To the right was a sheer drop, and a land slip had cut away the ledge itself a few feet behind the flitter. There was only a steadily6 narrowing path ahead, slanting7 upward.
"Look up!"
Vye backed against the cliff wall, stared up at the sky. Well above them those globes still swam in unwearied circles, commanding the air lanes.
Hume had cautiously approached the outer rim9 of the ledge, was using his distance glasses to scan what might lie below.
"No sign yet."
Vye knew what he meant. The globes were overhead, but the blue beasts, or any other fauna10 those balls might summon, had not yet appeared.
Shouldering their packs they started along the ledge. Hume had his ray tube, but Vye was weaponless, unless somewhere along their route he could pick up some defensive11 and offensive arm. Stones had burst the lights of the islet, they might prove as effective against the blue beasts. He kept watch for any of the proper size and weight.
The ledge narrowed, one shoulder scraped the cliff now as[61] they rounded a pinnacle12 to lose sight of the flitter. But the globes continued to hover13 over them.
"We are still traveling in the direction they want," Vye speculated.
Hume had gone to hands and knees to negotiate an ascent14 so steep he had to search for head and toe holds. When they were safely past that point they took a breather, and Vye glanced aloft again. Now the sky was empty.
"We may have arrived, or are about to do so," said Hume.
"Where?"
The steep ascent did not quite reach the top of the cliff around the face of which the ledge curled. Instead their path now leveled off and began to widen out so that they could walk with more confidence. Then it threaded into a crevice17 between two towering rock walls and sloped downward.
A path unnaturally18 smooth, Vye thought, as if shaped to funnel19 wayfarers20 on. And they came out on the rim of a valley, a valley centered with a wood-encircled lake. They stepped from the rock of the passage onto a springy turf which gave elastically22 to their tread.
Vye's sandal struck a round stone. It started from its bed in the black-green vegetation, turned over so that round pits stared eyelessly up at him. He was faced by the fleshless grin of a human skull23.
Hume went down on one knee, examined the ground growth, gingerly lifted the lace of vertebrae forming a spine24. That ended in a crushed break which he studied briefly25 before he laid the bones gently back into the concealing26 cover of the mossy stuff.
"That was done by teeth!"
The cup of green valley had not changed, it was the same as it had been when they had emerged from the crevice. But now every clump27 of trees, every wind-rippled mound28 of brush promised cover.
Vye moistened his lips, diverted his eyes from the skull.
"Weathered," Hume said slowly, "must have been here for seasons, maybe planet years."
"A survivor29 from the L-B?" Yet this spot lay days of travel from that clearing back in the plains.
"How did he get here?"[62]
"Probably the same way we would have, had we not holed up on that river island."
Driven! Perhaps the lone30 human on Jumala herded31 up into this dead-end valley by the globes or the blue beasts. "This process must have been in action for some time."
"Why?"
"I can give you two reasons." Hume studied the nearest trees narrowly. "First—for some purpose, whatever we are up against wants all interlopers moved out of the lowlands into this section, either to imprison32 them, or to keep them under surveillance. Second—" He hesitated.
Vye's own imagination supplied a second reason, a revolting one he tried to deny to himself even as he put it into words:
"That broken spine—food...." Vye wanted Hume to contradict him, but the Hunter only glanced around, his expression already sufficient answer.
"Let's get out of here!" Vye was fighting down panic with every ounce of control he could summon, trying not to bolt for the crevice. But he knew he could not force himself any farther into that sinister33 valley.
Stones had smashed the globes by the river. If they still waited out there Vye was willing to try and break them with his bare hands, should escape demand such action. Hume must have agreed with those thoughts, he was already taking long strides back to the cliff entrance.
But that door was closed. Hume's foot, raised for the last step toward the crevice corridor, struck an invisible obstruction35. He reeled back, clutching at Vye's shoulder.
"Something's there!"
The younger man put out his hand questingly. What his fingers flattened36 against was not a tight, solid surface, but rather an unseen elastic21 curtain which gave a little under his prodding37 and then drew taut38 again.
Together they explored by touch what they could not see. The crevice through which they had entered was now closed with a curtain they could not pierce or break. Hume tried his ray tube. They watched thin flame run up and down that invisible barrier, but not destroy it.
Hume relooped the tube. "Their trap is sprung."
"There may be another way out!" But Vye was already[63] despondently39 sure there was not. Those who had rigged this trap would leave no bolt holes. But because they were human and refused to accept the inevitable40 without a fight, the captives set off, not down into the curve of the cup, but along its slope.
Tongues of brush and tree clumps41 brought about detours42 which forced them slowly downward. They were well away from the crevice when Hume halted, flung up a hand in silent warning. Vye listened, trying to pick up the sound which had alarmed his companion.
It was as Vye strained to catch a betraying noise that he was first conscious of what he did not hear. In the plains there had been squeaking43, humming, chitterings, the vocalizing of myriad44 grass dwellers45. Here, except for the sighing of the wind and a few insect sounds—nothing. All inhabitants bigger than a Jumalan fly might have long ago been routed out of the land.
"To the left." Hume faced about.
There was a heavy thicket46 there, too stoutly47 grown for anything to be within its shadow. Whatever moved must be behind it.
Vye looked about him frantically48 for anything he could use as a weapon. Then he grabbed at the long bush knife in Hume's belt sheath. Eighteen inches of tri-fold steel gleamed wickedly, its hilt fitting neatly49 into his fist as he held it point up, ready.
Hume advanced on the bush in small steps, and Vye circled to his left a few paces behind. The Hunter was an expert with ray tube; that, too, was part of the necessary skill of a safari50 leader. But Vye could offer other help.
He shrugged out of the blanket pack he had been carrying on his back, tossed that burden ahead.
Out of cover charged a streak51 of red, to land on the bait. Hume blasted, was answered by a water-cat's high-pitched scream. The feline52 writhed53 out of its life in a stench of scorched54 fur and flesh. As Vye retrieved55 his clawed pack Hume stood over the dead animal.
"Odd." He reached down to grasp a still twitching56 foreleg, stretched the body out with a sudden jerk.
It was a giant of its species, a male, larger than any he had seen. But a second look showed him those ribs57 starting through mangy fur in visible hoops58, the skin tight over the[64] skull, far too tight. The water-cat had been close to death by starvation; its attack on the men probably had been sparked by sheer desperation. A starving carnivore in a land lacking the normal sounds of small birds and animal life, in a valley used as a trap.
"No way out and no food." Vye fitted one thought to another out loud.
"Yes. Pin the enemy up, let them finish off one another."
"But why?" Vye demanded.
"Least trouble that way."
"There are plenty of water-cats down on the plains. All of them couldn't be herded up here to finish each other off; it would take years—centuries."
"This one's capture may have been only incidental, or done for the purpose of keeping some type of machinery59 in working order," Hume replied. "I don't believe this was arranged just to dispose of water-cats."
"Suppose this was started a long time ago, and those who did it are gone, so now it goes on working without any real intelligence behind it. That could be the answer, couldn't it?"
"Some process triggers into action when a ship sets down on this portion of Jumala, maybe when one planet's under certain conditions only? Yes, that makes sense. Only why wasn't the first Patrol explorer flaming in here caught? And the survey team—we were here for months, cataloguing, mapping, not a whisper of any such trouble."
"Five—six years ago. But I can't give you any answers. I have none."
It began as a low hum, hardly to be distinguished61 from the distant howling of the wind. Then it slid up scale until the thin wail62 became an ululating scream torturing the ears, dragging out of hiding those fears of a man confronting the unknown in the dark.
Hume tugged63 at Vye, drew the other by force back into the brush. Scratched, laced raw by the whip of branches, they stood in a small hollow with the drift of leaves high about their ankles. And the Hunter pulled into place the portions of growth they had dislodged in their passage into[65] the thicket's heart. Through gaps they could see the opening where lay the body of the water-cat.
The wail was cut off short, that cessation in itself a warning. Vye's body, touching64 earth with knee and hand as he crouched65, picked up a vibration66. Whatever came towards them walked heavily.
Did the smell of death draw it now? Or had it trailed them from the closed gate? Hume's breath hissed67 lightly between his teeth. He was sighting the ray tube through a leaf gap.
A snuffling, heavier than a man's panting. A vast blot68, which was neither clearly paw nor hand, swept aside leaves and branches on the other side of the small clearing, tearing them casually69 from the shrubs70.
What shuffled71 into the open might be a cousin of the blue beasts. But where they had given only an impression of brutal72 menace, this was savagery73 incarnate74. Taller than Hume, but hunched75 forward in its neckless outline, the thing was a monster. And over the round of the lower jaw76, tusks77 protruded78 in ugly promise.
Being carnivorous and hungry, it scooped79 up the body of the water-cat and fed without any prolonged ceremony. Vye, remembering the crushed spine of the human skeleton, was sickened.
Done, it reared on hind5 feet once again, the pear-shaped head swung in their direction. Vye was half certain he had seen that tube-nose expand to test the air and scent15 them.
Hume pressed the button of the ray tube. That soundless spear of death struck in midsection of that barrel body. The thing howled, threw itself in a mad forward rush at their bush. Hume snapped a second blast at the head, and the fuzz covering it blackened.
Missing them by a precious foot, the creature crashed straight on through the thicket, coming to its knees, writhing80 in a rising chorus of howls. The men broke out of cover, raced into the open where they took refuge behind a chimney of rock half detached from the parent cliff. Down the slope the bushes were still wildly agitated81.
"Maybe a guardian83, or a patrol stationed to dispose of any catch. Probably not alone, either." Hume fingered his ray tube. "And I am down to one full charge—just one."[66]
Vye turned the knife he held around in his fingers, tried to imagine how one could face up to one of those tusked84 monsters with only this for a weapon. But if that thing had companions, none were coming in answer to its dying wails85. And after it had been quiet for a while Hume motioned them out of hiding.
"From now on we'll keep to the open, better see trouble like that before it arrives. And I want to find a place to hole up for the night."
They trailed along the steep upper slope and in time found a place where a now dried stream had once formed a falls. The empty watercourse provided an overhang, not quite a cave, but shelter. Gathering86 brush and stones, they made a barricade87 and settled behind it to eat sparingly of their rations.
"Water—a whole lake of it down there. The worst of it is that a water supply in a dry country is just where hunters congregate88. That lake's entirely89 walled in by woodland and provides cover for a thousand ambushes90."
"We might find a way out before our water bulbs fail," Vye offered.
Hume did not answer directly. "A man can live for quite a while on very thin rations, and we have tablets from the flitter emergency supplies. But he can't live long without water. We have two bulbs. With stretching that is enough for two days—maybe three."
"We ought to get completely around the cliffs in another day."
"And if we do find a way out, which I doubt, we're still going to need water for the trek91 out. It's right down there waiting until our need is greater than either our fear or our cunning."
Vye moved impatiently, his blanket-clad shoulders scraping the rock at their backs. "You don't think we have a chance!"
"We aren't dead. And as long as a man is breathing, and on his feet, with all his wits in his skull, he always has a chance. I've blasted off-world with odds92 stacked high on the other side of the board." He flexed93 that plasta-flesh hand which was so nearly human and yet not by the fraction which had changed the course of his life. "I've lived on the[67] edge of the big blackout for a long time now—after a while you can get used to anything."
"One thing I would like—to get at the one who set this trap," commented Vye.
Hume laughed with dry humor. "After me, boy, after me. But I think we might have to wait a long time for that meeting."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
rations
|
|
| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
feat
|
|
| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
foliage
|
|
| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
ledge
|
|
| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
hind
|
|
| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
slanting
|
|
| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
reassured
|
|
| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
rim
|
|
| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
fauna
|
|
| n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物，动物区系 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
defensive
|
|
| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
pinnacle
|
|
| n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
hover
|
|
| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
ascent
|
|
| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
scent
|
|
| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
crevice
|
|
| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
unnaturally
|
|
| adv.违反习俗地；不自然地；勉强地；不近人情地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
funnel
|
|
| n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
wayfarers
|
|
| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
elastic
|
|
| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
elastically
|
|
| adv.有弹性地，伸缩自如地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
skull
|
|
| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
spine
|
|
| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
briefly
|
|
| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
concealing
|
|
| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
clump
|
|
| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
mound
|
|
| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
survivor
|
|
| n.生存者，残存者，幸存者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
lone
|
|
| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
herded
|
|
| 群集，纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 )； 放牧； （使）向…移动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
imprison
|
|
| vt.监禁，关押，限制，束缚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
sinister
|
|
| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
direly
|
|
| 可怕的，恐怖的； 悲惨的； 迫切的，极端的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
obstruction
|
|
| n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
flattened
|
|
| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
prodding
|
|
| v.刺，戳( prod的现在分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
taut
|
|
| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
despondently
|
|
| adv.沮丧地，意志消沉地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
clumps
|
|
| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
detours
|
|
| 绕行的路( detour的名词复数 )； 绕道，兜圈子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
squeaking
|
|
| v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
myriad
|
|
| adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
dwellers
|
|
| n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
thicket
|
|
| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
stoutly
|
|
| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
frantically
|
|
| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
neatly
|
|
| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
safari
|
|
| n.远征旅行(探险、考察)；探险队，狩猎队 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
streak
|
|
| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
feline
|
|
| adj.猫科的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
writhed
|
|
| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
scorched
|
|
| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
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： |
|
|
|
|
56
twitching
|
|
| n.颤搐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
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： |
|
|
|
|
58
hoops
|
|
| n.箍( hoop的名词复数 )；（篮球）篮圈；（旧时儿童玩的）大环子；（两端埋在地里的）小铁弓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
machinery
|
|
| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
largo
|
|
| n.广板乐章；adj.缓慢的，宽广的；adv.缓慢地，宽广地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
wail
|
|
| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
tugged
|
|
| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
crouched
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
vibration
|
|
| n.颤动，振动；摆动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
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： |
|
|
|
|
68
blot
|
|
| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
casually
|
|
| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
shrubs
|
|
| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
shuffled
|
|
| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
brutal
|
|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
savagery
|
|
| n.野性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
incarnate
|
|
| adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
hunched
|
|
| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
jaw
|
|
| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
tusks
|
|
| n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
protruded
|
|
| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
scooped
|
|
| v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
writhing
|
|
| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
agitated
|
|
| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
sobbing
|
|
| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
guardian
|
|
| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
tusked
|
|
| adj.有獠牙的，有长牙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
wails
|
|
| 痛哭，哭声( wail的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
barricade
|
|
| n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
congregate
|
|
| v.(使)集合，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
ambushes
|
|
| n.埋伏( ambush的名词复数 )；伏击；埋伏着的人；设埋伏点v.埋伏( ambush的第三人称单数 )；埋伏着 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
trek
|
|
| vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
odds
|
|
| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
flexed
|
|
| adj.[医]曲折的，屈曲v.屈曲( flex的过去式和过去分词 )；弯曲；（为准备大干而）显示实力；摩拳擦掌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |