The Falcon Killer by L. Ron Hubbard

Author:L. Ron Hubbard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Galaxy Press
Published: 2010-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

In the instant he found to glance back he saw the earth break into a sheet of racing flame.

Five days later, with the coming of dusk which was thinned by a rising moon, Gaylord, weary with the hours of effort in the air, returned to the palace. The quarters which had been assigned to him were spacious enough, but Szui Mai had made a feeble expression of displeasure by giving Gaylord the oldest and most decrepit servant in Chanfo. Nearly all the furniture in the place was on its last legs, just like the servant. But Gaylord had scant time to take account of any such small indignities.

He threw his grease-spattered helmet down on the table and shrugged out of his flying jacket. He reeked of cordite and oil fumes, and his face was wind-burned a dull red except where his goggles had protected it.

The door opened behind him and Henry came in, bringing a glass of whiskey. “Man! It’s a wonder you and that Fwang haven’t pulled the sky down on this place! Why, those devils didn’t even offer to put up a scrap today. You’ve got them scared out! Hey! You’re hurt!”

Gaylord, with an expression of wonderment, glanced down at himself.

“Your neck,” said Henry, setting down the whiskey and looking at the scratch made by an ejected brass empty. “You’ve got to be good to that neck. This whole country is depending upon it right now.”

“Don’t even know when I got it,” said Gaylord, taking up the drink. “Pull that bell, will you?” he added. “Maybe a bath will take some of this grime off me.”

Henry pulled the rope. He was so jubilant over the turn of affairs that he couldn’t stand still, and went marching all around the huge room. “Yessir, you’ve got them on the run. I bet they won’t even come back tomorrow. I bet—”

“You’d lose,” said Gaylord. “I hate to dump cold water on you, but we spotted a lorry column on the desert about noon. Japanese troops, heading in toward the north pass. As soon as we get some dinner, Fwang and I are going over to strafe them. There’s a full moon up and the night is clear.”

“Why . . . that’s bad! Hadn’t we better go tell Szui Mai about it right away?”

“I had an officer at the drome phone in the report,” said Gaylord, prying the shirt from his back. “Besides, I’ve got a good hunch that he knows all about it.”

“But how could he? He hasn’t any intelligence service that I know of.”

Gaylord didn’t answer. He sat down in a chair and began to unlace his boots, pausing from time to time to sip at the drink. He seemed to be ten thousand feet in the clouds, for all the attention he paid to Henry. But Henry, worried, rattled on.

After a while the ancient “boy” hobbled into the room. He was bearing a tray of glasses and bottles, and his hand was so shaky that they rattled all together like wind chimes in a hurricane.

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.