[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Kelric pushed back his cuff, uncovering his wrist guard with its engraving of
the Dahl suntree hieroglyph. "Like this?"
Balv shifted in his seat. "Well yes."
"I take it that means I'm Dha's property."
"Yes." Balv felt the need to add more. "Many of us consider the Akasi Laws
barbaric."
"I won't argue with that," Kelric muttered. Sweat trickled down his neck.
Balv wondered why Kelric was so hot. The cabin was cold and all Kelric wore
were flimsy old clothes. He ought to be freezing. Balv peered at the skin
above Kelric's wrist guard. "Can you roll up your sleeves?"
"Why?
"I want to check something."
Watching him warily, Kelric pushed up his sleeve and revealed an inflamed rash
of red dots all over his arm. "What the hell?" He looked at Balv. "What is
that?"
"Kevtar's disease, I think. Most of us get it as children."
"I'm sick?"
"It's not serious. You'll be fine by tonight." Balv winced. I should
apologize. You must have caught it from me."
"You don't look sick."
"I'm not. But Rev and I were at the Med House this morning visiting his
children. All three of them have Kevtar's."
Kelric grimaced. "Thirty-four is a little old for me to catch a child's
illness."
"Thirty-four?" Balv stared at him. "You can't be that old."
"Why not?"
-The Last Hawk 89
"The way you look we all assumed you were younger." Kelric shrugged. "It's
just biotech. And good genes." "Oh. Of course." That made no sense to Balv.
"Little Kelric," he muttered. His voice sounded like sand scraping glass.
"Baby of the Rhon. Youngest and biggest." He wiped sweat off his forehead.
"Gods, I'm burning up."
By evening Kelric's rash had spread until it covered his chest and neck. He
paced across the cabin, shivering now, his voice even hoarser than before. "I
thought you said I would feel fine by now."
"You should," Balv said. "I've never seen Kevtar's affect anyone this way. We
have to get you to a Med House."
"Not a chance." Kelric shifted his Jumbler from hand to hand. "We're leaving
for the port."
"We don't have enough fuel to reach it from here."
"Maybe not. But we have enough to get damn close." He motioned with the gun.
"Get in the pilot's seat."
Balv knew this might be his last chance to make a move. He stood up, stepped
away from the copilot's seat and lunged for the Jumbler.
Kelric jerked away the gun, his movements mechanical, as if he were a puppet
acting on reflex. It happened so fast that despite the accuracy and speed of
Balv's lunge, his hand closed on air.
Kelric leveled the Jumbler at Balv. "Sit."
Balv froze. "You don't want to shoot me."
"That doesn't mean I won't."
Balv sat in the pilot's seat, his mind racing to find a solution. What if
Kelric reached the port? Were the tales true, that entire worlds had been
punished for an offense against the Rhon? If Kelric was their youngest, the
one they felt most protective toward, their wrath would be even greater.
He looked up at his abductor. "I won't fly you to the port."
"Fly or I shoot."
Balv took a deep breath. "Then you'll have to shoot."
"You're willing to die to keep me here?"
"Yes."
Kelric stared jt him as if he were trying to extract the truth of Balv's words
from his brain. Then he jerked his gun toward the hatch. "Take what you need
to survive and get out."
90 Catherine Asaro |
Balv jumped out of his seat and strode toward the back o| the cabin, moving
fast, before Kelric changed his mind. Kelric' had already taken the stunner
from the locker, so Balv grabbed, a jacket and a box of flares to signal the
search panis. :
When Balv heaved open the hatch, chill wind blasted! through the cabin,
throwing back his hair. He jumped out onto the ice-encrusted rocks around the
rider where the snow tha melted during their landing had refrozen.
;
Within seconds the rider was airborne, leaving Balv alone in the freezing
wind.
A burst of static from the co jolted Kelric awake. One glance| at the controls
told him the craft was losing altitude. As he;
brought up the nose, the radio crackled again, with a voice buried in the
static. 3 A Skolian voice.
"... identify yourself. You are approach ... Restricted zone off limits . . .
identify .. ."
"I'm a Skolian citizen," Kelric rasped. His fever was worse now and his voice
had grown so hoarse he could barely talk. | "Do you read? I'm an Imperialate
citizen."
". .. off limits to all Coban . . . identify yourself." '" "Is anyone
there?" he asked. "Anyone?" | The message continued to
repeat. | The rider faltered, coughing and spluttering.
A fast check | showed what he had feared would result from his'erratic fly- I
ing: the fuel tanks were empty. As he opened the wings and | rode the wind
like a hawk, the desert sped upward in a blur 5;
of red. |
Kelric did his best to control the dive, trying to glide on the I wind. At the
last moment, he hunched over and covered his head with his arms. With a shriek
of splintering metal, the rider '':
hit ground and plowed through the sand. The impact nearly tore him out of his
seat despite the harness. The craft rolled over, wrenching him from side to
side, and the crack of break- ;
ing glass added its cry to the chaos.
With a final shudder, the rider rocked to a stop. Slow and cautious, Kelric
raised his head. The windshield was broken and the cabin looked like a storm
had hit Jt. Equipment lay
-The Last Hawk 91
thrown all over the deck. Two passenger seats had ripped loose and his Jumbler
lay smashed under a crumpled section of the hull. His Quis dice were scattered
everywhere, most of them crushed.
Kelric untangled himself from his seat, moving stiffly, both from the damage
he had sustained during the crash and from the fever raging in his body. He
limped across the cabin, piking his way over the debris. The rider rocked,
then listed to one side, leaving the deck at a slant that sent him sliding
into the hatch.
The buckled dor came loose under his shove and fell out onto the desert.
Scorching wind poured into the cabin, accompanied by a rain of sand that
insinuated itself everywhere. Raising his arm to protect his eyes, he climbed
out into the heat.
Red desert stretched everywhere. Nothing but sand, sand, sand, and the towers
that reached into a pale blue sky like fingers from a giant buried hand
Towers?
Kelric squinted in the heat shimmer of the air. Then he grinned.
It was the starport. -
Lift one foot. Put it down. Again and again and again ....
The impact of his body against sand jarred Kelric out of his daze. He rolled [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
Kelric pushed back his cuff, uncovering his wrist guard with its engraving of
the Dahl suntree hieroglyph. "Like this?"
Balv shifted in his seat. "Well yes."
"I take it that means I'm Dha's property."
"Yes." Balv felt the need to add more. "Many of us consider the Akasi Laws
barbaric."
"I won't argue with that," Kelric muttered. Sweat trickled down his neck.
Balv wondered why Kelric was so hot. The cabin was cold and all Kelric wore
were flimsy old clothes. He ought to be freezing. Balv peered at the skin
above Kelric's wrist guard. "Can you roll up your sleeves?"
"Why?
"I want to check something."
Watching him warily, Kelric pushed up his sleeve and revealed an inflamed rash
of red dots all over his arm. "What the hell?" He looked at Balv. "What is
that?"
"Kevtar's disease, I think. Most of us get it as children."
"I'm sick?"
"It's not serious. You'll be fine by tonight." Balv winced. I should
apologize. You must have caught it from me."
"You don't look sick."
"I'm not. But Rev and I were at the Med House this morning visiting his
children. All three of them have Kevtar's."
Kelric grimaced. "Thirty-four is a little old for me to catch a child's
illness."
"Thirty-four?" Balv stared at him. "You can't be that old."
"Why not?"
-The Last Hawk 89
"The way you look we all assumed you were younger." Kelric shrugged. "It's
just biotech. And good genes." "Oh. Of course." That made no sense to Balv.
"Little Kelric," he muttered. His voice sounded like sand scraping glass.
"Baby of the Rhon. Youngest and biggest." He wiped sweat off his forehead.
"Gods, I'm burning up."
By evening Kelric's rash had spread until it covered his chest and neck. He
paced across the cabin, shivering now, his voice even hoarser than before. "I
thought you said I would feel fine by now."
"You should," Balv said. "I've never seen Kevtar's affect anyone this way. We
have to get you to a Med House."
"Not a chance." Kelric shifted his Jumbler from hand to hand. "We're leaving
for the port."
"We don't have enough fuel to reach it from here."
"Maybe not. But we have enough to get damn close." He motioned with the gun.
"Get in the pilot's seat."
Balv knew this might be his last chance to make a move. He stood up, stepped
away from the copilot's seat and lunged for the Jumbler.
Kelric jerked away the gun, his movements mechanical, as if he were a puppet
acting on reflex. It happened so fast that despite the accuracy and speed of
Balv's lunge, his hand closed on air.
Kelric leveled the Jumbler at Balv. "Sit."
Balv froze. "You don't want to shoot me."
"That doesn't mean I won't."
Balv sat in the pilot's seat, his mind racing to find a solution. What if
Kelric reached the port? Were the tales true, that entire worlds had been
punished for an offense against the Rhon? If Kelric was their youngest, the
one they felt most protective toward, their wrath would be even greater.
He looked up at his abductor. "I won't fly you to the port."
"Fly or I shoot."
Balv took a deep breath. "Then you'll have to shoot."
"You're willing to die to keep me here?"
"Yes."
Kelric stared jt him as if he were trying to extract the truth of Balv's words
from his brain. Then he jerked his gun toward the hatch. "Take what you need
to survive and get out."
90 Catherine Asaro |
Balv jumped out of his seat and strode toward the back o| the cabin, moving
fast, before Kelric changed his mind. Kelric' had already taken the stunner
from the locker, so Balv grabbed, a jacket and a box of flares to signal the
search panis. :
When Balv heaved open the hatch, chill wind blasted! through the cabin,
throwing back his hair. He jumped out onto the ice-encrusted rocks around the
rider where the snow tha melted during their landing had refrozen.
;
Within seconds the rider was airborne, leaving Balv alone in the freezing
wind.
A burst of static from the co jolted Kelric awake. One glance| at the controls
told him the craft was losing altitude. As he;
brought up the nose, the radio crackled again, with a voice buried in the
static. 3 A Skolian voice.
"... identify yourself. You are approach ... Restricted zone off limits . . .
identify .. ."
"I'm a Skolian citizen," Kelric rasped. His fever was worse now and his voice
had grown so hoarse he could barely talk. | "Do you read? I'm an Imperialate
citizen."
". .. off limits to all Coban . . . identify yourself." '" "Is anyone
there?" he asked. "Anyone?" | The message continued to
repeat. | The rider faltered, coughing and spluttering.
A fast check | showed what he had feared would result from his'erratic fly- I
ing: the fuel tanks were empty. As he opened the wings and | rode the wind
like a hawk, the desert sped upward in a blur 5;
of red. |
Kelric did his best to control the dive, trying to glide on the I wind. At the
last moment, he hunched over and covered his head with his arms. With a shriek
of splintering metal, the rider '':
hit ground and plowed through the sand. The impact nearly tore him out of his
seat despite the harness. The craft rolled over, wrenching him from side to
side, and the crack of break- ;
ing glass added its cry to the chaos.
With a final shudder, the rider rocked to a stop. Slow and cautious, Kelric
raised his head. The windshield was broken and the cabin looked like a storm
had hit Jt. Equipment lay
-The Last Hawk 91
thrown all over the deck. Two passenger seats had ripped loose and his Jumbler
lay smashed under a crumpled section of the hull. His Quis dice were scattered
everywhere, most of them crushed.
Kelric untangled himself from his seat, moving stiffly, both from the damage
he had sustained during the crash and from the fever raging in his body. He
limped across the cabin, piking his way over the debris. The rider rocked,
then listed to one side, leaving the deck at a slant that sent him sliding
into the hatch.
The buckled dor came loose under his shove and fell out onto the desert.
Scorching wind poured into the cabin, accompanied by a rain of sand that
insinuated itself everywhere. Raising his arm to protect his eyes, he climbed
out into the heat.
Red desert stretched everywhere. Nothing but sand, sand, sand, and the towers
that reached into a pale blue sky like fingers from a giant buried hand
Towers?
Kelric squinted in the heat shimmer of the air. Then he grinned.
It was the starport. -
Lift one foot. Put it down. Again and again and again ....
The impact of his body against sand jarred Kelric out of his daze. He rolled [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]