scrambled group.
Kitiara burst out laughing. 'Acres of slope, and they all have to stop on the same spot!'
Sturm frowned. 'I hope no one's hurt.'
Feet and legs and wreckage untangled into six shaky gnomes. Sighter helped them untangle themselves.
Wingover finally waved to the humans.
'That means go!' Kitiara shouted, and pushed herself off.
Sturm was caught off guard.
'Not fair!' he cried, but dug in his heels and tipped over the cliff lip in hot pursuit.
He immediately lost control. The sled careened sharply to the right, and Sturm leaned away from the turn. There was a sickening snap, and his seat sagged under him. Sturm less ened his lean, and the sled slowly corrected itself.
Kitiara barreled straight down the slope at full speed, her feet pressed together and her knees poking out on either side. 'Ya-ha-ha-ha!' she crowed. She was far out in front of
Sturm, who couldn't seem to get his sled to run in a straight line for more than a few feet at a time.
Kitiara hit a hump and bounced several inches off her seat. Instead of frightening her, the bump only increased her delight. A whole series of bumps approached, and she didn't slacken speed at all.
It wasn't until she hit the fourth bump that she realized she was in trouble. That bump slammed her hard against the flimsy seat struts. The left runner splintered along its length.
Kitiara put her left boot down to slow herself. The hobnails in her shoe sole bit, and her left leg was yanked back. Mind ful of what Cutwood had said about breaking toes, she didn't resist the pulling and was swept off the sled. She land ed hard on her right shoulder and rolled over and over.
Sturm didn't dare try to stop his sled, and coasted to the bot tom. The second his runners stuck in the gravel, he was on his feet. Kitiara lay motionless on her stomach.
Sturm ran to her, closely followed by the gnomes. He dropped on one knee and gently turned her over. Her face was contorted, and she uttered a ferocious curse.
'Where does it hurt?' he said.
'My shoulder,' she hissed through clenched teeth.
'Could be a broken collarbone,' said Rainspot.
'Is there any way to tell for sure?'
'Ask her to touch her left shoulder with her right hand,' suggested Roperig. 'If she can, the bone must not be bro ken.'
'Such anatomical ignorance!' said Sighter. 'One must probe with one's fingers in order to find the ends of the sepa rated bone — '
'Don't let them touch me,' Kitiara whispered. 'If they can't prove it any other way, they may decide to cut me open to examine my bones.' Just then Sturm heard Cut wood saying something about 'exploratory surgery.'
Wingover, who was standing by Kitiara's feet, said, 'No bones are broken.'
'How do you know?' asked Cutwood.
'I can see them,' he replied. 'There don't even seem to be any cracks. It's probably a sprain.'
'You can see through flesh nowt' Sturm asked incredu lously. Put so bluntly, Wingover suddenly realized what he was doing.
'By Reorx!' he said. 'This is terrific! I wonder what else I can see through?' The gnomes crowded around him, Kitiara forgotten. They took turns having Wingover peer through their bodies and describing what he saw. Cries of 'Hydro dynamics!' filled the air.
Kitiara tried to sit up, but the pain took her breath away.
'Keep still,' Sturm cautioned. 'I'll have to find something to bind up your shoulder.'
He rummaged through his belongings and found his only change of shirt — a white linen blouse made by the best tailor in Solace. Regretfully, he tore it into inch-wide strips and tied their ends into one long bandage.
'You'll have to get your arm out of the sleeve,' he said.
'Cut the seams,' said Kitiara.
Sturm checked. 'The seams are underneath. You'll still have to slip it off.'
'All right. Help me up.'
As easily as he could, Sturm helped Kitiara to sit up. Her face went pale, and as he tried to loosen the sleeve from her right arm, tears of pain trickled down her face.
'You know, I've never seen you cry before,' he said in a low voice.
'Ah! Ah! — what's the matter, didn't you think I could?'
Sturm kept his mouth shut and turned her fur coat. The leather he could cut away, but underneath she still wore her mail shirt. 'I'll have to bind you over the mail,' he said.
'Yes, yes,' she said. Pain made her impatient.
He sat down facing her and carefully lifted her right arm until she could rest it on his shoulder. Sturm wound the lin en bandage over Kitiara's shoulder and under her arm.
'Tight enough?'
Gasp. 'Yes.'
'I'll leave enough cloth to make a sling,' he said sympa thetically.
'Whatever.' She lowered her head into her left hand. Her face was flushed.
I thought she'd be stronger than this, Sturm thought, as he wrapped. Surely she's been wounded in battle worse than this! Aloud, he said, 'With all your combat experience, you must be an old hand at field dressings. Am I doing this right?'
'I've never been wounded,' Kitiara murmured through her hand. 'A few cuts and scrapes, that's all.'
'You've been lucky.' Sturm was amazed.
'I don't let enemies get close enough to hurt me.'
Sturm helped her stand. He draped the empty sleeve over
Kitiara's shoulder. The gnomes were energetically debating the nature of Wingover's expanding talent.
— 'Obviously, he is seeing a subtle variety of light that nor mal eyes cannot detect,' said Cutwood.
'Obvious to any fool,' Sighter countered. 'The method is this: Wingover is now emitting rays from his eyes that pierce flesh and clothing. The source of his sight must be his own eyes.'
'Ahem.' interrupted Sturm, 'Could you manage this argument while walking? We have a long way to go and a short night to do it in.'
'How is the lady?' asked Roperig. 'Can she walk?'
'I can run. How about youl' said Kitiara challengingly.
There wasn't much left to salvage from the smashed remains of the sleds. Sturm realized that for the first time the gnomes were going to have to travel light; they had no means left by which to carry their heavy, useless gear. They dithered over what to take and what to abandon. The gnomes were about to adopt Roperig's suggestion that they assign numerical values to each item and then choose a total value of items not to exceed two hundred points per gnome.
'I'm going,' Kitiara said shortly. She tried to sling her and
Sturm's bedrolls on her good shoulder. Sturm caught the straps and took both rolls away from her. 'I lost the bet,' she admitted.
'Don't be a fool,' he said. 'I'll carry them.'
They walked about half a mile and stopped to let the gnomes catch up. How they rattled and jingled! Each gnome had a workshop's worth of tools dangling from his vest and belt.
'I hope we don't have to sneak up on anybody,' muttered
Kitiara. The weary but steadfast party formed again and set out for the great obelisk and the Voice that inhabited it.
Ten miles had passed beneath their feet when Cutwood started complaining of a pounding in his head. His col leagues made jokes at his expense until Sturm shushed them.
Rainspot gave Cutwood a cursory examination.
