He heard shoutings over the walls. He glared at his men and they drooped in their saddles. The gate creaked open and the hors.e.m.e.n from Don Loris" castle filed inside. They showed no elation, because Hoddan had promised to ram a spear down the throat of any man who gave away his strategy ahead of time. The gate closed behind them. Men came to take their horses. This could have revealed that the newcomers were strangers, but Ghek would have recruited new and extra retainers for the emergency of tonight. There would be many strange faces in his castle just now.
"Good fight, eh?" bellowed an ancient, long-retired retainer with a wine bottle in his hand.
"Good fight!" agreed Thal.
"Good plunder, eh?" bellowed the ancient above the heads of younger men. "Like the good old days?"
"Better!" boomed Thal.
At just this instant the young Lord Ghek"s personal servant appeared.
"What"s this about prisoners with fancy news?" he demanded. "What is it?"
"Don Loris!" whooped Thal. "Long live the Lady Fani!"
Hoddan carefully opened fire with the continuous-fire stud of this pistol-his third tonight-pressed down. The merrymakers in the courtyard wavered and went down in windrows. Thal opened fire with a stun-pistol. The others bellowed and began to fling bolts at every living thing they saw.
"To the Lady Fani!" rasped Hoddan, getting off his horse with as many creakings as the castle gate.
His followers now dismounted. They fired with reckless abandon. A stun-pistol, which does not kill, imposes few restraints upon its user. If you shoot somebody who doesn"t need to be shot, he may not like it but he isn"t permanently harmed. So the twelve who"d followed Hoddan poured in what would have been a murderous fire if they"d been shooting bullets, but was no worse than devastating as matters stood.
There were screams and flight and utterly hopeless defiances by sword-armed and spear-armed men. In instants Hoddan went limping into the castle with Thal by his side, searching for Fani and Lord Ghek.
Hoddan"s men went raging happily through corridors and halls. They used their stun-pistols with zest.
Hoddan heard Fani scream angrily and he and Thal went swiftly to see. They came upon the young Lord Ghek trying to let Fani down out of a window on a rope. He undoubtedly intended to follow her and complete his abduction on the run. But Fani bit him, and Hoddan said vexedly: "Look here! It seems that I"m disgraced if I don"t fight you somehow-"
The young Lord Ghek rushed him, sword out, eyes blazing in a fine frenzy of despair. Hoddan brought him down with a buzz of the stun-gun.
One of Hoddan"s followers came hunting for him.
"Sir," he sputtered, "we got the garrison cornered in their quarters, and we"ve been picking them off through the windows, and they think they"re dropping dead and want to surrender. Shall we let "em?"
"By all means," Hoddan said irritably. "And Thal, go get something heavier than a nightgown for the Lady Fani to wear, and then do what plundering is practical. But I want to be out of here in a half-hour.
Understand?"
"I"ll attend to the costume," said the Lady Fani vengefully. "You cut his throat while I"m getting dressed."
She nodded at the unconscious Lord Ghek on the pavement. She disappeared through a door nearby.
Hoddan could guess that Ghek would have prepared something elaborate in the way of a trousseau for the bride he was to carry screaming from her home. Somehow it was the sort of thing a Darthian would do. Now Fani would enjoyably attire herself in the best of it.
"Thal," said Hoddan, "help me get this character into a closet, somewhere. He"s not to be killed. I don"t like him, but at this moment I don"t like anybody very much, and I won"t play favorites."
Thal dragged the insensible young n.o.bleman into the next room. Hoddan locked the door and pocketed the key as Fani came into view again. She was splendidly attired, now, in brocade and jewels. Ghek had evidently hoped to placate her after marriage by things of that sort and had spent lavishly for them.
Now, throughout the castle there were many and diverse noises. Sometimes-not often-there was still the crackling hum of a stun-pistol. There were many more exuberant shoutings. They apparently had to do with loot. There were some squealings in female voices, but many more gigglings.
