Part 12 (1/2)
When I saw dizzily again, the lights on the board no longer played in flas.h.i.+ng patterns but were set and steady. Hory lay in his seat, his head forward on his chest. Eet stirred against me. Then his head arose slowly and his beads of eyes met mine.
”We are out-”
”He set a course tape,” I said. ”To the nearest Patrol mother s.h.i.+p or base, I suppose.”
”If he can reach it,” Eet observed. ”We may have bought time only.”
”What do you mean?”
”Just that Nact.i.tl cannot afford to lose us. The Guild are playing for the largest stakes they have yet found - for many of your human centuries. They will not allow the fate of a single Patrol scout to upset their plans.”
”They cannot mount a destruct - not on their s.h.i.+p.”
”But they may have other devices, just as useful to them. Also, do you yourself want to be delivered to a Patrol base?”
”What do you mean?” I glanced at Hory. If he was conscious he must be able to ”hear” Eet's communications.
”He still sleeps,” the mutant rea.s.sured me. ”But- we may not have much time, and I do not know how much an unconscious brain can pick up to retain for the future. This is true - what Nact.i.tl seeks he has not yet found. There are only the stones in the storage vault. But they were not mined on that planet, as Nact.i.tl and the Patrol may continue to believe.”
”How do you know that? What about those cliff tunnels?”
”They sought something else there, those old ones. No, the cache under the ruins held their fuel supply. But Nact.i.tl will believe they found them in the mines, and so will others. However, the man who does eventually find the true source of the stones can make his own luck, if he is clever and discreet. Also - those stones looked dead, did they not?”
”Very dead.”
”Your ring stone partly activated them. Just as it can give a boost to any conventional fuel in these s.h.i.+ps of yours. You have a bargaining point, but you must use it well. There will be those who would kill you for that ring. And you have more to fear than just the Guild.”
His head swiveled around on that exceedingly mobile neck and he looked meaningfully at the Patrolman.
”To stand against the Patrol would require more resources than I have,” I answered. The illegality of it did not bother me. The ring was my heritage, and the fact that some musty law made by men I had never seen or heard of might be produced to wrest it from me only raised my anger. I added, ”But I will fight for what I now hold.”
”Just so.” There was satisfaction in Eet's agreement. ”You can seem to yield and yet win.”
”Win what? A fortune - with everyone sniping at me to get at the secret and tear me down? I want none of that.”
Perhaps Hywel Jern, who could have had wealth and yet had settled prudently for comfort, and might have finished out his life in peace had he not been a curious man, had molded me. Or perhaps the need to be free which had kept Vondar Ustle on the move had rubbed off on his a.s.sistant.
”You can buy freedom.” Eet's thought followed mine easily. ”What have you now with Vondar dead? Nothing. Bargain well, as he taught you, when the time comes. You will know what you want most in that hour.”
”What you want,” I countered.
Now his head turned so that he could eye me. ”What I want - just so. But our trails run together. I have told you that before. Apart we are weak, together we are strong, a combination to accomplish much if you have the courage-”
”Eet - what are you?”
”A living being,” he replied, ”with certain gifts which I have placed at your disposal from time to time, and certainly not to your disadvantage.” Again he read my thoughts and added, ”Of course, I have used you, but also you have used me. You would have been dead long since had we not. And to your species, death of the body is an end - do you not believe it so?”
”Not all of us do.”
”That is as it may be,” he replied ambiguously. ”But at any rate, we are together in this life and it is to our mutual advantage to have this pact continue.”
I could not deny his logic, though still the suspicion stayed deep in my mind that Eet had plans of his own and would eventually maneuver me into serving them.
”He is waking.” Eet looked at Hory. ”Tell him to check his speed.”
I was no pilot. But I could see there was a red light flas.h.i.+ng on the board. That had about it a suggestion of alarm. Hory made a snorting sound and straightened in his web seat, setting it to swinging. He rubbed his hands across his eyes and then leaned forward to look at the board, his att.i.tude that of one alerted to trouble.
”Eet says - look to the speed-” I said.
His hand shot out to thumb a red b.u.t.ton under that red flash. The red spark vanished, a yellow one flashed in its place, held steady for a short s.p.a.ce, then became red again. Once more Hory tried the b.u.t.ton. But this time there was no change in the light. His fingers played a swift pattern over the other b.u.t.tons and levers, but the signal remained stubbornly red.
”What is the matter?” I asked.
”Traction beam.” Hory spit out that explanation as if it were a curse. ”They have lifted behind us and slapped a traction on. But a s.h.i.+p of that size, how could they be so equipped?” Still he continued to try his keys. Once the light paled, but only momentarily.
”They can pull us back?”
”They are trying. But they cannot down us - not yet. They can only keep us out of hyper. And they may think they can board - if so they are going to be surprised. But they can keep us tied near that planet.”
”Waiting for reinforcements? Why cannot you do the same - call for help?”
”They have a com blanket over us. If they expect reinforcements they were already sure of their coming. I have heard of Guild supers.h.i.+ps; this must be one of them.”
”What do we do then - just wait-?”
”Not if we are wise,” Eet cut in. ”They do expect aid and it will be of such nature as to take this s.h.i.+p easily. What you stumbled on here, Hory, is a Guild operation of such magnitude that they are willing to throw many of their undercover reserves in - or did you arrive here with a suspicion that that was so?”
”I suppose you have a suggestion?” Hory asked bitingly. ”I can maintain my s.h.i.+eld but not break their hold - to do that is to lose my own escape force. They could reel us in before I could fire effectively.”
Eet did have an answer. ”The ring stone, Murdoc-”
”How?” I had felt the action of the ring on my own body, its drawing power across the wastes of s.p.a.ce, and on the planet below. But in what way could it be used on this s.h.i.+p to break a traction beam which held so powerful a vessel in bonds?
”Take it down, to the engine room,” Eet ordered.
His knowledge was certainly greater than mine, and I continued to wonder where he had gained it. Reading minds seemed easy enough for him, but how he knew uses for the baffling gem I could not understand. Was it all part of Eet's mysterious past, before he had, as he put it, obtained a body to serve him in the present? Was - could Eet have a link with those who had once used the stones for motive power? How long had Eet been a seed, or stone, or that thing Valcyr had swallowed?
Even as I speculated I was unbuckling, preparing to leave my seat. I had learned my confidence well; if Eet thought there was a chance the ring might save us, I was willing to try it.
”What will you do?” Hory asked sharply.
Eet answered. ”Try to augment your power, Patrolman. We are not sure, we can only try.”
It was thoughtful of him to say ”we,” since, as always, I was merely the one to carry out plans hatched in that narrow head of his.
We descended the ladder to the lowest level and made our way to the reactor room. Eet made the same questing movements of nose and head as he had used to steer us through the forest. Then with a quick stretch of his neck, he pointed his nose at a sealed box.