[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
jellyfish throbbing to a rhythm of their own. Anemones clenched into
brilliantly striped fists with a dreamlike slowness. Great fans of dazzling
colored sponge swayed to the random currents.
And buried in this bright, wavering world, visible only in rough
outlines beneath the weeds, lay the hulk of a sunken ship.
It was the third they had found which Hale seemed to think worth
salvaging. And they re in better shape than you think, he assured Sam.
Those alloys are tough. I ve seen worse wrecks than this rehabilitated in
the old days. His voice trailed off and he looked out over the empty
water, remembering.
You could almost see it peopled by the fleets of the Free Companions
as Hale must be seeing it, very clearly over the generations already gone.
The Keeps had been sacrosanct then as now, for only under their imper-
vium domes did civilization survive. But the token wars had raged
between them, on the surface of the gray seas, between fleets of hired
mercenaries. The Keep that backed the loser paid its korium ransom,
sometimes only after token depth bombs had been dropped to remind the
undersea people of their vulnerability.
It all passed. The jungle ate up the great forts and the sea giants sank
at their moorings. But they did not crumble. That much was apparent
now. The weeds grew over and through them and the lichens nibbled at
their fabric, but the strong basic structure remained.
Hale and Sam had searched the coasts of Venus where the old forts
stood. Hale had known the forts when they were alive. He knew the
harbors and could still quote the battle strength of the Companies. The
first two hulks they had salvaged were already nearly seaworthy again. And
there was a new enthusiasm in Hale s voice and in his eyes.
This time they won t pin us down under impervium, he told Sam,
gripping the rail and grimacing as spray blew in his face. This time we ll
stay mobile no matter what it costs us.
It ll cost plenty, Sam reminded him. More than we ve got. More
than we re going to get, unless we do something very drastic.
What?
Sam looked at him thoughtfully, wondering if the time had yet come
to take Hale into his confidence. He had been building toward the revela-
tion for weeks now, leading Hale step by step toward a solution he would
have rejected flatly at their first interview.
Sam was applying to his current problem exactly the same methods he
had applied almost by instinct when he woke in the alley with dream-
dust still fragrant in his nostrils. In the weeks since that wakening he had
retraced in swift strides the full course of a career that paralleled the
career of his earlier life, condensing forty years achievements into a few
brief weeks. Twice now he had come into the world penniless, helpless,
every man s hand against him. Twice he had lifted himself to precarious
success. This time his foot was only on the first rung of a ladder that
leaned against the very stars.
He assured himself of that. Failure was inconceivable to him.
By misdirection and cunning he had tricked Doc Mallard into a
catspaw play and seized the korium he needed to start him on his upward
climb. It was korium he wanted again now, but the Harkers were his
adversaries this time and they were a much more difficult problem.
Bemembering his method with Doc Mallard, he had searched in vain
for some lure he could dangle to tempt them out on a limb. He could
think of nothing. The Harkers already had everything they could desire;
their position was almost impregnable. There was, of course, Sari. Sam
knew that if he could plan some subtle but strong irritation for her, and
make sure she had narco-dust at the time, she was almost certain to kill
either Zachariah or herself or both. That was one weapon. But it was
terrifyingly uncertain, and it was too strong. He meant to kill Zachariah,
eventually. But death was no solution to this current problem.
There was a parallel here between the weapons at Sam s command and
the weapons men had with which to attack the Venusian landside. In both
cases the only available weapons were either too weak or too strong. Utter
destruction was no answer, but the only alternative would leave the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl exclamation.htw.pl
jellyfish throbbing to a rhythm of their own. Anemones clenched into
brilliantly striped fists with a dreamlike slowness. Great fans of dazzling
colored sponge swayed to the random currents.
And buried in this bright, wavering world, visible only in rough
outlines beneath the weeds, lay the hulk of a sunken ship.
It was the third they had found which Hale seemed to think worth
salvaging. And they re in better shape than you think, he assured Sam.
Those alloys are tough. I ve seen worse wrecks than this rehabilitated in
the old days. His voice trailed off and he looked out over the empty
water, remembering.
You could almost see it peopled by the fleets of the Free Companions
as Hale must be seeing it, very clearly over the generations already gone.
The Keeps had been sacrosanct then as now, for only under their imper-
vium domes did civilization survive. But the token wars had raged
between them, on the surface of the gray seas, between fleets of hired
mercenaries. The Keep that backed the loser paid its korium ransom,
sometimes only after token depth bombs had been dropped to remind the
undersea people of their vulnerability.
It all passed. The jungle ate up the great forts and the sea giants sank
at their moorings. But they did not crumble. That much was apparent
now. The weeds grew over and through them and the lichens nibbled at
their fabric, but the strong basic structure remained.
Hale and Sam had searched the coasts of Venus where the old forts
stood. Hale had known the forts when they were alive. He knew the
harbors and could still quote the battle strength of the Companies. The
first two hulks they had salvaged were already nearly seaworthy again. And
there was a new enthusiasm in Hale s voice and in his eyes.
This time they won t pin us down under impervium, he told Sam,
gripping the rail and grimacing as spray blew in his face. This time we ll
stay mobile no matter what it costs us.
It ll cost plenty, Sam reminded him. More than we ve got. More
than we re going to get, unless we do something very drastic.
What?
Sam looked at him thoughtfully, wondering if the time had yet come
to take Hale into his confidence. He had been building toward the revela-
tion for weeks now, leading Hale step by step toward a solution he would
have rejected flatly at their first interview.
Sam was applying to his current problem exactly the same methods he
had applied almost by instinct when he woke in the alley with dream-
dust still fragrant in his nostrils. In the weeks since that wakening he had
retraced in swift strides the full course of a career that paralleled the
career of his earlier life, condensing forty years achievements into a few
brief weeks. Twice now he had come into the world penniless, helpless,
every man s hand against him. Twice he had lifted himself to precarious
success. This time his foot was only on the first rung of a ladder that
leaned against the very stars.
He assured himself of that. Failure was inconceivable to him.
By misdirection and cunning he had tricked Doc Mallard into a
catspaw play and seized the korium he needed to start him on his upward
climb. It was korium he wanted again now, but the Harkers were his
adversaries this time and they were a much more difficult problem.
Bemembering his method with Doc Mallard, he had searched in vain
for some lure he could dangle to tempt them out on a limb. He could
think of nothing. The Harkers already had everything they could desire;
their position was almost impregnable. There was, of course, Sari. Sam
knew that if he could plan some subtle but strong irritation for her, and
make sure she had narco-dust at the time, she was almost certain to kill
either Zachariah or herself or both. That was one weapon. But it was
terrifyingly uncertain, and it was too strong. He meant to kill Zachariah,
eventually. But death was no solution to this current problem.
There was a parallel here between the weapons at Sam s command and
the weapons men had with which to attack the Venusian landside. In both
cases the only available weapons were either too weak or too strong. Utter
destruction was no answer, but the only alternative would leave the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]