Survival from Infinity by Roger Elwood
Author:Roger Elwood [Elwood, Roger]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0531026663
Publisher: Franklin Watts
Published: 1974-01-01T05:00:00+00:00
Ssaynahrâs expression, as far as Burk could tell he had an expression, remained calm. âTo me, they are the same,â he said.
âVisual sensitivity,â suggested Burk. âHe probably doesnât perceive colors the way we do.â
Jensen ignored the comment. âYouâre sure none of your people knows where there are other rocks that look like this?â he insisted.
Ssaynahr was firmly certain. âThis is the one place for any such rock. If there were other places, I would have told you.â
Jensen snorted in disgust, jammed the sample back in his pocket, and strode out of the cave.
âI sorrow that your egg-brother is displeased,â said Ssaynahr.
âWe thank you for bringing us here,â said Burk. âJensen is not our egg-brother, by the way. He can look in other places for the rocks he seeks. Shall we go back outside?â
âI think Iâll sit here for a minute,â said Marston, setting his handflash on a rock ledge. âIâve developed a dandy cramp where my leg was jammed against the scanner housing.â
Ssaynahr drifted toward the back of the cave, looking closely at the rock formations. Burk sat beside Marston just as Jensen strolled back in. his temper evidently restored.
âWe may as well start back for camp,â Jensen announced briskly. âIf we follow the path we came by, we should get back just after dawn.â
âYou know,â said Marston, massaging his leg, âit was odd about your meeting with the Ssarnohrians. You say there were hundreds of them all around you?â
Jensen stopped buckling the scanner back into its case. âSeveral hundred, Iâd say. Wouldnât you agree, Burk?â Burk nodded. âSeveral hundred at least.â
âI was trying to correlate your beacon signals with the SLS, to double-check the fix on your location,â said Marston, âand all I got on the SLS was just the three strong tracesâyours, Burkâs, and that squiggly signal Ssaynahr makesânothing else.â
âThatâs ridiculous,â said Burk. âWe both saw their eyesâhundreds of themâand heard them moving around up on the terraces.â
âBut Ssaynahr wouldnât let you use your handflash for long,â murmured Jensen thoughtfully, âand thereâs something about those reflecting eyes. . . .â He stopped abruptly, then started unbuckling the scanner case. âYou and Marston go back down to the groundrover,â he ordered. âGet everything stowed for the trip back. I want to talk a few minutes with Ssaynahr; show him how the scanner reacts to real Dluerite. Ssaynahr!â he called.
The alien appeared at the shadowed back reaches of the cave and started their way. Jensen turned to Burk.
âWell, go on. What are you waiting for?â he snapped irritably.
Burk shouldered the tool kit as Marston retrieved his handflash. Jensen waited until he could hear them crunching down the slope.
âI want a private talk with you, Ssaynahr,â Jensen began, easing his stunner from its belt clasp. âMarston just told me that the only thinking creatures at our big meeting in the desert were you, Burk, and I. What do you say to that?â
âMy people were there, Jenssohn. You saw them.â
âDid I? What I saw were hundreds of eyes reflecting the light from
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