Rip had come to a decision. "We're not going to remain space borne," he stated with the confidence of one who now saw an open road before him.
"Luna—" Weeks was plainly doubtful.
"No. Not after that warn-off. Terra!"
For a second or two the other three stared at Rip agape. The audacity1 and danger of what he suggested was a little stunning2. Since men had taken regularly to space no ship had made a direct landing on their home planet—all had passed through the quarantine on Luna. It was not only risky—it was so unheard of that for some minutes they did not understand him.
"We try to set down at Terraport," Dane found his tongue first, "and they flame us out—"
Rip was smiling. "The trouble with you," he addressed them all, "is that you think of earth only in terms of Terraport—"
"Well, there is the Patrol field at Stella," Weeks agreed doubtfully. "But we'd be right in the middle of trouble there—"
"Did we have a regular port on Sargol—on Limbo3—on fifty others I can name out of our log?" Rip wanted to know.
Ali voiced a new objection. "So—we have the luck of Jones and we set down somewhere out of sight. Then what do we do?"
"We seal ship until we find the pest—then we bring in a Medic and get to the bottom of the whole thing," Rip's confidence was contagious4. Dane almost believed that it could be done that way.
"Did you ever think," Ali cut in, "what would happen if we were wrong—if the Queen really is a plague carrier?"
"I said—we seal the ship—tight," countered Shannon. "And when we earth it'll be where we won't have visitors to infect—"
"And that is where?" Ali, who knew the deserts of Mars better than he did the greener planet from which his stock had sprung, pursued the question.
"Right in the middle of the Big Burn!"
Dane, Terra born and bred, realized first what Rip was planning and what it meant. Sealed off was right—the Queen would be amply protected from investigation5. Whether her crew would survive was another matter—whether she could even make a landing there was also to be considered.
The Big Burn was the horrible scar left by the last of the Atomic Wars—a section of radiation poisoned land comprising hundreds of square miles—land which generations had never dared to penetrate6. Originally the survivors7 of that war had shunned8 the whole continent which it disfigured. It had been close to two centuries before men had gone into the still wholesome9 land laying to the far west and the south. And through the years, the avoidance of the Big Burn had become part of their racial instinct as they shrank from it. It was a symbol of something no Terran wanted to remember.
But Ali now had only one question to ask. "Can we do it?"
"We'll never know until we try," was Rip's reply.
"The Patrol'll be watching—" that was Weeks. With his Venusian background he had less respect for the dangers of the Big Burn than he did for the forces of Law and order which ranged the star lanes.
"They'll be watching the route lanes," Rip pointed10 out. "They won't expect a ship to come in on that vector, steering11 away from the ports. Why should they? As far as I know it's never been tried since Terraport was laid out. It'll be tricky—" And he himself would have to bear most of the responsibility for it. "But I believe that it can be done. And we can't just roam around out here. With I-S out for our blood and a Patrol warn-off it won't do us any good to head for Luna—"
None of his listeners could argue with that. And, Dane's spirits began to rise, after all they knew so little about the Big Burn—it might afford them just the temporary sanctuary12 they needed. In the end they agreed to try it, mainly because none of them could see any alternative, except the too dangerous one of trying to contact the authorities and being summarily treated as a plague ship before they could defend themselves.
And their decision was ably endorsed13 not long afterwards by a sardonic14 warning on the com—a warning which Ali who had been tending the machine passed along to them.
"Greetings, pirates—"
"The word has gone out—our raid on the E-Stat is now a matter of history and Patrol record—we've been Posted!"
Dane felt a cold finger drawn16 along his backbone17. Now they were fair game for the whole system. Any Patrol ship that wanted could shoot them down with no questions asked. Of course that had always been a possibility from the first after their raid on the E-Stat. But to realize that it was now true was a different matter altogether. This was one occasion when realization18 was worse than anticipation19. He tried to keep his voice level as he answered:
"Let us hope we can pull off Rip's plan—"
"We'd better. What about the Big Burn anyway, Thorson? Is it as tough as the stories say?"
"We don't know what it's like. It's never been explored—or at least those who tried to explore its interior never reported in afterwards. As far as I know it's left strictly20 alone."
"Is it still all 'hot'?"
"Parts of it must be. But all—we don't know."
With the bottle of soup in his hand Dane climbed to Jellico's cabin. And he was so occupied with the problem at hand that at first he did not see what was happening in the small room. He had braced21 the Captain up into a half-sitting position and was patiently ladling the liquid into his mouth a spoonful at a time when a thin squeak22 drew his attention to the top of Jellico's desk.
From the half open lid of a microtape compartment23 something long and dark projected, beating the air feebly. Dane, easing the Captain back on the bunk24, was going to investigate when the Hoobat broke its unnatural25 quiet of the past few days with an ear-splitting screech26 of fury. Dane struck at the bottom of its cage—the move its master always used to silence it—But this time the results were spectacular.
The cage bounced up and down on the spring which secured it to the ceiling of the cabin and the blue feathered horror slammed against the wires. Either its clawing had weakened them, or some fault had developed, for they parted and the Hoobat came through them to land with a sullen27 plop on the desk. Its screams stopped as suddenly as they had begun and it scuttled28 on its spider-toad29 legs to the microtape compartment, acting30 with purposeful dispatch and paying no attention to Dane.
Its claws shot out and with ease it extracted from the compartment a creature as weird31 as itself—one which came fighting and of which Dane could not get a very clear idea. Struggling they battled across the surface of the desk and flopped32 to the floor. There the hunted broke loose from the hunter and fled with fantastic speed into the corridor. And before Dane could move the Hoobat was after it.
He gained the passage just in time to see Queex disappear down the ladder, clinging with the aid of its pincher claws, apparently33 grimly determined34 to catch up with the thing it pursued. And Dane went after them.
There was no sign of the creature who fled on the next level. But Dane made no move to recapture the blue hunter who squatted36 at the foot of the ladder staring unblinkingly into space. Dane waited, afraid to disturb the Hoobat. He had not had a good look at the thing which had run from Queex—but he knew it was something which had no business aboard the Queen. And it might be the disturbing factor they were searching for. If the Hoobat would only lead him to it—
The Hoobat moved, rearing up on the tips of its six legs, its neckless head slowly revolving37 on its puffy shoulders. Along the ridge38 of its backbone its blue feathers were rising into a crest39 much as Sinbad's fur rose when the cat was afraid or angry. Then, without any sign of haste, it crawled over and began descending40 the ladder once more, heading toward the lower section which housed the Hydro.
Dane remained where he was until it had almost reached the deck of the next level and then he followed, one step at a time. He was sure that the Hoobat's peculiar41 construction of body prevented it from looking up—unless it turned upon its back—but he did not want to do anything which would alarm it or deter35 Queex from what he was sure was a methodical chase.
Queex stopped again at the foot of the second descent and sat in its toad stance, apparently brooding, a round blue blot42. Dane clung to the ladder and prayed that no one would happen along to frighten it. Then, just as he was beginning to wonder if it had lost contact with its prey43, once more it arose and with the same speed it had displayed in the Captain's cabin it shot along the corridor to the hydro.
To Dane's knowledge the door of the garden was not only shut but sealed. And how either the stranger or Queex could get through it he did not see.
"Queex," the Cargo46-apprentice kept his voice to a half whisper, "it got loose and chased something out of the Old Man's cabin down here."
"Queex—!" Ali began and then shut his mouth, moving noiselessly up to join Dane.
The short corridor ended at the hydro entrance. And Dane had been right, there they found the Hoobat, crouched47 at the closed panel, its claws clicking against the metal as it picked away useless at the portal which would not admit it.
"Whatever it's after must be in there," Dane said softly.
And the hydro, stripped of its luxuriance of plant life, occupied now by the tanks of green scum, would not afford too many hiding places. They had only to let Queex in and keep watch.
As they came up the Hoobat flattened48 to the floor and shrilled49 its war cry, spitting at their boots and then flashing claws against the stout50 metal enforced hide. However, though it was prepared to fight them, it showed no signs of wishing to retreat, and for that Dane was thankful. He quickly pressed the release and tugged51 open the panel.
At the first crack of its opening Queex turned with one of those bursts of astounding52 speed and clawed for admittance, its protest against the men forgotten. And it squeezed through a space Dane would have thought too narrow to accommodate its bloated body. Both men slipped around the door behind it and closed the panel tight.
The air was not as fresh as it had been when the plants were there. And the vats53 which had taken the places of the banked greenery were certainly nothing to look at. Queex humped itself into a clod of blue, immovable, halfway55 down the aisle56.
Dane tried to subdue57 his breathing, to listen. The Hoobat's actions certainly argued that the alien thing had taken refuge here, though how it had gotten through—? But if it were in the hydro it was well hidden.
He had just begun to wonder how long they must wait when Queex again went into action. Its clawed front legs upraised, it brought the pinchers deliberately58 together and sawed one across the other, producing a rasping sound which was almost a vibration59 in the air. Back and forth60, back and forth, moved the claws. Watching them produced almost a hypnotic effect, and the reason for such a maneuver61 was totally beyond the human watchers.
But Queex knew what it was doing all right, Ali's fingers closed on Dane's arm in a pincher grip as painful as if he had been equipped with the horny armament of the Hoobat.
Something, a flitting shadow, had rounded one vat54 and was that much closer to the industrious62 fiddler on the floor. By some weird magic of its own the Hoobat was calling its prey to it.
Scrape, scrape—the unmusical performance continued with monotonous64 regularity65. Again the shadow flashed—one vat closer. The Hoobat now presented the appearance of one charmed by its own art—sunk in a lethargy of weird music making.
At last the enchanted66 came into full view, though lingering at the round side of a container, very apparently longing67 to flee again, but under some compulsion to approach its enchanter. Dane blinked, not quite sure that his eyes were not playing tricks on him. He had seen the almost transparent68 globe "bogies" of Limbo, had been fascinated by the weird and ugly pictures in Captain Jellico's collection of tri-dee prints. But this creature was as impossible in its way as the horrific blue thing dragging it out of concealment69.
It walked erect70 on two threads of legs, with four knobby joints71 easily detected. A bulging72 abdomen73 sheathed74 in the horny substance of a beetle's shell ended in a sharp point. Two pairs of small legs, folded close to the much smaller upper portion of its body, were equipped with thorn shack75 terminations. The head, which constantly turned back and forth on the armor plated shoulders, was long and narrow and split for half its length by a mouth above which were deep pits which must harbor eyes, though actual organs were not visible to the watching men. It was a palish gray in color—which surprised Dane a little. His memory of the few seconds he had seen it on the Captain's desk had suggested that it was much darker. And erect as it was, it stood about eighteen inches high.
With head turning rapidly, it still hesitated by the side of the vat, so nearly the color of the metal that unless it moved it was difficult to distinguish. As far as Dane could see the Hoobat was paying it no attention. Queex might be lost in a happy dream, the result of its own fiddling76. Nor did the rhythm of that scraping vary.
The nightmare thing made the last foot in a rush of speed which reduced it to a blur77, coming to a halt before the Hoobat. Its front legs whipped out to strike at its enemy. But Queex was no longer dreaming. This was the moment the Hoobat had been awaiting. One of the sawing claws opened and closed, separating the head of the lurker78 from its body. And before either of the men could interfere79 Queex had dismembered the prey with dispatch.
"Look there!" Dane pointed.
The Hoobat held close the body of the stranger and where the ashy corpse80 came into contact with Queex's blue feathered skin it was slowly changing hue—as if some of the color of its hunter had rubbed off it.
"Chameleon81!" Ali went down on one knee the better to view the grisly feast now in progress. "Watch out!" he added sharply as Dane came to join him.
One of the thin upper limbs lay where Queex had discarded it. And from the needle tip was oozing82 some colorless drops of fluid. Poison?
Dane looked around for something which he could use to pick up the still jerking appendage83. But before he could find anything Queex had appropriated it. And in the end they had to allow the Hoobat its victim in its entirety. But once Queex had consumed its prey it lapsed84 into its usual hunched85 immobility. Dane went for the cage and working gingerly he and Ali got the creature back in captivity86. But all the evidence now left were some smears87 on the floor of the hydro, smears which Ali blotted88 up for future research in the lab.
An hour later the four who now comprised the crew of the Queen gathered in the mess for a conference. Queex was in its cage on the table before them, asleep after all its untoward89 activity.
"There must be more than just one," Weeks said. "But how are we going to hunt them down? With Sinbad?"
Dane shook his head. Once the Hoobat had been caged and the more prominent evidence of the battle scraped from the floor, he had brought the cat into the hydro and forced him to sniff90 at the site of the engagement. The result was that Sinbad had gone raving91 mad and Dane's hands were now covered with claw tears which ran viciously deep. It was plain that the ship's cat was having none of the intruders, alive or dead. He had fled to Dane's cabin where he had taken refuge on the bunk and snarled92 wild eyed when anyone looked in from the corridor.
"Queex has to do it," Rip said. "But will it hunt unless it is hungry?"
He surveyed the now comatose93 creature skeptically. They had never seen the Captain's pet eat anything except some pellets which Jellico kept in his desk, and they were aware that the intervals94 between such feedings were quite lengthy95. If they had to wait the usual time for Queex to feel hunger pangs96 once more, they might have to wait a long time.
"We should catch one alive," Ali remarked thoughtfully. "If we could get Queex to fiddle63 it out to where we could net it—"
Weeks nodded eagerly. "A small net like those the Salariki use. drop it over the thing—"
While Queex still drowsed in its cage, Weeks went to work with fine cord. Holding the color changing abilities of the enemy in mind they could not tell how many of the creatures might be roaming the ship. It could only be proved where they weren't by where Sinbad would consent to stay. So they made plans which included both the cat and the Hoobat.
Sinbad, much against his will, was buckled97 into an improvised98 harness by which he could be controlled without the handler losing too much valuable skin.
And then the hunt started at the top of the ship, proceeding99 downward section by section. Sinbad raised no protest in the control cabin, nor in the private cabins of the officers' thereabouts. If they could interpret his reactions the center section was free of the invaders100. So with Dane in control of the cat and Ali carrying the caged Hoobat, they descended101 once more to the level which housed the hydro galley102, steward's quarters and ship's sick bay.
Sinbad proceeded on his own four feet into the galley and the mess. He was not uneasy in the sick bay, nor in Mura's cabin, and this time he even paced the hydro without being dragged—much to their surprise as they had thought that the headquarters of the stowaways103.
"Could there only have been one?" Weeks wanted to know as he stood by ready with the net in his hands.
"Either that—or else we're wrong about the hydro being their main hideout. If they're afraid of Queex now they may have withdrawn104 to the place they feel the safest," Rip said.
It was when they were on the ladder leading to the cargo level that Sinbad balked105. He planted himself firmly and yowled against further progress until Dane, with the harness, pulled him along.
"Look at Queex!"
They followed Weeks' order. The Hoobat was no longer lethargic106. It was raising itself, leaning forward to clasp the bars of its cage, and now it uttered one of its screams of rage. And as Ali went on down the ladder it rattled107 the bars in a determined effort for freedom. Sinbad, spitting and yowling refused to walk. Rip nodded to Ali.
"Let it out."
Tipped out of its cage the Hoobat scuttled forward, straight for the panel which opened on the large cargo space and there waited, as if for them to open the portal and admit the hunter to its hunting territory.
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1
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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limbo
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| n.地狱的边缘；监狱 | |
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contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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endorsed
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| vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品 | |
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sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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broth
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| n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等) | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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backbone
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| n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气 | |
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realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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22
squeak
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| n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密 | |
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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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bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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screech
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| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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scuttled
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| v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走 | |
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toad
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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flopped
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| v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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deter
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| vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住 | |
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squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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43
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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44
clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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49
shrilled
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| （声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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53
vats
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| varieties 变化，多样性，种类 | |
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vat
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| n.(=value added tax)增值税，大桶 | |
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55
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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56
aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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vibration
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| n.颤动，振动；摆动 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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maneuver
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| n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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abdomen
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| n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分) | |
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sheathed
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| adj.雕塑像下半身包在鞘中的；覆盖的；铠装的；装鞘了的v.将（刀、剑等）插入鞘( sheathe的过去式和过去分词 )；包，覆盖 | |
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shack
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| adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚 | |
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fiddling
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| 微小的 | |
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blur
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| n.模糊不清的事物；vt.使模糊，使看不清楚 | |
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lurker
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| n.诱鱼灯船，划艇 | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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chameleon
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| n.变色龙，蜥蜴；善变之人 | |
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oozing
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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appendage
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| n.附加物 | |
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lapsed
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| 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 | |
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hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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smears
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| 污迹( smear的名词复数 )； 污斑； （显微镜的）涂片； 诽谤 | |
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blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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untoward
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| adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的 | |
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sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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comatose
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| adj.昏睡的，昏迷不醒的 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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pangs
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| 突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛 | |
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buckled
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| a. 有带扣的 | |
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improvised
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| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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invaders
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| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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102
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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103
stowaways
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| n.偷乘船[飞机]者( stowaway的名词复数 ) | |
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104
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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105
balked
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| v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑 | |
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106
lethargic
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| adj.昏睡的，懒洋洋的 | |
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107
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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