4
For twenty years, now, they had been following the game. Winters hadcome, with driving snow, forcing horses and deer into the woods, and thelittle band of humans to the protection of mountain caves. Springtimefollowed, with fresh grass on the plains and plenty of meat for thepeople of Kalvar Dard. Autumns followed summers, with fire-hunts, andthe smoking and curing of meat and hides. Winters followed autumns, andspringtimes came again, and thus until the twentieth year after thelanding of the rocket-boat.
Kalvar Dard still walked in the lead, his hair and beard flecked withgray, but he no longer carried the heavy rifle; the last cartridge forthat had been fired long ago. He carried the hand-axe, fitted with along helve, and a spear with a steel head that had been worked painfullyfrom the receiver of a useless carbine. He still had his pistol, witheight cartridges in the magazine, and his dagger, and the bomb-bag,containing the big demolition-bomb and one grenade. The last shred ofclothing from the ship was gone, now; he was clad in a sleeveless tunicof skin and horsehide buskins.
Analea no longer walked beside him; eight years before, she had brokenher back in a fall. It had been impossible to move her, and she stabbedherself with her dagger to save a cartridge. Seldar Glav had brokenthrough the ice while crossing a river, and had lost his rifle; the nextday he died of the chill he had taken. Olva had been killed by the HairyPeople, the night they had attacked the camp, when Varnis' child hadbeen killed.
They had beaten off that attack, shot or speared ten of the hugesub-men, and the next morning they buried their dead after their custom,under cairns of stone. Varnis had watched the burial of her child withblank, uncomprehending eyes, then she had turned to Kalvar Dard and saidsomething that had horrified him more than any wild outburst of griefcould have.
"Come on, Dard; what are we doing this for? You promised you'd take usto Tareesh, where we'd have good houses, and machines, and all sorts oflovely things to eat and wear. I don't like this place, Dard; I want togo to Tareesh."
From that day on, she had wandered in merciful darkness. She had notbeen idiotic, or raving mad; she had just escaped from a reality thatshe could no longer bear.
Varnis, lost in her dream-world, and Dorita, hard-faced and haggard,were the only ones left, beside Kalvar Dard, of the original eight. Butthe band had grown, meanwhile, to more than fifteen. In the rear, inSeldar Glav's old place, the son of Kalvar Dard and Analea walked. Likehis father, he wore a pistol, for which he had six rounds, and a dagger,and in his hand he carried a stone-headed killing-maul with a three-foothandle which he had made for himself. The woman who walked beside himand carried his spears was the daughter of Glav and Olva; in a net-bagon her back she carried their infant child. The first Tareeshan born ofTareeshan parents; Kalvar Dard often looked at his little grandchildduring nights in camp and days on the trail, seeing, in that tinyfur-swaddled morsel of humanity, the meaning and purpose of all that hedid. Of the older girls, one or two were already pregnant, now; thistiny threatened beachhead of humanity was expanding, gaining strength.Long after man had died out on Doorsha and the dying planet itself hadbecome an arid waste, the progeny of this little band would continue togrow and to dominate the younger planet, nearer the sun. Some day, aneven mightier civilization than the one he had left would rise here....
* * * * *
All day the trail had wound upward into the mountains. Great cliffsloomed above them, and little streams spumed and dashed in rocky gorgesbelow. All day, the Hairy People had followed, fearful to approach tooclose, unwilling to allow their enemies to escape. It had started whenthey had rushed the camp, at daybreak; they had been beaten off, at costof almost all the ammunition, and the death of one child. No sooner hadthe tribe of Kalvar Dard taken the trail, however, than they had beenpressing after them. Dard had determined to cross the mountains, and hadled his people up a game-trail, leading toward the notch of a pass highagainst the skyline.
The shaggy ape-things seemed to have divined his purpose. Once ortwice, he had seen hairy brown shapes dodging among the rocks andstunted trees to the left. They were trying to reach the pass ahead ofhim. Well, if they did.... He made a quick mental survey of hisresources. His pistol, and his son's, and Dorita's, with eight, and six,and seven rounds. One grenade, and the big demolition bomb, too powerfulto be thrown by hand, but which could be set for delayed explosion anddropped over a cliff or left behind to explode among pursuers. Fivesteel daggers, and plenty of spears and slings and axes. Himself, hisson and his son's woman, Dorita, and four or five of the older boys andgirls, who would make effective front-line fighters. And Varnis, whomight come out of her private dream-world long enough to give accountfor herself, and even the tiniest of the walking children could throwstones or light spears. Yes, they could force the pass, if the HairyPeople reached it ahead of them, and then seal it shut with the heavybomb. What lay on the other side, he did not know; he wondered how muchgame there would be, and if there were Hairy People on that side, too.
Two shots slammed quickly behind him. He dropped his axe and took atwo-hand grip on his stabbing-spear as he turned. His son was hurryingforward, his pistol drawn, glancing behind as he came.
"Hairy People. Four," he reported. "I shot two; she threw a spear andkilled another. The other ran."
The daughter of Seldar Glav and Olva nodded in agreement.
"I had no time to throw again," she said, "and Bo-Bo would not shoot theone that ran."
Kalvar Dard's son, who had no other name than the one his mother hadcalled him as a child, defended himself. "He was running away. It is therule: _use bullets only to save life, where a spear will not serve_."
Kalvar Dard nodded. "You did right, son," he said, taking out his ownpistol and removing the magazine, from which he extracted twocartridges. "Load these into your pistol; four rounds aren't enough. Nowwe each have six. Go back to the rear, keep the little ones moving, anddon't let Varnis get behind."
"That is right. _We must all look out for Varnis, and take care ofher_," the boy recited obediently. "That is the rule."
He dropped to the rear. Kalvar Dard holstered his pistol and picked uphis axe, and the column moved forward again. They were following aledge, now; on the left, there was a sheer drop of several hundred feet,and on the right a cliff rose above them, growing higher and steeper asthe trail slanted upward. Dard was worried about the ledge; if it cameto an end, they would all be trapped. No one would escape. He suddenlyfelt old and unutterably weary. It was a frightful weight that hebore--responsibility for an entire race.
* * * * *
Suddenly, behind him, Dorita fired her pistol upward. Dard sprangforward--there was no room for him to jump aside--and drew his pistol.The boy, Bo-Bo, was trying to find a target from his position in therear. Then Dard saw the two Hairy People; the boy fired, and the stonefell, all at once.
It was a heavy stone, half as big as a man's torso, and it almost missedKalvar Dard. If it had hit him directly, it would have killed himinstantly, mashing him to a bloody pulp; as it was, he was knocked flat,the stone pinning his legs.
At Bo-Bo's shot, a hairy body plummeted down, to hit the ledge. Bo-Bo'swoman instantly ran it through with one of her spears. The otherape-thing, the one Dorita had shot, was still clinging to a rock above.Two of the children scampered up to it and speared it repeatedly,screaming like little furies. Dorita and one of the older girls got therock off Kalvar Dard's legs and tried to help him to his feet, but hecollapsed, unable to stand. Both his legs were broken.
This was it, he thought, sinking back. "Dorita, I want you to run aheadand see what the trail's like," he said. "See if the ledge is passable.And find a place, not too far ahead, where we can block the trail byexploding that demolition-bomb. It has to be close enough for a coupleof you to carry or drag me and get me there in one piece."
"What are you going to do?"
"What do you think?" he retorted. "I have both legs broken. You can'tcarry me with you; if you try it,
they'll catch us and kill us all. I'llhave to stay behind; I'll block the trail behind you, and get as many ofthem as I can, while I'm at it. Now, run along and do as I said."
She nodded. "I'll be back as soon as I can," she agreed.
The others were crowding around Dard. Bo-Bo bent over him, perplexed andworried. "What are you going to do, father?" he asked. "You are hurt.Are you going to go away and leave us, as mother did when she was hurt?"
"Yes, son; I'll have to. You carry me on ahead a little, when Doritagets back, and leave me where she shows you to. I'm going to stay behindand block the trail, and kill a few Hairy People. I'll use the bigbomb."
"The _big_ bomb? The one nobody dares throw?" The boy looked at hisfather in wonder.
"That's right. Now, when you leave me, take the others and get away asfast as you can. Don't stop till you're up to the pass. Take my pistoland dagger, and the axe and the big spear, and take the little bomb,too. Take everything I have, only leave the big bomb with me. I'll needthat."
Dorita rejoined them. "There's a waterfall ahead. We can get around it,and up to the pass. The way's clear and easy; if you put off the bombjust this side of it, you'll start a rock-slide that'll blockeverything."
"All right. Pick me up, a couple of you. Don't take hold of me below theknees. And hurry."
* * * * *
A hairy shape appeared on the ledge below them; one of the older boysused his throwing-stick to drive a javelin into it. Two of the girlspicked up Dard; Bo-Bo and his woman gathered up the big spear and theaxe and the bomb-bag.
They hurried forward, picking their way along the top of a talus ofrubble at the foot of the cliff, and came to where the stream gushed outof a narrow gorge. The air was wet with spray there, and loud with theroar of the waterfall. Kalvar Dard looked around; Dorita had chosen thespot well. Not even a sure-footed mountain-goat could make the ascent,once that gorge was blocked.
"All right; put me down here," he directed. "Bo-Bo, take my belt, andgive me the big bomb. You have one light grenade; know how to use it?"
"Of course, you have often showed me. I turn the top, and then press inthe little thing on the side, and hold it in till I throw. I throw it atleast a spear-cast, and drop to the ground or behind something."
"That's right. And use it only in greatest danger, to save everybody.Spare your cartridges; use them only to save life. And save everythingof metal, no matter how small."
"Yes. Those are the rules. I will follow them, and so will the others.And we will always take care of Varnis."
"Well, goodbye, son." He gripped the boy's hand. "Now get everybody outof here; don't stop till you're at the pass."
"You're not staying behind!" Varnis cried. "Dard, you promised us! Iremember, when we were all in the ship together--you and I and Analeaand Olva and Dorita and Eldra and, oh, what was that other girl's name,Kyna! And we were all having such a nice time, and you were telling ushow we'd all come to Tareesh, and we were having such fun talking aboutit...."
"That's right, Varnis," he agreed. "And so I will. I have something todo, here, but I'll meet you on top of the mountain, after I'm through,and in the morning we'll all go to Tareesh."
She smiled--the gentle, childlike smile of the harmlessly mad--andturned away. The son of Kalvar Dard made sure that she and all thechildren were on the way, and then he, too, turned and followed them,leaving Dard alone.
Alone, with a bomb and a task. He'd borne that task for twenty years,now; in a few minutes, it would be ended, with an instant's searingheat. He tried not to be too glad; there were so many things he mighthave done, if he had tried harder. Metals, for instance. Somewhere theresurely must be ores which they could have smelted, but he had neverfound them. And he might have tried catching some of the little horsesthey hunted for food, to break and train to bear burdens. And thealphabet--why hadn't he taught it to Bo-Bo and the daughter of SeldarGlav, and laid on them an obligation to teach the others? And thegrass-seeds they used for making flour sometimes; they should haveplanted fields of the better kinds, and patches of edible roots, andreturned at the proper time to harvest them. There were so many things,things that none of those young savages or their children would think ofin ten thousand years....
Something was moving among the rocks, a hundred yards away. Hestraightened, as much as his broken legs would permit, and watched. Yes,there was one of them, and there was another, and another. One rose frombehind a rock and came forward at a shambling run, making bestialsounds. Then two more lumbered into sight, and in a moment the ravinewas alive with them. They were almost upon him when Kalvar Dard pressedin the thumbpiece of the bomb; they were clutching at him when hereleased it. He felt a slight jar....
* * * * *
When they reached the pass, they all stopped as the son of Kalvar Dardturned and looked back. Dorita stood beside him, looking toward thewaterfall too; she also knew what was about to happen. The others merelygaped in blank incomprehension, or grasped their weapons, thinking thatthe enemy was pressing close behind and that they were making a standhere. A few of the smaller boys and girls began picking up stones.
Then a tiny pin-point of brilliance winked, just below where thesnow-fed stream vanished into the gorge. That was all, for an instant,and then a great fire-shot cloud swirled upward, hundreds of feet intothe air; there was a crash, louder than any sound any of them exceptDorita and Varnis had ever heard before.
"He did it!" Dorita said softly.
"Yes, he did it. My father was a brave man," Bo-Bo replied. "We aresafe, now."
Varnis, shocked by the explosion, turned and stared at him, and then shelaughed happily. "Why, there you are, Dard!" she exclaimed. "I waswondering where you'd gone. What did you do, after we left?"
"What do you mean?" The boy was puzzled, not knowing how much he lookedlike his father, when his father had been an officer of the FrontierGuards, twenty years before.
His puzzlement worried Varnis vaguely. "You.... You are Dard, aren'tyou?" she asked. "But that's silly; of course you're Dard! Who elsecould you be?"
"Yes. I am Dard," the boy said, remembering that it was the rule foreverybody to be kind to Varnis and to pretend to agree with her. Thenanother thought struck him. His shoulders straightened. "Yes. I am Dard,son of Dard," he told them all. "I lead, now. Does anybody say no?"
He shifted his axe and spear to his left hand and laid his right hand onthe butt of his pistol, looking sternly at Dorita. If any of them triedto dispute his claim, it would be she. But instead, she gave him thenearest thing to a real smile that had crossed her face in years.
"You are Dard," she told him; "you lead us, now."
"But of course Dard leads! Hasn't he always led us?" Varnis wanted toknow. "Then what's all the argument about? And tomorrow he's going totake us to Tareesh, and we'll have houses and ground-cars and aircraftand gardens and lights, and all the lovely things we want. Aren't you,Dard?"
"Yes, Varnis; I will take you all to Tareesh, to all the wonderfulthings," Dard, son of Dard, promised, for such was the rule aboutVarnis.
Then he looked down from the pass into the country beyond. There werelower mountains, below, and foothills, and a wide blue valley, and,beyond that, distant peaks reared jaggedly against the sky. He pointedwith his father's axe.
"We go down that way," he said.
* * * * *
So they went, down, and on, and on, and on. The last cartridge wasfired; the last sliver of Doorshan metal wore out or rusted away. Bythen, however, they had learned to make chipped stone, and bone, andreindeer-horn, serve their needs. Century after century, millenniumafter millennium, they followed the game-herds from birth to death, andbirth replenished their numbers faster than death depleted. Bands grewin numbers and split; young men rebelled against the rule of the old andtook their women and children elsewhere.
They hunted down the hairy Neanderthalers, and exterminated themruthlessly, the origin of their implac
able hatred lost in legend. Allthat they remembered, in the misty, confused, way that one remembers adream, was that there had once been a time of happiness and plenty, andthat there was a goal to which they would some day attain. They left themountains--were they the Caucasus? The Alps? The Pamirs?--and spreadoutward, conquering as they went.
We find their bones, and their stone weapons, and their crude paintings,in the caves of Cro-Magnon and Grimaldi and Altimira and Mas-d'Azil; thedeep layers of horse and reindeer and mammoth bones at theirfeasting-place at Solutre. We wonder how and whence a race so like ourown came into a world of brutish sub-humans.
Just as we wonder, too, at the network of canals which radiate from thepolar caps of our sister planet, and speculate on the possibility thatthey were the work of hands like our own. And we concoct elaborate jokesabout the "Men From Mars"--_ourselves_.
The End
* * * * *
TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS CORRECTED
The following typographical errors in the text were corrected asdetailed here.
In the text: "... an automatic computer figured the distance to theplanet,..." the word "computor" was corrected to "computer."
In the text: "Then, with every atom of strength they possessed they ranaway ...," the word "posessed" was corrected to "possessed."
In two places in the text "Anelea" was corrected to "Analea."
In the text: "If they could avoid collisions with the Hairy People..."the word "collisons" was corrected to "collisions."
In the text: "Some day, an even mightier civilization than the one hehad left would rise here ..." the word "that" was corrected to "than."
In the text: "There had been a quick flurry of shots that had felled allfour of the assailants, and Seldar Glav had finished..." the word "Klav"was corrected to "Glav."
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