Only one doubt remained in Dalgard's mind. This devil had not acted in the normal brainless fashion of its kin5. What if it was able to assess the very simple maneuvers6, which always before had completely baffled its species, and attacked not the moving merman but the waiting archer7?
It was backed against another door, a closed one, as if it had fled for refuge to some aid it had expected and did not find. But as Sssuri moved, its long neck straightened until it was almost at right angles with its narrow shoulders, and from its snake's jaws8 proceeded a horrific hissing9 which arose to a scream as its leg muscles tensed for a spring.
At just the right moment Sssuri's arm went back, his spear sang through the air. And the snake-devil, with an incredible twist of its neck, caught the haft of the weapon between its teeth, crunching10 the iron-hard substance into powder. But with that move it exposed its throat, and the arrow from Dalgard's bow was buried head-deep in the soft inner flesh.
The snake-devil spat11 out the spear and tried to raise its head. But the muscles were already weakening. It fought the poison long enough to take a single step forward, its small red eyes alight with brainless hate. Then it crashed and lay twisting. Dalgard lowered his bow. There was no need for a second shot.
Sssuri regarded the remains12 of his spear unhappily. Not only was it the product of long hours of work, but no merman ever felt fully13 equipped to face the world without such a weapon to hand. He salvaged14 the barbed head and broke it free of the shred15 of haft the snake-devil had left. Knotting it at his belt he turned to Dalgard.
"Shall we see what lies beyond?"[67]
Dalgard crossed the hall to test the door. It did not yield to an inward push, but rolled far enough into the wall to allow them through.
On the other side was a room which amazed the scout16. The colonists17 had their laboratory, their workshops, in which they experimented and tried to preserve the remnants of knowledge their forefathers19 had brought across space, as well as to discover new. But the extent of this storehouse with its bewildering mass of odd machines, tanks, bales, and stocked shelves and tables, was too much to be taken in without a careful and minute examination.
"We are not the first to walk here." Sssuri had given little attention to what was stacked about him. Instead he bent21 over the disturbed dust in one aisle22. Dalgard noted23 as he went to join the merman that there were gaps on those tables which ran the full length of the room, lines left in the grimy deposit of years which told of things recently moved. And then he saw what had interested Sssuri: tracks, some resembling those which his own bare feet might leave, except that there were only three toes!
"They."
Dalgard who had been a hunter and a tracker before he was an explorer crouched for a clearer view. Yes, they were recent, yet not made today or even yesterday; there was a thin film of dust resettled in each.
"Some days ago. They are not in the city now," the merman declared with certainty. "But they will come again."
"How do you know that?"
Sssuri's hand swept about to include the wealth around them. "They have taken some, perhaps to them the most needful. But they will not be able to resist gathering24 the rest. Surely they will return, perhaps not once but many times. Until—"
"Until they come to stay." Dalgard was grim as he completed that sentence for the other.
"That is what they will work for. This land was[68] once under their mastery. This world was theirs before they threw it away warring among themselves. Yes, they dream of holding all once more. But"—Sssuri's yellow eyes took on some of the fire which had shone in those of the snake-devil during its last seconds of life—"that must not be so!"
"If they take the land, you have the sea," Dalgard pointed25 out. The mermen had a means of escape. But what of his own clansmen? Large families were unknown among the Terran colonists. In the little more than a century they had been on this planet their numbers, from the forty-five survivors26 of the voyage, had grown to only some two hundred and fifty, of which only a hundred and twenty were old enough or young enough to fight. And for them there was no retreat or hiding place.
"We do not go back to the depths!" There was stern determination in that declaration from Sssuri. His tribe had been long hunted, and it wasn't until they had made a loose alliance with the Terran colonists that they had dared to leave the dangerous ocean depths, where they were the prey27 of monsters more ferocious28 and cunning than any snake-devil, to house their families in the coast caves and on the small islands off-shore, to increase in numbers and develop new skills of civilization. No, knowing the stubbornness which was bred into their small, furry29 bodies, Dalgard did not believe that many of the sea people would willingly go back into the sunless depths. They would not surrender tamely to the rulership of the loathed30 race.
