Space Gladiators by David Drake (ed )

Author:David Drake (ed,) [Drake, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sci-Fi & Fantasy Anthology
Publisher: Ace Books
Published: 1989-04-01T23:00:00+00:00

The matador passed the animal eight times before finally bringing it to a frustrated standstill and stalking arrogantly away, not bothering to look over his shoulder to see if the animal was making one last charge.

The fight proceeded through the quarter of the picadors, through the quarter of the banderilleros.

Guerro wiped his forehead again. “Perfect,” he said. “Everything perfect. It is possibly the most superlative corrida I have ever seen.”

“We’re losing, eh?” Helen said lowly. “And our boy hasn’t even been to bat yet.”

For the moment, the bull stood immediately below them, breathing deeply from his exertions, waiting while Carlitos selected his sword and muleta. Waiting while Carlitos dedicated the animal to the three judges of the National Fiesta Brava finals. The matador wound it up by tossing his hat back over his shoulder into the stands and advanced toward the animal.

Pierre Lorans pursed plump lips. “Those are strange looking horns,” he muttered.

Guerro looked at him. “Beef animals no longer have such horns, it is true. But they are especially bred fighting bulls, these, and the wide horn spread and length are necessary for a proper corrida.”

“It is not that,” Lorans grumbled. “As an apprentice at the Cordon Bleu, I had to become a butcher. One cannot cook if one does not know what he cooks. Each Cordon Bleu chef is a butcher as well as many other things. And I say …”

He lost the attention of his listeners as Carlitos went into his faena, the final series of passes that culminated in the moment of truth, the bull’s death.

The kill was perfect, the bull dropped as though he had been poleaxed. Carlitos paraded the ring, the crowd cheering. He and his assistants held up his award, two ears, the tail and a hoof.

“The highest possible award,” Guerro told them, wiping his mouth in despair with his handkerchief.

Perico had the next bull, a cardeno, Guerro explained, an animal with a black and white coat.

The dark complected matador lived up to his reputation for foolhardy chances by beginning the fight on his knees, his cape spread before him, his arms spread wide, as though in supplication to the bull. Immediately upon entering the ring, it spotted him and banged in his direction.

Helen closed her eyes; seemingly, there was no chance of the avoiding of destruction. At the last split second, the matador grabbed up the cape and fluttered it to one side, and the animal exploded past. The crowed screamed itself hoarse.

Perico was awarded two ears and a tail. Not quite as much as Carlito had taken, but each had one more bull to fight.

It was the tum of Joseíto. Elements in the crowd yelled, “Lorca! Lorca!”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.