[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
opposable thumbs. "Release me, I say! Or you will feel the vengeance of the
Invid!"
Tesla was a creature about ten feet tall, with a thick, reasonably
humanoid torso and limbs. But his head was a slender extension resembling a
snail's snout, with two huge black liquid eyes set on either side. At the tip
of the snout were two sensor antennae like glistening slugs that glowed
whenever he spoke.
Rick found himself looking at those eyes, much as he tried to avoid it,
while Lang and the others made their recordings and measurements. The eyes
were as unemotional and unrevealing as a shark's, but they were set forward in
the sluglike head. And conventional Darwinian reasoning said that the main
purpose for such placement was pursuit-the Invid were predators.
Just like Humans.
Rick had yielded the floor to the astounded sci/tech squads from SDF-3
who had come in answer to his call, to evaluate Tesla and try to gain some
kind of understanding of the bizarre turn the whole mission had taken.
Rick had a towel around his shoulders, wiping his forehead from time to
time; he suddenly realized that Veidt was hovering near.
Wasn't he on the other side of the compartment a second ago? Oh, well.
"Ah, Lord Veidt-"
"'Veidt' will suffice," the being corrected.
"Okay, okay, 'Veidt,' then: I guess we need to know first things first.
You Sentinels aren't so much in a shooting war with the Invid as trying to put
together an uprising, right?"
Veidt hesitated, and Rick threw the towel to the deck. Some of his blood
was drying on it, scarlet going to rust-red. "Let's save fine distinctions for
Page 17
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
later! Am I right or am I wrong?"
"You are right," Veidt said as he and Rick and the Sentinels watched the
Human sci/tech teams push and shove each other to get closer to Tesla. "Once,
the Invid and the Zentraedi savaged this entire part of the galaxy, fighting
their war. With the collapse of that struggle, contact with all the outlying
stellar systems has been lost."
"Now, the war has boiled down to the few habitable planets in this close
stellar group: Tirol, Optera, Haydon IV, Geruda, and the rest. The ability-and
perhaps the will-to venture out into the horrible aftermath of the great
Invid-Zentraedi wars has been lost, Admiral."
"But, as I have said, you're right. The worlds unlucky enough to be here
in the 'close stars'-accessible with non-Protoculture superluminal drives-are
still under the Invid heel. Yet, time and history and the Shapings of the
Protoculture have their own rhythm, Admiral. And while the...slavery!...we've
suffered, the cruelty and mistreatment, may not be high on your Earthly
agenda, the war to free the Near Planets is the thing that unites the
Sentinels in a blood oath."
Veidt was quivering like a tuning fork; Rick had thought him robotic and
cold, but he now saw passion in his face. "We were in cages. Do you know what
that's like, young Admiral? To be caged like an animal?"
"Of course you don't! The Sentinels will accept you as allies, and
enlist others who are willing to fight, but I'll tell you something, Admiral
Hunter: none among us will ever feel quite the same bond with anyone who
wasn't caged with us-trust them to fight, as we intend to, until we win or
until we die!"
Rick thought for a moment about Earth history. Of monstrous freight
trains and mass gas chambers. He picked the towel up off the deck, folding it
carefully. "Fair enough." He looked to Veidt. "But we're going to help you.
And if you want to know why, just look through our ship's history files."
Veidt nodded as if he already had, "We have all agreed to recrew this
ship, if possible, and set course for Karbarra. Without delay."
"What? Wait a second!" There would have to be meetings, resolutions from
the council, personnel allocations, resource diversion, interdivision liaison,
staff meetings, marital counseling, maintenance checks...
"What d'ya mean, 'without delay'?"
"I mean that within twenty-four of your hours, we intend to depart,"
Veidt answered in a reasonable tone. "Would ten days be better? Or ten months?
You may multiply the beings who will die under Invid tyranny by the minute!"
"All right; you've made your point," Rick grunted in a sound like
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]