[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
He comes here to learn about us ... and as thee have observed, sometimes to
help."
"I am gladdened by thy presence," the elder said. His accent differed from
that
of Tyl and the other Tsla of Turput, but the words remained comprehensible.
"Also that thee saw fit to put aside thy studies long enough to aid us in a
most desperate time. I have been informed that thee helped to bring down two
of the
Na and thereby to hasten their flight."
Etienne holstered his pistol. "Does this happen often? From what I saw of the
fight I don't see how you could survive repeated attacks."
"The Na assail us infrequently, and usually with less loss of life. Many times
we will simply fall back against the moun-tain and let them take what they
will.
They are not indis-criminate thieves and never take more than they can carry.
Page 93
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
But it has not been a good time for us and it was decided this time to resist.
I
do not think the choice wise."
"They come to steal your food?"
"When the time is hard on us, it may also be hard on them. Nor do they know
how to grow food of their own. Despite their appearance, they have a hunger
for the fruit of the soil. When it is scarce on the Guntali they will
sometimes come down among us. I suppose they cannot be blamed. The life
offered by the
Guntali must be very hard."
"You sound like you're ready to forgive them," Etienne said, eyeing the bodies
scattered both in front of and behind the ruined gate.
"We always do," the First Scholar told him. "Have they not souls just as we?
They are more to be pitied than hated for their ignorance and weaknesses."
"I didn't see many weaknesses, but I've already learned that you Tsla are more
forgiving than we humans." Already the townsfolk were busy removing the dead.
That sparked an unpleasant memory.
"After the ... funeral ceremonies ... are concluded, what do you do with the
bodies of your deceased?" He could not look at TyI as he said this. Sensing
his discomfort, the guide discreetly allowed the First Scholar to answer.
"Here we cremate the bodies and then scatter the ashes upon our fields, so
that as tillers of the soil those who pass on may help the next generation to
grow better crops."
"So they can be stolen again by the Na. You ought to put a stop to it."
"That would be a fine thing," the elder said, "but alas, a thing not possible.
We cannot chase the Na up to the Guntali. It is too cold for us and the air
too thin for us to fight in. Up there, they are the masters.
"Similarly, they cannot fight long down here. The thick hair which protects
them from the Guntali's cold soon causes them to grow too hot to exert their
great bodies, and they must retreat."
"I'm glad I don't have to depend on the weather for my defense," Etienne
replied. Not that ii was within his province to criticize the way these Tsla
managed their lives.
"Actually," the elder continued, surprising his human au-dience, "there are
times when we trade peacefully with the Na."
"I'd been told the Tsla served as a conduit between Mai and Na, but for some
reason it just slipped my memory."
"You must not judge them only by this unusual attack," Ruu-an advised him.
"There are many times when the Mai also prefer to fight instead of to trade."
Etienne was glad Homat was still back at the boat. "Lis-ten, I'm standing here
taking in all this information and it isn't even my department. Lyra's the one
who should be making a record of your ways." He looked past them, making a
perfunctory survey of the battlefield. "Where is she, any-way? I haven't seen
her since we split up to try and flank the two Na we first encountered."
"Ah, Learned Teacher Lyra," Tyl murmured.
"Yes. Didn't she stick with you, Tyl?" Suddenly he was very cold, the kind of
coldness that comes from inside the body and makes the muscles of one's arms
and legs start to cramp.
"No. We became separated during the fight. I have not seen her since. Perhaps
we ought to return to the place where we began the combat." He sounded
concerned.
There was no sign of Lyra. Not where Etienne and the farmers had slain the two
Na, not in the streets nearby, not before the gate. The word was passed among
the townsfolk. Surely they'd know her whereabouts. An alien fighting among
them would stand out immediately.
When the word came it was, devastating in its finality.
Chapter Thirteen
The expedition's aims, his hopes for a personal rap-prochement, the papers
Page 94
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
they planned to present to various scientific societies, the acclaim and
acknowledgment and honors, all suddenly meant nothing beside the hollowness in
his heart. Ten years of hard work had been shattered like that gate which had
so ineffectively protected Jakaie.
Several of the townsfolk had seen the alien female dis-appear into a Na sack.
They were positive she was alive at the time. Two or three Tsla had been
stuffed in the sack with her.
Etienne and Tyl, accompanied by the First Scholar, rushed to the narrow street
near the gate, following the lead of two young Tsla. A quick search turned up
several raggedy frag-ments of Lyra's shirt-and something more significant.
Bat-tered but still functional, her pistol lay dark against the paving stones
where she'd dropped it.
Asking without wanting to ask, he looked despairingly at Ruu-an. "Why would
they take her alive?"
The elder glanced at Tyl, who knew the strange creature better than he, but no
enlightenment was forthcoming. So he answered.
"I told thee, Learned Etienne, that when times on the Guntali are difficult
the
Na come here to find food. They are not selective in their diet. Meat is meat
to them, whether recently killed on the Guntali or traded to them by some
merchant
. . . or the merchant himself. They take live cap-tives to prolong their
supply of fresh food, as we do with our domestic animals."
The sudden irony of it made Etienne want to laugh, but he couldn't, any more
than he could cry. All he could do was stare silently through the broker. gate
toward the ram-part marking the rim of the Guntali, more than a thousand
meters higher than Jakaie. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl karpacz24.htw.pl
He comes here to learn about us ... and as thee have observed, sometimes to
help."
