[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
them all the time." The captain rubbed his hands again.
Samul stared at him in dismay. To land in the Pioneer was one thing, but to go
down in a lifeboat! The captain caught his apprehension and smirked. "Of
course, if you'd prefer not to..."
"But we have to land the Tommies," he exclaimed.
"Oh, those things. I could send Carney down with them."
"We still have to locate the boy," he protested. "That might take some time.
If we have to communicate through the Tommies, the girl would have to go."
"I could send her along with Carney."
"In a lifeboat?"
"They're quite safe, Mr. Smith. We seldom lose one."
"I'll go down with him," Samul raged.
"And the girl?"
"We'll have to take her." He made the decision reluctantly. He hoped she
wouldn't be too afraid. "When do we, uh, embark?" he asked icily.
Captain Garron's eyes traveled from the instrument console to the chronometer.
"We'll be at the float-off point in exactly twenty-seven minutes."
"We'll be ready," he grated. He spun on his heel and strode back toward the
lounge.
Leading Arla to the lifeboat, Samul gazed at it, appalled. It was even
smaller than he had supposed. Tucked into a bubble on the ship's side, its
oval shape held a fragile look, especially when measured against the immensity
in which it must ride.
Arla's eyes glistened. "It'll be exciting, won't it, Mr. Smith?"
"Yeah." Gazing through the open hatch at the lighted interior, he found
someone had already delivered the Tommies; they stood rigidly in a group at
the end of the cabin, their eyes vacuous. Abruptly they sat on a narrow bench
that extended three-quarters of the way around the inner wall.
"I told them to," Arla whispered. "They look more comfortable."
A slim young man with a boyish smile came in. "I'm Carney," he announced.
"I've been assigned to run you down."
"You make it sound easy," Samul remarked hopefully.
"Oh, sure, nothing to it as long as you don't get hung up."
"Hung up?" Samul swallowed.
"You know these old jobs. They've always got bugs. But don't worry, I
can always get on the communicator and have them send down another one." He
gazed interestedly at the Tommies. "They sure look alike."
"Same manufacturer," Samul said.
"Their eyes look kind of glassy." He switched his gaze to Samul. "I hear
there's an octopus down there."
Page 74
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Well, sort of."
"I used to catch them in the rocks off Otrup. That's on the Wasach coast.
They're funny critters."
"Funny?"
"Squiggly. The crab fisheries pay a bounty on 'em." Carney grinned at the
remembrance.
"Do you have any weapons on board?" Samul asked hopefully.
"Naw, it's against regulations." Carney tossed his head disdainfully.
"But don't worry about that baby. You just got to know how to grab 'em."
"Yeah," Samul said dolefully.
"You trying to get it alive?"
"Not exactly," he admitted.
"If you are, let me know. I like to tussle with 'em." Carney glanced at his
watch. "Four minutes till float-off."
Sensing movement at the hatch, Samul glanced around. Yoshi came in, smoothed
her skirt, and sat primly on the bench.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "You're not going."
"SW1804M," she answered demurely.
"I don't care about SW1804M," he cried heatedly. "You're not going."
She said calmly, "I have the captain's permission, Samul."
"He said you could go!"
"He realizes he has to abide by the regulations, even if you don't," she
answered archly.
"Regulations," he groaned.
"They're basic to law and order," she reprimanded.
"All right, all right." He admitted his defeat. "But don't blame me if you get
frightened."
"With you along?" She smiled sweetly.
"Three minutes till float-off," Carney announced. "I'd better check the
controls. I haven't looked at them in some time." He closed the outer hatch,
secured it, and passed into a small forward compartment, shutting it behind
him.
Samul sat grumpily at one of the small ports, gazing at the emerald sky.
It wasn't nearly as pretty as pinkish-gray. Several minutes later he felt a
faint lurch, then immediately afterward saw the Pioneer floating off to one
side. It looked old and decrepit. A door in the vessel's side slid shut,
closing off the dark interior of the lifeboat's bubble.
"Isn't it thrilling?" Arla exclaimed. She clapped her hands.
"Yeah," he grunted sourly.
Samul studied the face of the planet sweeping past below him. Rolling amber
hills, purplish forests, flat yellow-green plains -- it looked nothing like it
had from orbit. A twisting mountain range sped into view, becoming lost in a
black smudge.
"The forest fire," Carney called, over the communicator.
Samul leaned toward the speaker box. "I hope that's not where we land."
"Quite a ways beyond it," he retorted cheerfully.
"How do you know where to let down?"
"I don't really, but the flight profile's set in the programmer," he answered
cheerfully. "The ship handles herself. Nothing for me to do unless something
goes wrong."
"Glad to have you along," Samul replied. He fervently hoped the programmer was
in good working order. Gazing at Yoshi and Arla, he wondered how they could
appear so unconcerned. But of course they didn't realize the danger, he
reflected. They probably viewed the whole thing as a lark. Neither could have
given much thought to the possible perils.
He watched the black smudge whirl past. Ending, it revealed an immense stone
desert. The long shadows cast by the morning sun disclosed its bizarre
architecture. Etchings in rock stretched away on all sides, unbroken by any
Page 75
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
sign of plant life. The desolation was appalling.
"I expected to see a sea," Carney yelled.
"Sea?"
"The octopus."
"Oh, it lives in a pool."
"Must be quite a small fellow."
"I'm not certain," Samul said. The desert suddenly ended; an unburned forest
wheeled past beneath. The changing forces on his body told him they were
dropping fast. Individual trees, rocky outcrops, and winding ravines became
discernible. The scene held a wildness he knew was untouched by any hand.
Straining to see ahead, he glimpsed a faint, blurry yellow line rushing toward
him from the horizon.
"That yellow -- I think that's it," Carney shouted over the speaker. "It looks
like a big splotch of grass."
"I see it," Arla shouted. She clapped her hands. "Is that where we're going to
land?"
Samul nodded, unable to speak. Didn't anyone worry about that octopus?
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]