Science fiction; Space and time -- Fiction; Time travel -- Fiction
"What would happen were the Reds to get inside and try to fly again?"
Manulito wondered aloud.
Travis was struck by a sudden idea, one perhaps just as wild as the
other inspirations he had had since landing on Topaz, but one to be
studied and explored--not dismissed without consideration. Suppose
enough power remained to lift the ship partially and then blow it up?
With the Red technicians on board at the time.... But he was no
engineer, he had no idea whether any part of the globe might or might
not work again.
"They are not fools; a close look would tell them it is a wreck,"
Jil-Lee countered.
Travis walked on. Not too far ahead a yellow-brown shape moved out of
the brush, stood stiff-legged in his path, facing the ship and growling
in a harsh rumble of sound. Whatever moved or operated in that wreck was
picked up by the acute sense of the coyote, even at this distance.
"On!" Travis edged around the snarling animal. With one halting step and
then another, it followed him. There was a sharp warning yelp from the
brush, and a second coyote head appeared. Naginlta followed Travis, but
Nalik'ideyu refused to approach the grounded globe.
Travis surveyed the ship closely, trying to remember the layout of its
interior. To turn the whole sphere into a trap--was it possible? How had
Ashe said the Redax worked? Something about high-frequency waves
stimulating certain brain and nerve centers.
What if one were shielded from those rays? That tear in the side--he
himself must have climbed through that the night they crashed. And the
break was not too far from the space lock. Near the lock was a storage
compartment. And if it had not been jammed, or its contents crushed,
they might have something. He beckoned to Jil-Lee.
"Give me a hand--up there."
"Why?"
"I want to see if the space suits are intact."
Jil-Lee regarded Travis with open bewilderment, but Manulito pushed
forward. "We do not need those suits to walk here, Travis. This air we
can breathe--"
"Not for the air, and not in the open." Travis advanced at a deliberate
pace. "Those suits may be insulated in more ways than one----"
"Against a mixed-up Redax broadcast, you mean!" Jil-Lee exclaimed.
"Yes, but you stay here, younger brother. This is a risky climb, and you
are not yet strong."
Travis was forced to accede to that, waiting as Manulito and Lupe
climbed up to the tear and entered. At least Buck and Deklay's
experience had forewarned them and they would be prepared for the weird
ghosts haunting the interior.
But when they returned, pulling between them the limp space suit, both
men were pale, the shiny sheen of sweat on their foreheads, their hands
shaking. Lupe sat down on the ground before Travis.
"Evil spirits," he said, giving to this modern phenomenon the old name.
"Truly ghosts and witches walk in there."
Manulito had spread the suit on the ground and was examining it with a
care which spoke of familiarity.
"This is unharmed," he reported. "Ready to wear."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account