One of the peace keepers rounded the vehicle to enter on the other side. Two stooped to climb into the front seat. Shluh gestured Retief into the back seat and got in behind him. The others moved off on foot.
The car started up and pulled away. The cop in the front seat turned to look at Retief.
"To have some sport with it, and then to kill it," he said.
"To have a fair trial first," Shluh said. The car rocked and jounced, rounded a corner, puffed2 along between ornamented3 pastel facades4.
"To have a trial and then to have a bit of sport," the cop said.
"To suck the eggs in your own hill," Retief said. "To make another stupid mistake."
Shluh raised his short ceremonial club and cracked Retief across the temple. Retief shook his head, tensed—
The cop in the front seat beside the driver turned and rammed5 the barrel of his scatter-gun against Retief's ribs6.
"To make no move, outworlder," he said. Shluh raised his club and carefully struck Retief again. He slumped7.
The car swayed, rounded another corner. Retief slid over against the police chief.
"To fend8 this animal—" Shluh began. His weak voice was cut off short as Retief's hand shot out, took him by the throat and snapped him down onto the floor. As the guard on Retief's left lunged, Retief uppercut him, slamming his head against the door post. He grabbed the scatter-gun as it fell, pushed into the mandibles of the Groacian in the front seat.
"To put your popgun over the seat—carefully—and drop it," he said.
The driver slammed on his brakes, whirled to raise his gun. Retief cracked the gun barrel against the head of the Groacian before him, then swiveled to aim it at the driver.
"To keep your eyestalks on the road," he said. The driver grabbed at the tiller and shrank against the window, watching Retief with one eye, driving with the other.
"To gun this thing," Retief said. "To keep moving."
Shluh stirred on the floor. Retief put a foot on him, pressed him back. The cop beside Retief moved. Retief pushed him off the seat onto the floor.
He held the scatter-gun with one hand and mopped at the blood on his face with the other. The car bounded over the irregular surface of the road, puffing9 furiously.
"Your death will not be an easy one, Terrestrial," Shluh said in Terran.
"No easier than I can help," Retief said. "Shut up for now, I want to think."
"Slow down," Retief said. The driver obeyed.
"Turn down this side road."
The car bumped off onto an unpaved surface, threaded its way back among tall stalks.
"Stop here." The car stopped. It blew off steam and sat trembling as the hot engine idled roughly.
Retief opened the door, took his foot off Shluh.
"Sit up," he ordered. "You two in front listen carefully." Shluh sat up, rubbing his throat.
"Three of you are getting out here," Retief said. "Good old Shluh is going to stick around to drive for me. If I get that nervous feeling that the cops are after me, I'll toss him out to confuse them. That will be pretty messy, at high speed. Shluh, tell them to sit tight until dark and forget about sounding any alarms. I'd hate to see your carapace11 split and spill loveable you all over the pavement."
"Sorry, I haven't got one." Retief put the gun under Shluh's ear. "Tell them, Shluh. I can drive myself, in a pinch."
"To do as the foreign one says; to stay hidden until dark," Shluh said.
"Everybody out," Retief said. "And take this with you." He nudged the unconscious Groacian. "Shluh, you get in the driver's seat. You others stay where I can see you."
Retief watched as the Groaci silently followed instructions.
"All right, Shluh," Retief said softly. "Let's go. Take me to Groac Spaceport by the shortest route that doesn't go through the city. And be very careful about making any sudden movements."
Forty minutes later, Shluh steered13 the car up to the sentry14-guarded gate in the security fence surrounding the military enclosure at Groac Spaceport.
"Don't yield to any rash impulses," Retief whispered as a crested15 Groacian soldier came up. Shluh grated his mandibles in helpless fury.
"The guest of the Autonomy," Shluh added. "To let me pass or to rot in this spot, fool?"
"To pass, Drone-master," the sentry mumbled18. He was still staring at Retief as the car moved jerkily away.
"You are as good as pegged19 out on the hill in the pleasure pits now, Terrestrial," Shluh said in Terran. "Why do you venture here?"
"Pull over there in the shadow of the tower and stop," Retief said.
Shluh complied. Retief studied the row of four slender ships parked on the ramp20, navigation lights picked out against the early dawn colors of the sky.
"Which of those boats are ready to lift?" Retief demanded.
"All of them are shuttles; they have no range. They will not help you."
"To answer the question, Shluh, or to get another crack on the head."
"You are not like other Terrestrials! You are a mad dog!"
"We'll rough out a character sketch22 of me later. Are they all fueled up? You know the procedures here. Did those shuttles just get in, or is that the ready line?"
"Yes. All are fueled and ready for take-off."
"I hope you're right, Shluh. You and I are going to drive over and get in one; if it doesn't lift, I'll kill you and try the next. Let's go."
"You are mad! I have told you—these boats have not more than ten thousand ton-seconds capacity. They are useful only for satellite runs."
"Never mind the details. Let's try the first in line."
Shluh let in the clutch and the steam car clanked and heaved, rolled off toward the line of boats.
"Not the first in line," Shluh said suddenly. "The last is the more likely to be fueled. But—"
"Smart grasshopper," Retief said. "Pull up to the entry port, hop23 out and go right up. I'll be right behind you."
"The gangway guard. The challenging of—"
"More details. Just give him a dirty look and say what's necessary. You know the technique."
The car passed under the stern of the first boat, then the second. There was no alarm. It rounded the third and shuddered24 to a stop by the open port of the last vessel25.
"Out," Retief said. "To make it snappy."
Shluh stepped from the car, hesitated as the guard came to attention, then hissed at him and mounted the steps. The guard looked wonderingly at Retief, mandibles slack.
"An outworlder!" he said. He unlimbered his scatter-gun. "To stop here, meat-faced one."
Shluh froze, turned.
"To snap to attention, litter-mate of drones!" Retief rasped in Groacian. The guard jumped, waved his eye stalks and came to attention.
"About face!" Retief hissed. "Hell out of here—to march!"
The guard tramped off across the ramp. Retief took the steps two at a time, slammed the port shut behind himself.
"I'm glad your boys have a little discipline, Shluh," Retief said. "What did you say to him?"
"I but—"
"Never mind. We're in. Get up to the control compartment26."
"Tie in, Shluh," Retief ordered.
"This is insane!" Shluh said. "We have only fuel enough for a one-way transit31 to the satellite. We cannot enter orbit, nor can we land again! To lift this boat is death—unless your destination is our moon."
"The moon is down, Shluh," Retief said. "And so are we. But not for long. Tie in."
"If I have to tie you in myself, I might bend your head in the process."
"Give it up," he said. "I will see that you are reinstated—with honor! I will guarantee a safe conduct."
"Countdown," Retief said. He threw in the autopilot.
The gyros hummed; timers ticked; relays closed. Retief lay relaxed on the acceleration36 pad. Shluh breathed noisily, his mandibles clicking rapidly.
"No death is a good death," Retief said. "Not for a while yet." The red light flashed on in the center of the panel, and abruptly38 sound filled the universe. The ship trembled, lifted.
Retief could hear Shluh's whimpering even through the roar of the drive.
"Perihelion," Shluh said dully. "To begin now the long fall back."
"Not quite," Retief said. "I figure eighty-five seconds to go." He scanned the instruments, frowning.
"We will not reach the surface, of course," Shluh said in Terran. "The pips on the screen are missiles. We have a rendezvous39 in space, Retief. In your madness, may you be content."
"Any time now," he said softly. Shluh counted his eye stalks.
"What do you seek?"
"Look at the screen," he said. Shluh looked. A glowing point, off-center, moving rapidly across the grid44....
"What—"
"Later!"
"How...."
"For your own neck's sake, Shluh," Retief said, "you'd better hope this works." He flipped46 the sending key.
"2396 TR-42 G, this is the Terrestrial Consul47 at Groac, aboard Groac 902, vectoring on you at an MP fix of 91/54/94. Can you read me? Over."
"What forlorn gesture is this?" Shluh whispered. "You cry in the night to emptiness!"
"Button your mandibles," Retief snapped, listening. There was a faint hum of stellar background noise. Retief repeated his call, waited.
"Maybe they hear but can't answer," he muttered. He flipped the key.
"2396, you've got twenty seconds to lock a tractor beam on me, or I'll be past you like a shot of rum past a sailor's bridgework...."
"To call into the void!" Shluh said. "To—"
"Look at the DV screen."
Shluh twisted his head, looked. Against the background mist of stars, a shape loomed48, dark and inert49.
"It is ... a ship!" Shluh said. "A monster ship!"
"That's her," Retief said. "Nine years and a few months out of New Terra on a routine mapping mission. The missing cruiser—the IVS Terrific."
"Impossible!" Shluh hissed. "The hulk swings in a deep cometary orbit."
"Right. And now it's making its close swing past Groac."
"You think to match orbits with the derelict? Without power? Our meeting will be a violent one, if that is your intent."
"We won't hit; we'll make our pass at about five thousand yards."
"To what end, Terrestrial? You have found your lost ship. Then what? Is this glimpse worth the death we die?"
"Maybe they're not dead," Retief said.
"Not dead?" Shluh lapsed50 into Groacian. "To have died in the burrow of one's youth. To have burst my throat sac ere I embarked51 with a mad alien to call up the dead."
"2396, make it snappy," Retief called. The speaker crackled heedlessly. The dark image on the screen drifted past, dwindling52 now.
"Nine years, and the mad one speaking as to friends," Shluh raved53. "Nine years dead, and still to seek them."
"Another twenty seconds," Retief said softly, "and we're out of range. Look alive, boys."
"Was this your plan, Retief?" Shluh asked in Terran. "Did you flee Groac and risk all on this slender thread?"
"How long would I have lasted in one of your Groaci prisons?"
"Long and long, my Retief," Shluh hissed, "under the blade of an artist."
Abruptly, the ship trembled, seemed to drag, rolling the two passengers in their couches. Shluh hissed as the restraining harness cut into him. The shuttle boat was pivoting54 heavily, upending. Crushing acceleration forces built. Shluh gasped and cried out shrilly55.
"What ... is ... it?"
"It looks," Retief said, "like we've had a little bit of luck."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
docilely
|
|
| adv.容易教地，易驾驶地，驯服地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
puffed
|
|
| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
ornamented
|
|
| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
facades
|
|
| n.（房屋的）正面( facade的名词复数 )；假象，外观 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
rammed
|
|
| v.夯实（土等）( ram的过去式和过去分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
ribs
|
|
| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
slumped
|
|
| 大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
fend
|
|
| v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
puffing
|
|
| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
mounds
|
|
| 土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
carapace
|
|
| n.（蟹或龟的）甲壳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
hissed
|
|
| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
steered
|
|
| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
sentry
|
|
| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
crested
|
|
| adj.有顶饰的，有纹章的，有冠毛的v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的过去式和过去分词 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
croaked
|
|
| v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
tilted
|
|
| v. 倾斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
mumbled
|
|
| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
pegged
|
|
| v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的过去式和过去分词 )；使固定在某水平 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
ramp
|
|
| n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
choleric
|
|
| adj.易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
sketch
|
|
| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
hop
|
|
| n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
shuddered
|
|
| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
vessel
|
|
| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
compartment
|
|
| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
naval
|
|
| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
vessels
|
|
| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
hijacked
|
|
| 劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
cramped
|
|
| a.狭窄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
transit
|
|
| n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
gasped
|
|
| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
immunity
|
|
| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
strapped
|
|
| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
screeched
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
acceleration
|
|
| n.加速，加速度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
hoarse
|
|
| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
abruptly
|
|
| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
rendezvous
|
|
| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
sluggish
|
|
| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
burrow
|
|
| vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
stiffened
|
|
| 加强的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
grid
|
|
| n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
darted
|
|
| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
flipped
|
|
| 轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
consul
|
|
| n.领事；执政官 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
loomed
|
|
| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
inert
|
|
| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
lapsed
|
|
| adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
embarked
|
|
| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
dwindling
|
|
| adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
raved
|
|
| v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
pivoting
|
|
| n.绕轴旋转，绕公共法线旋转v.（似）在枢轴上转动( pivot的现在分词 )；把…放在枢轴上；以…为核心，围绕（主旨）展开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
shrilly
|
|
| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |