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his initial escape. Now all was lost. Not to Human or Massood Trackers, but
because of a native and a Hivistahm, noncombatants both.
The Hivistahm he thought he could outmaneuver, but he knew nothing of Yula
reaction time. The triped spoke through a translator.
"Put your right hand atop your head and drop the club you hold to the ground,
then put your left hand atop your right. Do it quickly, please!"
As soon as Ranji had complied the Hivistahm bounded forward and, trembling
slightly, removed the heat pistol from the service belt and retreated.
"Good." The tiny black eyes never wavered. "Please keep your hands where they
are so that I may note the position of your manipulative digits at all times."
Out of the corner of an eye Ranji saw that the Hivistahm was still trembling,
and he wondered how the highly civilized, inoffensive creature had been talked
into participating in the ambush.
The Human rose and brushed at the back of her suit. "It's about time relief
got here, though I was expecting one of my own kind. Not that I'm complaining,
mind." She started toward him.
"Stop there, please."
Halting, she gaped at the Yula. It had remained motionless while confronting
the prisoner, but under that Human stare it quivered ever so slightly. Ranji
noted the reaction.
"What is this?" she murmured. "I'm one of the designated Trackers. You two
have done well and will be suitably commended. I'll see to that myself. But
you're not trained soldiers. I am. I'm not trying to steal your thunder. I'll
hold the gun while you take my stuff off him. Then we'll call for a sled to
lift us all out of here." She took another step.
The Yula retreated an equal distance and flicked the muzzle of its weapon in
her direction. "Stay where you are, Human. Do not make me tell you again. Your
presence here complicates matters and I am trying to decide how to proceed."
Hands atop his head, Ranji watched and waited silently for an opening.
"You want to take it back alive, to keep it here on Omaphil for observation
and study," the Yula was saying.
"Of course." The woman continued to stare at the triped.
"I cannot let you do that." Its fluffed-up fur made the native look twice as
big as it actually was. "The thing has to die."
"What are you talking about?" Trondheim's gaze was focused on the stinger.
"Don't you realize what an impressive accomplishment this is for one of your
species, how you'll be feted when the word gets out that you and a Hivistahm
captured an escaped Ashregan warrior?"
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"We do not want to do anything 'impressive,' " the Yula told her.
"Truly feted we do not wish to be," added the Hivistahm.
With the rocking, jerky motion of its kind, the Yula took a double step toward
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Ranji. "The thing needs to die. It is a dangerous mutation, an aberration that
could wreak havoc on Omaphil were it to escape from captivity. As it already
has. So much for vaunted government safeguards." He gestured with the pistol.
"Look at it! Twisted and distorted by the addition of Human fighting
characteristics. Can one imagine anything so grotesque? It will be better off
dead."
"How did you know that I had escaped?" Ranji asked curiously.
The Yula did something with its tiny mouth which might have been the
equivalent of a smile. "I have well-informed friends."
"Then your friends should've told you that its fate is not for you to decide."
Trondheim glanced in Ranji's direction. "There's a sled on its way here now.
How are you going to explain their dead specimen to them when they arrive?"
"We did not think of that.'' The Hivistahm scanned the sky uneasily. "Truly we
did not think of that."
"Be quiet!" Teoth snapped. "The female attempts to preserve the monster's life
with the aid of a fabrication." He aimed the pistol. "This will only take an
instant and then we will be away from this place."
"As a Human soldier of the Weave I am ordering you to turn your weapons and
this prisoner over to me!" Trondheim took a step toward the triped, eyes
glittering.
"Or are you going to shoot me, too?"
"You may kill me after, but that does not matter." Teoth was calm,
anesthetized by the prospect of incipient martyrdom. "My life is not
important. I gladly die to preserve my world from this creature. If word of
its presence was made known there would be panic. The Weave had no right to
bring it here. Omaphil is peaceful and civilized. I shall insure that it so
remains." It looked back at
Ranji.
"Do not attempt to convince me otherwise. I was on the ship with it. I
watched, and I know.''
"Word won't get out," Trondheim told him.
Teoth made a gargling sound deep in his throat. "It has already escaped
custody once."
"It won't happen again." She spoke slowly and deliberately.
For the first time, the Yula seemed to hesitate. "Can you guarantee that? Can
you assure it beyond doubt? I think not. Its presence here says not. Better it
should die."
Trondheim advanced another step and extended a hand. She was quite close to
the native now, Ranji noted. "I'm afraid I can't allow that. If you're going
to shoot it, then you're going to have to kill me, too. Now give me that
pistol.''
The use of the Human command tone shook Ranji slightly. Unsurprisingly, it
rattled the Yula even more. As soon as the weapon's muzzle had drifted
sufficiently toward the woman, Ranji moved.
The sandy gravel he kicked up struck the Yula in the face. It uttered a
high-pitched squeak, dropped the gun, and clawed at its eyes with the
instinctive reaction of a nonfighter. Ranji pivoted and leaped to within arm's
length of the Hivistahm. Bug-eyed, it fired wildly as Trondheim dove for
cover.
Neatly severed by the stinger, a large branch tumbled from a nearby tree.
As he landed Ranji brought his closed fist around in a sweeping arc to strike
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the Hivistahm in the left eye. Fragile occipital bones crunched and blood
squirted. The much smaller, reptilian creature gave a slight shudder and
collapsed onto its haunches, then onto its side.
Brushing grit from sensitive eyes, the Yula bent its fore-center leg and
reached to recover its weapon. As it did soRanji spied a fist-sized stone,
snatched it up, aimed and threw all in one motion. A Human or Massood might
have been able to dodge, but the Yula was not nearly so quick. The rock struck
it above the middle eye, denting fur and bone both. It exhaled reverberantly
and fell backward.
Panting hard, he stood wondering at the psychosis which would drive a Yula and
Hivistahm to such a confrontation. Before he could come up with any answers,
something heavy hit him in the ribs. Much more massive than a Yula or
Hivistahm, it sent him sprawling.
Trondheim rolled off him and scrambled for the pistol still clutched in the
motionless Hivistahm's fingers. Ignoring the pain in his side, Ranji flung
himself in pursuit, landing on the back of her thighs. She twisted and pain
shot
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connected with his nose.
Wrenching the pistol from the unconscious alien, she whirled and fired, aiming
to wound, not kill. Ranji froze, waiting for the bolt from the stinger to take
effect. Nothing happened. Frowning, she sighted carefully along the barrel and
fired again.
An unsmiling Ranji climbed to his feet and charged.
It all made perfect sense. The Yula had been very much in command, just as it
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