[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

of the stocky knee. When he released it it slowly returned to position.
'All right, let it drop." He stepped away and scratched a mark on the ground,
then turned and sighted along it. "Get those trucks out of there," he said.
"Move them off to left and right, at least as far away as the copter. If this
thing jumps again it will land on top of them. After the burning it might just
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do that."
There was some confusion as to what he meant, but no confusion when Chun
repeated the orders at the top of his lungs. They moved quickly. Jan wiped his
gloves on the stubble then climbed on top of the harvester. A sound of loud
fluttering announced the arrival of the Big HOQk. The big copter, the largest
on the planet, rumbled up and hovered overhead. Jan took his radio from his
belt and issued orders. A square opening appeared in the belly and a lifting
bar dropped slowly down at the end of
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Harrison, Harry - To the Stars Trilogy.txt the cable. The downdraft of the
rotors beat at Jan as he placed the bar carefully, then set the large hooks,
one by one, into the edge of the lumper. If the creature felt the sharp steel
in its flesh, it gave no indication. When the hooks were set to his
satisfaction, Jan circled his hand over his head and the Big Hook began to
slowly lift.
Following his directions, the pilot put tension on the cable, then began
carefully to reel it in. The hooks sank deep and the lumper began to shiver
with a rippling
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logy%20(UC).txt motion. This was the bad time. If it jumped now it could wreck
the copter. But the edge came up, higher and higher, until the moist white
underside was two meters in thc air. Jan chopped with his hand and the Big
Hook moved slowly away, towing the edge of the creature behind it level with
the ground. It was like taking a blanket by the edge and turning it back.
Smoothly and easily the lumper rolled until it was lying on its back on the
ground, its underside a great expanse of glistening white flesh.
In a moment it changed, as the thousands of legs shot suddenly into the air,
an instantly grown forest of pale limbs. They stood straight up for long
seconds, then slowly dropped back to rest.
"It's harmless now," Jan said. "It can't get off its back."
"Now you will kill it," Chun Taekeng said warmly.
Jan kept the distaste from his voice. "No, we don't want to do that. I don't
think you really want seven tonnes of rotting flesh in your field. We'll leave
it there for now. The harvester is more important:' He radioed the Big Hook to
land, then detached the lumper from the lift bar.
There was a bag of soda ash in the copter, kept there for just this kind of
emergency. There was always some kind of lumper trouble. He climbed on top of
the harvester again and threw handfuls of soda ash into the pools of acid.
There did not seem to be much pitting, but there could be trouble inside if
the acid had dripped into the machinery. He would have to start taking the
plates off at once. A number of the covers were buckled and some of the bogie
wheels torn free, so that it had shed one track. It would be a big job.
With the one track still powered, and four trucks towing the other side, he
managed to back the harvester a good two meters away from the lumper. Under
the critical eye, and even more critical comments, of Chun Taekerig, he had
the Big Hook drag the lumper into position and turn it over.
"Leave the ugly beast here! Kill it, bury it! Now it is right side up again
and will jump again and kill us all."
"No it won't," Jan said. "It can only move in one direction, you saw how the
legs were aligned. When it jumps again it will-be headed back for the
wastelands."
"You can't be sure, accurate....
'Accurate enough. I can't aim it like a gun, if that's what you mean. But when
it goes it is going out of here."
Right on cue the lumper jumped. It had no reasoning power and no emotions. But
it did have a complex set of chemical triggers. They must all have been
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activated by the rough handling it had had, the apparent reversal of gravity,
burning, and having pieces removed. There was a heavy thud as all the legs
kicked out at once. Some of the women screamed and even Chun Taekeng gasped
and fell back.
The immense form was hurled into the air, soaring high. It cleared the field
and the sensor beams and fell heavily into the sand outside. A heavy cloud of
dust rolled out on all sides of it.
Jan took his toolbox from the copter and set to work on the harvester, pleased
to
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Harrison, Harry - To the Stars Trilogy.txt lose himself in his work. As soon
as he did this, when he was left alone, his thoughts returned instantly to the
ships. He was tired of thinking about them and talking about them, but he
could not forget them. No one could forget them.
Two
"I don't want to talk about the ships," Alzbeta Mahrova said. "That's all
anyone ever talks about now.
She --sat on the bench on the public way, very close to Jan with the length of
her thigh pressed hard against his. He could feel the warmth of her body
through the thin fabric of her dress and the cloth of his coveralls. He wrung
his hands tightly together so that the tendons stood out like cables in his
wrists. This- was as close as he was ever going to get to her, here on this
planet. He looked at her out of the corners of his eyes; the smooth tanned
skin of her arms, the black hair to her shoulders, her eyes wide and dark too,
her breasts...
"The ships are important," he said, taking his eyes from her with an effort,
looking with disinterest at the thick-walled storage building across the width
of the lava road. "They are six weeks late today, and we are four weeks late
in leaving.
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Something must be decided tonight. Have you asked The Hradil again about our
getting married?"
"Yes," Alzbeta said, turning toward him and taking his hands in hers, even
though people walking by could see them. Her eyes were dark and sorrowful. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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