He paused, though. It was a calculated pause, and Whiting cried out as Steve had hoped he would. Then his hands found the older man"s throat and closed there--not to kill him but to keep him from crying out again.
Sand stirred, the tentflap lifted, and a bulky figure rushed inside.
Steve got up, met him halfway, felt the jarring contact of their bodies.
The pike came up dimly in the darkness, the point sc.r.a.ping against Steve"s ribs as the guard lunged awkwardly. Steve"s fingers sought the thick-muscled neck, clamped there--squeezing.
The guard writhed. His feet drummed the sand. With one hand he stabbed out wildly with the unwieldy pike. There was a cry from Mary and the guard managed a low squawking noise. Outside, the rest of the camp seemed undisturbed. There was death in Steve"s strong tightening fingers. There had to be death there. Death for the k.u.maji guard--or death for the fleeing Earthmen, who had lost one colony and must seek another.
They fell together on the sand, the guard still struggling. Steve couldn"t release his throat to grab the pike. The guard stabbed out awkwardly, blindly with it, kicking up sand. Then Tobias Whiting moaned, but Steve hardly heard him.
When the guard"s legs stopped drumming, Steve released him. The man was either dead or so close to death that he would be out for hours. Steve had never killed a man before, had never in violence and with intent to kill attacked a man....
"Steve!"
It was Mary, calling his name and crying.
"It"s Dad. Dad was--hit. The pike, a wild stab. He"s. .h.i.t bad--"
Steve crawled over to them. It was very dark. He could barely make out Tobias Whiting"s pain-contorted face.
"My stomach," Whiting said, gasping for breath. "The pain...."
Steve probed with his hands, found the wound. Blood was rushing out. He couldn"t stop it and he knew it and he thought Whiting knew it too. He touched Mary"s hand, and held it. Mary sobbed against him, crying softly.
"You two ..." Whiting gasped. "You two ... Mary, Mary girl. Is--he--what you want?"
"Yes, Dad. Oh, yes!"
"You can get her out of here, Cantwell?"
"I think so," Steve said.
"Then go. Go while you can. I"ll tell them--due south. The Earthmen are heading due south. They"ll go--south. They won"t find the caravan.
You"ll--all--get away. If it"s--what you want, Mary."
She leaned away from Steve, kissing her father. She asked Steve: "Isn"t there anything we can do for him?"
Steve shook his head. "But he"s got to live long enough to tell them, to deceive them."
"I"ll live long enough," Whiting said, and Steve knew then that he would. "Luck to--all of you. From a--very foolish--man...."
Steve took Mary"s hand and pulled her out into the hot, dark, wind-blown night. He carried the dead k.u.maji"s pike and they slipped across the sand to where the _thlots_ were hobbled for the night. He hardly remembered the rest of it. There was violence and death, but necessary death. He killed a man with the pike, and unhobbled one of the _thlots_.
The animal screamed and two more k.u.majis came sleepily through the night to see what was the matter. With the long edge of the pike"s blade he decapitated one of them. He slammed the shaft of the weapon across the other"s face, probably breaking his jaw. The camp was in a turmoil. In the darkness he flung Mary on the _thlot"s_ bare back in front of him, and they glided off across the sand.
Pursuit was disorganized--and unsuccessful. It was too dark for effective pursuit, as Steve had hoped it would be. They rode swiftly all night and continued riding with the dawn. They could have gone in any direction. The wind-driven sand would obliterate their trail.
Two days later they reached the caravan. As they rode up, Mary said, "Steve, do you have to tell them?"
"We can tell them this," Steve said. "Your father died a hero"s death, sending the k.u.majis off in the wrong direction."
"And not--not what he"d planned to do at first."
"No. We"ll tell them that was his intention all the while. A man can make a mistake, can"t he?"
"I love you, Steve. I love you."
Then they rode down on the caravan. Somehow Steve knew they would all reach Oasis City in safety.
With Mary he would find a new world out in the vastness of s.p.a.ce.