A TRAP FOR A TRAPPER
Shann took up the piece of soft he had and another white mark on the rust-red of a well above level. That three such marks, three days since Thorvald had him. And he was no nearer the now than he had been on that morning! He sat where he was by the boulder, aware that he should be up, trying to climb to the less of the sea birds. The prisoners, man and wolverines, had out all those they had on beach and cliffs. But at the of more eggs, Shann's in pain and he to retch.
There had been no of Thorvald since Shann had him the two islands. And the Terran's that the officer would return had died. On the a away his own attempt to solve the problem of escape.
The ax had with Thorvald, along with all the of the which had been the officer's original to their joint equipment. Shann had used his knife on and small trees, trying to put together some of a raft. But he had not been able to here any of those necessary for binding, and his best had all come to when he them in a launching. So he had no of which would keep him longer than five minutes, let alone support three of them as as the next island.
Shann at the of his latest try, disheartened. He not to think of the that the water in the rain had to only an or so of scum. Last night he had in the of the where the of the was a promise of moisture, to and then a ooze. Far too little to satisfy him and the animals.
There were surely fish in the lagoon. Shann if the of sea supply the water they needed. But net, line, or hooks, how did one fish? Yesterday, using his stunner, he had a bird, to the so rank the wolverines, eaters, to it.
The animals the two beaches, and Shann they dwellers, for at times they in the gravel. Togi was in this way now, the from under her legs, her in good earnest.
And it was Togi's which Shann a of hope. Her was so marked that he she was in of some game and he moved across to the pit. A of brown, which had been by one paw, him shout.
Taggi downslope, going to work his with an as open as hers. Shann at the of the they were enlarging. The was larger, itself as a up from the gravel. The Terran did not need to his hands over that surface to the nature of the find. This was another such as had come in after the to the material of their canoe.
However, as fast as the dug, they did not appear to make in their as might be expected. In fact, a that the was at a only a slower than the were using to free it. Intrigued by that, Shann to the waterline, one of the lengths he had been trying to into his failures, and returned to use it as a shovel.
Now, with three of them at the digging, the was uncovered, and Shann around its edge, trying to it up and over. To his amazement, his tool was and held, nearly from his hands. To his the below-ground gave way, and the Terran back, the length of clear, to the other end and as if it had been gears.
For the time he that they were not with an empty by under this small beach, but with a still by the Warlockian to it was a natural covering, and that that would to continue ownership. A moment's of that also that the shell's present appeared well able to itself.
Shann to call off the wolverines, but they were out of now, to at this new prey. And he that if he them away by force, they were to turn those and on him.
It was for their protection that he returned to digging, though he no longer to up the shell. Taggi to the top of that dome, to clear its surface, while Togi around its circumference, now and then to send and spattering, but as might one for a attack.
They had the almost clear now, though the still rested on the ground, and they had no of what it might protect. It was smaller, two the size of the one which Thorvald had into a craft. But it provide them with to the if Shann was able to repeat the of it into an canoe.
Taggi joined his on the ground and about the dome, baffled. Now and then they the with a paw. Claws and did not any marks but scratches. They continue that forever, as as Shann see, without the problem in the least.
He sat on his and the in detail. The the was some three yards above the high-water mark, with a more that from the point where lazy now the sand. Shann the slow of those with interest. Where their had failed to win this odd battle, the sea itself now be pressed into service.
Shann his own excavation, a to lead from the to the by the shell. Of the thing in or under that might be only too familiar with salt water. But it had its burrow, or place, above the of the and so might be by the of water in its bed. However, the was trying, and he to work doggedly, he make the so they would help him.
They still about their captive, at the about the casing. At least their would keep the half-prisoner and prevent its escape. Shann put another piece of his to work as a shovel, up a of and while his and was salt and on his arms and face.
He his trench, one which ran at an he would water into the once he away the last against the waves. And, out into the green water, he did just that.
His calculations proved correct. Waves lapped, then in a stream, out about the as the back, snarling. Shann his knife fast to a length of sapling, so himself with a spear. He with it in his hand, not just what to expect. And when the answer to his water attack came, the move was so that in of his he was gaping.
For the out of the of and water. A complete of jointed, in a forward-and-upward dash. But the water to that charge. For one of the crumbled, over-balancing the so that the end of the from the ground, the at the air.
Shann with the spear, the knife point go home so that he not his free. A only away from his leg as he pushed on the with all his strength. That attack along with the of did the job. The over, its now in the of the while the of the to right itself only it the deeper.
The Terran upon a under where were in formation. Shann no head, no good target. But he his and at either end of the oval, and then, for good measure, in the middle, in one of those three to the thing's system. He was not to know which of those did the trick, but the of the and ended, as a toy might for want of winding—and at last projected, at angles, still. The might not be dead, but it was for now.
Taggi had only been waiting for a good to do battle. He one of those legs, it, and then to tear at the under body. Unlike the shell, this of the had no proper and the into the of the kill, his suit.
The of was a bloody, job, and Shann was it was complete. But he at his labors, to have that shell, his one of from the Island. The on the greenish-white flesh, but he not himself to sample it, to the in search of eggs, and making a happy of a with the moss-fungi.
By late he had the clean and the had away for such as they had not been able to at their eating. Meanwhile, the leather-headed had to up the he out on the water, for that against from the of the lagoon.
At the of Shann the bloodstained, well up the beach and it among the rocks, not to his treasure. Then he and washed, his and then himself, his hands and arms with until his skin was tender. He was still at his luck. The would supply him with materials for an outrigger. One more day's work—or maybe two—and he leave. He out his and toward the line of the shore. Once he had his new he would try to make the in the early while the were still on the sea. That should give him against any Throg flight.
That night Shann slept in the of exhaustion. There were no dreams, nothing but an which a Throg attack not have pierced. He in the with an odd of guilt. The water he had in the him some of earth, but he had almost the of a liquid. Munching on a of moss, he to the shore, to the gone, his luck out once again.
Not only was the where he had it, but he had done than he when he had left it in the night. Small away from it into hiding, and arose—scavengers had been his for that morning. And how the clean-up had gone, Shann had a second inspiration.
Pushing the thing the beach, he it in the with to it. Within a the was by a whole of spiny-tailed fish, that ate greedily. Leaving his to their cleansing, Shann to the of material, pieces which for an frame. He was as he had been all along by the of the one use for lashings. And he had the point of a of his to the necessary when he saw Taggi him one of the the had put in the day before.
Now and again Taggi his prize on the shingle, it with his as he to worry a of flesh. But that was his teeth, and at length he left it there in while he returned to a for more fare. Shann to more closely the triple-jointed limb.
The was not as hard as or shell, he upon testing; it more skin over bone. With a knife he to the skin—a job a great of patience, since the if away too fast. But with he a a long. Using two of these, he a trial of one to another, and farther, the whole in sea water and then it to the direct of the sun.
When he his test piece an hour later, the skin had set into place with such success that the one piece of might have been to the other. Shann his in a little of as he on to the to the water-logged shell. The had done well. One scraping, two at the most, would have the whole thing clean and to use.
But that night Shann dreamed. No of a skull-shaped this time. Instead, he was again on the beach, under an compulsion, something for an purpose he not understand. And he as as a slave, that what he was to his own undoing. Yet he not the making, just the limit of his there a will which him in bondage.
And he on the beach in the very early dawn, not how he had come there. His was in sweat, as it had been his day's labors under the sun, and his with fatigue.
But when he saw what at his he cringed. The of the outrigger, close to the night before, was dismantled—smashed. All those of he had so were cut—into inch-long which be of no service.
Shann whirled, ran to the he had the night from the water and in safety. Its was where it had been battered, but there was no in the surface. He ran his hands over the to make sure. Then, very slowly, he came to the of and hide. And he was sure, only too sure, of one thing. He, himself, had that destruction. In his he had to satisfy the of an enemy; in he had destroyed; and that was also, he believed, to satisfy an enemy.
The was a part of it. But who or what set a man and so take over his body, make him in himself? But then, what had Thorvald him here? For the time, Shann a new, if wild, for the officer's desertion. Dreams—and the which had so on Thorvald. Suppose the other had was the truth! Then that had been on this very island, and here must a to the riddle.
Shann his lips. Suppose that Thorvald had been sent away under just such a as the one which had Shann last night? Why was he left if the other had been moved away to protect some secret? Was it that Shann himself was wanted here, wanted so much that when he at last a means of he was set to it? That act might have been upon him for two reasons: to keep him here, and to upon him how powerless he was.
Powerless! A of will to respond to that challenge. All right, the they had him do this. But they had him by him learn, almost contemptuously, of their presence by that revelation. So warned, he was in a manner armed; he prepare to back.
He by the as he that through, over pieces. And, Shann realized, he must present at the moment a satisfactory picture of to any spy. A spy, that was it! Someone or something must have him under observation, or his of the day would not have been so countered. And if there was a spy, then there was his answer to the riddle. To the trapper. Such action might be a project his resources, but it was his own counterattack.
So now he had to play a role. Not only must he search the for the of his spy, but he must do it in such a fashion that his purpose would not be plain to the enemy he suspected. The help. Shann arose, allowed his to droop, to the with all the air of a man which he assume, for Taggi and Togi.
When they came, his began. Ostensibly he was for lengths of or to take the place of those he had under orders. But he a watch on the animal pair, by their to up a to any watcher.
The larger of the two marked the point where the Terrans had and where the thing had been killed. The smaller was more of a narrow out into the lagoon, much of it with boulders. On visits there Taggi and Togi had into the among these with their curiosity. But now animals upslope, no to to the water line.
Shann of Taggi's scruff, him along. The and whined, but he did not for as he would have upon Throg. Not that the Terran had one of those was for the on the island.
Taggi came under Shann's urging, but he was at ease. And at last he a when the man would have him closer to two which met overhead in a of an arch. There was a of from that Shann a to closer. He his on the wolverines, to in the length of wood, and at the same time into the pocket.
Water just beyond, making this a to the lagoon. The sun had not yet into the shadow, if it did. Shann for the wood, at the same time his across the which would a for anything using that door as an entrance to the island.
Wet! Which might his visitor had arrived, or else that a of had there not too long before. But in his mind Shann was that he had the spy's entrance. Could he turn it into a trap? He added a piece of to his and up two more he returned to the ahead.
A trap.... He in his mind all the he which be used here. He already had upon the bait—his own work. And if his plans through—and not die easily—then this time he would not waste his labor either.
So he to the same job he had done the day before, making do with skin he had second-best before, smoothing, cutting. Only the his mind, and close to he just what he was going to do and how.
Though the Terran did not know the nature of the opponent, he he two which might deliver the other into his hands. First, the enemy was of success in this venture. No being who was able to Shann as and as had been done the night would any with the power to in force.
Second, such a enemy would be unable to the of a captive. The Terran was that his would be on the when he was led, dreaming, to his work once more.
He might be on of those counts, but he didn't so. However, he had to wait until the dark to set up his own answer, one so he was the enemy would not it at all.