"I am gladdened by thy presence," the elder said. His accent differed from
that
of Tyl and the other Tsla of Turput, but the words remained comprehensible.
"Also that thee saw fit to put aside thy studies long enough to aid us in a
most desperate time. I have been informed that thee helped to bring down two
of the
Na and thereby to hasten their flight."
Etienne holstered his pistol. "Does this happen often? From what I saw of the
fight I don't see how you could survive repeated attacks."
"The Na assail us infrequently, and usually with less loss of life. Many times
we will simply fall back against the moun-tain and let them take what they
will.
They are not indis-criminate thieves and never take more than they can carry.
Page 93
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
But it has not been a good time for us and it was decided this time to resist.
I
do not think the choice wise."
"They come to steal your food?"
"When the time is hard on us, it may also be hard on them. Nor do they know
how to grow food of their own. Despite their appearance, they have a hunger
for the fruit of the soil. When it is scarce on the Guntali they will
sometimes come down among us. I suppose they cannot be blamed. The life
offered by the
Guntali must be very hard."
"You sound like you're ready to forgive them," Etienne said, eyeing the bodies
scattered both in front of and behind the ruined gate.
"We always do," the First Scholar told him. "Have they not souls just as we?
They are more to be pitied than hated for their ignorance and weaknesses."
"I didn't see many weaknesses, but I've already learned that you Tsla are more
forgiving than we humans." Already the townsfolk were busy removing the dead.
That sparked an unpleasant memory.
"After the ... funeral ceremonies ... are concluded, what do you do with the
bodies of your deceased?" He could not look at TyI as he said this. Sensing
his discomfort, the guide discreetly allowed the First Scholar to answer.
"Here we cremate the bodies and then scatter the ashes upon our fields, so
that as tillers of the soil those who pass on may help the next generation to
grow better crops."
"So they can be stolen again by the Na. You ought to put a stop to it."
"That would be a fine thing," the elder said, "but alas, a thing not possible.
We cannot chase the Na up to the Guntali. It is too cold for us and the air
too thin for us to fight in. Up there, they are the masters.
"Similarly, they cannot fight long down here. The thick hair which protects
them from the Guntali's cold soon causes them to grow too hot to exert their
great bodies, and they must retreat."
"I'm glad I don't have to depend on the weather for my defense," Etienne
replied. Not that ii was within his province to criticize the way these Tsla
managed their lives.
"Actually," the elder continued, surprising his human au-dience, "there are
times when we trade peacefully with the Na."
"I'd been told the Tsla served as a conduit between Mai and Na, but for some
reason it just slipped my memory."
"You must not judge them only by this unusual attack," Ruu-an advised him.
"There are many times when the Mai also prefer to fight instead of to trade."
Etienne was glad Homat was still back at the boat. "Lis-ten, I'm standing here
taking in all this information and it isn't even my department. Lyra's the one
who should be making a record of your ways." He looked past them, making a
perfunctory survey of the battlefield. "Where is she, any-way? I haven't seen
her since we split up to try and flank the two Na we first encountered."
"Ah, Learned Teacher Lyra," Tyl murmured.
"Yes. Didn't she stick with you, Tyl?" Suddenly he was very cold, the kind of
coldness that comes from inside the body and makes the muscles of one's arms
and legs start to cramp.
"No. We became separated during the fight. I have not seen her since. Perhaps
we ought to return to the place where we began the combat." He sounded
concerned.
There was no sign of Lyra. Not where Etienne and the farmers had slain the two
Na, not in the streets nearby, not before the gate. The word was passed among
the townsfolk. Surely they'd know her whereabouts. An alien fighting among
them would stand out immediately.
When the word came it was, devastating in its finality.
Chapter Thirteen
The expedition's aims, his hopes for a personal rap-prochement, the papers
Page 94
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
they planned to present to various scientific societies, the acclaim and
acknowledgment and honors, all suddenly meant nothing beside the hollowness in
his heart. Ten years of hard work had been shattered like that gate which had
so ineffectively protected Jakaie.
Several of the townsfolk had seen the alien female dis-appear into a Na sack.
They were positive she was alive at the time. Two or three Tsla had been
stuffed in the sack with her.
Etienne and Tyl, accompanied by the First Scholar, rushed to the narrow street
near the gate, following the lead of two young Tsla. A quick search turned up
several raggedy frag-ments of Lyra's shirt-and something more significant.
Bat-tered but still functional, her pistol lay dark against the paving stones
where she'd dropped it.
Asking without wanting to ask, he looked despairingly at Ruu-an. "Why would
they take her alive?"
The elder glanced at Tyl, who knew the strange creature better than he, but no
enlightenment was forthcoming. So he answered.
"I told thee, Learned Etienne, that when times on the Guntali are difficult
the
Na come here to find food. They are not selective in their diet. Meat is meat
to them, whether recently killed on the Guntali or traded to them by some
merchant
. . . or the merchant himself. They take live cap-tives to prolong their
supply of fresh food, as we do with our domestic animals."
The sudden irony of it made Etienne want to laugh, but he couldn't, any more
than he could cry. All he could do was stare silently through the broker. gate
toward the ram-part marking the rim of the Guntali, more than a thousand
meters higher than Jakaie. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]