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.A blow on the backended his assessment as he sprawled forward into the snow; he felt someoneroll him onto his side and deftly disarm him.There was a whoop of triumph asthe bearded male held his stunner up like a prize.Gundhalinu sat up, wiping snow from his face, forgetting the indignity of hisposition in the urgency of his need."That's going to blow--!" He pointed, notsure how much they would understand."Help me get him out of there; there's not much time!" He climbed to his feet,relieved at the murmur of consternation that ran through the group.He startedback toward the patrol craft but another of the nomads had gotten there first,and straightened holding TierPardee's gun, grinning satisfaction."He's goodfor nothing, that one--this's all I found.It's too hot in there; forget aboutit." The roving muzzle of the stunner suddenly targeted Gundhalinu's chest."Zap, you're paralyzed, Blue!" A high-pitched adolescent giggle escaped fromthe muffled figure.Gundhalinu stopped, looking past the teenager and the filamented muzzle of thegun."He's not dead, he's hurt! He's alive; we've got to get him out ofthere--" His breath rose up white in his face.But the man who had taken his own gun and another man caught him by the armsat a sharp command.They began to drag him back away from the craft.Theteenager strutted behind him, on snowshoes like the rest, giggling again ashis boots broke through the snow crust and he floundered."No! You can't do this; he's alive, damn you, he'll be burned alive in there!""Then be glad you're only watching, and not joining him." The first mangrinned at his side.They forced him to go with them as far as the outcroppingof fallen rock where they had hidden their snow skimmers.They all stoppedthen, and turned back, crouching down to watch.The two men still held hisarms locked between them, forcing him to keep his feet as they made him turnwith the rest.He could see the distant patrol craft melted clear of snow now,and a dull glow spreading over its crumpled frame.He looked up into the sky,filling his eyes with the blue of heaven, and prayed to the gods of eightseparate worlds that TierPardee would never know what was happening to himnow.But the sky was empty, and in the empty white silence of the frozen Winterworld a sun ball of searing light burned his sight away and the blast thatfollowed obliterated all his other senses.Consciousness followed pain back into his aching body; he lay propped againsta boulder while the nomads shuffled and muttered and pointed past him insubdued awe.One of them laughed nervously.Memory came back to him and he remembered why they were laughing.he leaned over and vomited into the trampled snow."They send you to kill us, and you can't even stomach the sight of death!" Oneof the nomads stood over him and spat.The spittle landed on the heavy clothof his uniform coat; he watched it begin to freeze.He looked up, aware of howthe cold air burned as his lungs sucked it in, aware of the fact that he hadjust been spat upon by a barbarian, by an old hag with a face like fishnet,who wasn't fit to touch the lowest Unclassified on Kharemough.He pulled himself up the rock, clumsy with stiffness and cold, until he couldPage 134 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlstand looking down at her.He said, his voice brittle with fury, "You are allunder arrest, for murder and robbery.You will return with me to the star portto face charges." Hearing thewords, he could not quite believe that he had really said them.The old woman stared at him incredulously, burst into obscene, frost-cloudedlaughter, wrapping her arms around her.The rest of the bandits began to closein around him, having lost interest in their first victim now that he nolonger existed."You hear him?" She poked an arthritic claw at his facedelightedly."You hear what this sniveling foreigner with the dirty skin saysto us? That he thinks we're under arrest! What do you think of that?" Sheswept her hand away again."I think he must be crazy." One of the men grinned; Gundhalinu thought thatthere were three men and one other woman.guessed that the adolescent wasfemale, too, but he wasn't sure.This damned world turned civilized behaviorupside down until he couldn't judge anything by standards he knew.But there was one thing he understood clearly enough--that he was not going toget out of his alive.They were going to kill him next.The realization made him dizzy; he pressed back against the rock for support.He watched them push up their goggles to get a better look at him, and saw nomercy in the pale-ringed, sky-colored eyes.One of them fingered the sleeve ofhis coat; he jerked his arm away."What're we going to do with this one, huh?" The teenager elbowed one of themen aside for a better look."Can I have him? Oh, let me have him, Ma!" Thestunner pointed him out again.He realized she was speaking to the old woman."For my collection."He had a sudden vision of his own mutilated head jammed on a stake, like apiece of meat in some grisly charnel-house freezer.His stomach knotted again;he pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth.Gods!.oh, gods, notlike that._If I_ have to die let it be clean.let it be quick."Shut up, brat," the crone said sharply.The girl made a face behind her back."I say kill him now, shaman," the other woman said."Kill him ugly.Then theother foreigners will be afraid to come out here any more.""If you kill me they'll never stop coming after you!" Gundhalinu took a stepforward, saw two knives come out of hidden sheaths."You can't murder a policeinspector and get away with it.They'll never stop until they find you." Heknew he was saying it only to comfort himself, because it wasn't true.He feltthe lameness of the lying words, knew that the others felt it, too.He beganto shiver."And who's ever going to know what happened?" The old crone grinned again; herteeth were flawless, as white as the snow.He wondered, absurdly, whether theywere false."We could throw your corpse down a crack and the ice would grindup your bones.Not even all your gods will ever find where you lie!" Abruptlyshe brought up the thing hanging at her back and jammed it into his chest,driving him back against the boulders with a grunt of surprise."You think youcan hunt us down on our own land, foreigner? I'm the Mother.The earth is mylover, the rocks and the birds and the animals are my children.They speak tome, I know their language." The opacity of madness made porcelain of her eyes."They tell me how to hunt ahunter.And they want an offering, they want a reward."Gundhalinu looked down at the long, bright metal tube that pinned him againstthe icy rock, recognized a police-issue electron torch before his eyes blurredout of focus again.He stood up with rigid dignity, controlling his physicalresponses by an effort of will, as the old hag backed slowly away.The othersmoved with her, out of range of the energy backwash; leaving him alone in acircle of eddied snow.His mouth hurt, his lungs ached from the frigid air.Every breath now might be his last, but in his mind he saw no playback of lifePage 135 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlscenes, no profound revelation of universal truth in his final moment nothing;there was nothing at all.The old woman raised the torch, and pressed the trigger.Gundhalinu swayed with the shock of the blow that did not fall;opened eyes that he didn't remember closing, in time to see the woman pressthe trigger again and again, with no result [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.A blow on the backended his assessment as he sprawled forward into the snow; he felt someoneroll him onto his side and deftly disarm him.There was a whoop of triumph asthe bearded male held his stunner up like a prize.Gundhalinu sat up, wiping snow from his face, forgetting the indignity of hisposition in the urgency of his need."That's going to blow--!" He pointed, notsure how much they would understand."Help me get him out of there; there's not much time!" He climbed to his feet,relieved at the murmur of consternation that ran through the group.He startedback toward the patrol craft but another of the nomads had gotten there first,and straightened holding TierPardee's gun, grinning satisfaction."He's goodfor nothing, that one--this's all I found.It's too hot in there; forget aboutit." The roving muzzle of the stunner suddenly targeted Gundhalinu's chest."Zap, you're paralyzed, Blue!" A high-pitched adolescent giggle escaped fromthe muffled figure.Gundhalinu stopped, looking past the teenager and the filamented muzzle of thegun."He's not dead, he's hurt! He's alive; we've got to get him out ofthere--" His breath rose up white in his face.But the man who had taken his own gun and another man caught him by the armsat a sharp command.They began to drag him back away from the craft.Theteenager strutted behind him, on snowshoes like the rest, giggling again ashis boots broke through the snow crust and he floundered."No! You can't do this; he's alive, damn you, he'll be burned alive in there!""Then be glad you're only watching, and not joining him." The first mangrinned at his side.They forced him to go with them as far as the outcroppingof fallen rock where they had hidden their snow skimmers.They all stoppedthen, and turned back, crouching down to watch.The two men still held hisarms locked between them, forcing him to keep his feet as they made him turnwith the rest.He could see the distant patrol craft melted clear of snow now,and a dull glow spreading over its crumpled frame.He looked up into the sky,filling his eyes with the blue of heaven, and prayed to the gods of eightseparate worlds that TierPardee would never know what was happening to himnow.But the sky was empty, and in the empty white silence of the frozen Winterworld a sun ball of searing light burned his sight away and the blast thatfollowed obliterated all his other senses.Consciousness followed pain back into his aching body; he lay propped againsta boulder while the nomads shuffled and muttered and pointed past him insubdued awe.One of them laughed nervously.Memory came back to him and he remembered why they were laughing.he leaned over and vomited into the trampled snow."They send you to kill us, and you can't even stomach the sight of death!" Oneof the nomads stood over him and spat.The spittle landed on the heavy clothof his uniform coat; he watched it begin to freeze.He looked up, aware of howthe cold air burned as his lungs sucked it in, aware of the fact that he hadjust been spat upon by a barbarian, by an old hag with a face like fishnet,who wasn't fit to touch the lowest Unclassified on Kharemough.He pulled himself up the rock, clumsy with stiffness and cold, until he couldPage 134 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlstand looking down at her.He said, his voice brittle with fury, "You are allunder arrest, for murder and robbery.You will return with me to the star portto face charges." Hearing thewords, he could not quite believe that he had really said them.The old woman stared at him incredulously, burst into obscene, frost-cloudedlaughter, wrapping her arms around her.The rest of the bandits began to closein around him, having lost interest in their first victim now that he nolonger existed."You hear him?" She poked an arthritic claw at his facedelightedly."You hear what this sniveling foreigner with the dirty skin saysto us? That he thinks we're under arrest! What do you think of that?" Sheswept her hand away again."I think he must be crazy." One of the men grinned; Gundhalinu thought thatthere were three men and one other woman.guessed that the adolescent wasfemale, too, but he wasn't sure.This damned world turned civilized behaviorupside down until he couldn't judge anything by standards he knew.But there was one thing he understood clearly enough--that he was not going toget out of his alive.They were going to kill him next.The realization made him dizzy; he pressed back against the rock for support.He watched them push up their goggles to get a better look at him, and saw nomercy in the pale-ringed, sky-colored eyes.One of them fingered the sleeve ofhis coat; he jerked his arm away."What're we going to do with this one, huh?" The teenager elbowed one of themen aside for a better look."Can I have him? Oh, let me have him, Ma!" Thestunner pointed him out again.He realized she was speaking to the old woman."For my collection."He had a sudden vision of his own mutilated head jammed on a stake, like apiece of meat in some grisly charnel-house freezer.His stomach knotted again;he pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth.Gods!.oh, gods, notlike that._If I_ have to die let it be clean.let it be quick."Shut up, brat," the crone said sharply.The girl made a face behind her back."I say kill him now, shaman," the other woman said."Kill him ugly.Then theother foreigners will be afraid to come out here any more.""If you kill me they'll never stop coming after you!" Gundhalinu took a stepforward, saw two knives come out of hidden sheaths."You can't murder a policeinspector and get away with it.They'll never stop until they find you." Heknew he was saying it only to comfort himself, because it wasn't true.He feltthe lameness of the lying words, knew that the others felt it, too.He beganto shiver."And who's ever going to know what happened?" The old crone grinned again; herteeth were flawless, as white as the snow.He wondered, absurdly, whether theywere false."We could throw your corpse down a crack and the ice would grindup your bones.Not even all your gods will ever find where you lie!" Abruptlyshe brought up the thing hanging at her back and jammed it into his chest,driving him back against the boulders with a grunt of surprise."You think youcan hunt us down on our own land, foreigner? I'm the Mother.The earth is mylover, the rocks and the birds and the animals are my children.They speak tome, I know their language." The opacity of madness made porcelain of her eyes."They tell me how to hunt ahunter.And they want an offering, they want a reward."Gundhalinu looked down at the long, bright metal tube that pinned him againstthe icy rock, recognized a police-issue electron torch before his eyes blurredout of focus again.He stood up with rigid dignity, controlling his physicalresponses by an effort of will, as the old hag backed slowly away.The othersmoved with her, out of range of the energy backwash; leaving him alone in acircle of eddied snow.His mouth hurt, his lungs ached from the frigid air.Every breath now might be his last, but in his mind he saw no playback of lifePage 135 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlscenes, no profound revelation of universal truth in his final moment nothing;there was nothing at all.The old woman raised the torch, and pressed the trigger.Gundhalinu swayed with the shock of the blow that did not fall;opened eyes that he didn't remember closing, in time to see the woman pressthe trigger again and again, with no result [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]