[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

his face, covering his mouth. Cluse swallowed more than once,
hard. Only Manjanungo and the Terasak seemed unaffected.
They and one Aglayan
Whitey tuned out the Jarp's rambling, and thought.
Hummer is very near to being out of control. That's
bad and good. Tao no! Sunmot her and Aglii: help me. Give
me of my Self and make me serene. Let me be let me be one
with your Way. Give me the strength of the willow....
He reached down, far down inside where his Self
resided. He gripped that Self and controlled it, calmed and
steadied it. Prepared it. Readied himself till there was no
passion, no involvement. Only what was needed for the job at
hand.
He focused again on his surroundings. Serenity
permeated him like a benevolent radiance. The sound of
Hummer's voice returned.
" Manjanungo says, we will take you onboard the
ship before I enact all these pleasantries on you. Meanwhile
you will hand over your weapons. Drop your stoppers on the
floor. Opposite hands, two fingers."
Tachi and Whitey complied. Whitey reached for his
chest- dagger.
"Neg." Hummer swung a long finger in a downward
gesture. Whitey lowered his arm.
"I fought a Bleaker once," the Jarp said. "I can show
you the scars. He no longer can. I wouldn't be at all surprised
to find that you are carrying an obsidian sleeve-knife. The
Bleaker I recall painfully, got his out extremely fast. Just after
I'd confiscated his dagger, if I recall. So. .. either open your cuff
and show me it s empty, pres!
Whitey lowered his head, lips tight, looking defeated.
His little flick of the arm was nearly invisible. The glassy
212 JOHN CLEVE
black sliver appeared in his palm. He tossed it to the floor
between the two stoppers. It hit the thick carpeting without a
sound.
"Firm," Hummer said. "Now the dagger hilt-first.
Hold it by the blade. Slowly.
Whitey complied, his face expressionless. His eyes
stayed focused not on the deadly barrel of the plasmer but on
the eyes of his enemy.
There is no weapon, Fidmj, his Self said to him. There
is only your Self.
His slow-moving hand reached his chest and took the
dagger by the upturned blade. A short tug broke the meld and
parted the weapon from his tunic. Still slowly, he began to
hand it over.
There had been no movement. There couldn't have
been any movement. Yet-
Whitey's hand was extended motionless and empty,
out at his side. The hilt of the Bleaker chest-dagger stood
between Hummer's breasts.
I saw nothing, Tachi thought. I was looking right at
him and I swear on my ancestors he did not move! He looked
wildly around, caught the expressions on the faces of the
others. No one saw it!
All this in an instant. Hummer stood like an orange
pillar, madness on its face. Then it collapsed all at once as
Whitey,dropping lightly to one knee and one hand, swept his
booted, foot out and into the Jarp's shins. As Hummer fell, its
finger convulsively triggered the plasmer. The carpet smoked
and blackened and curled away from the floor.
Whitey dropped flat. His hand snapped out and
grabbed a fallen stopper. He twisted his body around, aimed,
and Squeezed the weapon in one motion. The writhing form
of the wounded Jarp stiffened, tensed. The plasma weapon
fell from crabbed fingers. Out from around the base of the
 RACE ACROSS THE STARS 213
dagger, tightening chest muscles forced increased flows of
blood.
Whitey felt something hit his leg. He wrenched his
gaze over toward the group in the corner. A stopper had
struck him, knocked from Cluse's grasp by Achmet who was
now grappling the Terasak for his weapon. Pransa was
airborne, her target Manjanungo.
Whitey slammed his stopper between Hummer's back
and the floor. The Jarp's body jammed the weapon on and
continued helplessly to receive its beam. Hummer lay like a
corpse, though open-eyed and bleeding.
Whitey grabbed Cluse's stopper and nipped up to his
feet. He had heard Pransa land hard on Manjanungo. Now the
pirate was on top. The small woman had been unable to get a
hold on him. He moved like a slim snake, impossible to
grapple. He also struck effectively, Whitey could see.
He saw too that Cluse had joined the Terasak in
pounding Achmy. Dialing his stopper to Stun, Whitey sought
an opening, a chance to pin one of the slavers in its beam
without hitting his friend. None came.
He charged in instead. Grabbing Cluse by one shoulder
he wrenched her backward and threw her to the carpet. She
stayed there, with no heart for this fight.
The Terasak, meanwhile, had broken free. Now he
stood, stopper leveled at Whitey and Achmy. Whitey's own
weapon pointed downward. For a static moment they stood,
tensed.
"Don't, son," a quiet voice said from behind Whitey.
The Terasak looked over the Aglayan's shoulder,
indecision playing over his face. He saw Tachi, plasma beamer
in hand. The power-pak was in Tachi s other hand , the ribbon
cable looping across his midsection. The Terasak stared into
the plasmer's snout.
"Three of us, son," Tachi said. "One of you. You shoot
one, we shoot one. Bad odds."
214 JOHN CLEVE
The confused Terasak blinked, trembled and
dropped his stopper.
Whitey immediately turned to Pransa and
Manjanungo, just in time to see the short woman's powerful [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]