Asymmetry by A G Claymore

Author:A G Claymore [Claymore, A G]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-14T22:00:00+00:00

If You Wait Long Enough by the River,

Your Enemies Will Probably Urinate Upstream…

Planet 3428

The way through the brambles must have been on the far right side because the deadly rocks were sliding steadily to the left. Viggo was just about to raise up enough to see the way ahead but he stopped himself and grabbed the gunwales. He flexed forward as the small craft grounded on a gravel bar.

The chimera tumbled about in the bows but seemed more or less unruffled.

The two front paddlers jumped out and began trying to heave the boat up onto the gravel. Viggo jumped out to help. He felt as though the effects of the dart had worn off but, with this blurry night-vision, it was kind of hard to tell.

‘One, two, heave!” the female monk chanted, over and over until the boat was halfway out of the water. She used exaggerated head and mouth movements because the roar of the rapids through the brambles made it hard to hear her. “OK,” she panted, waving a hand and mouthing something that looked like “wait.” She waved the others out from where they’d been sitting at the stern.

All five now heaved at the boat, dragging it entirely out of the water. “We go on foot from here?” Viggo leaned over to shout in Roj’s ear.

“No,” Roj shouted back, putting his mouth close to Viggo’s ear. “We have to drag the boat over the gravel to get past the brambles. Our ride’s just begun.”

They each grabbed onto the gunwales and nobody protested about Viggo helping this time. After a few false starts, they managed to overcome the friction between the gravel and the keel and get the craft moving on the small round rocks. They were slippery with algae and, though it made it easier for them to keep up the critical momentum needed to prevent the boat from grinding to a halt, it also made the footing treacherous.

After they’d moved about forty meters downstream, Viggo saw it happen but he was powerless to stop it. The man in front was about to step on a larger, slanted stone and slip under the bow. The keel would break his leg.

Viggo shouted but it was no use with the rapids roaring to their left and the sound bouncing off the rock face to their right. In a fit of desperation, he let go of the boat and launched himself forward, tackling the man to the ground.

The young monk rolled to the side, away from Viggo and he came to his feet, face blurring and angry at the sudden attack. He started advancing on the young Human who was still on the ground but stopped as the two adult chimera took up blocking positions, indigo eyes blazing at the monk.

They really can read your intentions, Viggo realized. There’s so much about this world we still don’t know. He got up and looked around at the others who were still picking themselves up after the boat’s unexpected halt. It was frustrating that the incident was easily explained in almost any other setting.

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