"I don't see," Dalgard spoke31 aloud, half to himself, as he studied the tables closely packed, the machines standing32 on bases about the walls, the wealth of alien technology, "what we can do to stop them."
The restriction33 drilled into him from early childhood, that the knowledge of Those Others was not for his race and in some way dangerous, gave him an uneasy feeling of guilt34 just to be standing there. Danger, dan[69]ger which was far worse than physical, lurked35 there. And he could bring it to life by merely putting out his hand and picking up any one of those fascinating objects which lay only inches away. For the pull of curiosity was warring inside him against the stern warnings of his Elders.
Once when Dalgard had been very small he had raided his father's trip bag after the next to the last exploring journey the elder Nordis had made. And he had found a clear block of some kind of greenish crystal, in the heart of which threadlike lines of color wove patterns which were utterly36 strange. When he had turned the block in his hand, those lines had whirled and changed to form new and intricate designs. And when he had watched them intently it had seemed that something happened inside his mind and he knew, here and there, a word, a fragment of alien thought—just as he normally communicated with the cub37 who was Sssuri or the hoppers of the field. And his surprise had been so great that he had gone running to his father with the cube and the story of what happened when one watched it.
But there had been no praise for his discovery. Instead he had been hurried off to the chamber38 where an old, old man, the son of the Great Man who had planned to bring them across space, lay in his bed. And Forken Kordov himself had talked to Dalgard in his old voice, a voice as withered39 and thin as the hands crossed helplessly on his shrunken body, explaining in simple, kindly40 words that the knowledge which lay in the cubes, in the oddly shaped books which the Terrans sometimes came across in the ruins, was not for them. That his own great-grandfather Dard Nordis, who had been one of the first of the mutant line of sensitives, had discovered that. And Dalgard, impressed by Forken, by his father's concern, and by all the circumstances of that day, had never forgotten nor lost that warning.
"We cannot hope to stop them," Sssuri pointed out.[70] "But we must learn when they will come again and be waiting for them—with your people and mine. For I tell you now, brother of the knife, they must not be allowed to rise once more!"
"Perhaps that alone we cannot do. But when they come they will not leave speedily. They have stayed here before without harm, and their distrust has been lulled42. When next they come, it will be only according to their natures that they will wish to stay longer. Not snatching up the closest to hand of these treasures of theirs, but choosing out with care those things which will give them the best results. Therefore they may make a camp, and we can summon others to aid us."
"To return to Homeport will take several days even if we push," pointed out the scout.
"Word can pass swifter than man," the merman returned, with confidence in his own plan of action. "We shall put other eyes, other ears, many eyes, many ears, to service for us. Be assured we are not the only ones to fear the return of Those Others from overseas."
Dalgard caught his meaning. Yes, it would not be the first time the hoppers and other small animals living in the grasslands43, the runners and even the moth44 birds that only the mermen could mind touch, would relay a message across the land. It might not be an accurate message—to transmit that by small animal brains was impossible—but the meaning would reach both merman and colony Elders: trouble in the north, help needed there. And since Dalgard was the only explorer at present who had chosen the northern trails, his people would know that he had sent that warning and would act upon it, as Sssuri's message would in turn be heeded45 by the warriors46 of his tribe.
Yes, it could be done. But what of the traces they had left here—the slaughtered47 snake-devils—?
Sssuri had an answer for that also. "Let them believe[71] that one of my race came here, or that a party of us ventured to explore inland. We can make it appear that way. But they must not know of you. I do not believe that they ever learned of you or how your fathers came from the sky. And so that may swing the battle in our favor if it comes to open warfare48."
