Star Born

by Andre Norton

  12

  ALIEN PATROL

  Raf leaned back against the wall. Long since the actions of the aliensin the storage house had ceased to interest him, since they would notallow any of the Terrans to approach their plunder and he could notask questions. Lablet continued to follow the officer about, vainlytrying to understand his speech. And Hobart had taken his place by theupper entrance, his hand held stiffly across his body. The pilot knewthat the captain was engaged in photographing all this activity with awristband camera, hoping to make something of it later.

  But Raf's own inclination was to slip out and do some exploring inthose underground corridors beyond. Having remained where he was for awearisome time, he noticed that his presence was now taken for grantedby the hurrying aliens who brushed about him intent upon theirassignments. And slowly he began to edge along the wall toward theother doorway. Once he froze as the officer strode by, Lablet inattendance. But what the painted warrior was looking for was a crystalbox on a shelf to Raf's left. When he had pointed that out to anunderling he was off again, and Raf was free to continue his crab'sprogress.

  Luck favored him, for, as he reached the moment when he must duck outthe portal, there was a sudden flurry at the other end of the chamberwhere four of the aliens, under a volley of orders, strove to move anunwieldy piece of intricate machinery.

  Raf dodged around the door and flattened back against the wall of theroom beyond. The moving bars of sun said that it was midday. But theroom was empty save for the despoiled carcass, and there was no signof the aliens who had been sent out to scout.

  The Terran ran lightly down the narrow room to the second door, whichgave on the lower pits beneath and the way to the arena. As he tookthat dark way, he drew his stun gun. Its bolt was intended to renderthe victim unconscious, not to kill. But what effect it might have onthe giant reptiles was a question he hoped he would not be forced toanswer, and he paused now and then to listen.

  There were sounds, deceptive sounds. Noises as regular as footfalls,like a distant padded running. The aliens returning? Or the thingsthey had gone to hunt? Raf crept on--out into the sunshine whichfilled the arena.

  For the first time he studied the enclosure and recognized it for whatit was--a place in which savage and bloody entertainments could beprovided for the population of the city--and it merely confirmed hisopinion of the aliens and all their ways.

  The temptation to explore the city was strong. He eyed the grillesspeculatively. They could be climbed--he was sure of that. Or he couldtry some other of the various openings about the sanded area. But ashe hesitated over his choice, he heard something from behind. This wasno unidentifiable noise, but a scream which held both terror and pain.It jerked him around, sent him running back almost before he thought.

  But the scream did not come again. However there were othersounds--snuffing whines--a scrabbling--

  Raf found himself in the round room walled by the old prison cells.Stabs of light shot through the gloom, thrusting into a roiling blackmass which had erupted through one of the entrances and now held atbay one of the alien warriors. Three or four of the black creaturesringed the alien in, moving with speed that eluded the bolts of lighthe shot from his weapon, keeping him cornered and from escape, whiletheir fellows worried another alien limp and defenseless on the floor.

  It was impossible to align the sights of his stun gun with any ofthose flitting shadows, Raf discovered. They moved as quickly as aripple across a pond. He snapped the button on the hand grip to"spray" and proceeded to use the full strength of the charge acrossthe group on the floor.

  For several seconds he was afraid that the stun ray would prove tohave no effect on the alien metabolism of the creatures, for theirweaving, tearing activity did not cease. Then one after anotherdropped away from the center mass and lay unmoving on the floor.Seeing that he could control them, Raf turned his attention to theothers about the standing warrior.

  Again he sent the spray wide, and they subsided. As the last curled onthe pavement, the alien moved forward and, with a snarl, deliberatelyturned the full force of his beam weapon on each of the attackers. ButRaf plowed on through the limp pile to the warrior they had pulleddown.

  There was no hope of helping him--death had come with a wide tear inhis throat. Raf averted his eyes from the body. The other warrior wasmethodically killing the stunned animals. And his action held suchvicious cruelty that Raf did not want to watch.

