Part 26 (2/2)
”It is the flitter! Soriki heard--they're coming!” Raf hastened to a.s.sure him.
For the last time he saw Dalgard's slow, warm smile, clearer than he had ever seen it before. Then the scout turned and trotted away, toward a fringing rock wall. Before he dropped out of sight behind that barrier he raised the spear in salute.
”Swift and fortunate voyaging!” He gave the farewell of Homeport.
Then Raf understood. The colonist meant just what he had said: he wanted no contact with the s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p. To Raf he had owed a debt and now that was paid. But the time was not yet when the men of Astra and the men of Terra should meet. A hundred years from now perhaps--or a thousand--but not yet. And remembering what had summoned the flitter winging toward him, Raf drew a deep breath. What would the men of Astra accomplish in a hundred years? What could those of Terra do to match them in knowledge? It was a challenge, and he alone knew just how much of a challenge. Homeport must remain his own secret. He had been guided to this place, saved by the mermen alone. Dalgard and his people must not exist as far as the crew of the _RS 10_ were concerned.
For the last time he experienced the intimacy of the mind touch. ”That is it--brother!” Then the sensation was gone as the black blot of the flitter buzzed out of the clouds.
From behind the rocks Dalgard watched the pilot enter the strange machine. For a single moment he had an impulse to shout, to run forward, to surrender to his desire to see the others, the s.h.i.+p which had brought them through s.p.a.ce and would, they confidently believed, take them back to the Terra he knew only as a legend of the past. But he mastered that desire. He had been right. The road had already forked and there was no going back. He must carry this secret all the rest of his life--he must be strong-willed enough so that Homeport would never know. Time--give them time to be what they could be. Then in a hundred years--or a thousand--But not yet!
”n.o.body today is telling better stories of straight-forward interstellar adventure.”
--_New York Herald-Tribune_
When Raf Kurbi's Terran s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p burst into unexplored skies of the far planet Astra and was immediately made welcome by the natives of a once-mighty metropolis, Kurbi was unaware of three vital things:
One was that Astra already harbored an Earth colony--descended from refugees from the world of the previous century.
Two was that these men and women were facing the greatest danger of their existence from a new outburst of the inhuman fiends who had once tyrannized Astra.
Three was that the natives who were buying Kurbi's science know-how were those very fiends--and their intentions were implacably deadly for all humans, whether Earth born or STAR BORN.
_It's an Andre Norton s.p.a.ce adventure--and therefore the tops in its field!_
Quotes from the reviews:
”All science-fiction fans will thrill to these new adventures created by Andre Norton.... All who enjoy a good adventure about the unknown parts of our galaxy will find this an enchanting story.”
--_Jackson _(_Tenn._) _Sun_
”Superb science-fiction.”
--_Montgomery Advertiser_
”Andre Norton adds another star to her literary laurels.”
--_Cleveland Press_
”A good, clearly thought-out story.”
--_New York Times_
”Exciting and adventure-laden.”
--_Library Journal_
<script>