Part 9 (2/2)

”I'm goin' to sen' you home under escort,” he said.

”I don't want an escort,” I said. ”Do you want an escort, ex-Captain Lapthorn?”

”It might be a good idea,” she said. ”It's getting dark, and we don't want any of these cretins blazing away at us on suspicion.”

She had a point. But there were principles at stake.

”I am not going to be shown home by a bunch of f.e.c.kless kids in black romper suits,” I said coldly.

”It's for your own protection,” insisted the thin man, who was presumably a corporal or thereabouts, though I didn't know how to identify him from his uniform. ”We don' wan' any slipups on this job. We are here to see that n.o.body else gets hurt here. We wan' to fin' Varly before he kills anyone else an' that includes you. This man is armed and dangerous.”

”There are an awful lot of things aroun' here that are armed an' dangerous,” I commented, mimicking his accent in the hope that annoyance would make his acne break out.

”I insist that at leas' two of my men accompany you back to your destination,” he said, doubly proud at being able to say ”my men” and at being able to p.r.o.nounce ”destination.”

I decided that compromise, being the soul of diplomacy, was called for.

”Make it one and it's a deal,” I said. ”And I'll recommend you for a medal.”

He smiled-not because of the medal, but because he thought he'd outmanoeuvred me into accepting an escort. One poor unfortunate was quickly appointed to remain with us, while the rest marched noisily away into the forest.

”Paradise!” I said. ”It'll never recover from this lot.”

”We got strict orders not to disturb anything,” said the youth with the rifle, looking slightly offended.

”Yeah,” I said. ”Come on, suns.h.i.+ne, let's go home.”

We didn't even get three steps. I heard a thud and turned back to see our intrepid guardian crumpling into a heap. He had been hit on the head by a gun b.u.t.t.

Varly crouched to retrieve the rifle, and before I could move the hole in the end was pointed at my stomach.

”h.e.l.l,” I said. ”Where did you come from?”

”Keep quiet,” he hissed urgently, his expression furious. His close-set eyes were bloodshot and staring.

He pointed upward in answer to my question. It could hardly be a coincidence-he must have come in behind the search party. But why? It could hardly be idle curiosity, and he couldn't possibly think that there was anyone around that would help him.

”Taking a bit of a risk, weren't you?” I asked. And, in a low whisper, ”Who do you think you are-Tarzan?”

”b.a.s.t.a.r.ds couldn't catch a cold,” he whispered back.

”Possibly so,” I murmured. ”What now?” Eve, beside me, was very tense. I took hold of her arm and squeezed hard, trying to tell her to stay still. Between us, almost certainly, we could jump him. He knew as well as we did that if he fired the beamer he would have the army down on him in seconds. But I didn't think there was any need for either of us to risk getting hurt.

”Look,” he said. ”I'll surrender. But keep me away from the boys in black. You can lock me up in that s.h.i.+p of yours, but don't hand me back.”

”Well,” I said, ”I don't know that you need have been so anxious to get to us rather than them. They have a lot to thank you for. If it hadn't been for you, they'd still be looking for an excuse to bring the boys in black down. Just what the h.e.l.l did you think you were doing?”

”Never mind that,” he said, raising the rifle to indicate that he wasn't fooling. ”I'm going with you. Turn around and stand apart. Take your hand off her arm, Grainger. Now walk. Stay slow, and stay apart.

Anything happens- anything at all-and you'll both get it in the back. I mean it.”

A lot of men might not have meant it. But I was ready to believe that Varly did. He was a man habituated to violence, habituated to answering fear with fire. I knew that we were both in dire danger of being burned.

”If they get me,” hissed Varly, ”they're going to kill me. Just remember that. And they're going to get me if I don't go with you. I got nothing to eat and I daren't try this filthy alien stuff. I got no place to go except your s.h.i.+p. And that's where I'm going.”

I didn't bother saying anything lest I should offend him. I often have that effect on people. I kept walking, just like he wanted me to. Eve did the same. Once now and again, I saw her glance sideways at me. That squeeze had given her the wrong idea. She was looking to me to do something-expecting heroics. I'd have thought she knew me better, but could be she had got the wrong idea from misleading accounts of what had happened on Chao Phrya when the spiders had come to tea.

-We can take him, said the wind. The light's dim, his reaction time can't be any too fast. You and I, we have speed. We can take him.

We might beat the beam, I told him, but he's big. I know you can pull some nice gimmicks, but even getting the very best out of me isn't going to put us in the same league with the best of him.

-Come off it, said the wind. We can have him laid out before he blinks. Just let go.

No.

-Coward, he said.

You know better than that, I said.

-It's true.

Maybe. Maybe not. But it's nothing to do with this. If I thought it was worth it, I might. But it isn't.

h.e.l.l-he only wants to turn himself in to someone who isn't liable to string him up. We can afford to do as he says.

-Do you believe that?

Don't you?

-He's not the type. He's hard. There's nothing inside that brain but brutality. He'll force you to the s.h.i.+p, and once he's there he'll keep forcing. He'll push and he'll push until somebody shoots him down. You'd be better to take him here, where there's not the same risk of people getting hurt.

There's two of us, I told him. And he's got a gun in our backs. That's a risk of someone getting hurt. It's a risk I'm not taking. Right?

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