DUELIST'S CHALLENGE
Inside the red there was a community. The Salariki of a kind, and the did not barracks, but each had a small of his own. So that the and of one of their nothing so much as the of a beehive. Although Paft's was a large clan, it numbered only about two hundred men and their wives, children and servants. Not all of them at this center, but for the they had assembled—which meant a of up and out under the regular of the town. So that the Terrans were to be through this to the Great Hall which was its heart.
As the center had been, the was a open to the sky above but in wheel-spoke fashion with of the red wood, each supporting a metal with material. Here were no or tables. One board, only by a at the foot, ran around the wall. At the end opposite the entrance was the high chair of the chieftain, set on a two step dais. Though the had not yet officially begun, the Terrans saw that the majority of the places were already occupied.
They were around the of the to places not from the high seat. Van Rycke settled with a of satisfaction. It was plain that the Free Traders were numbered among the nobility. They be sure of good in the days to come.
Delegations from in close of ten or twelve and were seats, as had been the Terrans, in groups. Dane noted that there was no of with clan. And, as they were to later that night, there was a very good for that precaution.
"Hope all our work," Ali murmured, with no at all the of now being through the opening of the table.
While the Traders had learned long ago that the part of was not to sample drinks, often that they (or its other world equivalent) on planets. And so science and now a Trader for any Galactic was immunized, as as was possible, against the of food not originally for Terran stomachs. One of the results being that Traders a of bird-like appetites—since it was always to and live, than to and die.
Groft had not yet taken his place in the chieftain's chair. For the present he in the center of the table circle, the who with the food. Until the magic moment when the themselves would their overlord, he the son of the house, without power.
As the of their way about the table the lights on the of the were ignited, the of evening. And there was an by each to on of which with of smoke, adding to the many scents. The Terrans had at to their own bottles, to clear their of the fumes.
Luckily, Dane as the proceeded, that from the up. Had they been in a space they might have been overcome. As it was—were they of all that was going on around them?
His for that was the now being performed in the center of the hall—their with the being in a series of and stabbings. He was sure that he no longer trust his when the knife of the dancer-hunter passed through the of another a mask.
As a to their display, three of the men who had been with them on the entered, them—still in the net—the which Dane had stunned. It was now and very much alive, but the which might have cut its way to safety were in of hard substance.
Freed from the net, by its sealed claws, the and from a set up the high seat. Its futilely, and from it came an snake's hissing. Though totally in the power of its it gave an of and menace.
The of their the Salariki, who across the table to tongue-twisting at the monster. Dane that had a been delivered into their hands and they to make the most of this opportunity. And the Terran the had into the sea. He had no soft for the after what he had at the and the he had heard, but neither did he like what he saw now in gestures, in the of voices about them.
A put an end to the outcries. His making a spot of all the color, he came to the place where the swung. As he took his the the faded, the settled into their seats, a of spread through the enclosure.
Groft came up to take his position the priest. With hands he a two cup. It was not the which each diner, but a older artifact, of some black and having the of being older than the or town.
One of the who had helped to in the now a quick and with a rope, the monster's and almost at a right angle. With the produced a knife—the Dane had on Sargol. He a single in the soft of the gorp's throat, in the cup he took from Groft some of the which from the wound.
The madly, table and Salariki with its life fluid, but the attention of the was elsewhere. Into the old cup the another from a by an underling. He the cup and forth, as if to mix its and then it to Groft.
Holding it him the to the table top and so to the high seat. There was a the enclosure. Now the had its wild and in its bonds.
Groft the cup above his and gave a loud in the language of his clan. He was answered by a from the who would in his banner, with the of knife on the board.
Three times he some and was answered by the others. Then, in another period of quiet, he the cup to his and off its in a single draught, the when he had done to prove that not a within. A through the great hall. The Salariki were all on their feet, their over their in to their new ruler. And Groft for the time seated himself in the high seat. The was no longer without a chieftain. Groft his father's place.
"Show over?" Dane Stotz and Van Rycke's reply:
"Not yet. They'll make a night of it. Here comes another of drinks—"
"And trouble with them,"—that was Captain Jellico being prophetic.
"By the Coalsack's Ripcord!" That had been out of Rip and Dane to see what had so the Astrogator-apprentice. He was just in time to an piece of Sargolian social practice.
A warrior, surely only a year or so of his knife, was an older Salarik, on their feet. The and of the older was wet and an empty rolled across the table to to the floor. A had on the neighbors of the pair, and there was an air of about the company.
"Threw his drink all over the other fellow," Rip's soft explained. "That means a duel—"
"Here and now?" Dane had of the personal of the Salariki.
"Should be to the death for an such as that," Ali remarked, as the from his role as bystander. As a child he had the of the Crater War, nothing had been able to his surface since.
"The fool!" that was Steen Wilcox up the from the of a naturally nature and some fifteen years of on a great many different worlds. "He'll be out for good he what to him!"
The Salarik had a question at his and had been answered by that warrior. Now their neighbors came to life with an which that they had been waiting for such a move, it had so many times that every man just the right from that point on.
In order for a Sargolian to be a success, the Terrans from remarks, at least one must be the festivities. And those not did a of in the background.
"Look there—at that in the cloak," Rip Dane. "See what he just down?"
