“We’re from off planet. We had … an accident. We want to go to the city. The water.”
The Disan looked at the unconscious girl and made his decision. Over one shoulder he wore one of the green objects that Brion remembered from the solido. He pulled it off and the thing writhed slowly in his hands. It was alive—a green length a metre long, like a noduled section of a thick vine. One end flared out into a petal-like formation. The Disan took a hook-shaped object from his waist and thrust it into the petaled orifice. When he turned the hook in a quick motion the length of green writhed and curled around his arm. He pulled something small and dark out and threw it to the ground, extending the twisting green shape towards Brion. “Put your mouth to the end and drink,” he said.
Lea needed the water more, but he drank first, suspicious of the living water source. A hollow below the writhing petals was filling with straw-colored water from the fibrous, reedy interior. He raised it to his mouth and drank. The water was hot and tasted swampy. Sudden sharp pains around his mouth made him jerk the thing away. Tiny glistening white barbs projected from the petals pink-tipped now with his blood. Brion swung towards the Disan angrily—and stopped when he looked at the other man’s face. His mouth was surrounded by many small white scars.
“The vaede does not like to give up its water, but it always does,” the man said.
Brion drank again, then put the vaede to Lea’s mouth. She moaned without regaining consciousness, her lips seeking reflexively for the lifesaving liquid. When she was satisfied Brion gently drew the barbs from her flesh and drank again. The Disan hunkered down on his heels and watched them expressionlessly. Brion handed back the vaede, then held some of the clothes so that Lea was in their shade. He settled to the same position as the native and looked closely at him.
Squatting immobile on his heels, the Disan appeared perfectly comfortable under the flaming sun. There was no trace of perspiration on his naked, browned skin. Long hair fell to his shoulders, and startlingly blue eyes stared back at Brion from deepset sockets. The heavy kilt around his loins was the only garment he wore. Once more the vaede rested over his shoulder, still stirring unhappily. Around his waist was the same collection of leather, stone and brass objects that had been in the solido. Two of them now had meaning to Brion: the tube-and-mouthpiece, a blowgun of some kind; and the specially shaped hook for opening the vaede. He wondered if the other strangely formed things had equally practical functions. If you accepted them as artifacts with a purpose—not barbaric decorations—you had to accept their owner as something more than the crude savage he resembled.
“My name is Brion. And you—”
“You may not have my name. Why are you here? To kill my people?”
Brion forced away the memory of last night. Killing was just what he had done. Some expectancy in the man’s manner, some sensed feeling of hope prompted Brion to speak the truth.
“I’m here to stop your people from being killed. I believe in the end of the war.”
“Prove it.”
“Take me to the Cultural Relationships Foundations in the city and I’ll prove it. I can do nothing here in the desert. Except die.”
For the first time there was emotion on the Disan’s face. He frowned and muttered something to himself. There was a fine beading of sweat above his eyebrows now as he fought an internal battle. Coming to a decision, he rose, and Brion stood too.
“Come with me. I’ll take you to Hovedstad. But first you will tell me—are you from Nyjord?”
“No.”
The nameless Disan merely grunted and turned away. Brion shouldered Lea’s unconscious body and followed him. They walked for two hours, the Disan setting a cruel pace, before they reached a wasteland of jumbled rock. The native pointed to the highest tower of sand-eroded stone. “Wait near this,” he said. “Someone will come for you.” He watched while Brion placed the girl’s still body in the shade, and passed over the vaede for the last time. Just before leaving he turned back, hesitating.
“My name is … Ulv,” he said. Then he was gone.
Brion did what he could to make Lea comfortable, but it was very little. If she didn’t get medical attention soon she would be dead. Dehydration and shock were uniting to destroy her.
Just before sunset he heard clanking, and the throbbing whine of a sand car’s engine coming from the west.
VIII
With each second the noise grew louder, coming their way. The tracks squeaked as the car turned around the rock spire, obviously seeking them out. A large carrier, big as a truck, it stopped before them in a cloud of its own dust and the driver kicked the door open.
“Get in here—and fast!” the man shouted. “You’re letting in all the heat.” He gunned the engine, ready to kick in the gears, and looked at them irritatedly.
Ignoring the driver’s nervous instructions, Brion carefully placed Lea on the rear seat before he pulled the door shut. The car surged forward instantly, a blast of icy air pouring from the air-cooling vents. It wasn’t cold in the vehicle—but the temperature was at least forty degrees lower than the outer air. Brion covered Lea with all their extra clothing to prevent any further shock to her system. The driver, hunched over the wheel and driving with an intense speed, hadn’t said a word to them since they had entered.
Brion looked up as another man stepped from the engine compartment in the rear of the car. He was thin, harried-looking. And he was pointing a gun.
“Who are you?” he said, without a trace of warmth in his voice.
It was a strange reception, but Brion was
