seemed to Raf. ThenHobart spoke:
"We couldn't expect to keep in call forever. The best com has itsrange. When did you lose contact?"
"Just before these wrapped-up heroes played with fire back there. Igave the boys all I knew up until then. They know we were headed west,and they had us beamed as long as they could."
So it wasn't too bad, thought Raf. But he didn't like it, even withthat mitigating factor. To all purposes the four Terrans were nowsurrounded by some twenty times their number, in an unknown country,out of all communication with the rest of their kind. It could add upto disaster.