EIGHT
Rynason stared at the dead screen for only a moment; he wheeled and ranback to the outer room.
"Let's get those flyers up! Mara's found them, but they've brought herdown." He was already going out the door as he spoke.
Manning and the others were right behind him as he dashed out onto thefield. Rynason headed for the nearest flyer, a small runabout which hadbeen discarded as obsolete on the inner worlds and consigned to use outhere on the Edge, where equipment was scarce. He leaped through the portand was shutting the door when Manning caught it.
"Where are they? What's happened to the woman?"
"They were shooting something!" Rynason snapped. The knife-scar over hisright eye stood out sharply in his anger. "She crashed--may be badlyhurt. She didn't have too much altitude, though. The hell with where sheis--_follow_ me!"
He slammed the door and squeezed into the flying seat. While he warmedthe engines he saw the others scattering across the field to the otherflyers. In a moment the hum of the radioset told him that theircommunications were open. He saw the props of the other flyers startingto turn, and flicked on his mike.
"They're on the other side of the south range," he said quickly. "Shedidn't give me cooerdinates, but I should be able to find the spot. Whenwe get there, we land away from the city and go in on foot."
Manning's voice came coldly through the radioset: "Are you giving ordersnow, Lee?"
"Right now I am, yes! If you want to try going in before reconnoitering,that's your funeral. They have weapons."
"When we touch ground again I'll take over," Manning said. "Now let'sget going--Lee, you're first."
But Rynason was already starting his run across the field. When he hadsome speed he kicked in the rocket booster and fought the little flyerskyward. When he had caught the air he banked southward and fed themotors all he had. He didn't look around for the others; he was settinghis own pace.
The mountain range was ten miles to the south; they should be able tomake it in five or six minutes, he figured. Below him on the dry Flat hesaw the pale shadow of his flyer skimming across the dust. The drone ofthe motors filled the compartment.
The radio cut in again. It was Manning. "What's this about a city, Lee?Is that where they are?"
"The City of the Temple," Rynason said. "It's down among overhangingrocks--no wonder we hadn't seen it before. Doesn't seem to have beenused for centuries or more. But that's where the Temple of Kor is--andthe Hirlaji are all in the Temple."
Static hissed at him for a moment. "How did they bring her down?"someone asked. It sounded like Stoworth.
"Probably the disintegrators," Rynason said. "The Hirlaji don't havemany of them, but they've got enough power to give us a lot of trouble."
"And they're using them, eh?" Manning said. "What do you think of yourhorses now, Lee?"
Rynason didn't answer.
In a few minutes they were over the range. Rynason had to scout forawhile before he found the pass he had seen on Mara's screen, but oncehe saw it below him he followed it out to the other side. The city wasthere, lying darkly amid the shadows of the mountains. Rynason bankedoff and set down half a mile away.
He waited for the others to land before he left the flyer. He took apair of binocs from the supply kit and trained them on the city acrossthe Flat, but he couldn't find Mara's fallen flyer.
When they were all down he clambered out of the compartment and alightedheavily in the dust. Manning strode quickly to him, wearing twinstunners. He took one from its holster and fingered it thoughtfully ashe spoke.
"The main party was back in the pass. They should be here inside half anhour. We'll storm the temple immediately--we've got them outnumbered."
Rynason made a dubious sound deep in his throat, looking out at thecity. He was remembering that he had seen it before from this Flat ...and had stormed it before. The defensive walls were high.
"They can fire down on us from the walls," he said in a low voice."There's no cover out there--they'd wipe half of us out before we couldget in."
"We can come around from the pass," Manning said. "There's plenty ofcover from that direction."
"And more fortification, too!" Rynason snapped. "Just remember, Manning,that city was built as a fortress. We'd _have_ to come from the Flat."
Manning paused, frowning. "We've got to take them anyway," he saidslowly. "Damn it, we can't just stand here and wait for them to come outat us. What are they doing, anyway?"
Rynason regarded the older man for several moments, almost amused."Right now," he said, "they're probably having a conference--with theOutsiders. That's where the machine is, remember."
"Then the sooner we attack, the better," Manning said. "Marc, get themain party on the hand-radio--tell them to get here as fast as theycan." He turned for a moment to look out across the Flat at the city."And you can promise them some action," he said.
Stoworth dropped the radio from his shoulder and threw back the cover.He switched on the power, and static sounded in the dry air. He liftedthe mike ... and a voice cut through the static.
"Is anyone picking this up? Is anyone there?"
It was Mara's voice.
Rynason knelt beside the set and took the mike from Stoworth's hand."This is Lee. Are you hurt?"
"Lee?"
