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 Did you speak, husband?
Gene hadn t realized he was thinking aloud.  It s nothing, Vaya.
 You seem troubled.
Gene turned in his saddle and looked at the long line behind him. The whole
tribe was on the move, following their Queen to a place they had never dreamed
of going near, much less taking up residence in: an Umoi city. Some of the
older folks had rejected the scheme out of hand and had stayed behind,
preferring certain death in the desert to the condign punishment they would
receive for committing unforgivable sacrilege.
The rest of them had required some major persuading. But they had pulled up
stakes and tagged along.
Why so, Gene wasn t sure.
The whole idea had been out of the question until Vaya had her visitation. She
woke up one morning with the news that one of her ancestors, a woman
(naturally, as this society was an ironclad matriarchy), had dropped in by way
of a dream, telling her that her First Husband, the stranger, spoke truth, and
that she should order her people to move into the abode of the Old Gods.
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Whoever the old crone had been, Gene was grateful to her. He, for one, was
tired of gnawing tough, charred meat and scratching at fleas. He was looking
forward to sleeping in a warm bed and having a civilized meal for a change.
He had his thoat, his Martian princess, now all he needed was one of those
Thrilling Wonder Stories
Art
Deco futuristic cities to live in, and he d have it all.
That is, if Annau was still functioning.
He still was intent on searching for the interdimensional device. He had not
forgotten Castle Perilous, nor could he. He had been here in New Barsoom for
about a year, close as he could reckon. It had been fun, but was wearing
rather thin. He wanted to get back to Perilous. That was his home. He d be
sure to look into stabilizing this world s portal, though. He d want to come
back now and then to see how the yalim were faring.
He looked over at Vaya. She rode bestride and with a noble seat, erect and
regal. Queenlike.
Yes, he loved her. That was the one complication. He couldn t leave her, and
she couldn t very well abdicate and follow him to Perilous.
He knew he would be coming back here on a more regular basis than  now and
then.
Could he leave her at all? He wondered.
He was having second thoughts about Annau. It was an unknown quantity. No
telling what he d find there. He would have his hands full in any event trying
to calm a mob of frightened primitives. Perhaps going back to Zond would be
the best idea. Once things were running smoothly, Zond could whip up another
rover for him and he could &
No, the thought of undertaking another cross-world trek didn t appeal to him.
Too dangerous. Perhaps he should just forget about the interdimensional device
altogether.
But he couldn t. He had to get back to Perilous, if only to let everyone know
he was all right. He owed
Sheila and Linda that much.
 Do you feel them, too, husband?
Gene came out of his brown study.  Hm? Sorry. What did you say?
 Do you feel eyes crawling on your skin?
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 Eyes crawling & ? Oh. Gene looked right and left, running his gaze along the
ridges above.  Yeah, I
do. Been getting a being-watched feeling for some time now. You, too?
 Yes.
Gene took a deep breath, then searched the heights once again.  Haven t seen a
thing, but I sure feel something. It s probably just paranoia on my part, but
how sure are we that there aren t any hrunt here?
 Who can be sure?
Of course. For travel information, all the tribe had to rely on was oral
tradition. Gene doubted that it would be of any value.
 There may be yalim, however, Vaya said.
 Hostile?
 All tribes like to fight. It is the yalim nature.
 We don t bother anybody, Gene said.
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 There are not many to bother.
She was right. The yalim were dying out.
Gene said,  Well, anyway, I m not concerned about yalim. If we can beat the
hrunt, we shouldn t let a few bandits worry us.
 The sun creeps low, Vaya said.  Soon it will seek its burrow in the earth.
 Yeah. Nice metaphor, there. You want to make camp, my Queen?
 You pick the site, husband.
 Right. Well, I don t like being at the bottom of these cliffs, but I don t
see any way to get up into them.
This wide area coming up is as good a place as any.
 Then that is where we shall make trail camp.
 Yeah. The Sheraton is booked solid, I hear.
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That night, Gene had trouble sleeping. He got up and walked the camp s
perimeter several times, but saw nothing but desert darkness and one dozing
guard. He had the guard flogged, then returned to the royal tent.
 You rest uneasy, husband.
 Sorry. Did I wake you up?
 No. Come close.
They embraced. Outside, the sound of a drear wind masked a greater silence. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]