Return to Kaldak by Jeffrey Lord

Author:Jeffrey Lord
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Pulp Adventure
ISBN: 9780523412108
Publisher: PINNACLE BOOKS
Published: 1983-02-14T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

The three surviving guards weren't going to drop their guns, not with a comrade to avenge. On the other hand, they weren't quite crazy enough to draw as long as Blade had the drop on them.

They could go for their pistols the minute he blinked, though. How long could he keep from blinking?

Then a thought struck Blade. He filled his mind with a picture of Cheeky going around to the three guards and taking their pistols. He held the picture until he sensed that Cheeky was getting it, thinking it over, and beginning to calm down.

At last Cheeky gave a small yeeep, and threw his arms around Blade's head. For a moment Blade was afraid his vision would be blocked and the guards would take advantage of that fact. Then Cheeky jumped down from Blade's shoulder and trotted over to the first guard.

"Give him your pistol," said Blade. The guard stared at Blade, then at Cheeky, obviously wondering who was crazy. "You've got until I count four," said Blade. "One, two-"

At "three" the guard decided that obeying Blade was his only chance of staying alive until he could figure out what was happening. He dropped his pistol onto the terrace, and Cheeky picked it up. The other two guards did the same, and Cheeky returned to Blade with one pistol in each hand and dragging the third with his tail.

For the moment, the immediate danger from the three guards was past. Blade suspected the next move was up to someone else.

Meanwhile, thick and greasy smoke kept pouring out the broken window. Blade wondered what Cheeky had done to escape. He got a reply in the form of a mental picture-Cheeky dashing around a laboratory, upsetting everything in sight until some chemicals finally spilled on a live wire. The feather-monkey also projected a picture of people in laboratory smocks running around screaming, their hair and clothing on fire. He seemed rather happy about their fate.

For the first time Blade noticed that Cheeky was so gaunt his ribs were showing. Some of his feathers had been singed off, and bare skin showed where others had been deliberately plucked out. He'd been treated as an experimental animal, and not too well-treated at that! If so, then it seemed to Blade that the Doimari Seekers were getting just about what they deserved.

The guards became more nervous as the uproar from the laboratory grew. They looked about ready to jump Blade, when suddenly the door flew open. A man in a smoke-grimed laboratory coat ran out, followed by a young woman. The man took one look at Cheeky on Blade's shoulder, then cursed.

"What are you doing with that little monster?" he snarled. "Give him back or-"

Blade showed the scientist the muzzle of his pistol. "First, you tell me where you found him and what you've been-"

"Who are you to ask me?" the scientist blustered, ignoring the pistol.

"Erhon, don't be foolish," said the woman. "Blue Boy might have been that man's pet. He could tell-"

The

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