[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"I will show you, man from a far world, and you will reveal the Appsalan
secrets to us. I see the dawn of a new day for Putl'ko arriving."
He opened the door and shouted for the guards, and for his son, Narsisi.
The latter arrived as they were unlocking Jason, who recognized him as the
same droopy-eyed, sleepy-looking d'zertano who had been helping Edipon to
drive their ungainly vehicle.
"Seize this chain, my son, and keep your club ready to kill this slave if he
makes any attempt to escape. Otherwise, do not harm him, for he is very
valuable. Come."
Narsisi tugged on the chain, but Jason only dug his heels in and did not move.
They looked at him, astonished.
"Just a few things before we go. The man who is to bring the new day to
Putl'ko is not a slave. Let us get that straight before this operation goes
any further. We'll work out something with chains or guards so I can't escape,
but the slavery thing is out."
"But-you are not one of us, therefore you must be a slave."
"I've just added a third category to your social order: employee. Though
reluctant, I am still an employee, skilled labor, and I intend to be treated
that way. Figure it out for yourself. Kill a slave, and what do you lose? Very
little, if there is another slave in the pens that can push in the same place.
But kill me, and what do you get? Brains on your club-and they do you no good
at all there."
"Does he mean I can't kill him?" Narsisi asked his father, looking puzzled as
well as sleepy.
"No, he doesn't mean that," Edipon said. "He means if we kill him there is no
one else who can do the work he is to do for us. But I do not like it.
There are only slaves and slavers; anything else is against the natural order.
But he has us trapped between satano and the sandstorm, so we must allow him
some freedom. Bring the slave now-I mean the employee-and we will see if he
can do the things he has promised. If he does not, I will have the pleasure of
killing him, because I do not like his revolutionary ideas."
They marched single file to a locked and guarded building with immense doors,
which were pulled open to reveal the massive forms of seven caroj.
"Look at them!" Eclipon exclaimed, and pulled at his nose. 'The finest and
most beautiful of constructions, striking fear into our enemies' hearts,
Page 33
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
carrying us fleetly across the sands, bearing on their backs immense loads,
and only three of the damned things are able to move."
"Engine trouble?" Jason asked lightly.
Edipon cursed and fumed under his breath, and led the way to an inner
courtyard where stood four immense black boxes painted with death heads,
splintered bones, fountains of blood, and cabalistic symbols, all of a
sinister appearance.
"Those swine in Appsala take our water-of-power and give nothing in return. Oh
yes, they let us use their engines, but after running for a few months the
cursed things stop and will not go again, then we must bring them back to the
city to exchange for a new one, and pay again and again."
"A nice racket," Jason said, looking at the sealed covering on the engines.
"Why don't you just crack into them and fix them yourself? They can't be very
complex."
"That is death!" Edipon gasped, and both cl'zertanoj recoiled from the boxes
at the thought. "We have tried that, in my father's father's day, for we are
not superstitious like the slaves, and we know that these are man-made not
god-made. However, the tricky serpents of Appsala hide their secrets with
immense cunning. If any attempt is made to break the covering, horrible death
leaks out and fills the air. Men who breathe the air die, and even those who
are only touched by it develop immense blisters and die in pain. The men of
Appsala laughed when this happened to our people, and after that they raised
the price even higher."
Jason circled one of the boxes, examining it with interest, trailing
Narsisi behind him at the end of the chain. The thing was higher than his head
and almost twice as long. A heavy shaft emerged through openings on opposite
sides, probably the power takeoff for the wheels. Through an opening in the
side he could see inset handles and two small colored disks, and above these
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]