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and to hell with the enemy. But this was friend, though personally unknown. And more than friend, a rescuer, who gave his life in the noble act. One more body, Holroyd thought darkly, one more shattered bit of flesh seeking its traditional and terrible union with the soil of earth. How many men had tumbled reluctantly from heights into that abnormal merging with the land? How many during two hundred million years? The thought yielded to the rushing wind, the flapping of meaty wings, the night that seemed endless. Rage came against the darkness. 'Damn you, Ptath, what are you trying to do balance off seven hundred years in one night?' It should be getting light, Holroyd thought blankly. Why, the temple's inhabitants had been asleep for hours, and he had been out here on this great airplane of a bird for yet more hours. But the night went on. Something was wrong, definitely wrong about this incredible flight through an endless darkness. In the great rushing dark, Holroyd shifted uneasily in his saddle. L'onee, whoever, whatever she was, had said she would help him again. Was this some version of that help? a a T T n n s s F F f f o o D D r r P P m m Y Y e e Y Y r r B B 2 2 . . B B A A Click here to buy Click here to buy w w m m w w o o w w c c . . . . A A Y Y B B Y Y B B r r It seemed hardly probable. Because she had also told him that he must go to the Nushirvan front to attack and de- stroy the outlaw State. Holroyd's mind poised there, rue- fully. He must attack Nushirvan with its population of five billions, its endless mountains, its powerful and cunning fighting men. He laughed curtly. The harsh sound of his laughter was snatched from his lips by the whining wind, and lost in the vast night. But the thought remained; and after a moment he knew what she had meant and why it was possible. In all ages a few men with wills of iron and personalities to match ruled, and made the decisions upon which the masses of their times built their lives. Very simply, very starkly, the demi-god Holroyd-Ptath must go to the Nushir- van front, take control of all the armies there and blitz Nushirvan before the Goddess Ineznia knew what was happening. Holroyd drew a deep breath. He'd have to get in touch with the rebel groups, of course. And find out what the pamphlet Tar had shown him had meant in its statement that prayers were the source of the god power of the god- dess. Because, if that was true, then where did Ptath derive his power? Abruptly, he felt the immensity of what was here. The excitement of it clanged inside him. 'A 1944 brain,' he thought shakily, 'dominating the body of the god of Gon- wonlane.' His consciousness lifted up to grasp at the won- der of it; his whole being blazed with sensational thoughts. And the strange long night lengthened. Dawn came with tropical swiftness. The sun reared from the horizon behind him and splashed its light across vil- lages, farms, forests that had in their texture the shape of jungle. A green, prolific land it was. Far to the north glittered a dark sea, and ahead was a a a T T n n s s F F f f o o D D r r P P m m Y Y e e Y Y r r B B 2 2 . . B B A A Click here to buy Click here to buy w w m m w w o o w w c c . . . . A A Y Y B B Y Y B B r r city. The city was very far away, so vaguely seen that it kept fading into the mist of distance. There seemed to be a monstrous towering cliff beyond it. A cliff? Holroyd frowned. Ptath was the city of the great cliff, and no screer could possibly have flown a seven-day journey in one night. Even as the denying thought came, Holroyd knew better. This was what the endlessness of the night had meant. Some- body was pulling him toward Ptath. Was it L'onee? Abruptly, he knew that he couldn't even think of taking the chance. He had to force this beast down. Here. Now. This minute. He felt a sagging sensation. The next instant, like an enormous prey-bound hawk, the screer plummeted toward a distant rim of the jungle. The land below seemed uninhabited. At the last moment Holroyd had a glimpse of a small, red-roofed house inset in a green shelter of spreading palm trees; and then the massive bird had flashed over the low line of jungle beyond. It came down in a clearing, ran at top speed, flapping its wings madly. As it came to a plunging halt, Holroyd saw for the first time the tufts of feathers on its ribbed, leathery neck. The sight struck him sharply, brought a ponderous wonder as to the screer's twentieth-century ancestor. But the development of flesh and bone was too radical; the physical structure would probably require the most detailed scientific investigation. But not by him who had never been able to recognize by sight more than a dozen birds. The reverie ended as a silvery voice spoke from behind him: 'You would be wise, Peter Holroyd Ptath to climb down.' Holroyd twisted in his saddle. A girl stood in a narrow pathway twenty-five feet away. There was a quiet earnest- ness in her dark eyes, a sadness in her olive-complexioned face, and a fire of personality that was unmistakable. 'Hurry!' said the voice of this new L'onee. 'The flying screer does not linger long in one place untended. Be a a T T n n s s F F f f o o D D r r P P m m Y Y e e Y Y r r B B 2 2 . . B B A A Click here to buy Click here to buy w w m m w w o o w w c c . . . . A A Y Y B B Y Y B B r r careful not to walk in front of it. It will not hesitate to peck [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |