15
Return to the Battle
Ross lay listening to the even breathing from across the cabin. He hadawakened in that quick transference from sleep to consciousness whichwas always his when on duty, but he made no attempt to move. Ashe wasstill sleeping.
Ashe, whom he thought or had thought he knew as well as one man couldever know another, who had taken the place of family for Ross Murdockthe loner. Years--two ... four of them now since he had made half ofthat partnership.
His head turned, though he could not see that lean body, that quiet,controlled face. Ashe still looked the same, but ... Ross's sense ofloss was hurt and anger mingled. What had they done to Gordon, thosethree? Bewitched? Tales Terrans had accepted as purest fantasy forcenturies came into his mind. Could it be that his own world once hadits Foanna?
Ross scowled. You couldn't refute their "magic," call it by whatscientific name you wished--hypnotism ... telaporting. They got results,and the results were impressive. Now he remembered the warning theFoanna themselves had delivered hours earlier to the Rovers. There werelimits to their abilities; because they were forced to draw on mentaland physical energy, they could be exhausted. Thus, they had barriers,too.
Again Ross considered the subject of barriers. Karara had been able tomeet the aliens, if not mind-to-mind, then in a closer way even thanAshe. The talent which tied her to the dolphins had in turn been a bondwith the Foanna. Ashe and Karara could enter that circle, but not RossMurdock. Along with his new separation from Ashe came that feeling ofinferiority to bite on, and the taste was sour.
"This isn't going to be easy."
So Ashe was awake.
"What can they do?" Ross asked in return.
"I don't know. I don't believe that they can telaport an army into Baldyheadquarters the way Torgul expects. And it wouldn't do such an armymuch good to get there and then be outclassed by the weapons the Baldiesmight have," Ashe said.
Ross had a moment of warmth and comfort; he knew that tone of old. Ashewas studying the problem, willing to talk out difficulties as he alwayshad before.
"No, outright assault isn't the answer. We'll have to know more aboutthe enemy. One thing puzzles me: Why have the Baldies suddenly steppedup their timing?"
"What makes you think they have?"
"Well, according to the accounts I've heard, it's been about three orfour planet years here since some off-world devices have beeninfiltrating the native civilization--"
"You mean such things as those attractors set up on the reef at Zahur'scastle?" Ross remembered Loketh's story.
"Those, and other things. The refinements added to the engine power onthese ships.... Torgul said they spread from Rover fleet to fleet; noone's sure where they started. The Baldies began slowly, but they arespeeding up now--those fairing attacks have all been recent. And thisassault on the Foanna citadel blew up almost overnight on a flimsyexcuse. Why the quick push after the slow beginning?"
"Maybe they decided the natives are easy pushovers and they no longerhave to worry about any real opposition," Ross suggested.
"Could be. Self-confidence becoming arrogance when they didn't uncoverany opponent strong enough to matter. Or else, they may be spurred bysome need with a time limit. If we knew the reason for those pylons, wemight guess their motives."
"Are you going to try to change the future?"
"That sounds arrogant, too. Can we if we wish to? We never dared to tryit on Terra. And the risk may be worse than all our fears. Also, thechoice is not ours."
"There's one thing I don't understand," Ross said. "Why did the Foannawalk out of the citadel and leave it undefended for their enemies? Whatabout their guards? Did they just leave them too?" He was willing tomake the most of any flaw in the aliens' character.
"Most of their people had already escaped through underground ways. Therest left when they knew the cutters had been sunk," Ashe returned. "Asto why they deserted the citadel, I don't know. The decision wastheirs."
There--up with the barrier between them again. But Ross refused toaccept the cutoff this time, determined to pull Ashe back into thefamiliar world of the here and now.
"That keep could be a trap, about the best on this planet!" The idea wasmore than just a gambit to attract Ashe's attention, it was true! Aperfect trap to catch Baldies.
"Don't you see," Ross sat up, slapped his feet down on the deck as heleaned forward eagerly. "Don't you see ... if the Baldies know anythingat all about the Foanna, and I'm betting they do and want to learn allthey can, they'll visit the citadel. They won't want to depend onsecond- and third-hand reports of the place, especially ones deliveredby primitives such as the Wreckers. They had a sub there. I'll bet thecrew are in picking over the loot right now!"
"If that's what they're hunting"--there was amusement in Ashe'stone--"they won't find much. The Foanna have better locks than theirenemies have keys. You heard Ynlan before we left--any secrets left willremain secrets."
"But there's bait--bait for a trap!" argued Ross.
"You're right!" To the younger man's joy Ashe's enthusiasm was plain."And if the Baldies could be led to believe that what they wanted wasobtainable with just a little more effort, or the right tools--"
"The trap could net bigger catch than just underlings!" Ross's thoughtmatched Ashe's. "Why, it might even pull in the VIP directing the wholeoperation! How can we set it up, and do we have time?"
"The trap would have to be of Foanna setting; our part would come afterit was sprung." Ashe was thoughtful again. "But it is the only movewhich we can make at present with any hope of success. And it will onlywork if the Foanna are willing."
"Have to be done quickly," Ross pointed out.
"Yes, I'll see." Ashe was a dark figure against the thin light of thecompanionway as he slid back the cabin door. "If Ynvalda agrees...." Ashe went out Ross was right behind him.
The Foanna had been given, by their own choice, quarters on the bow deckof the cruiser where sailcloth had been used to form a tent. Not thatany of the awe-stricken Rovers would venture too near them. Ashe reachedfor the flap of the fabric and a lilting voice called:
"You seek us, Gordoon?"
"This is important."
"Yes, it is important, for the thought which brings you both has merit.Enter then, brothers!"
The flap was looped aside and before them was a swirling ofmist? ... light? ... sheets of pale color? Ross could not have describedwhat he saw--save if the Foanna were there, he could not distinguish themfrom the rippling of their hair, the melting film of their robes.
"So, younger brother, you think that which was our home and our treasurebox has now become a trap for the confounding of those who believe weare a threat to them?"
Somehow Ross was not surprised that they knew about his idea before hehad said a word, before Ashe had given any explanations. Theiromniscience was only a small portion of their other talents.
"Yes."
"And why do you believe so? We swear to you that the coast folk can notbe driven into those parts of the castle which mean the most, any morethan our sea gate can be breached unless we will it so."
"Yet I swam through the sea gate, and the sub was there also." Ross knewagain a flash of--was it pleasure?--at being able to state this fact.There _were_ chinks in the Foanna defenses.
"Again the truth. You have that within you, young brother, which is botha lack and a shield. True also that this underseas ship entered afteryou. Perhaps it has a shield as part of it; perhaps those from the starshave their own protection. But they can not reach the heart of what theywish, not unless we open the doors for them. It is your belief, youngerbrother, that they still strive to force such doors?"
"Yes. Knowing there is something to be learned, they will try for it.They will not dare not to." Ross was very certain on that point. Hisencounters with the Baldies had not led to any real understanding. Butthe way they had wiped out the line of Russian time stations made himsure that they dealt thoroughly with any situation they considered
athreat.
From the prisoners taken at Kyn Add they had learned the invadersbelieved the Foanna their enemies here, even though the Old Ones had notrepulsed them or their activities. Therefore, it followed that, havingtaken the stronghold, the Baldies would endeavor to rip open every oneof its secrets.
"A trap with good bait--"
Ross wondered which one of the Foanna said that. To see nothing but theswirls of mist-color, listen to disembodied voices from it, wasdisconcerting. Part of the stage dressing, he decided, for buildingtheir prestige with the other races with whom they dealt. Three womenalone would have to buttress their authority with such trappings.
"Ah, younger brother, indeed you are beginning to understand us!"Laughter, soft, but unmistakable.
Ross frowned. He did not feel the touch-go-touch of mental communicationwhich the dolphins used. But he did not doubt that the Foanna read histhoughts, or at least a few of them.
"Some of them," echoed from the mist. "Not all--not as your olderbrother's or the maiden whose mind meets with ours. With you, youngerbrother, it is a thought here, a thought there, and only our intuitionto connect them into a pattern. But now, there is serious planning to bedone. And, knowing this enemy, you believe they will come to search forwhat they can not find. So you would set a trap. But they have weaponsbeyond your weapons, have they not, younger brother? Brave as are theseRover kind, they can not use swords against flame, their hands against akiller who may stand apart and slay. What remains, Gordoon? What remainsin our favor?"
"You have your weapons, too," Ashe answered.
"Yes, we have our weapons, but long have they been used only in onepattern, and they are atuned to another race. Did our defenses holdagainst you, Gordoon, when you strove to prove that you were as youclaimed to be? And did another repulse younger brother when he dared thesea gate? So can we trust them in turn against these other strangerswith different brains? Only at the testing shall we know, and in suchlearning perhaps we shall also be forced to eat the sourness of defeat.To risk all may be to lose all."
"That may be true," Ashe assented.
"You mean the sight you have had into our future says that this happens?Yes, to stake all and to lose--not only for ourselves, but for allothers here--that is a weighty decision to make, Gordoon. But the trappromises. Let us think on it for a space. Do you also consult with theRovers if they wish to take part in what may be desperate folly."
Torgul paced the afterdeck, well away from the tent which sheltered theFoanna, but with his eyes turning to it as Ross explained what might bea good attack.
"Those women-killers would have no fear of Foanna magic, rather wouldthey come to seek it out? It would be a chance to catch leaders in atrap?"
"You have heard what the prisoners said or thought. Yes, they would seekout such knowledge and we would have this chance to capture them--"
"With what?" Torgul demanded. "I am not Ongal to argue that it is betterto die in pursuit of blood payment than to take an enemy or enemies withme! What chance have we against their powers?"
"Ask that of them!" Ross nodded toward the still silent tent.
Even as he spoke the three cloaked Foanna emerged, pacing down tomid-ship where Torgul and his lieutenants, Ross and Ashe came to meetthem.
"We have thought on this." The lilting half chant which the Foanna usedfor ordinary communication was a song in the dawn wind. "It was in ourminds to retreat, to wait out this troubling of the land, since we arefew and that which we hold within us is worth the guarding. But now,what profit such guardianship when there may be none to whom we may passit after us? And if you have seen the truth, elder brother"--the cowledheads swung to Ashe--"then there may be no future for any of us. Butstill there are our limitations. Rover," now they spoke directly toTorgul, "we can not put your men within the citadel by desiring--notwithout certain aids which lie sealed there now. No, we, ourselves, mustwin inside bodily and then ... then, perhaps, we can pull tight thelines of our net!"
"To run a cruiser through the gate--" Torgul began.
"No, not a ship, Captain. A handful of warriors in the water can riskthe gate, but not a ship."
Ashe broke in, "How many gill-packs do we have?"
Ross counted hurriedly. "I left one cached ashore. But there's mine andKarara's and Loketh's--also two more--"
"To pass the gates," that was the Foanna, "we ourselves shall not needyour underwater aids."
"You," Ross said to Ashe, "and I with Karara's pack----"
"For Karara!"
Both the Terrans looked around. The Polynesian girl stood close to theFoanna, smiling faintly.
"This venture is mine also," she spoke with conviction. "As it isTino-rau's and Taua's. Is that not so, Daughters of the Alii of thisworld?"
"Yes, Sea Maid. There are weapons of many sorts, and not all of them fitinto a warrior's hand or can be swung with the force of a man's arm andshoulder. Yes, this venture is yours, also, sister."
Ross's protests bubbled unspoken; he had to accept the finality of theFoanna decree. It seemed now that the make-up of their task forcedepended upon the whims of the three rather than the experience of thosetrained to such risks. And Ashe was apparently willing to accept theirleadership.
So it was an odd company that took to the water just as dawn colored thesky. Loketh had clung fiercely to his pack, insisted that he be one ofthe swimmers, and the Foanna accepted him as well. Ross and Ashe,Loketh, and Baleku, a young under-officer of Ongal's, accorded the bestswimmer of the fleet, Karara and the dolphins. And with them those threeothers, shapes sliding smoothly through the water, as difficult todefine in this new element as they had been in their tent. Before themfrisked the dolphins. Tino-rau and Taua played about the Foanna in anecstatic joy and when all were in the sea they shot off shoreward.
That sub within the sea gate, had it unleashed the same lethal broadcastas the one at Kyn Add? But the dolphins could give warning if that wereso.
Ross swam easily, Ashe next, Loketh on his left, Baleku a little behindand Karara to the fore as if in vain pursuit of the dolphins--the Foannawell to the left. A queer invasion party, even queerer when one totaledup the odds which might lie ahead.
There was no mist or storm this morning to hide the headlands where theFoanna citadel stood. And the promontories of the sea gate were starklyclear in the growing light. The same drive which always was a part ofRoss when he was committed to action sustained him now, though he wasvisited by a small prick of doubt when he thought that the leadershipdid not lie with Ashe but with the Foanna.
No warning of any trouble ahead as they passed between the mighty,sea-sunk bases of the gate pillars. Ross depended upon his sonic, butthere was no adverse report from the sensitive recorder. The terriblechill of the water during the night attack had been dissipated, but hereand there dead sea things floated, being torn and devoured by hunters ofthe waves.
They were well past the pillars when Ross was aware that Loketh hadchanged place in the line, spurting ahead. After him went Baleku. Theycaught up with Karara, flashed past her.
Ross looked to Ashe, on to the Foanna, but saw nothing to explain theaction of the two Hawaikans. Then his sonic beat out a signal from Ashe.
"Danger ... follow the Foanna ... left."
Karara had already changed course to head in that direction. Ahead ofher he could see Loketh and Baleku both still bound for the mid-point ofthe shore where the jetty and the sunken cutters were. Ashe passedbefore him, and Ross reluctantly followed orders.
A shelf of rock reached out from the cliff wall, under it a darkopening. The Foanna sought this without hesitation, Ashe, Karara, andRoss following. Moments later they were out of the water where footingsloped back and up. Below them Tino-rau and Taua nosed the rise, theirheads lifting out of the water as they "spoke." And Karara hastened toreply.
"Loketh ... Baleku ..." Ross began when he caught a mental stroke ofanger so deadly that it was a chill lance into his brain. He faced theFoanna, startled and a little frightened.
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"They will not come--now." A knob-crowned wand stretched out in the air,pointing to the upper reaches of the slope. "Nor can any of theirblood--unless we win."
"What is wrong?" Ashe asked.
"You were right, very right, men out of time! These invaders are not tobe lightly dismissed. They have turned one of our own defenses againstus. Loketh, Baleku, all of their kind, can be made into tools for amaster. They belong to the enemy now."
"And we have failed so early?" Karara wanted to know.
Again that piercing thrust of anger so vivid that it was no mere emotionbut seemed a tangible force.
"Failed? No, not yet have we even begun to fight! You were very right;this is such an evil as must be faced and fought, even if we lose all inbattle! Now we must do that which none of our own race has done forgenerations--we must open three locks, throw wide the Great Door, andseek out the Keeper of the Closed Knowledge!"
Light, a sharp ray sighting from the tip of the wand. And the Foannafollowing that beam, the three Terrans coming after ... into theunknown.