"Too d.a.m.ned alien," Mancin said. "We don"t have the key to his mind. He"d just slap us away like he did last time.
Besides, this ma.s.s-mind business seems very risky. Not too much has really been done with it, and who knows how we might mess ourselves up? In any kind of cost-benefit a.n.a.ly- sis of it there"s little to gain against unknown risks."
Ironbear rose to his feet and turned toward the door.
"f.u.c.k your cost-benefit a.n.a.lysis," he said as he left the room.
Fisher started after him, but Elizabeth caught his eye.
"Let him go," she said. "He"s too angry. You don"t want a fight with a friend. There"s nothing you can say to him now."
Fisher halted near the door.
"I couldn"t reach him then, can"t reach him now," he said.
"I know he"s mad, but... I don"t know. I"ve got a feeling he could do something foolish."
"Like what?" Mancin asked.
"I don"t know. That"s just it. Maybe I"d better..."
"He"ll brood for a while," Mancin said, and then come back and try to talk us into something. Maybe we ought to agree to try to reach Singer and get him to head for some safe spot where he can be picked up. That might work."
"I"ve got a feeling it won"t, but it"s the best suggestion so far. How"ll we know where a good spot is?"
Mancin thought for a time, then, "That friend of Singer"s, the ranger," he said, "Yellowcloud. He"d know. Where"s the printout with his number on it?"
"Ironbear had it," Elizabeth said.
"It"s not on his chair. Not on the table either."
"You don"t think... ?"
Ironbear, wait! Elizabeth broadcast. We"re going to help!
Come back!
But there was no response.
They headed for the stair.
He was nowhere on the premises, and they guessed that he had tripped out from one of the downstairs boxes. They obtained the number from Information, but no one answered at Yellowcloud"s phce. It was not until half an hour later, while they were eating, that someone noticed that a burst- gun was missing from the guard room.
PETROGAFFITI.
COYOTE STEALS VOICES FROM ALL LIVING THINGS.
Nothing was capable of movement following Coyote"s theft of sound from the world. Not until he was persuaded to call the Sun and Moon to life by giving a great shout and restoring noise to the land
NAYENEZGANI CONTINUES CIVIC IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
At Tse"a haildehe", where a piece of rock brought up from the underworld was in the habit of drawing itself apart to form a pair of cliffs and closing again whenever travelers pa.s.sed between. Nayenezgani today solved the problem by the ingenious use of a piece of elk"s horn
2-RABBIT, 7-WIND. HOME TEAM SUCCESSFUL.
Quetzalcoatl, arriving this morning in Tula, was heard to remark, "Every man has his own rabbit." This was taken as a good sign by the local population, who responded with tortillas, flowers, incense, b.u.t.terflies and snakes Commercial traveler, pa.s.sing through
KIT CARSON GO HOME.
I KILLED THREE DEER ACROSS THE WAY.
BET THEY WERE LAME.
SINGERS DO IT IN COLORED SANDS.
FOUR APACHES KILLED A NAVAJO NEAR HERE.
THAT"S HOW MANY.
IT TAKES.
SPIDER WOMAN DEMONSTRATES NEW ART.
"I believe I"ll call it textiles," she said, when questioned concerning
SOMEDAY VON DANIKEN WILL SAY.
THIS IS AN ASTRONAUT.
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PORT SUMNER SUCKS.
CHANGING WOMAN PUZZLED BY SONS" BEHAVIOR.
"I suppose they get it from their father," she was heard to say, when told of the latest
BILLY BLACKHORSE SINGER AND.
HIS CHINDI Pa.s.sED THIS WAY.
O-SINGER, O-CHINDI, AT END OF FIRST HALF.
BLACK-G.o.d IS WATCHING.
THE YELLOW MEDICINE LIFTS ME IN HIS HAND.
WHEN IRONBEAR OCCURRED.
within the trip-box in Yellowcloud"s home, the first thing to catch and hold his attention was a shotgun in the other man"s hands, pointed at his midsection from a distance of approxi- mately six feet.
"Drop that gun you"re carrying," Yellowcloud said.
"Sure. Don"t be nervous," Ironbear answered, letting the weapon fall. "Why are you pointing that thing at me?"
"Are you Indian?"
"Yes "
"Ha"at"i"i"sh biniinaa yi"ni"ya?"
Ironbear shook his head.
"I don"t understand you."
"You"re not Navajo."
"Never said I was. Matter of fact, I"m Sioux. Can"t talk that either, though. Except maybe a few words."
"I"ll say it in English: Why"d you come here?"
"I told you on the phone. I"ve got to find Singer - or the thing that"s after him."
"I think maybe you"re what"s after him. It"s easy to get rid of bodies around here, especially this time of year."
Ironbear felt his brow grow moist as he read the other man"s thoughts.
"Hold on," he said. "I want to help the guy. But it"s a long story and I don"t know how much time we"ve got."
Yellowcloud motioned toward a chair with the barrel of his weapon.
"Have a seat. Roll up the rug first, though, and kick it out of the way. I"d hate to mess up a Two Gray Hills."
As he complied, Ironbear probed hard, trying to penetrate beyond the stream of consciousness. When he found what he was seeking, he was not certain he could wrap his tongue around the syllables, but he tried.
"What did you say?" Yellowcloud "asked, the weapon"s barrel wavering slightly.
He repeated it, Yellowcloud"s secret name.
"How"d you know that?" the other asked him.
"I read it in your mind. I"m a paranormal. That"s how I got involved in this thing in the first place."
"Like a medicine man?"
"I suppose in the old days I would have been one.