"I hear you. Are you hurt?"
"Not badly. Lee, what are you doing? I saw the flyers land."
"Manning wants to attack the city as soon as the land party gets here.What's going on there?"
"I'm ... in the temple. I've been trying to communicate with them. I'vegot an interpreter, but they don't listen to what I say. Lee, this isincredible here! They've brought out a lot of weapons ... some of themdon't work. The hall is half-filled with dust and sand, and they move soclumsily! They're trying to hurry, because they saw you too, but it'slike ... like they've forgotten how. They think they can get rid of usall, but they.... It's pitiful--they're so slow."
"Those disintegrators aren't slow," Rynason said. Manning was standingbeside him; he dropped a hand on his shoulder, but Rynason shook it off."Are they using the machine ... the altar?"
"They were using it when they brought me in. I think it _is_ theOutsiders. But they don't seem to know it's just a machine--they kneelin front of it, and chant. It's so strange, in that language of theirs... those thin, high voices, and the echoes...."
"They're holding you prisoner?"
"Yes. I think they want to hold you off till they can get ready fortheir own attack."
"_For their what?_" Rynason stood up, and looked toward the city; hecould see no movement there.
"I know ... it's incredible. Lee, they don't know what they're doing.Horng said on the interpreter that they were going to drive us off theplanet, and then rebuild their cities, and re-arm. It's something to dowith Kor, or the Outsiders. The orders have changed. They think that ifthey can drive us away for awhile they can build themselves up to wherethey can repel any further touchdowns here."
"This order came from the machine?"
"Yes. There was a mistake, and Horng realized it after you linked withhim this morning. The Outsiders, or Kor or whatever it is, hadoverestimated us."
"Maybe then, but not now. They're committing suicide!" Rynason said.
"I know, and I tried to tell them that. But the machine saysdifferently. Lee, do you think that's really the Outsiders?"
"If it is," he said slowly, "they wouldn't send the Hirlaji against uswithout some help." He thought a minute, while the wind of the Flat blewsand against his leg and static came from the radio. "They could bemaking another mistake!" Mara said. "I'm sure what they told theOutsiders wasn't true--they think they're as strong as they were before.But their eyes ... their eyes are afraid. I know it."
"Do they know what you're saying to me?"
"No. Lee, I'm not even sure they know what a radio is. Maybe they thinkI carry my portable altar with me." Her voice had taken on a franticnote. "It's a ... a simple case of freedom of religion, L
ee! Freedom ofreligion!"
"Mara! Calm down! Calm down!" He waited for a few seconds, until hervoice came again, more quietly:
"I'm sorry ... it's just that they're so...."
"Forget it. Sit tight there. I think I know how to slip in--alone." Heswitched off.
He stood up and shrugged his shoulders heavily, loosening his tensedmuscles. Then he turned purposefully to Manning.
"The rest of the party won't be here for awhile yet, so you can'tpossibly go in now. I'm going to try to get Mara out before any fightingstarts."
"What if they capture you too?" Manning said. "I can't hold off anattack too long--you could be right about the Outsiders helping them.The sooner we finish them off, the better."
Rynason looked coldly at him. "You heard what Mara said. We won't haveany trouble taking them. You can't attack them while she's in there,though. Or can you?"
"Lee. I've told you--I can't take chances. If the Outsiders are in this,it's a dangerous business. You can go in if you want, but we're notwaiting more than half an hour for you to get out."
Rynason met his gaze steadily for a moment, then nodded brusquely. "Allright." He turned and moved into the over-hanging shadows of themountains, toward the ancient, alien city.
* * * * *
He stayed in the shadows as he approached the walls of the fortress,darting quickly across exposed ground. The Hirlaji were large andpowerful, physical battle with them was of course out of the question.But he had some things on his side: he was small, and therefore lesslikely to be seen; he was faster than the quiet, aged aliens. And heknew the city, the fortress and the temple, almost as well as they did.
Perhaps better, in fact, for his purposes. For while he had sharedTebron's mind he had been ... not only Tebron, but also Rynason,Earthman. A corner of his mind had been alert and aware ... hearing thedistant screams of Horng, wondering about the design of the Altar ofKor. And he had seen other things when he looked through Tebron's eyes:when the ancient warlord had stormed the city-fortress, there had beenan observer in him who had said: An Earthman could go in this way,unobserved. A smaller attacker could slip through _here_, could concealhimself where no Hirlaji could reach.
He arrived, at last, at the base of the wall where the blunt rocks ofthe mountains tumbled to a dead-end against flat, weathered stone. Sofar he must not have been seen; there had been no disintegrator beamsfired at him, no leathery Hirlaji heads watching from the walls. Heflattened against the stone and raised his eyes to the barriers.
The wall here had been built higher than the portions which faced theFlat, and it was stronger. No one had tried to storm the city from thisposition, because it was too well protected. But the walls had beenbuilt against the heavy, clumsy bodies of the grey aliens; with luck, aman could scale this wall. The footholds in the weathered stones wouldbe precarious, but perhaps it could be done. And the Hirlaji, whoregarded this wall as impregnable, would not be guarding it.
Sighting upward from flat against the wall, he chose his path quickly,and began to climb. The stone was smooth but grainy; he dug his fingersinto narrow niches and pulled himself slowly upward, bracing himselfwith footholds whenever he could. It was laborious, painful work; twicehe lost handholds and hung precariously until his straining fingersagain found some indentation. Sweat covered him; the wind from the Flatwhipped around the wall and touched the moisture on his back coldly. Buthis face was set in a frozen grimness and though his breath came ingasps he made no other sound.
When he had neared the top he suddenly seemed to reach a dead-end; thestones were smooth above him. His arms ached, his shoulders seemeddeadened; he clung numbly to the wall and searched for another path.When he found it, he had to descend ten feet and move to the rightbefore he could re-ascend; as he retraced his route down the wall henoticed blood where his torn fingers had left their mark. But he couldnot feel the pain in his fingers.
At last, when the wall had come to seem a separate world of existencewhich was all that he would ever know, a vertical plane to which heclung with dim determination, hardly knowing why any longer ... at last,he reached the top. His groping hand reached up and found the edge ofthe wall; his fingers grasped it gratefully and he pulled himself up tohang by both hands and survey the interior of the fortress.
A deserted floor stretched before him, shadowed by the late-afternoondarkness which crept down from the mountains to rest on the aged remainsof the city. Forty feet down the walkway he saw stairs descending, buthis head swam and all he could focus on clearly was the light film ofdust and sand which covered even this topmost level of the city, blownin shallow drifts against the walls which rose a few feet above thefloor here. There were no footprints in that dust; no one had walkedhere for thousands of years.
Wearily, he pulled himself over the last barrier and fell numbly to thefloor, where he lay for long minutes fighting for breath. His lungs wereraw; the thin air of the planet caught and rasped in his throat. Hishands were torn and bleeding, and the knife-scar over his right eye hadbegun to throb, but he ignored the pain. He had to clear his head....
Eventually he was able to stand, swaying beneath the dark sky. Below himhe saw the city, broken and dim, empty streets winding between fallenwalls and pillars. Mara's flyer lay shattered against one of thosebroken walls; seeing it, he wondered how badly she had been hurt.
He moved toward the stairs, and descended them slowly. The stairs of thecity were as he had remembered them from Tebron's memories, and yet notthe same. To the Earthman they were steep: the steps were like separatelevels, three feet across and almost four feet deep. His legs ached ateach step as the shock of his weight fell on them.
He reached the bottom level and paused in the doorway onto the street.It was empty, but he had to think a moment before he could remember hisbearings. Yes, the Temple was that way, somewhere down the dusty street.He moved through the deeper shadows at the base of the buildings,remembering.
Tebron had taken this city at the head of a force of warriors. To him ithad been large and majestic, a place of power and knowledge. ButRynason, moving wearily through the dust of the ages which had fallenupon the city since the ancient king, found it not merely large, buthuge; not majestic, but futile. And the power and knowledge which itonce had held was but a dusty shadow now. Somewhere ahead, in theTemple, the survivors of that ages-old culture were trying to bring thecity to life again. With or without the Outsiders, he felt, they mustfail. They really wanted to bring themselves back to life, to reawakentheir minds, their dreams, their own power. But they tried to do it withmemories, and that was not the way.
No one was guarding the Temple. Rynason went up the steps as quickly ashe could, vaulting from level to level, trying to stay in the shadows,listening for movement. But sounds did not carry far in the air ofHirlaj; the aliens would not hear him approaching, but he might not hearany of them either until he stumbled upon them.
At the top of the stairs he darted into the shadows of the colonnadewhich surrounded the interior. Doorways opened at intervals of fiftyfeet around the building; he would have to circle to the side and enterthere if at all. He slipped quickly between the columns and paused atthe third doorway. He dropped to the floor, lay flat on his chest andlooked inside.
They were all there--two dozen heavy grey aliens, sitting, standing,staring quietly at the floor. There was little movement among them, butnevertheless he could feel the excitement which pervaded the Temple. No,not excitement--anxiety. Fear. Watching those huge bodies huddling intothemselves, he heard an echo of Horng's screams in his mind. Thesecreatures were afraid of battle, of conflict, and yet they had thrustthemselves into a fight which they must lose. Did they know that? Couldthey believe what the machine of the Outsiders told them, after it hadbeen proven fallible?
The Eye of Kor glowed dully in the dark inner room; two of the Hirlajistood silently before it, watching, waiting. But the religion of Kor hadplayed no part in the lives of the Hirlaji for generations. Now that theancie
nt, muddled religion had been brought to life again, could it havethe same hold on them that it had once had?
Mara was on the floor of the Temple, leaning with her back against thewall. One of the doorways from the outer colonnade was nearby, but fiveof the Hirlaji surrounded her. And with a start Rynason noticed that herleft arm hung limp and twisted at her side, and blood showed on herforehead. Her face showed no emotion, but as he watched she raised herright hand to run fingers through her long dark hair, nervously.
She had not seen him, but she was waiting. When he made his move shewould follow him. Rynason slipped back from the doorway and circled thebuilding again until he had reached the entrance nearest the girl. Hedrew out his stunner from its holster and looked at it for a moment. Hewould have to be fast; his weapon would give him no advantage againstthe disintegrators of the Hirlaji, but surprise and speed might. And,perhaps ... fear.
He broke around the corner of the doorway at a dead run, firing as hewent. Two of the Hirlaji fell before they could even turn; they crumpledto the floor heavily. Then he screamed--a high scream, like Horng's, andas loud as he could make it, a wail, a cry of anguish and terror andpain. They felt it, and it touched a response in them; the Hirlaji whosurrounded Mara twisted to look at him, but they instinctively shrankaway. He continued to fire, bringing down three more of them while theconfusion lasted. He broke through to Mara, who was already on her feet;without breaking his stride he grasped her by her good shoulder andpulled her along with him as he ran through.
But some of the Hirlaji recovered in time to block their escape. Rynasonwheeled, looking frantically around the room for an unguarded exit. Noneof those within reach were clear. He fired again, and ran for the altar.
One of the Hirlaji had raised a disintegrator; Rynason caught him withthe stunner as he fired, and the beam of the alien's weapon shot pasthis leg, digging a pit into the floor beyond him. Other weapons wereraised now; they had only seconds left.
But they had reached the altar; the two Hirlaji there moved to blockthem, but they were unarmed and Rynason dropped them with the stunner.He pushed Mara past them and around to the side of the altar, seekingcover from the disintegrators.
Behind the altar, there was a space just large enough for them tosqueeze through. Rynason's heart leaped; he pointed quickly to it andturned to fire again as Mara pushed her way into the narrow aperture. Adisintegrator beam hissed over his head; another tore into the wall twofeet away from him. The Hirlaji were trying to keep their fire away fromthe altar itself.
Rynason turned and squeezed behind the altar as soon as Mara was clear.It was tight, but he made it, and once through the narrow opening theyfound more room in the darkness. They could hear noise outside as theHirlaji moved toward the altar, but it sounded far away and dim. Maramoved back into the darkness, and he followed.
They moved perhaps twenty feet into the wall behind the altar beforethey were brought to a halt. The passage ended. Well, no matter; if itwas not an escape route, at least it would afford cover from the weaponsof the Hirlaji. Rynason dropped to the floor and rested.
Mara sat beside him. "Lee, you shouldn't have tried it," she saidanxiously. "Now we're trapped." He felt her hand touch his face in thedarkness.
"Maybe," he said. "But we may be able to catch them off their guardagain, and if so we may be able to get out."
She was silent. He felt her lean against his shoulder wearily, her hairsoft against his neck. Then he remembered that she had been hurt.
"What happened to your arm? And you were bleeding."
"I think it's broken. The bleeding was nothing, though: you should seeyourself. You were so tattered and bloody when you came in that I hardlyknew you. Knights should come in more properly shining armor."
He grinned wearily. "Wait till next time."
"Lee, where are we?" she said abruptly. Their eyes were becomingadjusted to the darkness, and they could see rising around them acomplexity of machine relays, connectives, and pieces which did not seemto make sense.
Rynason looked more closely at the complex. It was definitely Outsiderswork, but what was it? Part of the Altar of Kor, obviously, but theOutsiders telecommunicators had never used such extensive machinery. Yetit did look familiar. He tried to remember the different types ofOutsiders machinery which had been found and partially reconstructed bythe advancing Earthmen in the centuries past. There weren't many....
Then, suddenly, he had it, and it was so simple that he was surprised hehadn't thought of it before.
"This is Kor," he said. "It's not a communicator--it's a computer. AnOutsiders computer."