"Down with men! Uffts forever!"they yapped at the men on their unicorns. So far as combat was concerned, however, the charge on the s.p.a.ceship was anticlimactic. The uffts outside either fled with whatever they"d picked up in their teeth, or scattered to abuse the men from lurking-places among the boulders all round about. But there were very many more inside the ship. They came streaming out in a struggling, squabbling flood. The riders did not try to stop them. They seemed satisfied and even pleased with themselves over the panicky flight of the uffts. They cl.u.s.tered about the exit port, but they allowed the uffts through as they fled.
"What"ll we do now?" asked Harl.
"See if Thistlethwaite"s inside," said Link curtly.
He got the stun gun ready. There"d been no effort by any of the riders to use their spears on the uffts.
Link could understand it. Uffts talked. And a man can kill a dangerous animal, or even a merely annoying one, but it would seem like murder to use a deadly weapon on a creature which was apparently incapable of anything more dangerous than nipping at a unicorn"s foot or tearing the clothes of a man buried under a squealing heap of them. A man simply wouldn"t think of killing a talking animal which couldn"t harm him save by abuse.
Harl swung from his saddle and strode inside the ship. Link heard him climb the metal stairs inside. There was a wild squealing sound, and something came falling down the steps with a clatter as of tinware. An ufft rolled out of the door and streaked for the horizon, squealing.
There were more yellings.
"Down with murderers of interstellar travelers!"squeaked an invisible ufft somewhere nearby."Men have hands!
"Shame! Shame! Shame!"yapped another. Then a chorus set up,"Men go home! Men go home! Men go home!"
The men on the unicorns seemed to grow uneasy. They were bunched around the exit port of the ship.
There were very many uffts concealed nearby. They made a racket of abuse. Sometimes they shouted whatever of competing outcries caught their fancy, as in the rhythmic, "Men go home!" effort. Then there was merely a wild clamor until some especially strident voice began a more attractive phrase of insulting content.
There were thumpings inside the ship. Harl bellowed somewhere. More thumpings. The yellings of abuse grew louder and louder. Apparently the burdenless uffts had ceased to flee when they found themselves not pursued. The torrent of insult became deafening. At the very farthest limit of the light from the port, round bodies could be seen, running among the boulders as they yelled epithets.
The riders stirred apprehensively. The military tactics of the uffts, it could be said, consisted of derogatory outcries for moral effect and the biting of unicorns" feet as direct attack. Agitated running in circles had prefaced the attack on three unicorns, most tender parts in the village street. The riders in the starlight, here, were held immobile because Harl was inside the ship. But they showed disturbance at the prospect of another such attack on their mounts. More, there came encouraging, bloodthirsty cries from across the hilltop as if a war party from the ufft city were on the way to reinforce the uffts making a tumult about the ship.
Footsteps. Two pairs of them. Harl came out the exit port, very angry, with a woebegone retainer following him.
"This fella," said Harl, fuming, "is the one I left to watch the ship for you, Link. The whiskery fella came here with a crowd of uffts. He hadn"t any clothes on and he told this fella he"d got in trouble and needed to get his clothes. The fella thought it was only mannerly to let a man have his own clothes, so he let him in. An" then the whiskery fella hit him from behind with somethin", an" locked him in a cabin an" let the uffts in."
Link said curtly, "Too bad, but-"
"We"d better get movin"," said Harl angrily. "We missed him. He musta got away before we found it out.
He opened up a door somewheres, this fella says, and he heard him cussin" the uffts like they were just takin" anything they could close their teeth on. Then he heard some noise."
An ufft leaped a boulder and darted at the uneasily stamping unicorns. He hadn"t quite the nerve to make it all the way. He swerved back. But other uffts made similar short rushes. Presently there"d be one underfoot, nipping at the animals" feet, and they"d stampede.
"We"d better get movin"," said Harl. "They"re gettin" nervy."
"No," said Link, grimly. "Wait a minute!"
He swung the stun gun around. He opened the cone-of-fire aperture. He adjusted the intensity-of-shock stud. He raised it. The yells were truly deafening. "Scoundrels! Villains!" yapped the racing, jumping small creatures.
Link pulled the trigger. The stun gun made a burping noise. Electric charges sped out of it, scattering.
The gun would carry nearly a hundred yards at widest dispersion of its fire. Within the cone-shaped s.p.a.ce it affected, any flesh unshielded by metal would receive a sharp and painful but totally uninjurious electric shock. To men who knew nothing of electricity it would have been startling. To uffts it would be unparalleled and utterly horrifying. They squealed.
Link fired it again, at another area in the darkness. Shrieks of ufftian terror rose to the stars.
"Murderers!" cried ufft voices. "Murderers! You"re killing us!"
Link aimed at the voices and fired again. Twice.
The uffts around the s.p.a.ceship went away from there, making an hysterical outcry in which complaints that the complainer had been killed were only drowned out by louder squealings to the effect that the squealers were dead.
"Sput!" said Harl, astounded. "What"re you doin", Link? You ain"t killin" "em, are you? I need "em to bring in greenstuff!"
"They"ll live," said Link. "Wait here. I want to see what Thistlethwaite did. Anyhow, he didn"t try to lift the ship off to Old Man Addison"s Household!"
He went in. He climbed the stairway. He saw a cargo compartment door. It had been sealed. It was now welded shut. Thistlethwaite had used an oxygen torch on it. A second cargo door. Welded shut.
The third door was open. It was apparently the compartment from which the loot of the uffts had come.
It appeared to be empty. The engine room door was welded shut, and the s.p.a.ceboat blister. The control room was sealed off from any entry by anybody without at least a cold chisel, but preferably a torch.
And the oxygen torch was gone.
Link went down the stairs again, muttering. Thistlethwaite had made theGlamorga.n.u.seless to anybody possessing neither a cold chisel nor an oxygen torch. Harl couldn"t seize the materials Thistlethwaite planned to trade for dupliers. Old Man Addison might- In the one gutted cargo s.p.a.ce-he looked into it again with no hope at all-he found a plastic can of beans, toppled on the floor. He picked it up. It was too large for the jaws of uffts to grasp.
He went down to the exit port again, piously turning out the electric lights that Thistlethwaite had left burning. He was deeply and savagely disappointed. He was almost at the exit port when an idea came to him. He climbed back up and touched the bottommost weld. It scorched his fingers.
Thistlethwaite hadn"t done it long ago. He couldn"t be far off.
Link turned on the lights again and searched. The only loose object left anywhere was an open can of seal-off compound, for stopping air leaks such as theGlamorganhad a habit of developing. It was black and tarry and even an ufft would not want it. Link did.
He reached the open air again. He said briefly, "Hold this, Harl."
He handed over the container of beans and worked on the landing fin in which the exit port existed. He had only the narrow bristle brush used to apply the seal-off compound, and only the compound to apply.
The light was starlight alone. But when he"d finished he read the straggling letters of the message with some satisfaction. The message read:
THISTLETHWAITE,.
HOUSEHOLDERS DELIGHTED WITH TEST OF WEAPONS TO MAKE UFFTS WORK.
WITHOUT PAY. LEAD YOUR GANG INTO AMBUSH AS PLANNED FOR LARGE SCALE.
USE OF WEAPON. WATCH OUT FOR LINK. HE IS PRO-UFFT AND SECRETLY AN UFFT.
SYMPATHIZER.
"What"d you do, Link?" demanded Harl. "The uffts"ve all run away, squealing. What"d you do? And what"s that writing for?"
"That writing," said Link, "is to end the Thistlethwaite problem on Sord Three. You may not realize that there is such a problem, Harl, but that"s to take care of it. And what I did was use a stun gun at maximum dispersion and minimum power. And I"m going to ask you, Harl, to go back to the Household straight through the ufft city. If they try to object I"ll give them more of what they"ve had. I think the psychological effect will be salutary."
Harl thought it over. His followers did not look very military in the starlight.
"Wel-l-l-l," said Harl, "I"m not sure what those words mean, Link, but I was thinkin" we"d have a tough time gettin" home, with uffts bitin" the unicorns" feet all the way. But you say we won"t. Or do you?"
"Yes," said Link. "I say we won"t. I guarantee it."
"Then we"ll try it," said Harl heavily. "Uh . . . what"s this you gave me to hold?"
"It"s a guest-gift for Thana," said Link.
Harl bellowed.
"Come on, fellas! Back to home! We"re ridin" through the ufft city! There"s a d.i.n.kus with maximum dispersion an" minimum power that drove off the uffts just now, an" we want to use it on them some more."
The cavalcade set out upon another long, shambling journey underneath the stars. It was some time before the unicorns reached the ufft city. It was not silent, even though all was darkness. There were shrill babblings everywhere. The agitated stories of uffts who"d experienced stun gun stings were being discussed by uffts who hadn"t experienced them. Those who"d felt the shocks couldn"t describe them, and those who hadn"t couldn"t believe them. The discussions tended to grow acrimonious. Then there were squealings that men were about to pa.s.s through the city. Those who hadn"t been shocked went valiantly to oppose the pa.s.sage, or at least make it as unpleasant as possible by abuse.
Link let the congregation of zestfully vituperative uffts grow very large and get very near."Murderers!"
and"Ma.s.sacrers!"were the least of the epithets thrown at the men."The world will hear of this ma.s.sacre!"
shouted an ufft. Another took it up,"They"ll know how many of our comrades you murdered tonight!"The unicorns picked their way onward in their loose-jointed, wobbling fashion. Voices found an easier word.
"Killers!"they shouted from the darkness."Killers! Killers!"Actually, and Link knew it, no ufft in all the city would be able to find so much as a spot on his hide that was pinker than the rest, come tomorrow morning.
But now- Presently there was a huge, milling, madly galloping and wildly yelling barrier of uffts before the cavalcade. If the animals went into it, their feet would suffer. They"d be bitten. If they turned back, the uffts would be encouraged to follow and close in on them and again bite large splay feet.
Harl bellowed a halt. The cavalcade came to a standstill. Link gave the running, tumbling aggregation of abusive creatures two more shots from the stun gun. Individuals suffered the equivalent of bee stings for the fraction of a second. They shrieked and ran away.
The rest of the travel through the city was without incident, save that very occasionally very brave uffts squealed insults from not less than half a mile away, and then fled still farther from the shambling line of mounts and men.
Then there were the undulating miles beyond, to where very faint and feeble lights showed through the darkness. And then eventually the houses of the village loomed up on either side.
Thana welcomed Harl and Link, but she was inclined to be distressed that their dinner now had to be warmed over and was inferior in quality for that reason. They dined. Link presented Thana with the plastic can of beans. Harl asked what they were. When Link told him, he said absorbedly, "I"ve heard that there"s a Household over past Old Man Addison that has beans. But I never tasted "em myself. We"ll duply some an" have "em for breakfast. Right?"
And Link was ushered into a guest room, with a light consisting of a wick floating in a dish of oil. He slept soundly, until an hour after sunrise. Then he was waked by the sound of shoutings. He could see nothing from his window, so he dressed and went leisurely to see from the street.
There were many villagers out-of-doors, staring at the distance. From time to time they shouted encouragement. Link saw what they shouted at.
A small, hairy figure, chastely clad in a red-checked tablecloth around his middle, ran madly toward the Household. The figure was Thistlethwaite. The red-checked cloth had once been draped over a table in theGlamorgan"smess room. Thistlethwaite ran like a deer and behind him came uffts yapping insults and trying to nip his heels.
He reached safety and the uffts drew off, shouting"Traitor!"and"Murderer!"as the mildest of accusations.
But now and then one roared shrilly at him,"Agent provocateur!"
Chapter 7.
The situation developed in a strictly logical fashion. The uffts remained at a distance, shouting insults and abuse at all the humans in the village which was Harl"s Household. Hours pa.s.sed. No small, ufft-drawn carts came in bringing loads of roots, barks, herbs, berries, blossoms and flowers. Normally they were brought in for the duplier to convert in part to beer, with added moisture, and in part into such items as slightly wormy apples, legumes like peas, and discouraged succulents like lettuce. There were all sorts of foodstuffs duplied with the same ufft-cart loads of material, of course. Wheat, and even flour, could be synthesized by the duplier from the a.s.sorted compounds in the vegetation the carts contained. Radishes could be multiplied. Every product of Thana"s garden could be increased indefinitely. But this morning no raw material for beer or victuals appeared. The uffts remained at a distance, shrilling insults.
Thistlethwaite revealed the background events behind this development. He"d escaped from the Household, surrounded by a scurrying guard of uffts, while the political demonstration in the street was at its height. That tumult continued while he was hurried to the ufft city. There he was feted, but not fed. The uffts did not make use of human food. They were herbivorous and had no provisions for him. But they did make speeches about his escape.
He stood it so long, but he was a business man. He wanted food and he wanted clothing and he wanted to get to Old Man Addison"s Household to proceed with his business deal to end all business deals. He did not think of it in such accurate terms. But he insisted on being taken first to theGlamorganfor food and clothing. He spoke with pride of his talent for business. The uffts mentioned, as business men, that the contract for his rescue and escort did not include food, clothing, or a trip west of the ufft city. There would be a slight extra charge. He was indignant, but he agreed.
He"d been taken to the ship. The watchman left by Harl admitted him. He overpowered that watchman and put him in a cabin for crew members. He stuffed himself, because food was more urgent than clothing. He admitted uffts, because they were clamoring below. They wanted the extra fees they"d charged him. They announced that they were not interested in human artifacts. They wanted the usual currency, beer. The whiskery man didn"t have it. They suggested that they would accept cargo at a proper discount. The discount was for the fact that they"d have to trade human goods to humans for the beer they preferred. The discount would be great.
Thistlethwaite had to yield, though he raged. He opened a cargo compartment and the uffts began to empty it. Thistlethwaite wept with fury because circ.u.mstances had put him at the mercy of the uffts. In business matters they were businesslike. They didn"t have any mercy. He was expressing his indignation at their att.i.tude when they spoke of demurrage to be paid for the delay he was causing. Strangling upon his wrath, he took measures. He was still taking measures when the expedition of men and unicorns charged down into the hollow where theGlamorganrested. Thistlethwaite got out among the first, and was well away before the stun gun was put into use. And then, back in the ufft city, the uffts demanded compensation for the injury of an exaggerated number of their fellows in his employ.
Telling about it later, even returned to Harl"s Household and presumably the prospect of being hanged, even later Thistlethwaite purpled with fury over the ufft demands. They"d have stripped him of all the Glamorgan"scargo if not the ship itself, and he"d have reached Old Man Addison without a smidgen of trade goods with which to deal. His entire journey would have been in vain. It was even unlikely that Old Man Addison would pay for his delivery, when he had nothing to offer that feudal chieftain in the way of trade.
Listening to the account, Harl said safely, "Uffts haven"t got any manners. You shoulda known better then to deal with them! You did right to come back." Then something occurred to him. "Why"d they chase you?"
Thistlethwaite turned burning, bloodshot eyes upon Link.
"Somebody," he said balefully, "somebody painted a note on theGlamorgan"sfin. It was addressed to me! So the uffts read it an" it said I"d brought guns for Householders to use on uffts to make "em work for free! And the note said for me to lead the uffts into a ambush as previous arranged so"s they"d get shot up! So they decided that me gettin" put in a cage an" gettin" them to escape me was a trick so"s you"d get a chance to try out that stun gun on "em last night!"
Link said mildly, "Now, I wonder who could have done such a thing!"
Thistlethwaite strangled on his fury. He was speechless.
"It begins to look," said Link with the same mildness, "like the uffts are really wrought up. I doubt that they"re hanging around the Household just for the pleasure of calling us names. What do you think they want, Harl?"
"Plenty!" said Harl gloomily. "Plenty!"
"I suggest," said Link, "that you find out."
""Might as well," said Harl, more gloomily still. "If they don"t bring in greenstuff, we don"t eat. You can"t duply what Thana grows unless you"ve got something to duply it with!"
He rose and went morosely out of the room where the conference had taken place. Thistlethwaite said bitterly, "I"d ha" done better if I"d astrogated here myself!"
"Question," said Link. "You say the uffts believe you brought guns for them to be enslaved with. Did you?"
"No!" snapped Thistlethwaite.
"Did the uffts mention me?" asked Link.
Thistlethwaite practically foamed at the mouth.
"They said y"were their friend!" he raged. "They said-"
"I made them a speech," said Link modestly. "It was about a barber who shaved everybody in his village who didn"t shave himself, and didn"t shave anybody who did shave himself. There"s been some trouble deciding who shaved the barber. They may like me for that."
Thistlethwaite made incoherent noises.