What the merman said was sensible enough, and Dalgard was willing to obey orders. As he left the storehouse, Sssuri trailed him, scuffing49 each dusty print the scout left. Perhaps a master of trailcraft could unravel50 that spoor, but the colonist18 was ready to believe that no such master existed in the ranks of Those Others.
In the outer hall the merman approached the now dead snake-devil and jerked from its loose skin the arrow which had killed it. Loosing the head of his ruined spear from his belt, he dug and gouged51 at the small wound, tearing it so that its original nature was concealed52 forever. Then they retraced53 their way through the underground passages until they reached the sanded arena. Already insects buzzed hungrily about the hulks of the dead monsters.
There was a shrill54 squeal55 as the remaining infant reptile56 fled from the pouch57 where it had hidden. Sssuri hurled58 his knife, and the blade caught the small devil above the shoulder line, half cutting, half snapping its tender neck, so that it bounded aimlessly on to crash against the wall and fall back squirming feebly.
They collected the darts59 which had killed the others. Dalgard took the opportunity to study those bands on the forearms of the adults. To his touch they had the slick smoothness of metal, yet he was unfamiliar60 with the material. It possessed61 the ruddy fire of copper62, but through it ran small black veins63. He would have liked to have taken one with him for investigation64, but it was out of the question to pry65 it off that scaled limb.
Sssuri straightened up from his last gruesome bit[72] of stage-setting with a sigh of relief. "Go ahead." He pointed to one of the other archways. "I will confuse the trail."
Dalgard obeyed, treading as lightly as he could, avoiding all stretches in which he could leave a clear print. Sssuri ran lightly back and forth66 mixing the few impressions to the best of his ability.
They backtracked to the river, retrieved67 the boat and recrossed, to leave the city behind and strike into the open country beyond its sinister68 walls. Night was falling, and Dalgard was very glad that he was not to spend the time of darkness within those haunted buildings. But he knew that it was more than a dislike for being shut up in the alien dwellings69 which had brought Sssuri out into the fields. The second part of their plan must be put into operation.
While Dalgard willed his body motionless, the merman lay relaxed upon the ground before him as he might have floated upon his beloved waves in some secluded70 cove20. His brilliant eyes were closed. Yet Dalgard knew that Sssuri was far from asleep, and with all his own power he tried to join in the broadcast: that urgency which should send some hopper, some night runner, on to spread the rumor71 that there was trouble in the north, that danger existed and must be investigated. They had already met one colony of runners ranging southward to escape. But if they could send another such tribe traveling, arouse and aim south a hopper exodus72, the story would spread until the fringe would reach the animals who lived in peace within touch of Homeport.
The sun was gone, the dark gathered fast. Dalgard could not even see the clustered buildings of the city now. And since he lacked Sssuri's range and staying power, he had no idea whether their efforts had met with even a shadow of success. He shivered in the bite of the wind and dared to lay his hand on Sssuri's shoulder, feeling anew the electric shock of warmth and bursting life which was always there.[73]
Having so broken the other's absorption he asked a question: "Would it not be well, brother of the knife, if with the rising sun you returned to the sea and struck out to join your tribesmen, leaving me here to watch until you return?"
Sssuri's answer came with a speed which suggested that he, too, had been considering that problem. "We shall see what happens with the sun's rising. It is true that in the sea I can travel with greater speed, that there are hunting parties of my people striking into these waters. But they will not come to this city without good reason. It is an accursed place."
With the early morning the city drew them once more. Dalgard's curiosity pulled him to that storehouse. He could not stifle73 the hope that with luck he might find something there which would solve their problem for them. If there could only be a way to avoid open conflict with Those Others, some solution whereby the aliens need never know of the existence of the Colony. For so many generations, even centuries, the aliens had been confined, or had confined themselves, safely overseas on the western continent. Perhaps if now they were faced by some new catastrophe74, they would never attempt to come east again. He had visions of discovering and activating75 some trap set to protect their treasures which could be turned against them. But he realized that he lacked the technical knowledge which would have aided him in the search for such a weapon.
