But the square itself lay empty in the crimson2 noon of Wolf. Overhead the dim red ember of Phi Coronis, Wolf's old and dying sun, gave out a pale and heatless light. The pair of Spaceforce guards at the gates, wearing the black leathers of the Terran Empire, shockers holstered at their belts, were drowsing under the arched gateway3 where the star-and-rocket emblem4 proclaimed the domain5 of Terra. One of them, a snub-nosed youngster only a few weeks out from Earth, cocked an inquisitive6 ear at the cries and scuffling feet, then jerked his head at me.
I stepped out past the gateway to listen. There was still no one to be seen in the square. It lay white and windswept, a barricade8 of emptiness; to one side the spaceport and the white skyscraper9 of the Terran Headquarters, and at the other side, the clutter10 of low buildings, the street-shrine, the little spaceport cafe smelling of coffee and jaco, and the dark opening mouths of streets that rambled11 down into the Kharsa—the old town, the native quarter. But I was alone in the square with the shrill cries—closer now, raising echoes from the enclosing walls—and the loping of many feet down one of the dirty streets.
Then I saw him running, dodging12, a hail of stones flying round his head; someone or something small and cloaked and agile13. Behind him the still-faceless mob howled and threw stones. I could not yet understand the cries; but they were out for blood, and I knew it.
I said briefly14, "Trouble coming," just before the mob spilled[6] out into the square. The fleeing dwarf15 stared about wildly for an instant, his head jerking from side to side so rapidly that it was impossible to get even a fleeting16 impression of his face—human or nonhuman, familiar or bizarre. Then, like a pellet loosed from its sling17, he made straight for the gateway and safety.
And behind him the loping mob yelled and howled and came pouring over half the square. Just half. Then by that sudden intuition which permeates18 even the most crazed mob with some semblance19 of reason, they came to a ragged20 halt, heads turning from side to side.
I stepped up on the lower step of the Headquarters building, and looked them over.
Most of them were chaks, the furred man-tall nonhumans of the Kharsa, and not the better class. Their fur was unkempt, their tails naked with filth21 and disease. Their leather aprons22 hung in tatters. One or two in the crowd were humans, the dregs of the Kharsa. But the star-and-rocket emblem blazoned24 across the spaceport gates sobered even the wildest blood-lust somewhat; they milled and shifted uneasily in their half of the square.
For a moment I did not see where their quarry25 had gone. Then I saw him crouched26, not four feet from me, in a patch of shadow. Simultaneously27 the mob saw him, huddled28 just beyond the gateway, and a howl of frustration29 and rage went ringing round the square. Someone threw a stone. It zipped over my head, narrowly missing me, and landed at the feet of the black-leathered guard. He jerked his head up and gestured with the shocker which had suddenly come unholstered.
The gesture should have been enough. On Wolf, Terran law has been written in blood and fire and exploding atoms; and the line is drawn30 firm and clear. The men of Spaceforce do not interfere31 in the old town, or in any of the native cities. But when violence steps over the threshold, passing the blazon23 of the star and rocket, punishment is swift and terrible. The threat should have been enough.
Instead a howl of abuse went up from the crowd.
"Terranan!"
"Son of the Ape!"
The Spaceforce guards were shoulder to shoulder behind[7] me now. The snub-nosed kid, looking slightly pale, called out. "Get inside the gates, Cargill! If I have to shoot—"
The older man motioned him to silence. "Wait. Cargill," he called.
I nodded to show that I heard.
"You talk their lingo. Tell them to haul off! Damned if I want to shoot!"
I stepped down and walked into the open square, across the crumbled32 white stones, toward the ragged mob. Even with two armed Spaceforce men at my back, it made my skin crawl, but I flung up my empty hand in token of peace:
"Take your mob out of the square," I shouted in the jargon33 of the Kharsa. "This territory is held in compact of peace! Settle your quarrels elsewhere!"
There was a little stirring in the crowd. The shock of being addressed in their own tongue, instead of the Terran Standard which the Empire has forced on Wolf, held them silent for a minute. I had learned that long ago: that speaking in any of the languages of Wolf would give me a minute's advantage.
But only a minute. Then one of the mob yelled, "We'll go if you give'm to us! He's no right to Terran sanctuary34!"
I walked over to the huddled dwarf, miserably35 trying to make himself smaller against the wall. I nudged him with my foot.
"Get up. Who are you?"
The hood36 fell away from his face as he twitched37 to his feet. He was trembling violently. In the shadow of the hood I saw a furred face, a quivering velvety38 muzzle39, and great soft golden eyes which held intelligence and terror.
"What have you done? Can't you talk?"
He held out the tray which he had shielded under his cloak, an ordinary peddler's tray. "Toys. Sell toys. Children. You got'm?"
I shook my head and pushed the creature away, with only a glance at the array of delicately crafted manikins, tiny animals, prisms and crystal whirligigs. "You'd better get out of here. Scram. Down that street." I pointed40.
A voice from the crowd shouted again, and it had a very ugly sound. "He is a spy of Nebran!"
"Nebran—" The dwarfish41 nonhuman gabbled something[8] then doubled behind me. I saw him dodge42, feint in the direction of the gates, then, as the crowd surged that way, run for the street-shrine across the square, slipping from recess43 to recess of the wall. A hail of stones went flying in that direction. The little toy-seller dodged44 into the street-shrine.
Then there was a hoarse45 "Ah, aaah!" of terror, and the crowd edged away, surged backward. The next minute it had begun to melt away, its entity46 dissolving into separate creatures, slipping into the side alleys47 and the dark streets that disgorged into the square. Within three minutes the square lay empty again in the pale-crimson noon.
The kid in black leather let his breath go and swore, slipping his shocker into its holster. He stared and demanded profanely48, "Where'd the little fellow go?"
"Who knows?" the other shrugged49. "Probably sneaked50 into one of the alleys. Did you see where he went, Cargill?"
I came slowly back to the gateway. To me, it had seemed that he ducked into the street-shrine and vanished into thin air, but I've lived on Wolf long enough to know you can't trust your eyes here. I said so, and the kid swore again, gulping51, more upset than he wanted to admit. "Does this kind of thing happen often?"
"All the time," his companion assured him soberly, with a sidewise wink52 at me. I didn't return the wink.
The kid wouldn't let it drop. "Where did you learn their lingo, Mr. Cargill?"
"I've been on Wolf a long time," I said, spun53 on my heel and walked toward Headquarters. I tried not to hear, but their voices followed me anyhow, discreetly54 lowered, but not lowered enough.
"Kid, don't you know who he is? That's Cargill of the Secret Service! Six years ago he was the best man in Intelligence, before—" The voice lowered another decibel55, and then there was the kid's voice asking, shaken, "But what the hell happened to his face?"
I should have been used to it by now. I'd been hearing it, more or less behind my back, for six years. Well, if my luck held, I'd never hear it again. I strode up the white steps of the skyscraper, to finish the arrangements that would take me away from Wolf forever. To the other end of the Empire, to[9] the other end of the galaxy—anywhere, so long as I need not wear my past like a medallion around my neck, or blazoned and branded on what was left of my ruined face.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
shrill
|
|
| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
crimson
|
|
| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
gateway
|
|
| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
emblem
|
|
| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
domain
|
|
| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
inquisitive
|
|
| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
lingo
|
|
| n.语言不知所云，外国话，隐语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
barricade
|
|
| n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
skyscraper
|
|
| n.摩天大楼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
clutter
|
|
| n.零乱，杂乱；vt.弄乱，把…弄得杂乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
rambled
|
|
| （无目的地）漫游( ramble的过去式和过去分词 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
dodging
|
|
| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
agile
|
|
| adj.敏捷的，灵活的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
briefly
|
|
| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
dwarf
|
|
| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
fleeting
|
|
| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
sling
|
|
| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
permeates
|
|
| 弥漫( permeate的第三人称单数 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
semblance
|
|
| n.外貌，外表 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
ragged
|
|
| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
filth
|
|
| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
aprons
|
|
| 围裙( apron的名词复数 )； 停机坪，台口（舞台幕前的部份） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
blazon
|
|
| n.纹章，装饰；精确描绘；v.广布；宣布 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
blazoned
|
|
| v.广布( blazon的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布；夸示；装饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
quarry
|
|
| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
crouched
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
simultaneously
|
|
| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
huddled
|
|
| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
frustration
|
|
| n.挫折，失败，失效，落空 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
interfere
|
|
| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
crumbled
|
|
| （把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
jargon
|
|
| n.术语，行话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
sanctuary
|
|
| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
miserably
|
|
| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
hood
|
|
| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
twitched
|
|
| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
velvety
|
|
| adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
muzzle
|
|
| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
dwarfish
|
|
| a.像侏儒的，矮小的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
dodge
|
|
| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
recess
|
|
| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
dodged
|
|
| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
hoarse
|
|
| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
entity
|
|
| n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
alleys
|
|
| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
profanely
|
|
| adv.渎神地，凡俗地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
sneaked
|
|
| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
gulping
|
|
| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的现在分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
wink
|
|
| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
spun
|
|
| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
discreetly
|
|
| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
decibel
|
|
| n.分贝(音量的单位) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |