Somehow he did it, pulled the packet out of its container pouch1, worked the fingers of his one usable hand until he shredded2 open the end of the covering. The tablets inside, spilled out. But he had three or four of them in his grasp. Laboriously3 he brought his hand up, mouthed them all together, chewing their bitterness, swallowing them as best he could without water.
Water—the lake! For a moment he was back in time, feeling for the water bulbs he should be carrying. Then the incautious movement of his questing fingers brought a sudden stab of raw, red agony and he moaned.
The tablets worked. But he did not slide back into unconsciousness again as the throbbing4 torture became something remote and untroubling. With his good arm he braced5 himself against the cliff, managed to sit up.[90]
Sun flashed on the metal barrel of a needler which lay in the trampled6 dust between him and another figure, still very still, with a pool of blood about the head. Vye waited for a steadying breath or two, then started the infinitely7 long journey of several feet which separated him from Hume.
He was panting heavily when he crawled close enough to touch the Hunter. Hume's face, cheek down in the now sodden8 dust, was dabbled9 with congealing10 blood. As Vye turned the hunter's head, it rolled limply. The other side was a mass of blood and dust, too thick to afford Vye any idea of how serious a hurt Hume had taken. But he was still alive.
With his good hand Vye thrust his numb11 and useless left one into the front of his belt. Then, awkwardly he tried to tend Hume. After a close inspection12 he thought that the mass of blood had come from a ragged13 tear in the scalp above the temple and the bone beneath had escaped damage. From Hume's own first-aid pack he crushed tablets into the other's slack mouth, hoping they would dissolve if the Hunter could not swallow. Then he relaxed against the cliff to wait—for what he could not have said.
Wass' party had gone on into the valley. When Vye turned his head to look down the slope he could see nothing of them. They must have tried to push on to the lake. The flitter was at the top of the cliff, as far out of his reach now as if it were in planetary orbit. There was only the hope that a rescue party from the safari14 camp might come. Hume had set the directional beam on the flyer, when he had brought her down, to serve as a beacon15 for the Patrol, if and when Starns was lucky enough to contact a cruiser.
"Hmmm...." Hume's mouth moved, cracked the drying bloody16 mask on his lips and chin. His eyes blinked open and he lay staring up at the sky.
"Hume—" Vye was startled at the sound of his own voice, so thready and weak, and by the fact that he found it difficult to speak at all.
"Wass?" The whisper was as strained as his own had been.
"In there." Vye's hand lifted from Hume's chest indicating the valley.[91]
"Not good." Hume blinked again. "How bad?" His attention was not for his own hurt; his eyes searched Vye. And the latter glanced down at his side.
By some chance, perhaps because of his struggle with Peake, Wass' beam had not struck true, the main core of the bolt passing between his arm and his side, burning both. How deeply he could not tell, in fact he did not want to find out. It was enough that the tablets had banished18 the pain now.
"Seared a little," he said. "You've a bad cut on your head."
Hume frowned. "Can we make the flitter?"
Vye moved, then relaxed quickly into his former position. "Not now," he evaded19, knowing that neither of them would be able to take that climb.
"Beam on?" Hume repeated Vye's thoughts of moments before. "Patrol coming?"
Yes, eventually the Patrol would come—but when? Hours—days? Time was their enemy now. He did not have to say any of that, they both knew.
"Needler—" Hume's head had turned in the other direction; now his hand pointed20 waveringly to the weapon in the dust.
"They won't be back," Vye stated the obvious. Those others had been caught in the trap, the odds21 on their return without aid were very high.
"Needler!" Hume repeated more firmly, and tried to sit up, falling back with a sharp intake22 of breath.
Vye edged around, stretched out his leg and scraped the toe of his boot into the loop of the carrying sling23, drawing the weapon up to where he could get his hand on it. As he steadied it across his knee Hume spoke24 again:
"Watch for trouble!"
"They all went in," Vye protested.
But Hume's eyes had closed again. "Trouble—maybe...." His voice trailed off. Vye rested his hand on the stock of the needler.
"Hoooooo!"
That beast wail—as they had heard it in the valley! Somewhere from the wood. Vye brought the needler around, so that the sights pointed in that direction. There death might be hunting, but there was nothing he could do.
A scream, filled with all the agony of a man in torment,[92] caught up on the echoes of that other cry. Vye sighted a wild waving of bushes. A figure, very small and far away, crawled into the open on hands and knees and then crumpled25 into only a shadowy blot26 on the moss27. Again the beast's cry, and a shouting!
Vye watched a second man back out of the trees, still facing whatever pursued him. He caught the glint of sun on what must be a ray tube. Leaves crisped into a black hole, curls of smoke arose along the path of that blast.
The man kept on backing, passed the inert28 body of his companion, glancing now and then over his shoulder at the slope up which he was making a slow but steady way. He no longer rayed the bush, but there was the crackle of a small fire outlining the ragged hole his beam had cut.
Back two strides, three. Then he turned, made a quick dash, again facing around after he had gained some yards in the open. Vye saw now it was Wass.
Another dash and an about face. But this time to confront the enemy. There were three of them, as monstrous29 as those Vye and Hume had fought in the same place. And one of them was wounded, swinging a charred30 forepaw before it, and giving voice to a wild frenzy31 of roars.
Wass leveled the ray tube, centered sights on the beast nearest to him. The man hammered at the firing button with the flat of his other hand, and almost paid for that second of distraction32 with his life, for the creature made one of those lightning swift dashes Vye had so luckily escaped. The clawed forepaw tore a strip from the shoulder of Wass' tunic33, left sprouting34 red furrows35 behind. But the man had thrown the useless tube into its face, was now running for the gap.
Vye held the needler braced against his knee to fire. He saw the dart36 quiver in the upper arm of the beast, and it halted to pull out that sliver37 of dangerously poisoned metal, crumpled it into a tight twist. Vye continued to fire, never sure of his aim, but seeing those slivers38 go home in thick legs, in outstretched forelimbs, in wide, pendulous39 bellies40. Then there were three blue shapes lying on the slope behind the man running straight for the gap.
Wass hit the invisible barrier full force, was hurled41 back, to lie gasping42 on the turf, but already raising himself to crawl again to the gateway43 he saw and could not believe[93] was barred. Vye closed his eyes. He was very tired now—tired and sleepy—maybe the pain pills were bringing the secondary form of relief. But he could hear, just beyond, the man who beat at that unseen curtain, first in anger and fear, and then just in fear, until the fear was a lonesome crying that went on and on until even that last feeble assault on the barrier failed.
Vye watched the officer in the black and silver of the Patrol, a black and silver modified with the small, green, eye badge of X-Tee, with level and hostile gaze.
"Then you know the story." He was going to make no additions nor explanations. Maybe Hume had cleared him. All right, that was all he would ask, to be free to go his way and forget about Jumala—and Ras Hume.
He had not seen the Hunter since they had both been loaded into the Patrol flitter in the gap. Wass had come out of the valley a witless, dazed creature, still under the mental influence of whoever, or whatever, had set that trap. As far as Vye knew the Veep had not yet recovered his full senses, he might never do so. And if Hume had not dictated45 that confession46 to damn himself before the Patrol, he might have escaped. They could suspect—but they would have had no proof.
"You continue to refuse to tape?" The officer favored him with one of the closed-jaw looks Vye had often seen on the face of authority.
"I have my rights."
"You have the right to claim victim compensation—a good compensation, Lansor."
"I make no claim, and no tape," he repeated. And he intended to go on saying that as long as they asked him. This was the second visit in two days and he was getting a little tired of it all. Perhaps he should do as prudence50 dictated and demand to be returned to Nahuatl. Only his odd, unexplainable desire to at least see Hume kept him from making the request they would have to honor.
"You had better reconsider." Authority resumed.[94]
"Rights of person—" Vye almost grinned as he recited that. For the first time in his pushed-around life he could use that particular phrase and make it stick. He thought there was a sour twist to the officer's mouth, but the other still retained his impersonal51 tone as he spoke into the intership com:
"He refused to make a tape."
Vye waited for the other's next move. This should mark the end of their interview. But instead the officer appeared to relax the restraint of his official manner. He brought a viv-root case from an inner pocket, offered a choice of contents to Vye, who gave an instant and suspicious refusal by shake of head. The officer selected one of the small tubes, snapped off the protecto-nib, and set it between his lips for a satisfying and lengthy52 pull. Then the panel of the cabin door pushed open, and Vye sat up with a jerk as Ras Hume, his head banded with a skin-core covering, entered.
The officer waved his hand at Vye with the air of one turning over a problem. "You were entirely53 right. And he's all yours, Hume."
Vye looked from one to the other. With Hume's tape in official hands why wasn't the Hunter under restraint? Unless, because they were aboard the Patrol cruiser, the officers didn't think a closer confinement54 was necessary. Yet the Hunter wasn't acting55 the role of prisoner very well. In fact he perched on a wall-flip seat with the ease of one completely at home, accepted the viv-root Vye had refused.
"So you won't make a tape," he asked cheerfully.
"You act as if you want me to!" Vye was so completely baffled by this odd turn of action that his voice came out almost plaintively56.
"Seeing as how a great deal of time and effort went into placing you in the position where you could give us that tape, I must admit some disappointment."
"Give us?" Vye echoed.
The officer removed the viv-root from between his lips. "Tell him the whole sad story, Hume."
But Vye began to guess. Life in the Starfall, or as port-drift, either sharpened the wits or deadened them. Vye's had suffered the burnishing57 process. "A set-up?"
"A set-up," Hume agreed. Then he glanced at the Patrol officer a little defensively. "I might as well tell the whole[95] truth—this didn't quite begin on the right side of the law. I had my reasons for wanting to make trouble for the Kogan estate, only not because of the credits involved." He moved his plasta-flesh hand. "When I found that L-B from the Largo58 Drift and saw the possibilities, did a little day dreaming—I worked out this scheme. But I'm a Guild man and as it happens, I want to stay one. So I reported to one of the Masters and told him the whole story—why I hadn't taped on the records my discovery on Jumala.
"When he passed along the news of the L-B to the Patrol, he also suggested that there might be room for fraud along the way I had thought it out. That started a chain reaction. It happened that the Patrol wanted Wass. But he was too big and slick to be caught in a case which couldn't be broken in court. They thought that here was just the bait he might snap at, and I was the one to offer it to him. He could check on me, learn that I had excellent reason to do what I said I was doing. So I went to him with my story and he liked it. We made the plan work just as I had outlined it. And he planted Rovald on me as a check. But I didn't know Yactisi was a plant, also."
The Patrol officer smiled. "Insurance," he waved the viv-root, "just insurance."
"What we didn't foresee was this complicating59 alien trouble. You were to be collected as the castaway, brought back to the Center and then, once Wass was firmly enmeshed, the Patrol would blow the thing wide open. Now we do have Wass, with your tape we'll have him for good, subject to complete reconditioning. But we also have an X-Tee puzzle which will keep the services busy for some time. And we would like your tape."
Vye watched Hume narrowly. "Then you're an agent?"
Hume shook his head. "No, just what I said I am, an Out-Hunter who happened to come into some knowledge that will assist in straightening out a few crooked60 quirks61 in several systems. I have no love for the Kogan clan62, but to help bring down a Veep of Wass' measure does aid in reinstating one's self-esteem."
"This victim compensation—I could claim it, even though the deal was a set-up?"
"You'll have first call on Wass' assets. He has plenty invested in legitimate63 enterprises, though we'll probably never[96] locate all his hidden funds. But everything we can get open title to will be impounded. Have something to do with your share?" inquired the officer.
"Yes."
Hume was smiling subtly. He was a different man from the one Vye had known on Jumala. "Premium64 for the Guild is one thousand credits down, two thousand for training and say another for about the best field outfit65 you can buy. That'll give you maybe another two or three thousand to save for your honorable retirement66."
"How did you know?" Vye began and then had to laugh in spite of himself as Hume replied:
"I didn't. Good guess, eh? Well, zoom67 out your recorder, Commander. I think you are going to have some very free speech now." He got to his feet. "You know, the Guild has a stake in this alien discovery. We may just find that we haven't seen the last of that valley after all, recruit."
He was gone and Vye, eager to have the past done with, and the future beginning, reached for the dictation mike.
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收听单词发音
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1
pouch
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| n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件 | |
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shredded
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| shred的过去式和过去分词 | |
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laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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4
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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5
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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trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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7
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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sodden
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| adj.浑身湿透的；v.使浸透；使呆头呆脑 | |
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9
dabbled
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| v.涉猎( dabble的过去式和过去分词 )；涉足；浅尝；少量投资 | |
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congealing
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| v.使凝结，冻结( congeal的现在分词 )；（指血）凝结 | |
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11
numb
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| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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safari
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| n.远征旅行(探险、考察)；探险队，狩猎队 | |
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beacon
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| n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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17
awareness
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| n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智 | |
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banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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evaded
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| 逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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intake
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| n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口 | |
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sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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24
spoke
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| 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 | |
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25
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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26
blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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30
charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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34
sprouting
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| v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出 | |
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35
furrows
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| n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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37
sliver
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| n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开 | |
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38
slivers
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| （切割或断裂下来的）薄长条，碎片( sliver的名词复数 ) | |
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39
pendulous
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| adj.下垂的；摆动的 | |
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40
bellies
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| n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的 | |
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41
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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42
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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43
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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44
guild
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| n.行会，同业公会，协会 | |
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45
dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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46
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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47
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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48
winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
ribs
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| 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 | |
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50
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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51
impersonal
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| adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的 | |
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52
lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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53
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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54
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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55
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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56
plaintively
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| adv.悲哀地，哀怨地 | |
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57
burnishing
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| n.磨光，抛光，擦亮v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的现在分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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58
largo
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| n.广板乐章；adj.缓慢的，宽广的；adv.缓慢地，宽广地 | |
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59
complicating
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| 使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 ) | |
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60
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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61
quirks
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| n.奇事，巧合( quirk的名词复数 )；怪癖 | |
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62
clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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63
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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64
premium
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| n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的 | |
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65
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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66
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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67
zoom
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| n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升 | |
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