The remnants of Terran science and mechanics, which the outlaws76 had brought with them from their native world, had been handed on; the experiments they had managed since with crude equipment had been carefully recorded, and he was acquainted with the outlines of most of them. But the few destructive arms they had imported were long since worn out or lacked charges, and they had not been able to duplicate them. Just as they had torn asunder77 the ship in which they had crossed space, to use its parts for the[74] building of Homeport, so had they hoarded78 all else they had brought. But they were limited by lack of materials on Astra, and their fear of the knowledge of the aliens had kept them from experimenting with things found in the ruins.
There might be hundreds of objects on the shelves of that storage place, which, properly used, would reduce not only just the room and its contents to glowing slag79, but take half the city with it. But he had no idea which, or which combination, would do it.
And here Sssuri could be no help. The mermen had made great strides forward in biological and mental sciences, but mechanics was a closed section of learning because of their enforced habitat under the sea, and of machines they knew less than the colonists.
"I have been thinking—" Sssuri broke into his companion's chain of reasoning, "of what we may do. And perhaps there is a way to reach the sea more swiftly than by returning overland."
"Downriver? But you said that way may have its watching devices."
"Which would be centered on objects coming upstream, not down. But in this city there should be yet another way—"
He did not enlarge upon that, but since he apparently80 knew what he was doing, Dalgard let him play guide once more. They recrossed the sluggish81 river, the scout looking into its murky82 depths with little relish83 for it as a means of transportation. Though it had an oily, flowing current, there was a suggestion of stagnant84 water with unpleasant surprises waiting beneath its turgid surface.
For the second time they entered the arena. Avoiding the bodies, Sssuri made a circuit of the sanded floor. He did not turn in at the archway which led to the storage place, but paused before another as if there lay what he had been searching for.
Dalgard's less sensitive nostrils85 picked up a new scent86, the not-to-be-missed fetor of damp underground[75] ways where water stood. The merman edged around a barred gate as Dalgard sniffed87 again. The smell of damp was crossed by other and even less appetizing odors, but he did not catch the stench of the snake-devils. And, relying on Sssuri's judgment88, he followed the merman into the dark.
Once again patches of violet light glimmered89 over their heads as the passage narrowed and sloped downward. Dalgard tried to remember the general geography of the section which was above them now. He had assumed that this way with its dank chill must give on the river. But when they had pattered on for a long distance, he knew that either they had passed beneath the stream or that he was totally lost as to direction.
As their eyes adjusted to the gloom of the passage the violet light grew stronger. So Dalgard saw clearly when Sssuri whirled and faced back along the way they had come, his body in a half crouch3, his knife ready in his hand.
Dalgard, his bow useless in the damp, drew his own sword-knife. But, though his mind probed and he listened, he could sense or hear nothing on their trail.
点击收听单词发音
1 slaying | |
杀戮。 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 arena | |
n.竞技场,运动场所;竞争场所,舞台 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 crouch | |
v.蹲伏,蜷缩,低头弯腰;n.蹲伏 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 crouched | |
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 kin | |
n.家族,亲属,血缘关系;adj.亲属关系的,同类的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 maneuvers | |
n.策略,谋略,花招( maneuver的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 archer | |
n.射手,弓箭手 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 jaws | |
n.口部;嘴 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 hissing | |
n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 crunching | |
v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 );嘎吱作响;(快速大量地)处理信息;数字捣弄 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 spat | |
n.口角,掌击;v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 salvaged | |
(从火灾、海难等中)抢救(某物)( salvage的过去式和过去分词 ); 回收利用(某物) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 shred | |
v.撕成碎片,变成碎片;n.碎布条,细片,些少 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 scout | |
n.童子军,侦察员;v.侦察,搜索 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 colonists | |
n.殖民地开拓者,移民,殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 colonist | |
n.殖民者,移民 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 forefathers | |
n.祖先,先人;祖先,祖宗( forefather的名词复数 );列祖列宗;前人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 cove | |
n.小海湾,小峡谷 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 aisle | |
n.(教堂、教室、戏院等里的)过道,通道 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 survivors | |
幸存者,残存者,生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 ferocious | |
adj.凶猛的,残暴的,极度的,十分强烈的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 furry | |
adj.毛皮的;似毛皮的;毛皮制的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 loathed | |
v.憎恨,厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 );极不喜欢 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 restriction | |
n.限制,约束 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 guilt | |
n.犯罪;内疚;过失,罪责 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 lurked | |
vi.潜伏,埋伏(lurk的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 cub | |
n.幼兽,年轻无经验的人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 withered | |
adj. 枯萎的,干瘪的,(人身体的部分器官)因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 foretell | |
v.预言,预告,预示 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 lulled | |
vt.使镇静,使安静(lull的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 grasslands | |
n.草原,牧场( grassland的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 moth | |
n.蛾,蛀虫 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 heeded | |
v.听某人的劝告,听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 );变平,使(某物)变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 slaughtered | |
v.屠杀,杀戮,屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 warfare | |
n.战争(状态);斗争;冲突 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 scuffing | |
n.刮[磨,擦,划]伤v.使磨损( scuff的现在分词 );拖着脚走 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 unravel | |
v.弄清楚(秘密);拆开,解开,松开 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 gouged | |
v.凿( gouge的过去式和过去分词 );乱要价;(在…中)抠出…;挖出… | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 concealed | |
a.隐藏的,隐蔽的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 retraced | |
v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 );回忆;回顾;追溯 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 squeal | |
v.发出长而尖的声音;n.长而尖的声音 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 reptile | |
n.爬行动物;两栖动物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 pouch | |
n.小袋,小包,囊状袋;vt.装...入袋中,用袋运输;vi.用袋送信件 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 darts | |
n.掷飞镖游戏;飞镖( dart的名词复数 );急驰,飞奔v.投掷,投射( dart的第三人称单数 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 unfamiliar | |
adj.陌生的,不熟悉的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 copper | |
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 veins | |
n.纹理;矿脉( vein的名词复数 );静脉;叶脉;纹理 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 investigation | |
n.调查,调查研究 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 pry | |
vi.窥(刺)探,打听;vt.撬动(开,起) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 retrieved | |
v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 );恢复;寻回;检索(储存的信息) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 sinister | |
adj.不吉利的,凶恶的,左边的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 dwellings | |
n.住处,处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 secluded | |
adj.与世隔绝的;隐退的;偏僻的v.使隔开,使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 rumor | |
n.谣言,谣传,传说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72 exodus | |
v.大批离去,成群外出 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73 stifle | |
vt.使窒息;闷死;扼杀;抑止,阻止 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74 catastrophe | |
n.大灾难,大祸 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75 activating | |
活动的,活性的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76 outlaws | |
歹徒,亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 ); 逃犯 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77 asunder | |
adj.分离的,化为碎片 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
78 hoarded | |
v.积蓄并储藏(某物)( hoard的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
79 slag | |
n.熔渣,铁屑,矿渣;v.使变成熔渣,变熔渣 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
80 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
81 sluggish | |
adj.懒惰的,迟钝的,无精打采的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
82 murky | |
adj.黑暗的,朦胧的;adv.阴暗地,混浊地;n.阴暗;昏暗 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
83 relish | |
n.滋味,享受,爱好,调味品;vt.加调味料,享受,品味;vi.有滋味 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
84 stagnant | |
adj.不流动的,停滞的,不景气的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
85 nostrils | |
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
86 scent | |
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
87 sniffed | |
v.以鼻吸气,嗅,闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 );抽鼻子(尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气);抱怨,不以为然地说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
88 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
89 glimmered | |
v.发闪光,发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |