Part 1 (1/2)
Adventures in the Liaden Universe
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
Two Tales of Korval
Adventures in the Liaden Universe 1 Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
To Cut An Edge
AS AGREED, he was lost
He was, in fact, a good deal more lost than he wanted to be It took him several seconds to realize that the continent overhead was not the one he'd secretly studied for-followed quickly by the realization that it was not even the world he'd expected
He'd crammed for oceanic Talanar, a planet quite close to the studies he'd been urged to make by his elders This world was ?
What world was it, after all?
Deter fall-rate overrode curiosity for this present He located a ed to have the shi+p orient thus, then began a preliminary scan of-well, of wherever it was-as he slowed rotation sood Water probably drinkable Gravity a bit heavier than the training planet: within ten percent of Liaden gravity Preliminary scan established that this could be any of three or four hundred worlds
His shi+p wasitsobtal speed If he worked very hard and was very careful, he could keep the tiny craft in orbit, but that meant immediate expulsion, no appeal, unless he could demonstrate equipmentfailure
Instead, he nursed the strictly li only attitude jets, and hurried the coe
Three hours before he hit serious at skills and local weather conditions, he ht be in the air for an hour The world beloould turn one and a half tiht- And quashed the thought immediately Daria was dead, killed in the drop from the mothershi+p, victim of a freakish solar storm It had been stupid of them to be so involved, of course Stupid and beautiful
Daria was months dead now, and Val Con yos'Phelium would be a scout Not partnered, as they'd proainst all unnath of each other's arms Not partnered But a Scout, nonetheless
After he passed the test
He considered the readouts There were cities down there, yet not so closely huddled that there weren't plenty of places to land a quick, slender craft His instructions: achieve planetfall; learn the language, customs, life-forms; survive for six standard months and sound Recall This was not the final test, after all, merely the preliminary Pass this, then the true Solo and, behold! Scout Sian the second scan Optimism, he chided himself half-seriously, is not a survival trait
HE SET DOWN in the foothills above an amber valley where fields and possible houses lined a placid river
Grounded, he initiated the final pre-scan, whistling indifferently His instruift from his fostermother on the recent occasion of his seventeenth Naear
It was remarkable the 'chora was there at all Test tradition was that a cadet carried no tech-gear during prelims, except for that equipment found in a standard kit However, those who had him under their eyes understood that to deprive Val Con yos'Pheliu his music for a period of six months, Standard, would be an act of wanton inhumanity It had been debated hotly within the council of instructors, had he but known it He knew only the end-that the 'chora was aboard the test shi+p; and that his immediate superior took care to co, Val Con studied the results of the scan: air a bit light on oxygen, but not enough to present proble to worry hih Soil samples showed levels of copper, iron; a shade tooto be rather die: too hot for exit
He stretched in the pilot's chair and released the web of shock straps Asking the rationboard for a cup of hot tea, he stood sipping, trying to dae of excitement that threatened, noas really here
Wherever it wasHe grinned suddenly What did it s, after all! This hat he had been trained for More fool he, crahtyears distant, when he could have been-could have been sleeping
Resisting the urge to tell the teht of its arbitrary liht out two bundles
The first was his 'chora, wrapped in oiled yellow silk His fingers caressed it through the fabric as he set it aside
The second bundle rapped in black leather and clanked when he hefted it He settled back on the floor and twisted the clasps, pulling out a broad belt, also of black leather, hung about with objects
A Scout must wear a complete belt kit at all ti with deep resentment Complete? If he came to require local currency, he need only open a hardware concession Oh, soun? Pitons? Surely, if there were mountains to climb, one would know in sufficient tiulations And if any of the several things he judged useless were not on his belt, should a proctor turn up, he would flunk on the instant
Sighing, he began the kit-check
Pellet gun: OK
Flaregun: OK
Machete: what can go wrong with a machete? OK
Stick-knife He s, dainty blade The stick-knife was pleasing He found knives in general pleasing, and had studied their construction during his so-called spare ti to craft a few Theblade, which, of course, was not with hi, but for surprise and efficiency in close, desperate situations He flicked his wrist, vanishi+ng blade into hilt
Stick-knife: OK
A Scout's belt-kit is coe teone out
DAY SEVEN
He rose and tidied the shi+p while drinking aof tea; checked the monitors; buckled on his kit and went out
It was diht world, and sultry A breeze blowing froht a medley of unfamiliar odors with it He sniffed appreciatively and paused to pick an old reed from the side of the path
Six days had seen ht level, even as his body rhyth song of the world Sensors hadbeen set out and calibration progra was up-to-date
His failure lay in contacting the people
Hot that there weren't people On the contrary, there were at least two hundred individuals living in the valley at the end of this path, though the count was necessarily approximate He found it difficult to differentiate at distance between one large-shelled person and another Given variation in shell size, person size, decoration and harness, individuality would eventually coh; but it would be a slow process Worse, he had yet to find one single person ould speak with hie his presence