They along the of a basin, a out of earth so wide they not its other side. The of an lake, Travis speculated, or the arm of a long-dried sea. But now the was with of grass, under the touch of a with the of a space about a mile ahead where domes—black, gray, brown—broke the yellow in an around the of a spacer: a larger ship than that which had the Apaches, but of the same shape.
"The ... to the west." Nolan the with the of an raider. "Tsoay, Deklay, you take the horses!"
They nodded, and the long which would take them two miles or more from the party to the horses.
To the Mongols in those were wealth, life itself. They would come to any among the ponies, thus the path to the ship and the Reds there. Travis, Jil-Lee, and Buck, with the star guns, would that attack—cutting into the of the ship itself until it was a through which they shake out the enemy. Only when the it were destroyed, might the Apaches for any from the Mongols, either the pack waiting well on the or the people in the yurts.
The and Naginlta out a nose, Travis. The Apache an order, sending the with the horse-raiding party. He had how the animals drive split-horns; they would do as well with the ponies.
Kaydessa was safe, the had that clear by the that they had joined the party an hour earlier. With Eskelta and Manulito she was on her way to the north.
Travis he should be well pleased that their plan had succeeded as well as it had. But when he of the Tatar girl, all he see was her close to his in the ship corridor, her to tear his cheek. She had an excellent to him, yet he hoped....
They to watch and domes. There were people moving about the yurts, but no of life at the ship. Had the Reds themselves in there, in some way of the two which had their forces?
"Ah—!" Nolan breathed.
One of the had its and was the direction of the camp, plain to read in its stance. The Apaches must have the point the and the which had been their goal. And the Mongol guard, who had been cross-legged, the of his close to his hand, got to his feet.
"Ahhhuuuuu!" The Apache that had across deserts, canyons, and Terran to ice the blood, just as through the honey-hued air of Topaz.
The wheeled, away from the settlement. A from the grass, his arms at one of the mounts, at mane, and himself up on the back. Only a master would have done that, but the now the on, by the and coyotes.
"Deklay—" Jil-Lee the rider, "that was one of his tricks."
Among the it was as if someone had up a to an ants' and sent the into a frenzy. Men out of the domes, the majority of them for the pasture. One or two were on that must have been out in the settlement. The main party of Apaches through the on their way to the ship.
The three who were with the had already their range by in the hills, but the of those had their practice. Now they to the of the ground them and the of the spacer. To that open space was to provide for and arrows—or the of the Reds.
"A we can from here." Buck his across his knee, the long of the burner, and pressed the button.
The closed of the ship shimmered, into a black hole. Behind Travis someone let out the of a whoop.
"Fire—cut the to pieces!"
Travis did not need that order from Jil-Lee. He was already at the best he ask for—the of the sphere. If the was armed, there was no which be to the at ground level.
Holes appeared, and in the of the ship. The Apaches were the of the into lacework. How those into the they not guess.
Movement at one of the holes, the of machine-gun fire, of and into their faces; they be cut to pieces by that! The enlarged, a ... cut off....
"They will not be too quick to try that again," Nolan with cold from Travis' post.
Methodically they to the ship. It would be space-borne again; there were neither the materials here to repair such damage.
"It is like a knife to fat," Lupe said as he up Travis. "Slice, slice—!"
"Move!" Travis to the left, at Jil-Lee's shoulder.
Travis did not know it was possible or not, but he had a of their fire power the in half, it with the Lupe admired.
They through just as someone a warning. Travis himself down, rolled into a new position. An sang over his head; the Reds were doing what the Apaches had they would—calling in the Mongols to fight. The attack on the ship must be up, or the Amerindians would be to retreat.
Already a new of appeared under their efforts. With the gun tight to his middle, Travis his feet, across the ground for the nearest of those openings. Another against the of the ship a from his goal.
He it in, over metal which and of ozone. The weapons' had well past the and the of webbing. He a second and smaller into a like those of the western ship to be familiar. The Red spacer, on the plan of the ship as his own had been, not be very different.
Travis to his and listen. He a and the of what might be an system. The ship's brain was the cabin. Even if the Reds not try to now, that was the of their lines. He started along the corridor, trying to out its in relation to that all-important nerve center.
The Apache open each door he passed with one shoulder, and twice he played a light on cabins. He had no idea of their use, but the of each and every machine was what good and logic dictated.
There was a behind. Travis whirled, saw Jil-Lee and him Buck.
"Up?" Jil-Lee asked.
"And down," Buck added. "The Tatars say they have a beneath."
"Separate and do as much as you can," Travis suggested.
"Agreed!"
Travis on. He passed another door and then as he it had on to an engine room. With the gun he two long lines the into lumps. Abruptly the lights out; the of the was silenced. Part of the ship, if not all, was dead. And now it might come to and in the dark. But that was an as as the Apaches were concerned.
Back in the again, Travis through a atmosphere. The was as if the failure of the had the Reds.
A sound—perhaps the of a on a ladder. Travis into a compartment. A of light the corridor; the was using a torch. Travis his knife with one hand, it so he use the as a silencer. The other was now, on his way to the burned-out engine cabin. Travis the of his fast breathing. Now!
The Apache had put the gun, his left arm closed about a shoulder, and the Red as Travis with the knife hilt. Not clean—he had to a second time the of the man were over. Then, using his hands for eyes, he the on the of and torch.
With the Red's in the of his sash, the in one hand and the in the other, Travis on. There was a good that those above might him to be their returning. He the leading to the next level, to climb, now and then to listen.
Shock sound. Under him the and the itself a little. A blast of some must have been set off at or under the level of the ground. The Buck had mentioned?
Travis to the ladder, waited for the to subside. There was a above, a questioning.... Hurriedly he to the next level, out and away from the just in time to avoid the light from another the well. Again that call of inquiry, then a shot—the of the loud in the space.
To climb into the of that light with a waiting above was folly. Could there be another way up? Travis one of the out from the well. A quick of the along that told him he had a of quarters. The pattern was familiar; the would be on the next level.
Suddenly the Apache something: On each level there should be an opening to the space the and skins of the ship through which repairs be made. If he that and climb up to the next level....
The light the well steady, and there was the of another shot. But Travis was away from the now to use his own torch, the door he needed on the surface. With a of he the outline—his luck was in! The Russian and western ships were alike.
Once the was open he his up, the and, above, the of the next level opening. Securing the gun in his the and the in his mouth, Travis climbed, not to think of the below. Four ... five ... ten rungs, and he the other door.
His over it, for the catch. But there was no give. Balling his fist, he at an and almost his as the away his blow. The door and he through.
Darkness! Travis on the for an instant, saw about him the of a system, and gave it a full as he pivoted, the and ears of the ship—unless the he had had already done that. A of fire from his left, a along his arm an or so the shoulder—
Travis' action was purely reflex. He the around, as his mind gave a No! To himself with automatic, knife, arrow—yes; but not this way. He against the wall.
An there had been a man there, a living, man—one of his own species, if not of his own beliefs. Then his own had training, there was this. So easy—to death without meaning to. The in his hands was the gift they were right to fear. Such were not to be put into the hands of men—any men—no how well intentioned.
Travis in great of air. He wanted to the away, it from him. But the he use it for was not yet done.
Somehow he on into the to the ship a thing and free himself of the of and terror his hands. That weight be aside; memory not. And no one of his must have to such memories again.
The of the was like a the blood to a which at the brain, a man's shine, his as if he an to or his about a knife hilt. A fire high and in its light men and in a with and the red of flames. Mad, wild, the Mongols were with victory and freedom. Beyond them, the of the ship the black of its death, which was also the death of the past—for all of them.
"What now?" Menlik, the of and as he moved, came up to Travis. There was none of the wild in the shaman's face; instead, it was as if he had taken out of the life of the Horde, was into another person, and the question he asked was one they all shared.
Travis drained, flattened. They had their purpose. The of Red were dead, their out. There were no here any more; men were free in mind and body. What were they to do with that freedom?
"First," the Apache spoke his own thoughts—"we must return these."
The three were into a square of Mongol fabric, from sight, although they not be so easily out of mind. Only a of the others, Apache or Mongol, had them; and they must be returned their power was known.
"I wonder if in days to come," Buck mused, "they will not say that we out of the sky, as did the Thunder Slayer, to us. But this is right. We must return them and make that and what it taboo."
"And what if another ship comes—one of yours?" Menlik asked shrewdly.
Travis the Tatar to the men about the fire. His into the open.... What if a ship did come in, one with Ashe, Murdock, men he and liked, friends on board? What then of his of the towers and their knowledge? Could he be as sure of what to do then? He his hand across his and said slowly:
"We shall take steps when—or if—that happens—"
But they, would they? He to that it would not happen, at least in his lifetime, and then the cold of the they must will themselves into.
"Whether we like it or not," (was he talking to the others or trying to argue his own rebellion?) "we cannot let what under the towers be ... ... used ... unless by men who are and more than we are in our time."
Menlik his shaman's wand, it his fingers, and his the three Apaches with a new of measurement.
"Then I say to you this: Such a must be a charge, by my people as well. For if they that you alone these powers and their secret, there will be envy, hatred, fear, a us from the first—war ... raids.... This is a large land and neither of our groups numbers many. Shall we from this day when there is room for all? If these are evil, then let us them with a common taboo."
He was right, of course. And they would have to the truth squarely. To Apache and Mongol any off-world ship, no from which side, would be a menace. Here was where they would and set roots. The sooner they of themselves as people with a common bond, the it would be. And Menlik's provided a tie.
"You speak well," Buck was saying. "This shall be a thing we share. We are three who know. Do you be three also, but choose well, Menlik!"
"Be that I will!" the Tatar returned. "We start a new life here; there is no going back. But as I have said: The land is wide. We have no with one another, and our two shall one; after all, we do not differ too greatly...." He and to the fire and the dancers.
Among the Mongols another man had gone into action, his as he and twirled, a cry. Travis Deklay. Apache, Mongol—both raiders, horsemen, hunters, when the need arose. No, there was no great difference. Both had been into here, and they had no now for those who had sent them.
Perhaps and Horde would or they would apart—time would tell. But there would be the of the guardianship, the that what slept in the towers would not be roused—in their lifetime or many lifetimes!
Travis a crookedly. A new religion of sorts, a with and knowledge ... in time a whole new life and from this night. The cold of his early cut less deep. There was a different of here.
He out and up the of the burners, from Buck to Jil-Lee to Menlik. Then he up, the weight of the in his arms, the of a weight him.
"Shall we go?"
To the back—that was of importance. Maybe then he sleep soundly, to of across the Arizona range at under a sky with a wind in his face, a wind the of piñon and sage, a wind which would or him again, a wind his sons and sons' sons would know. To dreams, and in time those would and thin—that a new world would out the old. Better so, Travis told himself with and determination—better so!
