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of the near erjin. He noticed the hand-palps, as sensitive
as human fingers, and the talons which extended them-
selves when the erjin made a fist. He examined the tuft
of bronze bristles on the scalp, which some authorities
declared to be telepathy receptors. Another bound and
the creature would have been at his throat. In a subdued
voice he said to Gerd Jemasze,  That was a close call& Do
the erjins often use tricks like that?
Jemasze nodded curtly.  They re intelligent brutes, and
unforgiving. How they can be domesticated is a mystery
to me.
 Maybe the secret was Uther Madduc s  wonderful
joke .
 I don t know. I plan to find out.
Kelse asked:  How do you propose to do that?
 As soon as we get to Morningswake we ll fly back to
the Sturdevant and rescue the log, said Gerd Jemasze.
 Then we ll have an idea where he went.
The afternoon waned. At sunset the party camped
among the sandstone pinnacles, with the southern edge
of Morningswake Domain still three miles to the north.
Jemasze stalked, killed and cleaned a ten-pound bustard,
the wild descendant of fowl imported from beyond the
67
JACK VANCE
stars. Schaine and Elvo Glissam gathered fuel and built
a fire, and the four toasted chunks of the bird on twigs.
 Tomorrow we ll find water, said Gerd.  Three or four
streams cross South Morningswake, so I recall.
 It s about ten miles to South Station, said Kelse.
 There s a windmill and maybe a few stores there. But
no radio, worse luck.
 Where are the Aos?
 They might be anywhere, but I suspect they re moving
north. No help for it; we ve still got sixty miles to go.
 How s your leg holding up?
 Not too good. But I ll get there.
Elvo Glissam leaned back and lay staring up at the
stars. His own life, he thought, seemed relatively simple
compared to that of a land-baron& Schaine! What went
on in her mind? One moment she seemed intensely subtle
and sympathetic, then naïve, then caught up in some
emotion beyond his knowing. Beyond question she was
brave and kind and cheerful. He could well imagine
passing the rest of his life in her company& At Morning-
swake? He was not so sure. Would she agree to live
elsewhere? He was not sure of this either& Three days
more of this arduous marching. He wished he could in
some manner help Kelse. Perhaps in the morning he d
inconspicuously take part of Kelse s backpack and hang
it on his own.
In the morning Elvo Glissam put his plan into effect.
Kelse noticed and protested, but Elvo Glissam said:  This
is just simple common sense. You re already working
twice as hard as I am, and it s in everybody s interest
that you stay healthy.
68
THE GRAY PRINCE
Gerd Jemasze said,  Glissam s right, Kelse. I d rather
carry your pack than carry you.
Kelse said no more; the group set forth and an hour
later reached the base of the South Rim. By a dry gulch
they ascended five hundred feet, then toiled another
hundred feet up a face of rotting conglomerate and
finally stood at the lip. Behind spread the Retent, melting
into the southern haze; ahead the ground fell away to a
pleasant valley grown with green-gum, dragon-eye,
slender black-green gadroon, and copses of orange van-
dalia. A mile to the north the sunlight glinted on a shal-
low pond.  Morningswake! cried Schaine huskily.  We re
home.
 With about sixty miles to go, said Kelse.
Jemasze looked back over the Retent.  We re past the
worst of it. The going should be easier.
There was a day of silent trudging across the south
prairie; another day was spent toiling up and down the
Tourmaline Hills. Kelse now moved in awkward hops
and lurches. There was a long sweaty morning in the
marsh north of Skyflower Lake. At noon the party
struggled through a thicket of coarse vines to reach solid
terrain. They halted to rest. Kelse looked ahead.  Fourteen
more miles& We ll never make it tonight. Perhaps you d
better go on to the house and send a wagon back for
me.
 I ll wait here with you, said Schaine.  It s a good
idea.
Gerd Jemasze said:  It would be a good idea except
that we re being kept under observation. He pointed
toward the sky.  Three times in the last two days I ve
seen a sky-shark hanging in the clouds.
69
JACK VANCE
All stared toward the sky.  I don t see anything, said
Schaine.
 Right now he s in the fold of that cumulus cloud.
 But what could he want? If he s hostile, why doesn t
he try to shoot us?
 I would guess that he wants to take us alive. Or some
of us alive. If we separated, the chances would be much
improved. There might even be another party of Hunge
on the way to intercept us before we reach Morning-
swake.
Schaine said in a hushed voice:  Would they dare come
in so far from the Retent? Our Aos would kill them.
 The sky-shark would observe the Aos and provide
warning.
Elvo Glissam licked his lips.  I wouldn t care to be
captured now. Or even killed.
Kelse struggled to his feet.  Let s get started.
Twenty minutes later Gerd Jemasze once more
searched the landscape. Looking to the northwest he
became still. He lowered the binoculars and pointed.
 Uldras. About twenty.
Schaine peered wearily through the pink dust-haze.
More fighting, more killing; and in this region of thickets
and clumps of vandalia there was small hope in fact,
no hope of beating off an attack. Fourteen miles to
Morningswake. So near and so far.
Elvo Glissam had arrived at the same conclusion. His
face became pinched and gray; a husky sound forced its
way up his throat.
Gerd Jemasze looked through the binoculars again.
 They re riding criptids.
Schaine released her pent breath.  They re Aos!
70
THE GRAY PRINCE
Gerd Jemasze nodded.  I can make out their headdress.
White plumes. They re Ao.
Schaine s breath came in a rasping guttural sob. Elvo
Glissam asked in a soft strained voice:  Are they hostile?
 No, said Kelse shortly.
The riders approached, raising a trail of dust behind
them. Gerd Jemasze studied the sky through his binocu-
lars.  There he goes! He pointed to a minute mark
among the clouds, which drifted slowly west, then picked
up speed and presently disappeared.
The Aos rode in a ritual circle around the group, the
soft-footed criptids* running easily and low to the
ground. They halted; an old man, somewhat shorter and
more sturdy than the ordinary Uldra, dismounted and
came forward. Schaine took his hand.  Kurgech! I ve
come home to Morningswake.
Kurgech touched the top of her head, a gesture half
caress, half formal salute.  It gives us pleasure to see you
home, Mistress.
Kelse said:  Uther Madduc is dead. He was shot down
over the Dramalfo by a sky-shark.
Kurgech s gray face he wore no azure oil showed no
twitch of emotion, and Schaine surmised that the
information had already reached his mind. She asked:
 Do you know who killed my father?
 The knowledge has not come to me.
Kelse, hobbling forward, said hoarsely:  Search for the
knowledge, Kurgech. When it comes tell me.
Kurgech gave a curt nod which might have meant
*
Criptid: a long low pad-footed variant of the terrestrial horse. The
Uldras of the Retent disdain criptids as mounts fit only for wittols,
sexual deviates and women.
71
JACK VANCE
anything, then turned and signaled to four of the tribes-
men, who dismounted and brought their mounts forward.
Gerd Jemasze half-lifted Kelse into the saddle. Schaine
told Elvo Glissam:  Just sit quietly and hang on; it
doesn t need guidance.
She herself mounted, as did Gerd Jemasze, and the
four Aos mounted double. The party rode north toward
Morningswake.
Two hours later, past the Skaw and across the South
Savanna, Schaine saw her home. She blinked back tears,
unable to restrain her pent-up emotion any longer. She
looked at Kelse, who rode beside her. His face was
strained with pain and as gray as Kurgech s; his eyes
also glinted with tears. Gerd Jemasze s dark face was
unreadable; who could fathom this man? Elvo Glissam,
far too polite to betray any excess of relief, rode in grave
silence. Schaine watched him covertly. For all his lack
of wilderness craft, he had by no means disgraced him- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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