The Complete Hok the Mighty by Manly Wade Wellman

Author:Manly Wade Wellman [Wellman, Manly Wade]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-07-09T04:00:00+00:00

IT was so. Vwil flew them high into the night air, then made a landing at the rim of the valley. They came out again, and looked down at the flaming structures that were once the stronghold of Earth’s invaders and would-be conquerors.

“Will you slay this one, too?” whispered Aria to Naku as they emerged, but he shook his head.

“Vwil is kind. He alone seemed to be a friend when I was a prisoner. And he has now saved our lives, when he could have left us in the midst of that fire.”

Vwil, too, came into the open.

“I have checked the equipment,” he announced. “Emergency rations, water enough, and the fuel, though it would hardly stir the big ship, will carry this little one all the way home.”

“Home to your star?” demanded Naku. “Is that where you go?”

“Where else?” smiled Vwil. “This world has hardly been hospitable.”

“But you will bring back others to fight and kill us.”

Vwil shook his domed head.

“No. I go to make a report to my people that your world is uninhabitable.”

Naku looked his incomprehension, and Vwil elaborated:

“My commander used to say harsh things about my soft weakness. He scorned me for being merciful. Perhaps he was right—but he is dead, and I alone am left. My judgment must suffice. And I want nothing else to do with you men.”

“We fight hard,” agreed Naku.

“I am not even sure that we would win a permanent victory over you,” went on Vwil. “You might be defeated temporarily, then rally and wipe us out. And we of my world are not seeking to die; we are seeking to live.”

Naku felt a sudden burst of warm generosity.

“Vwil,” he said, “your kindness counts for something. Perhaps we can live in peace, if we make every effort—”

“No, my friend,” broke in Vwil. “You are wrong. You and I might live as neighbors and comrades. But my people are greedy, and yours are stubborn. There could be only war between them. It is better that we keep our ways separate.”

He put out his hand, and Naku took it and shook it. Aria, who had understood none of Vwil’s talk, did the same.

“And now I will enter my craft,” finished Vwil. “I will give you time to get well away from the blast of the rockets. Good-by.”

Vwil got into the life-rocket and closed the door. Naku and Aria walked briskly away, far along the rim of the valley. As they did so, they heard the roar of the take-off behind them, and turned to see. But Vwil was no more than a comet in the upper sky, seeming to slide away between the stars.

The two had time to look at each other and smile. It seemed to them that nothing would ever be exciting again, except each other.

“Rrau, the war chief of my people, is dead,” said Naku. “Ipsar, the priest, is dead. I am young, but probably I shall rule what is left of us.”

“Do your men take more than one wife?” asked Aria, and Naku shook his head.

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