World without Stars (14 page)

If time had seemed unbearably long before, it now became infinite. The gap between vessels narrowed as if we were on a hyperbola
seeking its asymptote. I must have been half crazy when Valland’s roar pierced the clamor in me:

“Look out!”

An order bawled through the wind at the same instant Paddles stopped. Someone had observed something suspicious.

“Let’s go!”

I sprang to my feet. We were not so close that I could look into the drifting boat. I knew that the several bodies huddled
in the hull should not look different from ordinary Niao. But perhaps— The wounded soldier had collapsed.

Rorn snatched at me. My injured arm batted his hands aside, my good fist struck his face. The impact rammed back into my bones.
A spear thrust at Valland. He sidestepped and dived overboard. I followed.

The water was warm and murky-red. I held my breath and pumped arms and legs until it was no longer possible. When my head
must go up into air, Rorn’s craft was still nearly on top of me.

Arrows smote the waves. I went below again and swam blind.

Now the Azkashi in the canoe revealed themselves, seized paddles and drove frantically to meet us. This had been Valland’s
idea: precarious indeed, but any chance was worth taking to escape what had been done to Rorn.

While the enemy was kept in the hut, bargaining, most of the captured Niao boats were taken off and hidden. A few were left,
a number not so small as to be unlikely but small enough that they would be overburdened and slow. One went ahead, over the
horizon, lightly manned with ya-Kela for captain.

Our men ashore took a compass bearing on the Ai Chun course. Hastily instructed, ya-Kela likewise had such an instrument,
and a radio. Bren, Galmer, and Urduga could get a fix on him and tell him where to go lie in wait. And … his folk took along
a couple of torchguns.

Their bolts flashed against a curtain of lightning as I reemerged. Water puffed in steam; those were inexperienced hands on
the triggers. Nonetheless, the Ai Chun group backed off.

Yet the enemy had not quit. Four huge forms sprang out
and started swimming. Adapted to a watery planet, those soldiers could overhaul us well before ya-Kela arrived. They could
drag us back—at the least, kill us. My strength was already going. I am not much of a swimmer.

Valland was, by human standards. But when he saw the shapes churning after, he came about. His powerful crawl brought him
to me in a couple of minutes. “Tread water,” he panted. “Conserve your energy. You’ll need it.”

“We’re done,” I choked.

“Maybe. Maybe not. Better this way, anyhow.”

The nearest soldier darted ahead. Valland got between me and him. They clinched and went under.

A hand closed on me. I looked into the open muzzle, tried weakly to break loose, and was submerged myself. It roared in my
head. I thought confusedly,
Breathe water, you fool Drown and die free
. But reflex was too strong, I gasped, spluttered, and whirled toward night.

My face was back in the air. I was being towed. Valland came alongside. He had broken his opponent’s neck, down in the depths.
He used his thumbnail, twice. The soldier ululated and let me go.

Valland must support me. The remaining pair closed in, through the stained waves. He used his legs to move away from them.
They swam around to his head. I saw a dagger lifted.

Then the water was full of bodies and weapons.

Ya-Kela’s were also good swimmers. Half a dozen of them had plunged the moment they’d seen our plight. Outpacing any canoe
in their sprint, they got to us. Their comrades were not so far behind; and while the gunners dared not shoot near us, they
could prevent any reinforcements from coming.

I did not see the fight. Darkness took me once more.

—Afterward I lay in the canoe, vomited, coughed, and wept. It wasn’t merely reaction. I was altogether sickened. Galaxy God—any
God—must we kill through all time, until
time ends when the disgusted universe collapses inward on us?

Worse followed. I am glad I was only hazily aware. With yells of joy, the Azkashi gave chase to the Ai Chun. We were soon
so close that a marksman like Valland could pick them off. One reached the water and went below, but he waited until the creature
rose to breathe and shot him.

The storm rolled upon us. Clouds drove black across the sun, lightning blazed, thunder crashed, the first rain whipped my
bare skin. I looked across the gunwale to Yo Rorn’s boat, which we were now pursuing to reclaim our gear. My goggles still
worked. I saw him stand up, screaming, such agony in him that it was almost good when a soldier’s ax broke open his skull.

Valland hunkered beside me. Water ran over his cheeks, into his beard, like tears. “I never intended that,” he said dully.
“They must’ve gone insane, seein’ me kill their gods. They had to strike back, and he was the handiest.” He watched the boats
scatter and flee. The one we were after was abandoned by those left in it. “Thanks for that. No more slaughter needed. … You
were one of us too, always, Yo.”

“But why did you loll the Ai Chun?” I blubbered. “We were safe by then. Why?”

“We’re not safe,” he answered. “Won’t be for a mighty long time. I reckoned it’d make a good lesson for everybody concerned,
to see they can be struck down like anyone else. We’ll need everything we can get workin’ for us.”

He shook himself. “No use in regrets,” he said. “We’ve got to be ruthless, or surrender right now. I suppose there are limits
to what we can decently do, but I don’t think we’ve reached ’em yet. Come, skipper, you’ll feel more cheery after a good long
sleep. Let’s get on home.”

D
AY STOOD
at afternoon. We had rested, repaired damage, started to organize ourselves afresh, and slept some more. Nonetheless, when
we stepped out of our compound and saw the lake glow red in that purple twilight, we had a sunset feeling. A great hush lay
on the land. Further down the shore twinkled the fires of ya-Kela’s people. Most Pack members had gone home after a skyhooting
victory celebration for which many returned from the woods; but he stayed with some. We were to join them and lay plans.

For a while, just beyond the gate, we paused. Valland, Bren, Galmer, Urduga, and me—we seemed terribly few.

Galmer voiced what we thought. “Do you really believe we have a chance?”

“Why sure,” Valland said. His gaiety was strange to hear in so big and dark a place. “We’ve got our camp back. Nothin’ was
ruined that we can’t get along without. We have allies. Son, if we don’t get home again, we won’t deserve to!”

“But the enemy, Hugh. The Ai Chun. They won’t take this like sportsmen. They’ll come against us. We can’t stand off a planet.”

“We’ll have our problems, all right,” Valland admitted. “But think. We’ve shown the Packs you can beat the downdevils. So
they’ll go with us through a supernova, if only we handle them right, and I reckon I know how.” His gaze went across the broad
waters. “Distance makes a good defense. Any attackers’ line of communications will get stretched thin. Woodsrangers like ours
can cut it in two. Though I don’t aim
to sit and wait. I’m takin’ the offensive soon’s may be. We’ll burn Prasiyo, lay the countryside waste everywhere around,
chase the Herd clear to the sea. The downdevils aren’t used to acting fast, I gather. So they’ll need some time to recover
from that shock and mount a counterattack. By then we’ll be ready.”

“Still,” I said, “a war— When can we do our work?”

“Not our war,” Valland said. “Mainly the Packs are concerned. We’ll give them leadership, new kinds of weapons, sound tactics,
a concept of strategy. I think that’ll suffice. Remember, there can’t be an awful lot of Herd soldiers. The downdevils never
needed many, and won’t have time to breed a horde—which they couldn’t supply anyhow. No, for the most part we should be free
to work, we and the ones we’re goin’ to train as helpers.”

After a moment, reflectively, he added: “Won’t be a war of extermination anyhow. Our side’ll be content to hold this territory,
maybe get back some of what was stolen before; but the Packs aren’t about to try conquerin’ the world. If the downdevils aren’t
hopelessly stupid, they’ll make terms, once we’ve rubbed their noses a bit. Then we five can really buckle down to business.”

Bren sighed. The weight of his captivity was still heavy on him. “That’s assuming we’re not killed in some fracas,” he said.
“More, it’s assuming we can stay with our purpose. I wonder if we won’t get so tired at last that we’ll simply quit.”

Valland squared his shoulders. The light turned his shock head to copper. Huge against the sky, he said, “No, we won’t. We’ll
keep ourselves reminded of what this is all about—what we’re goin’ back to.”

He started toward the campfires, and striding, he keyed the omnisonor he bore to help him talk with the Pack, and his song
arose.

“
So softly you hear it now, Mary O’Meara, but soon it
comes joyful and clear
.

And soon in the shadow and dew of your hilltop a star-guided footfall rings near
.

My only beloved, I’m here
.”

We followed him. And we built our spaceboat and won to the help of the Yonderfolk. The job took four decades.

(Thus far the account published by Guild Captain Felip Argens in his autobiography. An additional tape was found among his
effects by the redactor of the posthumous edition.)

E
ARTH IS A QUIET WORLD.

Oh, yes, wind soughs in the great forests that have come back, now that so few people live there; birds sing, cataracts brawl,
the oceans rush on the moon’s trail around the globe. You can find ample enjoyment in the starport towns, and the educational
centers are bright with youth from every part of the galaxy. Nor is this a museum planet by any means. The arts flourish.
Science and scholarship are live enterprises.

But there is too much of the past. One does not build new things there, one preserves the old. That isn’t bad. We need traditions.
From a strictly practical standpoint, it’s good to know you can leave your Earthside property in charge of some robots, return
in five hundred years, and find not only it but its surroundings unchanged. Nevertheless, when the adventurers come from the
stars on a visit, they walk quietly.

Hugh Valland and I parted in Niyork. Bren, Galmer, and Urduga had gone their separate ways. I had to report, however, and
he had his girl, so we traveled together on the
Luna Queen
. Though he’d avoided discussing his plans in detail, I assumed he’d be met when the ferry set us down.

“No,” he said. That’s not her way. How about one hell of a good so-long dinner tonight? I know a restaurant where the escargots
consider themselves privileged to be cooked.”

He was right. We put away a lot of wine too. Over brandy and cigars, in a fine comradely warmth, I asked if he meant to take
as lengthy a vacation as I did.

“Mmm—probably not,” he said. “We were stuck on that single planet for such a confounded chunk of time. I’ve got a universeful
of places to go see again. And then new places, where nobody’s been yet.”

“D’you mean to sign on for exploration?” I raised my eyebrows. “I hoped you’d ship with me.”

His massive face crinkled in a smile. “Skipper,” he said, “you’re a fine chap, but don’t you think we need to split up for
a century or two?”

“Maybe.” I was disappointed. True, we’d lived in each other’s breath long enough to drive anyone who wasn’t immortal, who
couldn’t set the years in perspective, to murder. But we’d fought and worked together, and laughed and sung and hoped: and
he was the one who had kept us doing so. Having a war on our hands had been a help—broke the monotony, Valland used to say—but
we wouldn’t have won it without his leadership. I didn’t want to lose touch.

“You’ll be around for a while, anyway, won’t you?” I asked.

“Sure,” he said. “What’d you think was drivin’ me?”

“Mary O’Meara,” I nodded. “What a girl she must be. When do I get an introduction?”

“Well, now. …” For the first time I saw him evasive. “Uh, that won’t … won’t be so easy. I mean, I’d like to, but—well, she’s
not keen on guests. Sorry. How about another cognac?”

I didn’t press him. We had learned, out beyond the galaxy, not to intrude on a man’s final privacies. I speculated, of course.
Every immortal develops at least one quirk. His was that fantastic monogamy which had saved us. What was hers?— Then Valland’s
grin broke loose again and he related a couple of jokes he’d heard, bumming around in the
rim-planet town where we waited for passage to Earth. We said goodnight in a hilarious mood.

After that, for several days, I was busy at the universarium. The scientists wanted to know everything about the planet of
our shipwreck. They’d be sending a mission there, to i operate out of the commercial base our company would establish. Before
the unique Ai Chun culture died—before that race adapted to reality and became just another race—they meant to study it.

When I finished, I must return to Niyork on business. The Guild had suddenly decided our employers owed us a bonus for our
troubles. A rather disgruntled chief accountant told me the sum, which explained his disgruntlement, and put me through various
formalities.

“Payments are required to be made directly to the men” he said. With so many people on so many planets, the Guild no longer
trusts the mails. “I’ve arranged about the others, but when I called Master Valland, he wasn’t at the address he had given.
It was a hotel here in town, and he’d moved out with no forwarding code.”

“Gone to see his girl, of course,” I said. “Hm. We plan to get together once more, but not for some while.”

“Can’t you find him before then? Frankly, I’m tired of having your association ride me about this matter.”

“And Hugh’d no doubt find good ways to spend the money. Won’t be so useful to him on the eve of shipping out.” I pondered.
From time to time he had said things about Mary O’Meara, though now that I added them together they came to surprisingly little.
“Well, I’m at loose ends for the moment. I’ll see if I can track him down.”