"I need not say," said the Lady Fani with dignity, "that I thank you very much. But I do say so."
"You"re quite welcome," said Hoddan politely.
"And what are you going to do now?"
"I imagine," said Hoddan, "that we"ll go down into the courtyard where our horses are. I shall sit down on something which will, I hope, remain perfectly still. And I may," he added morbidly, "I may eat an apple. I"ve had nothing to eat since I landed on Darth. People don"t want to commit themselves to not cutting my throat. But after one half-hour we"ll leave."
The Lady Fani looked sympathetic.
"But the castle"s surrendered to you," she protested. "You hold it! Aren"t you going to try to keep it?"
"There are a good many unpleasant characters out yonder," said Hoddan, waving his hand at the great outdoors, "who"ve reason to dislike me very much. They"ll be anxious to express their emotions, when they feel up to it. I want to dodge them. And presently the people in this castle will realize that even stun-pistols can"t keep on shooting indefinitely here. I don"t want to be around when it occurs to them."
He offered his arm with a reasonably grand air and went limping with her down to the courtyard just inside the gate. Two of Don Loris" retainers staggered into view as they arrived, piling up plunder which ranged from a quarter-keg of wine to a ma.s.s of frothy stuff which must be female garments. They went away and other men arrived loaded down their own acc.u.mulations of loot. Some of the local inhabitants looked on with uneasy indignation.
Hoddan found a bench and sat down. He conspicuously displayed one of the weapons which had captured the castle. Ghek"s defeated retainers looked at him darkly.
"Bring me something to eat," commanded Hoddan. "Then if you bring fresh horses for my men, and one extra for each to carry his plunder on, I"ll take them away. I"ll even throw in the Lord Ghek, who is now unharmed, but with his life in the balance. Otherwise-"
He moved the pistol suggestively. The normal inhabitants of Ghek"s castle moved away, discussing the situation in subdued voices.
The Lady Fani sat down proudly on the bench beside him.
"You are wonderful!" she said with conviction.
"I used to cherish that illusion myself," said Hoddan.
"But n.o.body before in all Darthian history has ever fought twenty men, and then thirty men, and destroyed an ambush, and captured a castle, all in one day!"
"And without a meal," said Hoddan darkly, "and with a lot of blisters."
He considered. Somebody came running with bread and cheese and wine. He bit into the bread and cheese. After a moment he said, his mouth full: "I once saw a man perform the unparalleled feat of jumping over nine barrels placed in a row. It had never been done before. But I didn"t envy him. I never wanted to jump over nine barrels in a row! In the same way, I never especially wanted to fight other men or break up ambushes or capture castles. I want to do what I want to do, not what other people happen to admire."
"Then what do you want to do?" she asked admiringly.
"I"m not sure now," said Hoddan gloomily. He took a fresh bite. "But a little while ago I wanted to do some interesting and useful things in electronics, and get reasonably rich, and marry a delightful girl, and become a prominent citizen on Walden. I think I"ll settle for another planet, now."
"My father will make you rich," said the girl proudly. "You saved me from being married to Ghek!"
Hoddan shook his head.
"I"ve got my doubts," he said. "He had a scheme to import a lot of stun-pistols and arm his retainers with them. Then he meant to rush the s.p.a.ceport and have me set up a broadcast power unit that"d keep them charged all the time. Then he"d sit back and enjoy life. Holding the s.p.a.ceport, n.o.body else could get stun-weapons, and n.o.body could resist his retainers who had "em. So he"d be top man on Darth. He"d have exactly as much power as he chose to seize. I think he cherished that little idea; but now I"ve given advance publicity to stun-pistols. Now he hasn"t a ghost of a chance of pulling it off. I"m afraid he"ll be displeased with me."
"I can take care of that!" said Fani confidently. She did not question that her father would be displeased.
"Maybe you can," said Hoddan, "but though he"s kept a daughter he"s lost a dream. And that"s bereavement! I know!"
Horses came plodding into the courtyard with Ghek"s retainers driving them. They were anxious to get rid of their conquerors. Hoddan"s men came trickling back, with armfuls of plunder to add to the piles they"d previously gathered. Thal took charge, commanding the exchange of saddles from tired to fresh horses and that the booty be packed on the extra mounts. It was time. Nine of the dozen looters were at work on the task when there was a tumult back in the castle. Yellings and the clash of steel. Hoddan shook his head.
He conjectured that somebody"s pistol went empty and the local boys found it out.
He beckoned to a listening, tense, resentful inhabitant of the castle. He held up the key of the room in which he"d locked young Ghek.
"Now open the castle gate," he commanded, "and fetch out my last three men, and we"ll leave without setting fire to anything. The Lord Ghek would like it that way. He"s locked up in a room that"s particularly inflammable."
The last statement was a guess, only, but Ghek"s retainer looked horrified. He bellowed. There was a subtle change in the bitterly hostile atmosphere. Men came angrily to help load the spare horses.
Hoddan"s last three men came out of a corridor, wiping blood from various scratches and complaining plaintively that their pistols had shot empty and they"d had to defend themselves with knives.
Three minutes later the cavalcade rode out of the castle gate and away into the darkness. Hoddan had arrived here when Ghek was inside with Fani as his prisoner, when there were only a dozen men without and at least a hundred inside to defend the walls. And the castle was considered impregnable.
In a half-hour Hoddan"s followers had taken the castle, rescued Fani, looted it superficially, gotten fresh horses for themselves and spare ones for their plunder, and were headed away again. In only one respect were they worse off than when they arrived. Some stun-pistols were empty.
Hoddan searched the sky and pieced together the star pattern he"d noted before.
"Hold it!" he said sharply to Thal. "We don"t go back the same way we came. The gang that ambushed us will be stirring around again, and we haven"t got full stun-pistols now. We make a wide circle around those characters!"
"Why?" demanded Thal. "There are only so many pa.s.ses. The only other one is three times as long. And it is disgraceful to avoid a fight."
"Thal!" snapped an icy voice from beside Hoddan. "You have an order! Obey it!"
Even in the darkness, Hoddan could see Thal jump.
"Yes, my Lady Fani," said Thal shakily. "But we go a long distance roundabout."
The direction of motion through the night now changed. The long line of horses moved in deepest darkness, lessened only by the light of many stars. Even so, in time one"s eyes grew accustomed and it was a glamorous spectacle.
Presently they came to a narrow defile which opened out before them. And there, far, far away, they could see the sky as vaguely brighter. As they went on, indeed, a glory of red and golden colorings appeared at the horizon.
And out of that magnificence three bright lights suddenly darted. In strict V-formation, they flashed from the sunrise toward the west. They went overhead, more brilliant than the brightest stars, and when partway down to the horizon they suddenly winked out.
"What on Earth are they?" demanded Fani. "I never saw anything like that before!"
"They"re s.p.a.ceships in orbit," said Hoddan. He was as astounded as the girl, but for a different reason. "I thought they"d be landed by now!"
It changed everything. He could not see what the change amounted to, but the change was there.
"We"re going to the s.p.a.ceport," he told Thal curtly. "We"ll recharge our stun-pistols there. I thought those ships had landed. They haven"t. Now we"ll see if we can keep them aloft! How far to the landing-grid?"
"You insisted," complained Thal, "that we not go back to Don Loris" castle by the way we left it. There are only so many pa.s.ses through the hills. The only other one is very long. We are only four miles-"
"Then we head there right now!" snapped Hoddan. "And we step up the speed!"
He barked commands to his followers. Thal, puzzled but in dread of acid comment from Fani, bustled up and down the line of men, insisting on a faster pace. Finally even the led horses, loaded with loot, managed to get up to a respectable ambling trot. The sunrise proceeded. Dew upon the straggly gra.s.s became visible. Separate drops appeared as gems upon the gra.s.s blades, and then began gradually to vanish as the sun"s disk showed itself. Then the angular metal framework of the landing-grid rose dark against the sunrise sky.
When they rode up to it, Hoddan reflected that it was the only really civilized structure on the planet.
Architecturally it was surely the least pleasing. It had been built when Darth was first settled on, and when ideas of commerce and interstellar trade seemed reasonable. It was a half-mile high and built of ma.s.sive metal beams. It loomed hugely overhead when the double file of s.h.a.ggy horses trotted under its lower arches and across the gra.s.s-grown s.p.a.ce within it. Hoddan headed purposefully for the control shed.
There was no sign of movement anywhere. The steeply gabled roofs of the nearby town showed only the fluttering of tiny birds. No smoke rose from chimneys. Yet the slanting morning sunshine was bright.
As Hoddan actually reached the control shed, he saw a sleepy man in the act of putting a key in the door. He dismounted within feet of that man, who turned and blinked sleepily at him, and then immediately looked the reverse of cordial. It was the same man he"d stung with a stun-pistol the day before.
"I"ve come back," said Hoddan, "for a few more kilowatts." The red-headed man swore angrily.
"Hush!" said Hoddan gently. "The Lady Fani is with us."
The red-headed man jerked his head around and paled. Thal glowered at him. Others of Don Loris"
retainers shifted their positions significantly, to make their oversized knives handier.
"We"ll come in," said Hoddan. "Thal, collect the pistols and bring them inside."
Fani swung lightly to the ground and followed him in. She looked curiously at the cables and instrument h.o.a.rds and switches inside. On one wall a red light pulsed, and went out, and pulsed again. The red-headed man looked at it.
"You"re being called," said Hoddan. "Don"t answer it."
The red-headed man scowled. Thal came in with an armful of stun-pistols in various stages of discharge.
Hoddan briskly broke the b.u.t.t of one of his own and presented it to the terminals he"d used the day before.
"He"s not to touch anything, Thal," said Hoddan. To the red-headed man he observed, "I suspect that call"s been coming in all night. Something was in orbit at sundown. You closed up shop and went home early, eh?"
"Why not?" rasped the red-headed man. "There"s only one ship a month!"
"Sometimes," said Hoddan, "there are specials. But I commend your negligence. It was probably good for me."
He charged one pistol, and snapped its b.u.t.t shut, and snapped open another, and charged it. There was no difficulty, of course. In minutes all the pistols he"d brought from Walden were ready for use again.
He tucked away as many as he could conveniently carry on his person. He handed the rest to Thal. He went competently to the pulsing red signal. He put headphones to his ears. He listened. His expression became extremely strange, as if he did not quite understand nor wholly believe what he heard.
"Odd," he said mildly. He considered for a moment or two. Then he rummaged around in the drawers of desks. He found wire clippers. He began to snip wires in half.
The red-headed man started forward automatically. "Take care of him, Thal," said Hoddan.
He cut the microwave receiver free of its wires and cables. He lifted it experimentally and opened part of its case to make sure the thermo battery that would power it in an emergency was there and in working order. It was.
"Put this on a horse, Thal," commanded Hoddan. "We"re taking it up to Don Loris"."
The red-headed man"s mouth dropped open. He said stridently: "Hey! You can"t do that!" Hoddan glared at him. The redhead then said sourly: "All right, you can. I"m not trying to stop you with all those hardcases outside!"
"You can build another in a week," said Hoddan kindly. "You must have spare parts."
Thal carried the communicator outside. Hoddan opened a cabinet, threw switches, and painstakingly cut and snipped and snipped at a tangle of wires within.
"Just your instrumentation," he explained. "You won"t use the grid until you"ve got this fixed, too. A few days of harder work than you"re used to. That"s all!"
He led the way out again, and on the way explained to Fani: "Pretty old-fashioned job, this grid. They make simpler ones nowadays. They"ll be able to repair it, though, in time. Now we go back to your father"s castle. He may not be pleased, but he should be mollified."