[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

He sent Krinata up beside Cyrus, who was nursing a hand bloodied as if he'd
smashed it into Cassrian chitin. //Krinata, I must stay open to Eithlarin's
condition. If you sense any change, pull back. I may have to act suddenly. Can
you handle it?//
// Yes. If that stuff is just Venlagar making like a microscope, I can ignore
it. It's not nearly as bad as a Holot with bad breath trying to choke me.// It
was pure bravado. Her stomach was in knots, her head swimming, her knees
weakening, and her neck was aching like fire. But he wasn't going to let her
know he saw, for she valued her image of competence, if not in front of him so
much, then in front of the others.
He scanned the crowd gathered tightly beyond the Outriders. People were
tending their injuries and peering into the shed to see what was happening.
Zannesu had a firm grip on the linkages, while Venlagar anchored them to
reality. The Oliat became aware of the buzz of the Gifter hive up on the plain
growing ominously, while the corn blight festered rapidly in the warm sun.
There wasn't much time.
Jindigar addressed the crowd in Krinata's voice, describing what they'd
discovered about the Gifters and how the Holot must pay them. "//As soon as
they see you preparing a pond for them, they will understand. The hive-mind is
primitive. It sees its interaction with us as a kind of mating dance. As long
as our moves are of that dance, they will respond without hostility. We teased
them with a pond and took it away. Now we must provide them another.//"
A burly Holot male Jindigar recognized as one of the ex-Imperials pushed
through to the front and called, "Why should we take your advice? We took your
advice before, and look what happened Why did you bring us to this crazy
world? To starve our children and torture us to death?"
There was a rising growl of agreement not all Holot, either. "//This is not an
insane world. It holds no grudges, knows no vendettas. But we are guests here
and must abide by our host's customs. The Oliat is learning those customs. We
have made errors for which our lives may already have I men forfeited. Would
you ask that of us?//"
A Cassrian voice, double-toned and reedy, untrained in Standard speech,
called, "We demand it! You've destroyed us!"
"And they've saved us!" answered a gruff Holot male. It was Irnils, Terab's
mate. A general wave of agreement supported him, especially among the Lehiroh
community.
Terab on me forward and roared them to silence. "We can't afford civil war!
Last night we voted to go with the Oliat's advice one more time. I say we get
to work on it right now!"
Terab began to lead an exodus toward the stairs, to retarget the energies of
the crowd, but the Oliat called, "//Terab, wait! We also know how to stop the
blight.//"
The Holot soldier edged away from Irnils. "Don't listen. We can't trust the
Oliat. They wouldn't answer me the first time I asked! It took them this long
to think up a lie!" It was the Holot who had choked Krinata, his fur torn out
in patches, a bloody gash showing on his cheek.
The past-time axis played back what the Holot had been yelling at Krinata,
when she couldn't hear him. He had demanded a cure for the blight and a way to
keep it from spreading to the Holot crops. That's all.
//Easy, Krinata. He's no monster. Just scared.//
Page 59
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
//I know,// answered Krinata, swallowing hard and facing the real Holot before
her, not the distorted horror that had attacked her from the depths of the
Oliat gestalt, part Holot, part gray-furred ape.
Terab commanded the crowd's attention. "The Oliat couldn't answer because they
were working and never has any Oliat taken on a harder job! Have you ever
heard of an Oliat working with double-guard before? Have you ever seen an
Oliat with Dushau Outriders before?"
Jindigar glanced at Storm. Obviously his Outriders had taken it on themselves
to instruct Terab.
The soldier outshouted her. "They just wanted to put o» a good show after
getting us into this mess. You can't trust a Dushau; they don't care how long
things take. And what kind of Oliat has a human in it?"
Argument erupted everywhere. The crowd, now swollen by those who had dragged
themselves out of the pond, was about evenly split between doubters and
supporters of the Dushau. Jindigar took that moment to say softly to Terab,
"//We don't have time for this. Terab, listen. You must commandeer the Lehiroh
cooking oil.//" And he told her how it must be applied to destroy the com
blight, and how to supplement the Lehiroh diet until the next oil-nut harvest.
By then the shouting match showed signs of new violence.
Inside the shed, Trinarvil called, "Jindigar's, you've got to refocus! Now!"
But it was too late. Without warning the wiry link to Eithlarin stretched,
then thinned to gossamer. That which was the essence of Eithlarin hurtled off
around a dimensional corner.
The Oliat's sevenfold balance leaned askew- as if the Oliat would pour through
the hole in space left where Eithlarin had been.
Zannesu cried, //No!// and dove once more into the void after his mate,
dragging the Oliat faster into oblivion.
//Venlagar!// called Jindigar, //You must transform to In-reach  let Zannesu
take Receptor to hold her! Krinata, you must not interfere!//
Dimly Jindigar was aware of the Dushau Outriders moving them back into the
shed. Storm's crew jostled the crowd away from the entry to close the doors.
He felt Zannesu grasp the plan to transform Offices and acquiesce as Venlagar
took up the linkages for Zannesu was already half into the Receptor's Office,
straining to Receive his mate. As the transform took effect Venlagar gripped
the link to the Receptor and kept Zannesu from following Eithlarin.
As the link to Hillarie became more elusive, and the two officers flipped
their links end for end in the dance of-transformation, Jindigar wholly [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]