  When he looked again at the scene, it was to find the narrow barrel ofthe strange weapon pointed at him. Paying no attention to his deadcomrade, the alien was advancing on the Terran as if in Raf he sawonly another enemy to be burned down.

  Moves drilled in him by long hours of weary practice came almostautomatically to the pilot. The stun gun faced the alien rifle sightto sight. And it seemed that the warrior had developed a heartyrespect for the Terran arm during the past few minutes, for he slippedhis weapon back to the crook of his arm, as if he did not wish Raf toguess he had used it to threaten.

  The pilot had no idea what to do now. He did not wish to return to thestorehouse. And he believed that the alien was not going to let him gooff alone. The ferocity of the creatures now heaped about them hadbeen sobering, an effective warning against venturing alone in theseunderground ways.

  His dilemma was solved by the entrance of a party of aliens fromanother doorway. They stopped short at the sight of the battlefield,and their leader descended upon the surviving scout for anexplanation, which was made with gestures Raf was able to translate inpart.

  The alien had been far down one of the neighboring corridors with hisdead companion when they had been tracked by the pack and had managedto reach this point before they were attacked. For some reason Rafcould not understand, the aliens had preferred to flee rather than toface the menace of the hunters. But they had not been fast enough andhad been trapped here. The gesturing hands then indicated Raf, actedout the battle which had ensued.

  Crossing to the Terran pilot, the alien officer held out his hand andmotioned for Raf to surrender his weapon. The pilot shook his head.Did they think him so simple that he would disarm himself at the mereasking? Especially since the warrior had rounded on him like that onlya few moments before? Nor did he holster his gun. If they wanted totake it by force just let them try such a move!

  His determination to resist must have gotten across to the leader, forhe did not urge obedience to his orders. Instead he waved the Terranto join his own party. And since Raf had no reason not to, he did.Leaving the dead, both alien and enemy, where they had fallen, thewarriors took another way out of the underground maze, a way whichbrought them out into a street running to the river.

  Here the party spread out, paying close attention to the pavement, asif they were engaged in tracking something. Raf saw impressed in onepatch of earth a print dried by the sun, left by one of the reptiles.And there were smaller tracks he could not identify. All wereinspected carefully, but none of them appeared to be what hiscompanions sought.

  They trotted up and down along the river bank, and from what he hadalready observed concerning the aliens, Raf thought that the leader,at least, was showing exasperation and irritation. They expected tofind something--it was not there--but it had to be! And they were fastreaching the point where they wanted to produce it themselves tojustify the time spent in hunting for it.

  Ruthlessly they rayed to death any creature their dragnet drove intothe open, leaving feebly kicking bodies of the furry, long-leggedbeasts Raf had first seen after the landing of the spacer. He couldnot understand the reason for such wholesale extermination, sincecertainly the rabbitlike rodents were harmless.

  In the end they gave up their quest and circled back to come out nearthe field where the flitter and the globe rested. When the Terranflyer came into sight, Raf left the party and hurried toward it.Soriki waved a welcoming hand.

  "'Bout time one of you showed up. What are they doing--toting half thecity here to load into that thing?"

  Raf looked
along the other's pointing finger. A party of aliens towinga loaded dolly were headed for the gaping hatch of the globe, while asecond party and an empty conveyance passed them on the way back tothe storehouse.

  "They are emptying a warehouse, or trying to."

  "Well, they act as if Old Time himself was heating their tails with arocket flare. What's the big hurry?"

  "Somebody's been here." Swiftly Raf outlined what he had seen in thecity, and ended by describing the hunt in which he had taken anunwilling part. "I'm hungry," he ended and went to burrow for a rationpack.

  "So," mused Soriki as Raf chewed the stuff which never had the flavorof fresh provisions, "somebody's been trying to beat the painted ladsto it. The furry people?"

  "It was a spear shaft they found broken with the dead lizard thing,"Raf commented. "And some of those on the island were armed withspears--"

  "Must be good fighters if, armed with spears, they brought down areptile as big as you say. It was big, wasn't it?"

  Raf stared at the city, a square of half-eaten concentrate in hisfingers. Yes, that was a puzzler. The dead monster would be more than_he_ would care to tackle without a blaster. And yet it was dead, witha smashed spear for evidence as to the manner of killing.

  All those others dead in the arena, too. How large a party had invadedthe city? Where were they now?

  "I'd like to know," he was speaking more to himself than to thecom-tech, "how they _did_ do it. No other bodies--"

  "Those could have been taken away by their friends," Sorikisuggested. "But if they're still hanging about, I hope they won'tbelieve that we're bigger and better editions of the painted lads. Idon't want a spear through me!"

  Raf, remembering the maze of lanes and streets--bordered by buildingswhich could provide hundreds of lurking places for attackers--which hehad threaded with the confidence of ignorance earlier that day, beganto realize why the aliens had been so nervous. Had a sniper with ablast rifle been stationed at a vantage point somewhere on the roofstoday none of them would ever have returned to this field. And even afew spacemen with good cover and accurate throwing aim could have cutdown their number a quarter or a third. He was developing a strongdistaste for those structures. And he had no intention of returning tothe city again.

  He lounged about with Soriki for the rest of the afternoon, watchingthe ceaseless activity of the aliens. It was plain that they wereintent upon packing into the cargo hold of their ship everything theycould wrest from the storage house. As if they must make this tripcount double. Was that because they had discovered that their treasurehouse was no longer inviolate?

  In the late afternoon Hobart and Lablet came back with one of the workteams. Lablet was still excited, full of what he had seen, deduced, orguessed during the day. But the captain was very quiet and sober, andhe unstrapped the wrist camera as soon as he reached the flitter,turning it over to Soriki.

  "Run that through the ditto," he ordered. "I want two records as soonas we can get them!"

  The com-tech's eyebrows slid up, "Think you might lose one, sir?"

  "I don't know. Anyway, we'll play it safe with double records." Heaccepted the ration pack Raf had brought out for him. But he did notunwrap it at once; instead he stared at the globe, digging the toe ofhis space boot into the soil as if he were grinding something topowder.

  "They're operating under full jets," he commented. "As if they wereabout due to be jumped--"

  "They told us that this was territory now held by their enemies,"Lablet reminded him.

  "And who are these mysterious enemies?" the captain wanted to know."Those animals back on that island?"

  Raf wanted to say yes, but Lablet broke in with a question concerningwhat had happened to him, and the pilot outlined his adventures of theday, not forgetting to give emphasis to the incident in the celledroom when the newly rescued alien had turned upon him.

  "Naturally they are suspicious," Lablet countered, "but for a peoplewho lack space flight, I find them unusually open-minded and ready toaccept us, strange as we must seem to them."

  "Ditto done, Captain." Soriki stepped out of the flitter, the wristcamera dangling from his fingers.

  "Good." But Hobart did not buckle the strap about his arm once more,neither did he pay any attention to Lablet. Instead, apparently comingto some decision, he swung around to face Raf.

  "You went out with that scouting party today. Think you could jointhem again, if you see them moving for another foray?"

  "I could try."

  "Sure," Soriki chuckled, "they couldn't do any more than pop him backat us. What do you think about them, sir? Are they fixing to blastus?"

  But the captain refused to be drawn. "I'd just like to have a recordof any more trips they make." He handed the camera to Raf. "Put thaton and don't forget to trigger it if you do go. I don't believethey'll go out tonight. They aren't too fond of being out in the openin darkness. We saw that last night. But keep an eye on them in themorning--"

  "Yes, sir." Raf buckled on the wristband. He wished that Hobart wouldexplain just what he was to look for, but the captain appeared tothink that he had made everything perfectly plain. And he walked offwith Lablet, heading to the globe, as if there was nothing more to besaid.

  Soriki stretched. "I'd say we'd better take it watch and watch," hesaid slowly. "The captain may think that they won't go off in thedark, but we don't know everything about them. Suppose we just keep aneye on them, and then you'll be ready to tail--"

  Raf laughed. "Tailing would be it. I don't think I'll have a secondinvitation and if I get lost--"

  But Soriki shook his head. "That you won't. At least if you do--I'mgoing to make a homer out of you. Just tune in your helmet buzzer."

  It needed a com-tech to think of a thing like that! A small adjustmentto the earphones built into his helmet, and Soriki, operating theflitter com, could give him a guide as efficient as the spacer'sradar! He need not fear being lost in the streets should he lose touchwith those he was spying upon.

  "You're on course!" He pulled off his helmet and then glanced up tofind Soriki smiling at him.

  "Oh, we're not such a bad collection of space bums. Maybe you'll findthat out someday, boy. They breezed you into this flight right out oftraining, didn't they?"

  "Just about," Raf admitted cautiously, on guard as ever againstrevealing too much of himself. After all, his experience was part ofhis record, which was open to anyone on board the spacer. Yes, he wasnot a veteran; they must all know that.

  "Someday you'll lose a little of that suspicion," the com-techcontinued, "and find out it isn't such a bad old world after all.Here, let's see if you're on the beam." He took the helmet out ofRaf's hands and, drawing a small case of delicate instruments from hisbelt pouch, unscrewed the ear plates of the com device and made someadjustments. "Now that will keep you on the buzzer without burstingyour eardrums. Try it."

  Raf fastened on the helmet and started away from the flitter. Thebuzzer which he had expected to roar in his ears was only a faintdrone, and above it he could easily hear other sounds. Yet it wasthere, and he tested it by a series of loops away from the flyer. Eachtime as he came on the true beam he was rewarded by a deepening of themuted note. Yes, he could be a homer with that, and at the same timebe alert to any other noise in his vicinity.

  "That's it!" He paid credit where it was due. But he was unable tobreak his long habit of silence. Something within him still kept himwary of the com-tech's open friendliness.

  None of the aliens approached the flitter as the shadows began to drawin. The procession of moving teams stopped, and most of theburden-bearing warriors withdrew to the globe and stayed there. Sorikipointed this out.

  "They're none too sure, themselves. Look as if they are closing up forthe night."

  Indeed it did. The painted men had hauled up their ramp, the hatch inthe globe closed with a definite snap. Seeing that, the com-techlaughed.

  "We have a double reason for a strict watch. Suppose whatever they'vebeen looking for jumps _us_
? They're not worrying over that it nowappears."

  So they took watch and watch, three hours on and three hours in rest.When it came Raf's turn he did not remain sitting in the flitter,listening to the com-tech's heavy breathing, but walked a circularbeat which took him into the darkness of the night in a path about theflyer. Overhead the stars were sharp and clear, glittering gem points.But in the dead city no light showed, and he was sure that no alienscamped there tonight.

  He was sleeping when Soriki's grasp on his shoulder brought him tothat instant alertness he had learned on field maneuvers half theGalaxy away.

  "Business," the com-tech's voice was not above a whisper as he leanedover the pilot. "I think they are on the move."

  The light was the pale gray of pre-dawn. Raf pulled himself up withcaution to look at the globe. The com-tech was right. A dark openingshowed on the alien ship; they had released their hatch. He fastenedhis tunic, buckled on his equipment belt and helmet, strapped hisboots.

  "Here they come!" Soriki reported. "One--two--five--no, six of them.And they're heading for the city. No dollies with them, but they'reall armed."

  Together the Terrans watched that patrol of alien warriors, theirattitude suggesting that they hoped to pass unseen, hurry toward thecity. Then Raf slipped out of the flyer. His dark clothing in thislight should render him largely invisible.

  Soriki waved encouragingly and the pilot answered with a quick salutebefore he sped after his quarry.