[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Ranji regarded the slack, comatose form. "It thought you were something else."
The soldier's gaze narrowed. "Something else? And who's this Tourmast
character?"
"Someone else. Why don't you take charge of our pris-oner here?"
"What, me?"
"Amplitur prisoners are pretty rare. You'll probably get a promotion out of it,
maybe even a commendation." Ranji looked past him. "Where's the rest of your
unit? I've got an injured colleague and I'd rather .not use a com-municator to
call for help this near to enemy hostiles."
"They should be over that way, sir." The soldier ad-justed the communicator
built into his visor. "Enemy's been pushed back pretty far. I think we're safe
in calling in."
Ranji considered, then nodded. "I'll rely on your judg-ment. I'll go tell my
friend help is on its way. We're back over here." He pointed, and the younger
man indicated his understanding.
Lying immobile on its side, the Amplitur didn't look very frightening, the
trooper reflected as he studied his prisoner. Soft and slow. One bulging, golden
eye gazed vacantly in his direction. It was about the ugliest thing he'd ever
seen, and since he'd joined up with the Human battleforce that was aiding the
Weave he'd encountered some remarkably ugly things. Ashregan, Crigolit, Molitar,
Acuria, Massood and Hivistahm, Wais and Lepar. Ally or enemy, it didn't much
matter. Each was a greater paragon of ugliness than the next, and he wasn't
especially enam-ored of the facial features of some of his drinking buddies,
either.
He shifted his rifle to a more comfortable position, pleased that like the rest
of his friends back home he'd chosen to take part in the great conflict. What
more could a man want out of life than the opportunity to eliminate some of the
ugliness from the universe?
The Amplitur sensed that its paralysis would fade, but until then it would have
to suffer the feral attention of the biped as well as a certain amount of
physical discomfort. Unable to move more than a few extremities,
Sigh-moving-Fast shifted one eye to track the departure of the Human Restoree.
There was no help to be had, no other brethren within range. It had taken but a
moment for its personal status to change from that of captor to captive.
Tricked, and cleverly so. The Restoree had seen and seized a chance to make use
of Sigh-moving-Fast's unfamiliarity with combat conditions. But in his haste to
aid and comfort an injured companion the Human had forgotten one thing. Secrets
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file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20The%20Damned%2002%20-%20The%20False%20Mirror.txt
could still be divulged, confusion spread, discord sowed.
"Listen to me." The translator croaked enticingly. "That man is no longer wholly
Human. He has been changed. He is now more like me than you."
"Yeah, right." The soldier's expression was pensive.
"This is true! He has been modified. First by my kind, subsequently by something
else. He can influence minds; he can push, just as can I. He is dangerous."
"You're telling me. All of us Human folk're dangerous, squid. As you're finding
out. You know, I picked up a lot about your species in studies, but they never
told me you had a sense of humor."
"You must believe me!" The primitive biped's indiffer-ence to logic was
infuriating. "If you have studied my kind, then you know we are incapable of
prevarication."
"Unless that's a lie, too. Our specialists don't com-pletely trust everything
the Weave tells 'em. One thing they're far from sure about is you. Don't know
enough about you yet to be sure of anything. So they're withhold-ing judgment."
He gestured with the tip of the cassion rifle. "So am I. If you want to turn me
against one of my own kind, you're gonna have to dream up something a lot less
silly than that."
Sigh-moving-Fast raged impotently, but try as he might, he was unable to give
the Restorees' secret away. The Weave strike force took the headquarters
complex, capturing or killing all but a few of its inhabitants. Human and then
Hivistahm physicians dealt efficiently with Cos-sinza's injury. With the aid of
an implanted neuromuscular stimulator, she was up and walking within a few days.
He'd always been able to talk to Saguio, Ranji knew, but this was different. It
was wonderful to finally have someone to share with, in matters of intimacy as
well as friendship. Cossinza did more than merely listen. She un-derstood. Heida
Trondheim had been sympathetic, but no more. What existed now between him and
Cossinza went much deeper. He felt fulfilled.
With time now to relax a little and contemplate things besides combat, other [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl exclamation.htw.pl
Ranji regarded the slack, comatose form. "It thought you were something else."
The soldier's gaze narrowed. "Something else? And who's this Tourmast
character?"
"Someone else. Why don't you take charge of our pris-oner here?"
"What, me?"
"Amplitur prisoners are pretty rare. You'll probably get a promotion out of it,
maybe even a commendation." Ranji looked past him. "Where's the rest of your
unit? I've got an injured colleague and I'd rather .not use a com-municator to
call for help this near to enemy hostiles."
"They should be over that way, sir." The soldier ad-justed the communicator
built into his visor. "Enemy's been pushed back pretty far. I think we're safe
in calling in."
Ranji considered, then nodded. "I'll rely on your judg-ment. I'll go tell my
friend help is on its way. We're back over here." He pointed, and the younger
man indicated his understanding.
Lying immobile on its side, the Amplitur didn't look very frightening, the
trooper reflected as he studied his prisoner. Soft and slow. One bulging, golden
eye gazed vacantly in his direction. It was about the ugliest thing he'd ever
seen, and since he'd joined up with the Human battleforce that was aiding the
Weave he'd encountered some remarkably ugly things. Ashregan, Crigolit, Molitar,
Acuria, Massood and Hivistahm, Wais and Lepar. Ally or enemy, it didn't much
matter. Each was a greater paragon of ugliness than the next, and he wasn't
especially enam-ored of the facial features of some of his drinking buddies,
either.
He shifted his rifle to a more comfortable position, pleased that like the rest
of his friends back home he'd chosen to take part in the great conflict. What
more could a man want out of life than the opportunity to eliminate some of the
ugliness from the universe?
The Amplitur sensed that its paralysis would fade, but until then it would have
to suffer the feral attention of the biped as well as a certain amount of
physical discomfort. Unable to move more than a few extremities,
Sigh-moving-Fast shifted one eye to track the departure of the Human Restoree.
There was no help to be had, no other brethren within range. It had taken but a
moment for its personal status to change from that of captor to captive.
Tricked, and cleverly so. The Restoree had seen and seized a chance to make use
of Sigh-moving-Fast's unfamiliarity with combat conditions. But in his haste to
aid and comfort an injured companion the Human had forgotten one thing. Secrets
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%...20Damned%2002%20-%20The%20False%20Mirror.txt (137 of 139) [7/1/03 12:04:34 AM]
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20The%20Damned%2002%20-%20The%20False%20Mirror.txt
could still be divulged, confusion spread, discord sowed.
"Listen to me." The translator croaked enticingly. "That man is no longer wholly
Human. He has been changed. He is now more like me than you."
"Yeah, right." The soldier's expression was pensive.
"This is true! He has been modified. First by my kind, subsequently by something
else. He can influence minds; he can push, just as can I. He is dangerous."
"You're telling me. All of us Human folk're dangerous, squid. As you're finding
out. You know, I picked up a lot about your species in studies, but they never
told me you had a sense of humor."
"You must believe me!" The primitive biped's indiffer-ence to logic was
infuriating. "If you have studied my kind, then you know we are incapable of
prevarication."
"Unless that's a lie, too. Our specialists don't com-pletely trust everything
the Weave tells 'em. One thing they're far from sure about is you. Don't know
enough about you yet to be sure of anything. So they're withhold-ing judgment."
He gestured with the tip of the cassion rifle. "So am I. If you want to turn me
against one of my own kind, you're gonna have to dream up something a lot less
silly than that."
Sigh-moving-Fast raged impotently, but try as he might, he was unable to give
the Restorees' secret away. The Weave strike force took the headquarters
complex, capturing or killing all but a few of its inhabitants. Human and then
Hivistahm physicians dealt efficiently with Cos-sinza's injury. With the aid of
an implanted neuromuscular stimulator, she was up and walking within a few days.
He'd always been able to talk to Saguio, Ranji knew, but this was different. It
was wonderful to finally have someone to share with, in matters of intimacy as
well as friendship. Cossinza did more than merely listen. She un-derstood. Heida
Trondheim had been sympathetic, but no more. What existed now between him and
Cossinza went much deeper. He felt fulfilled.
With time now to relax a little and contemplate things besides combat, other [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]