"Still," Retief said, "it gives an opportunity to travel—"
"Travel!" the consul barked. "I hate travel. Here in this backwater system particularly—" He paused, blinked at Retief and cleared his throat. "Not that a bit of travel isn't an excellent thing for a junior officer. Marvelous experience."
He turned to the wall-screen and pressed a button. A system triagram appeared: eight luminous5 green dots arranged around a larger disk representing the primary. He picked up a pointer, indicating the innermost planet.
"The situation on Adobe6 is nearing crisis. The confounded settlers—a mere7 handful of them—have managed, as usual, to stir up trouble with an intelligent indigenous8 life form, the Jaq. I can't think why they bother, merely for a few oases9 among the endless deserts. However I have, at last, received authorization10 from Sector11 Headquarters to take certain action." He swung back to face Retief. "I'm sending you in to handle the situation, Retief—under sealed orders." He picked up a fat buff envelope. "A pity they didn't see fit to order the Terrestrial settlers out weeks ago, as I suggested. Now it is too late. I'm expected to produce a miracle—a rapprochement between Terrestrial and Adoban and a division of territory. It's idiotic12. However, failure would look very bad in my record, so I shall expect results."
He passed the buff envelope across to Retief.
"I understood that Adobe was uninhabited," Retief said, "until the Terrestrial settlers arrived."
"Apparently13, that was an erroneous impression." Passwyn fixed14 Retief with a watery15 eye. "You'll follow your instructions to the letter. In a delicate situation such as this, there must be no impulsive16, impromptu17 element introduced. This approach has been worked out in detail at Sector. You need merely implement18 it. Is that entirely19 clear?"
"Has anyone at Headquarters ever visited Adobe?"
"Of course not. They all hate travel. If there are no other questions, you'd best be on your way. The mail run departs the dome20 in less than an hour."
"What's this native life form like?" Retief asked, getting to his feet.
"When you get back," said Passwyn, "you tell me."
The mail pilot, a leathery veteran with quarter-inch whiskers, spat21 toward a stained corner of the compartment22, leaned close to the screen.
"They's shootin' goin' on down there," he said. "See them white puffs23 over the edge of the desert?"
"I'm supposed to be preventing the war," said Retief. "It looks like I'm a little late."
The pilot's head snapped around. "War?" he yelped24. "Nobody told me they was a war goin' on on 'Dobe. If that's what that is, I'm gettin' out of here."
"Hold on," said Retief. "I've got to get down. They won't shoot at you."
"They shore won't, sonny. I ain't givin' 'em the chance." He started punching keys on the console. Retief reached out, caught his wrist.
"Maybe you didn't hear me. I said I've got to get down."
The pilot plunged25 against the restraint, swung a punch that Retief blocked casually26. "Are you nuts?" the pilot screeched27. "They's plenty shootin' goin' on fer me to see it fifty miles out."
"The mail must go through, you know."
"Okay! You're so dead set on gettin' killed, you take the skiff. I'll tell 'em to pick up the remains28 next trip."
The pilot jumped to the lifeboat hatch and cycled it open. "Get in. We're closin' fast. Them birds might take it into their heads to lob one this way...."
Retief crawled into the narrow cockpit of the skiff, glanced over the controls. The pilot ducked out of sight, came back, handed Retief a heavy old-fashioned power pistol. "Long as you're goin' in, might as well take this."
"Thanks." Retief shoved the pistol in his belt. "I hope you're wrong."
"I'll see they pick you up when the shootin's over—one way or another."
The hatch clanked shut. A moment later there was a jar as the skiff dropped away, followed by heavy buffeting29 in the backwash from the departing mail boat. Retief watched the tiny screen, hands on the manual controls. He was dropping rapidly: forty miles, thirty-nine....
Retief felt sweat pop out on his forehead. The red blip meant heavy radiation from a warhead. Somebody was playing around with an outlawed31 but by no means unheard of fission32 weapon. But maybe it was just on a high trajectory33 and had no connection with the skiff....
Retief altered course to the south. The blip followed.
He checked instrument readings, gripped the controls, watching. This was going to be tricky34. The missile bored closer. At five miles Retief threw the light skiff into maximum acceleration35, straight toward the oncoming bomb. Crushed back in the padded seat, he watched the screen, correcting course minutely. The proximity36 fuse should be set for no more than 1000 yards.
At a combined speed of two miles per second, the skiff flashed past the missile, and Retief was slammed violently against the restraining harness in the concussion37 of the explosion ... a mile astern, and harmless.
Then the planetary surface was rushing up with frightening speed. Retief shook his head, kicked in the emergency retro-drive. Points of light arced up from the planet face below. If they were ordinary chemical warheads the skiff's meteor screens should handle them. The screen flashed brilliant white, then went dark. The skiff flipped38 on its back. Smoke filled the tiny compartment. There was a series of shocks, a final bone-shaking concussion, then stillness, broken by the ping of hot metal contracting.
Coughing, Retief disengaged himself from the shock-webbing. He beat out sparks in his lap, groped underfoot for the hatch and wrenched39 it open. A wave of hot jungle air struck him. He lowered himself to a bed of shattered foliage40, got to his feet ... and dropped flat as a bullet whined41 past his ear.
He lay listening. Stealthy movements were audible from the left.
He inched his way to the shelter of a broad-boled dwarf42 tree. Somewhere a song lizard43 burbled. Whining44 insects circled, scented45 alien life, buzzed off. There was another rustle46 of foliage from the underbrush five yards away. A bush quivered, then a low bough47 dipped.
Retief edged back around the trunk, eased down behind a fallen log. A stocky man in grimy leather shirt and shorts appeared, moving cautiously, a pistol in his hand.
As he passed, Retief rose, leaped the log and tackled him.
They went down together. The stranger gave one short yell, then struggled in silence. Retief flipped him onto his back, raised a fist—
"Hey!" the settler yelled. "You're as human as I am!"
"Maybe I'll look better after a shave," said Retief. "What's the idea of shooting at me?"
"Lemme up. My name's Potter. Sorry 'bout48 that. I figured it was a Flap-jack boat; looks just like 'em. I took a shot when I saw something move. Didn't know it was a Terrestrial. Who are you? What you doin' here? We're pretty close to the edge of the oases. That's Flap-jack country over there." He waved a hand toward the north, where the desert lay.
"I'm glad you're a poor shot. That missile was too close for comfort."
"I heard there was a full-fledged war brewing," said Retief. "I didn't expect—"
"Good!" Potter said. "We figured a few of you boys from Ivory would be joining up when you heard. You are from Ivory?"
"Yes. I'm—"
"Hey, you must be Lemuel's cousin. Good night! I pretty near made a bad mistake. Lemuel's a tough man to explain something to."
"I'm—"
"Keep your head down. These damn Flap-jacks have got some wicked hand weapons. Come on...." He moved off silently on all fours. Retief followed. They crossed two hundred yards of rough country before Potter got to his feet, took out a soggy bandana and mopped his face.
"You move good for a city man. I thought you folks on Ivory just sat under those domes50 and read dials. But I guess bein' Lemuel's cousin you was raised different."
"As a matter of fact—"
"Have to get you some real clothes, though. Those city duds don't stand up on 'Dobe."
"This outfit52 seemed pretty rough-and-ready back home," he said. "But I guess leather has its points."
"Let's get on back to camp. We'll just about make it by sundown. And, look. Don't say anything to Lemuel about me thinking you were a Flap-jack."
"I won't, but—"
Potter was on his way, loping off up a gentle slope. Retief pulled off the sodden53 blazer, dropped it over a bush, added his string tie and followed Potter.
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1
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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pal
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| n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友 | |
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distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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glumly
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| adv.忧郁地，闷闷不乐地；阴郁地 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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adobe
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| n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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indigenous
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| adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的 | |
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oases
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| n.（沙漠中的）绿洲( oasis的名词复数 )；（困苦中）令人快慰的地方（或时刻）；乐土；乐事 | |
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authorization
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| n.授权，委任状 | |
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sector
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| n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形 | |
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idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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implement
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| n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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24
yelped
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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screeched
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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28
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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buffeting
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| 振动 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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outlawed
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| 宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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fission
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| n.裂开；分裂生殖 | |
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trajectory
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| n.弹道，轨道 | |
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tricky
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| adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的 | |
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acceleration
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| n.加速，加速度 | |
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proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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concussion
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| n.脑震荡；震动 | |
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38
flipped
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| 轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥 | |
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39
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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40
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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41
whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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42
dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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43
lizard
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| n.蜥蜴，壁虎 | |
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44
whining
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| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
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45
scented
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| adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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46
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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47
bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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48
bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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49
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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50
domes
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| n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场 | |
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51
charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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52
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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53
sodden
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| adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑 | |
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