Part 19 (1/2)

Jonnie looked at the latches and b.u.t.tons and noted the information carefully. What a good idea.

”Where are we going?” he asked.

”Oh, just a drive, just a drive. Seeing the sights.”

Jonnie doubted that. He was watching every control action Terl was making. He could identify most of the levers and b.u.t.tons already.

They sped north and then in a long curve headed south of west. Despite the blur of speed, Jonnie could see they were following some ancient, gra.s.s-overgrown highway. By the sun he marked their course.

Through the heavily plated gunner's slits he could see a ma.s.s of ancient buildings and a field. A high mountain lay beyond. A range lay to the west. The ground car slowed and drew up a distance from the largest building. Jonnie looked at the desolate scene of ruin.

Terl reached into the ground car bar and drew himself a small pan of kerbango. He drank it off and smacked his mouthbones and belched. Then he put on his face mask and hit the door b.u.t.ton. ”Well, get out, get out and see the sights.”

Jonnie shut off his air and removed his mask. Terl flipped the leash to give it length and Jonnie got out. He looked around. In a nearby field there were some mounds of what had been machines, perhaps. The structures before him were impressive. Near where they stood was a sort of trench, long overgrown, curving. The gra.s.s was tall and the wind from the mountains moaned lonesomely.

”What was this place?” said Jonnie.

Terl stood with his elbow braced against the top of the car, indolent, very casual. ”Animal, you are looking at the primary defense base of this planet during the days of man.”

”Yes?” prompted Jonnie.

Terl reached into the car and brought out a c.h.i.n.ko guidebook and threw it at him. A page was marked. It said, ”A short distance from the minesite lies an impressive military ruin. Thirteen days after the Psychlo attack, a handful of men stood off a Psychlo tank for over three hours, using primitive weapons. It was the last resistance that was overcome by the Psychlos.” That was all it said.

Jonnie looked around.

Terl pointed at the curved trench. ”It happened right here,” he said, with a sweep of his paw. ”Look.” He dealt out more leash.

Jonnie crept over to the trench. It was hard to see where it began and ended. It had some stones in front of it. The gra.s.s was very tall, moving in the wind.

”Look good,” said Terl.

Jonnie moved down into the trench. And then he saw it. Although a great time had pa.s.sed, there were sc.r.a.ps of metal that had been guns. And there were sc.r.a.ps of uniforms, mainly buried, hardly more than impressions.

Suddenly he was gripped by the vision of desperate men, fighting valiantly, hopelessly. He glanced across the field before the trench and could almost see the Psychlo tank coming on, withdrawing, coming on, battering them at last to death.

Jonnie's heart rose, swelled in his chest. Blood hammered in his ears.

Terl leaned indolently against the car. ”Seen enough?”

”Why have you shown me this?”

Terl barked a laugh behind his mask. ”So you won't get any ideas, animal. This was the number-one defense base of the planet. And just one measly Psychlo tank knocked it to bits in a wink. Got it?”

That wasn't what Jonnie had gotten. Terl, who couldn't read English had not read the still-plain letters on the building. Those letters said, ”United States Air Force Academy.”

”Well, put on your mask and get in. We have other things to do today.”

Jonnie got in. It had not been the ”primary defense base.” It was just a school. And that handful of men had been schoolboys, cadets. And they'd had the guts to stand off a Psychlo tank, outgunned, hopeless, for three hours!

As they moved off, Jonnie looked back at the trench. His people. Men! He found it hard to breathe. They had not died tamely. They had fought.

Chapter 7.

Terl drove straight north, following the overgrown bed of an old highway. For all his joviality he was thinking very hard. Fear and leverage. If you didn't have leverage you could make fear work. He felt he had already accomplished a little bit: the animal had seemed impressed back there. But he had a lot to do to get both fear and leverage and get enough of them to break this animal and cow it completely. ”Comfortable?” asked Terl.

Jonnie snapped out of his daydream and became instantly alert. This was not the Terl he knew. Casual. Chatty even. Jonnie was on his guard.

”Where are we going?” he said.

”Just a little drive. New ground car. Doesn't she run well?”

The tank ran well all right. The plate on the panel said ”Mark III General Purpose Tank, Executive, 'The Enemy Is Dead,' Intergalactic Mining Company Serial ET-5364724354-7.

Use Only Faro Power Cartridges and Breathe-Gas. 'Faro is the Breath and Power of Life.”'

”Is 'Faro' part of Intergalactic?” said Jonnie.

Terl took his eyes off driving for a moment and looked suspiciously at Jonnie. Then he shrugged, ”Don't you bother your little rat brain about the size of Intergalactic, animal. It 's a monopoly that stretches across every galaxy. It 's a size and scope you couldn't grasp if you had a thousand rat brains.”

”It's all run from home planet, isn't it?”

”Why not,” said Terl. ”Something wrong with that?”

”No,” said Jonnie. ”No. Just seems an awfully big company to be run from one planet.”

”That isn't all Psychlo runs,” said Terl. ”There's dozens of companies the size of Intergalactic and Psychlo runs them all.”

”Must be a big planet,” said Jonnie.

”Big and powerful,” said Terl. Might as well add a little more fear. ”Psychlo can and has crushed every opposition that ever stood in her path. One imperial check mark on an order and a whole race can go phuttt!”

”Like the c.h.i.n.kos?” said Jonnie. ”Yes.” Terl was bored. ”Like the human race here?”

”Yes, and like one rat-brained animal will go phuttt if it doesn't shut up,”

said Terl in sudden irritation. ”Thank you,” said Jonnie.

”That's better. Even becoming properly polite!” Terl's good humor returned, but it wouldn't have had he realized that the ”thank you” had been for vital information.

Abruptly their headlong pace swept them into the outskirts of the city.

”Where are we?” said Jonnie. ”They called it 'Denver.' ”

Aha, thought Jonnie. The Great Village had been named Denver. If it had a name to itself, that implied that there were other Great Villages. He reached for the c.h.i.n.ko guidebook of the area and was just reading about the library when the ground car came to a stop.

”Where's this?” inquired Jonnie, looking around. They were at the eastern edge of the town and slightly to the south.