Shadow on the Stars by Robert B. Marcus Jr

Author:Robert B. Marcus Jr. [Marcus, Robert B. Jr.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0373720572
Publisher: Laser Books (Harlequin Enterprises)
Published: 1977-02-01T00:00:00+00:00

Bones, Tior Trid thought. Sra Tior Mrid and Sra Tior Drid. Perhaps not even bones. Perhaps dust. Here. In the City of Thought. Loneliness. Like the Earthmen. Silence. Dust and jungle. One-third alive. He would have cried but his race had no tear ducts.

CHAPTER 7

The morning air was still damp and cool and somewhat misty. Sandrye and Rhehe had decided it must be safe to breathe, since the Fifth Allied Survey Expedition had survived for a while. Thron was hesitant and suggested they take the necessary hour to test a few samples, but his opinion was ignored. Camarch remained silent. Not only would his opinion count for as little as Thron’s, but he realized this was Tior Trid’s planet, and Tior Trid was having no apparent problems with the Earth-type atmosphere of the Birmingham.

Camarch had other things to worry about. Sandrye no doubt had some nasty fate planned, but Camarch was not sure what. Given a choice, he was willing to take his chances on surviving alone on this planet rather than staying with Sandrye, but escape seemed unlikely. Sandrye, Rhehe, Ranwuella and a granite-like man named Frew Ionon all carried blasters, while the only help Camarch could count on was that of the unarmed Tior Trid. Amalarie and Thron were along, but Camarch had doubts about them. He would just have to bide his time.

Walking didn’t bother Camarch as much as he had expected after almost six months in a starship, including two of them locked in one small room. In fact, the exercise felt good so far. However, the Birmingham had landed more than two kilometers from the edge of the city, and Camarch suspected that by the time he walked that far, he might feel differently.

He was right. Except for Tior Trid, who managed the hike effortlessly, everyone was sweating and breathing a little more rapidly by the time the party reached the city wall.

Rhehe seemed to be the most affected, possibly because he was the oldest. He paused, wiped off his forehead with the back of his hand and said, “We should have waited for the fliers.”

“It takes a day to put one together. Did you want to wait that long?”

“I guess not, but… I’m not looking forward to the walk back.”

Sandrye frowned in disgust and turned to study another problem. There seemed to be no entrance to the city. It was lined with windowless buildings of various shapes, but all were at least ten meters high. In every direction the buildings flowed together as if fused by some giant torch.

While Sandrye searched for an entrance, Camarch stared at the mottled silver sphere standing less than half a kilometer away from him. He would have liked to explore the Survey ship before proceeding into the city to examine any clues that might explain what had happened to the first expedition. His opinions were not held in very high regard at the moment, however, so he said nothing.

“I suppose we’ll have to go over the top,” Ionon suggested.

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