Lord tedric, p.5
Lord Tedric, page 5
"Be careful with that sword," Nolan warned jokingly. "The way you keep it sharp, you're apt to behead poor Keller some day."
"And we're going to need him, too," Tedric said. "Keller's going with us?"
"We'll need someone to carry our stores and supplies. Keller has a good strong back, and besides, he knows something more of Evron Eleven than we can find out through tapes and recordings. @l
"I served a spell in the mines," Keller said softly. "It was before my entry into the navy.
When they came and offered me a choice between the open spacelanes and those black pits, I never hesitated." "How was it?" Nolan asked.
Keller shook his head. "Bad, sir, damned bad. I mean, the work was hard, sure, but so is this. They treat a person like an animal, like something lower than an animal. If the workers have finally rebelled, I say more power to them. Call me a traitor if you want and have me locked up, but I know the truth about those mines."
"No one here is going to call you a traitor, Keller," Nolan said,
"And Keller thinks he may still have friends on Evron Eleven, His wife remained behind
"If she's not long since dead from overwo rk . "Who else is going?" Nolan asked.
Tedric shook his head. "Do you have someone to recommend?"
Nolan thought for a moment, then saidi "Not anyone in particular, no. We're all evenly experienced, which is to say that we have no real experience. There are some good men in the class, but no one who really stands out above the rest."
"I felt that way, too."
"And you chose?"
"No one. The three of us. The way I see it, if we're going to be spies, we ought to do it right. A party of ten or twenty tramping through the mines wouldn't make us exactly inconspicuous."
"You, me, and Keller," Nolan said thoughtfully. "It's like the three musketeers."
"Who?" asked Tedric, confused.
"Oh, some famous men who lived once long ago. All for one and one for all. That was their credo." "What does it mean?"
Nolan laughed, shaking his head. "You know, I've never quite figured that out." He turned on his side and faced the wall. "Now let me sleep," he murmured, past a broad yawn.
And Tedric let him.
The savage thrust of acceleration five times greater than normal Earth gravity slammed Tedric hard against the soft cushion of the horizontal couch in which he rode. He struggled to make his spine less rigid, tried to force his muscles to relax and flow like liquid into the pliant surface beneath. Outside, through the tiny round porthole, he could see the sky ablaze with a crimson flash.
We could be dying, he thought. There's no way a man can endure this force.
But he knew from his studies in history that men had endured this same force since the dawn of the age of space. Few simpler methods had yet been devised for reaching the surface of a planet than a parachute drop.
Nolan and Keller, who had both done this before, nevertheless showed the pain of their five-G ordeal. Their mouths hung open, their faces distorted with the force, their brows covered with perspiration.
Then the parachute unfurled and caught, and Tedric was thrown forward against the straps of his couch. The sky outside turned in an instant from blazing red to pitch black, and he knew as he struggled to catch enough air to breathe that the capsule was now floating gently downward through the midnight dark of Evron Eleven toward the surface below. Tedric finally managed to speak. "Whew," he said, with true feeling.
Nolan, strapped to the couch on Tedric's right, turned his head and managed a weak grin. "We dropped harder than I expected. There was a minute when I think I actually blacked out, and that should never happen."
"Do you think it's because the planet has greater than its volume would normally indicate, an abnormally high density?" Tedric spoke from the lessons he had learned at the Imperial Academy, but the knowledge never quite seemed to be a part of him. It was something extraneous, like a suit of borrowed clothes.
"That's possible," Nolan said, "but I'd rather blame Carey.I think he wanted to make our trip as uncomfortable as possible."
"He has no authority over a capsule launch."
"He has authority wherever he chooses to exercise it. Who do you think is going to step forward and tell him he's wrong? Not dear Captain Maillard, that's for sure."
Tedric said nothing. Because of the way Nolan had been treated during the course of the voyage, his dislike of Carey had become an obsession. All three men knew better than to unfasten their straps quite yet. The impact of landing still awaited them.
Tedric turned his head and saw through the porthole the familiar pattern of Evron Eleven's nighttime stars. He had memorized the local starmap in preparation for finding his way around this strange planet.
Unless anot er miscalculation ha occurred, the capsule ought to set down some ten kilometers northwest of the present headquarters of the rebellious workers. Despite its planetary character, Evron Eleven was only sporadically inhabited. The mining of Dalkanium had begun on the planet less than a century ago, and so far only a few especially rich lodes were being followed. The rebellion had been limited to the site of the largest mine, where approximately one thousand workers presently held fifty supervisors and corporate officials prisoner. Because of this, the rebellion might possibly be contained with some ease, and it was for this reason-he claimed-that Carey had decided to begin his counterattack with a small landing party. "I wish I could have brought my dulcetone," Keller said. "If there was ever a time when a song would go good, it's now, when we're floating through the air with nothing on our minds."
"I didn't know you were a musician," Nolan said, and Tedric was glad of the diversion to draw Nolan's thoughts away from Matthew Carey.
"In my time, I've been a little bit of everything," Keller said. "I'm more a singer than a musician, though."
"Then why don't you sing?" Tedric said. "We're good listeners."
"Got any favorites?"
"No, not especially." It took a question like that to make Tedric realize there wasn't a single song he could honestly say that he knew. Or was that true? A faint tune hummed at the back of his mind, but it stayed there, not quite audible. Another memory? From how far back?
"Then I'll try this one on you." Keller broke into a song that concerned a beautiful maiden from a planet named Glencora whose loving man had gone to fight the war.
Despite a happy, soaring melody, the song was almost a lament, as the maiden cried for her lover's return and saw him again only when he was brought back from the farthest reaches of space, as dead as a stone. Then she wept over his grave until her tears alone caused to swell out and speak of its love before it fell back and she died and a flower grew where she lay. Nolan was frowning. "I hardly think that's what we need to hear now."
"It always cheers me up," Keller said, with the hint of a grin.
"If you're partial to graves and ghosts and dead women, I suppose so."
cli enjoyed it very much," Tedric said, but again a memory was stirring. What was it this time? Was it the music again?
Before he could make any serious effort to answer these questions, there was a sudden jolt. Tedric was thrown against the straps that held him to the couch, then bounced and lay still.
"We're here," Nolan said.
Keller was the first one free of his couch and he hurried to help Nolan and Tedric.
When he could, Tedric stood up and went over to the porthole. Evron Eleven was a moonless world and there was onlv starlight by which to see. The landscape appearedto be a barren stretch littered with a few large boulders and rocks. He turned away from the port. "We'd better get out of here and try to hide the capsule. Someone may have seen the flash of our descent."
"I doubt that." Nolan shrugged quickly within his gear: holster, belt, heatgun, sword. "Not unless we I ve missed our mark. The mine ought to be well past the horizon."
"And it is underground," Keller added. He was drawing together the backpacks each would have to wear.
"Still, we can't be sure. Maybe someone was outside, watching the stars."
"A pair of Keller's doom-struck lovers," Nolan said.
But Keller shook his head. "Nobody can afford to fall in love on Evron Eleven."
It required only a few additional moments before the men were properly outfitted and ready to venture out. Tedric punched the button that controlled the lock and was the first to look through the opening.
The air was sharp, heavy in oxygen, and a chill wind seemed to be blowing. He blinked several times to acquaint his eyes with the darkness, then leaped to the ground. The earth was soft and malleable, a fine but moist dust that stuck to the soles of his boots.
He ignited the battery flash he wore at his waist and turned in a complete circle, surveying the landscape. His first impression proved accurate. Rocks and boulders, little else. In the distance stood a twisted outline that might have been a leafless tree.
He waved back at Nolan and Keller. "It seems safe. Let's get going."
Nolan came first, then Keller, who turned before making his leap and set the lock to close behind them.
"There's no way we can hide the capsule here," Nolan said. "It's too big to snuggle under the edge of a rock."
"I'll set the directional beam and then we'll just have to hope it's still here when we come back." "If we do come back."
"And don't forget, we can always radi Eagleseye for help. It's not as if we're totally alone." Of course, it wasn't safe to use their radios now. Tedric had broken off communication with the Eagleseye as soon as their capsule penetrated the upper atmosphere. Although their orders had left the question open, Tedric and Nolan had earlier decided not to attempt to contact the rebel leaders openly, at least not until after a secretive survey of the situation. Any radio contact with the Eagleseye ran the risk of drawing attention to their presence on the surface, and @hat was what they wished to avoid above all else. Nolan had hinted that Carey might possibly have sent them down here knowing in advance that the rebels would surely kill them if they caught them; Tedric intended to exercise some care.
Tedric removed the directional beacon from a pouch on his belt and handed it to Keller to bury in the loose dust at the bottom of the capsule. The beam given off by the beacon would lock on the Eagles@ve alone. If nothing else, it would serve as an indication of their safe arrival.
When Keller finished, Tedric motioned him and Nolan away from the capsule and, pointing the beam of his flash ahead, started off in the direction of the mines. It would bea considerable hike, even if the land remained flat and relatively clear, and they could not hope to reach their destination before mid-day tomorrow.
None of them spoke. There was a certain alienness about this world that seemed to affect even Keller, who had once lived here. There was the silence, too, the utter stillness and absence of life. The grotesque hulks of the bigger boulders loomed on all sides, casting crazy shadows when the beam of the flash washed across them.
When the men came out of ambush, there was no warning whatever. Tedric saw them before the others and shouted. He reached for his sword and drew it swiftly. Only later did he realize that a heatgun would have served better than a sword, but he had reacted instinctively. He didn't count the men who came at him. They had hidden behind a broad collection of boulders, and there might have been as many as twenty.
The nearest man showed clearly in the beam of the flash. He was short, squat, and hairy, more like an animal than a man. Tedric kept this impression as he threw back his sword and swung from his hips. The blade made a whistling noise as it rushed through the air. The man screamed once, suddenly aware of the danger, before the blade struck his neck. His head tilted to one side, nearly severed, and he toppled in a gush of pumping blood. Tedric fell back, astonished at what he had done. I've just killed a human being, he thought, a man I never knew in my life. He felt disgusted, excited, and stunned. Fora moment he couldn't move at all.
And in that brief interval the others were upon him.
As he grappled with his attackers, he had time to see Keller and Nolan, both pinned underneath a half-dozen men. Tedric strained to break loose from the men who held him. He wanted to use his sword, but someone had hold of his hands. His head was drawn back. There were rigid ri his throat.
Then he heard someone shout: "Don't kill them! Be careful! You know we want them alive!"
The voice puzzled him. It sounded too shrill, almost inhuman.
Abruptly he realized what it must mean: the person who had shouted was someone he had never seen in this universe before.
It was a woman.
Then he did see her. Only briefly. She stood high on a boulder, her hands waving furiously as she directed her men. He felt a momentary sense of impotence. He knew he was beaten and knew a woman had led the attack.
But, beaten or not, he continued to struggle. In a sudden swift move, he twisted his body and stretched his muscles to the breaking point. He swung his arms and managed to break free of the men who held his arms. He lifted his sword and prepared to cut.
But then someone hit him with a rock. He knew as soon as he felt the blow what it must be. An instant later, the pain overwhelmed him; he staggered and nearly dropped to his knees.
The rock hit him again-not as hard as before, but hard.
He fell. His lips tasted the moist dust of Evron Eleven. And, just an instant before he lost consciousness completely, he managed to turn his head slightly and gaze upward.
His conqueror stood there, rock in hand, and despite the faintness of the starlight, he could see who it was. A woman. Another woman.
And before the blackness consumed him, he realized something more: the one he had killed had been a woman, too.
Tedric awoke the first time with his skull on fire and tried to grab hold of his throbbing head. He couldn't. His hands were tied. He opened his eyes and discovered the source of the throbbing. He was being carried on a wooden post, his hands and legs wrapped around the body of the wood. His bearers, two figures he could see only dimly in the corners of his vision, made no effort to give him a gentle ride. The post bumped each time they took a step.
He could see nothing else. Not Nolan. Not Keller. There was nothing in his world but the pain in his head and the discomfort of his perch. He shut his eyes. He would sleep again. There was no reason for wakefulness now, no reason for thought.
When Tedric awoke the second time, he sat on a cold, smooth floor. His arms were still tied, and so were his legs. A blinding white light as bright as a sun tore at his eyes. He shut them and felt the persistent pounding in his head. He decided to try his eyes again and this time discovered the source of the light was nothing more than a flickering Iantern.
The room where he sat, with his spine propped againsta wall, was underground and cramped. Even free, there would barely have been room to move. He saw Keller seated to his right, securely
bound, and Nolan to his left. Only Keller was awake.
Tedric licked his lips and tried to speak. His tongue felt swollen but the words seemed cornrehensible. "So we are alive?"
Keller nodded. "Nolan was awake a few minutes a-go. We were worried about you, though."
"Someone hit me on the head with a rock."
"I know. I saw it. You sure fought like the devil against them. I wanted to, but they were on me before I knew what was happening. I'm sorry. You could have used some help."
Tedric frowned. "No matter. There were too many of them for us to handle."
"Women, too. I should have known. They outnumber the men twenty to one in the mines. That's because they're sold by their parents."
"Sold? Like slaves?"
"Contracted I think is the word they prefer to use.'
Tedric frowned. "But they knew exactly where we were. That's what I don't like. It was almost as if they were waiting for us."
The sound of voices must have roused Nolan from his sleep. "I see you've come to the same conclusion I did. It must have been Carey. Damn him. He sent us down here to die and then called the gravediggers personally."
"We don't know that for sure."
"We do unless we're hopelessly stupid."
Tedric shrugged as well as his ropes would allow. He didn't want to get into an argument with Nolan, not when he thought what Nolan was
saying was probably true. He asked Keller, "Can you guess where we are?"
"In the mines, that's for sure, but exactly where, I can't say. Some of the shafts plunge far underground to follow a particular lode. Some parts of Evron Eleven are like hives.
The workers are drones. They go for years without seeing the sun."
"B ut have you seen any of them since we came here?"
Keller shook his head. "Not a soul."
"And maybe that's just how it'll stay," said Nolan. "What could be easier? They bring us down here, tons of rock over our heads, and leave us to rot?
Tedric shook his head. "Then why bother? They could have killed us just as easily when they first caught us."
But Nolan shook his head doubtfully, and when hat seemed like many additional hours a passed without anyone coming to see them, Tedric began to wonder himself. He slept, he woke, he slept again. Sometimes he and Keller exchanged a few words. Less frequently, Nolan joined them. But at last the wooden door that separated their cell from whatever lay beyond creaked on its hinges and slid open.
The figure of a woman came through. She was very tall, very thin, with a round face and yellow fur. A subwoman. Tedric could not be sure if this was the same one who had e t e am us .
But Keller seemed to know her. His eyes grew wide with recognition and he cried out:
"Janiait's you!"
The woman frowned with contempt. "Who told you my name?"
"No one had to tell me. Don't you know? I'm Keller-I'm your husband."
The woman-Jania-shook her head. "My husband died many years ago."
"But I'm him!"
She shrugged, dismissing Keller's claims without another thought, and came over to stand in front of Tedric. "You wear the insignia of an officer in the Corps. I want you to answer my questions to the best of your knowledge."
