Atlantis Endgame by Andre Norton & Sherwood Smith

Author:Andre Norton & Sherwood Smith [Norton, Andre & Smith, Sherwood]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Demonoid Upload 6
ISBN: 9780812584158
Publisher: Lisa's E-Book Collection
Published: 2003-12-18T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

ROSS HAD JUST enough presence of mind not to answer.

A long pause ensued, during which no one moved, or spoke, and then the being said in Ancient Greek, "You seek me?"

Ross turned to Gordon in question: do we take this guy prisoner or not? And Gordon looked back, brows raised.

The alien's hands were empty. The other one of its kind was nowhere in sight.

"Let's talk," Ross said, indicating slightly higher ground. Neutral ground, away from caves full of mysterious tech.

In answer the being walked round smoke-withered shrubs, rocks crunching underfoot. Ross, feeling uneasy, followed that long robe with its dusty hem, and Gordon fell in behind him.

For a short time the alien looked out over the vista. Smoke and haze diffused the horizon, but Ross, scanning fast, made out smoke plumes issuing from the mountain maybe a mile or two to the north and a twin plume lazily rising from the pre-Kameni Island out in the great lagoon. The island was just barely a silhouette in the yellow-tinged murk.

"Who are you?" Ross demanded.

Gordon half-raised a hand, and Ross clamped his mouth shut, folding his arms across his chest. Shut up, he thought.

They've already half-guessed what time we really come from. Don't hand them any more clues.

The alien's speech was tenor and softly sibilant, almost whistling; though the face and body were vaguely humanoid, its palate sounded like it was constructed differently.

"Call uss Kayu."

Gordon replied, "Why are you here?"

"We are here to halt our old enemiess, if we can. We are now two only. Time," the Kayu added, as a hot, stinging breeze ruffled through its silky hair, "iss dessperate and short."

——————————

HIDDEN BY BANKS of fog, the ship bounced through greenish waves. Eveleen leaned against the side, feeling the wind on her face. She listened, with her eyes closed, to the rapid conversation in Modern Greek between Kosta and Stavros coming from belowdecks.

She was glad to be passive for a time. She and Kosta had been forced to spend the night on a little patch of shore, no food, no water, dressed in their wetsuits. Cold had not been the problem, but heat and thirst; they'd resorted to swimming just to get rid of body heat, but of course they couldn't drink the water that surrounded them.

But just after dawn they'd seen the ship emerge from drifting smoke-tinged fog, and by the time they'd swum out, fastened the sled to the underside of the hull, and climbed aboard, Stavros had hot food and coffee waiting.

Finally she heard Kosta's step, and she looked up. He swiped his curly hair back, squinting against the furious glare of the sun, and then he sneezed violently.

"Smoke is worse," he said as Stavros appeared behind him.

Unanswerable. Eveleen just nodded.

"Stav was blown out through the opening to sea during the storm, as we thought. He used the motor to come back in to retrieve us, and stayed close to the cliffs below the main island in order to stay unseen. Very close, or he would not have found it.

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