The in the was not one of Groft's men, but a of the from another clan. And what he had on the table—indicating as he did so his choice as in the combat, the warrior—was a small piece of white material on which a but familiar leaf. The neighbor he with, the narrowly, over to at it, he up two set armlets, a personal box and a thumb ring to balance.
At this practical of just how much the Terran was Dane their ignorance. He along the and saw that Van Rycke had noted that and was calling their Captain's attention to it.
But such were as the into the circle by the table, a space now for their action. They were to their cloths, their aside. Each his in his right hand, his knife in his left. As yet the Traders had not Salarik against Salarik in action and in of themselves they in their seats, as as the upon what was to come. The points of the were on them, and they did not the of the net, which had as through the centuries as the and now almost play of their own world. The Salarik had and speed, but the who him had the experience.
To Terran the had some of the weaving, movements of the dance. The of the were and so that many times the the skin of the who entrapment.
Dane that the man was tiring, and the must have that opinion. There was a to the right, a of and retreat, and then a high and fell, arms and kicking legs. When the rope was tight, the was off balance. He rolled frenziedly, but there was no the strands.
A the victor. He now above his who supine, his or for either of the knife his to deliver. But it appeared that the was not to end the with blood. Instead he out a long, arm, took up a from the table and with deliberation, its onto the of the loser.
For a moment there was a around the and then a second roar, to which the Terrans added of laughter. The was free of the and on his knees, his his knife, which the other along with his own into his belt. Dane from that the man was, for a period of time, to be by council, now the servant-slave of his and that since they were closely by blood ties, this was suitable—though had the killed his opponent, no one would have the of him for that deed.
It was the Queen's men who were to provide the next center of attraction. Groft from his high seat and came to across the those who had him on the hunt. This time there was no the of the drink which the new from his own into each of theirs.
The almost Dane, but he and for the best as it like his into his middle, there to mix with the he had eaten. Weeks' thin looked very white, and Dane noticed with enjoyment, that Ali had an on the table which his out in knobs—proving that there were which the Kamil.
Fortunately they were not to empty that bowl in one as Groft had done. The was and Dane sat thankfully—but with for the future.
Groft had started to his high seat when there was an which had not been foreseen. A messenger his way among the men and spoke to the chieftain, who at the Terrans and then nodded.
Dane, his every second, was not until he a off word from Rip's direction and looked up to see a party of I-S men into the open space the high seat. The men from the Queen stiffened—there was something in the of the which at trouble.
"What do you wish, sky lords?" That was Groft using the Trade Lingo, his closed as he in his chair of state, almost as if he were about to some provided for his pleasure.
"We wish to offer you the good of our hearts—" That was Kallee, the with the proper from his tongue. "And that you shall not us—we also offer gifts—"
At a from their Cargo-master, the I-S men set a small chest. Groft, his on a fist, none of his lazy air.
"They are received," he with the acceptance. "And no one can have too much good fortune. The Howlers of the Black Winds know that." But he no to join the feast.
Kallee did not appear to be disconcerted. His next move was one which took his by surprise, in of their suspicions.
"Under the laws of the Fellowship, O, Groft," he to the speech, "I redress—"
Ali's hand moved. Through his Dane saw Van Rycke's tighten, the on Captain Jellico's face. Whatever came now was trouble.
Groft's over the party from the Queen. Though he had just cup with four of them, he had the of his race. He would make no move to off what might be coming.
"By the right of the knife and the net," he intoned, "you have the power to personal satisfaction. Where is your enemy?"
Kallee to the Free Traders. "I challenge a to be set out from these off-worlders to meet by the blood and by the water my champion—"
The Salariki were excited. This was superb entertainment, an such as they had to see—alien against alien. The of their voices was like the of a beast.
Groft and the that was neither Terran—nor human. But then the leader was not either, Dane himself.
"Four of these are clan-bound," he said. "But the others may produce a champion—"
Dane looked along the line of his comrades—Ali, Rip, Weeks and himself had just been out. That left Jellico, Van Rycke, Karl Kosti, the they had to upon before, Stotz the Engineer, Medic Tau and Steen Wilcox. If it were alone he would have Kosti, but the big man was not too quick a thinker—
Jellico got to his feet, the of a star man. In the light the on his to ripple. "Who's your champion?" he asked Kallee.
The Eysie Cargo-master was grinning. He was he had pushed them into a position from which they not themselves.
"You accept challenge?" he countered.
Jellico his question and Kallee one of his men.
The Eysie who up was no match for Kosti. He was a slender, almost wand-slim man, pleased said that he, too, was about to put something over on the Free Traders. Jellico him for a of long which the of Salariki voices was the of a wasps' nest. There was no way out of this—to was to all they had with the clansmen. And they did not that Kallee had, in some way, the against them.
Jellico the best of it. "We accept challenge," his voice was level. "We, being in Groft's holding, will after the manner of the Salariki who are proven warriors—" He paused as of pleased around the board.
"Therefore let us the of and take up the and the knife—"
Was there a of on Kallee's face?
"And the time?" Groft to ask—but his at such a for his was apparent. This would be talked over by every Sargolian for many to come!
Jellico up at the sky. "Say an hour after dawn, chieftain. With your leave, we shall a champion."
"My room is yours," Groft for a man to them.
