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Exile · Classic Short Science Fiction Stories

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Speaker 1: Section eleven of twenty short science fiction stories by various authors.
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Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, exiled by
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Speaker 1: h B five. The dom of Eyes made it almost
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Speaker 1: impossible for Terence to reach the world of Tepacht. For
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Speaker 1: those who did land there, there was no returning, only
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Speaker 1: the bitterness of respect and justice. The Depoctin student, whose
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Speaker 1: blue robe in George Kenton's opinion, clashed with the dull
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Speaker 1: purple of his scales, twiddled a three clod hand for attention.
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Speaker 1: Kenton nodded to him from his place on the dais
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Speaker 1: before the group. Then can you give us no precise
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Speaker 1: count of the stars in the galaxy? George Kenton smiled
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Speaker 1: rily and ran a wrinkled hand through his grain hair.
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Speaker 1: In the clicking Topactin's speech, his name came out more
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Speaker 1: like Georch. Questions like this had been put to him
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Speaker 1: often during the ten years. Said his rocket had hurtled
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Speaker 1: through the meteorite belt and down to the surface of Teapak,
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Speaker 1: leaving him the only survivor. Barred off, as they were,
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Speaker 1: from venturing into space. The highly civilized to Pactins constantly
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Speaker 1: displayed the curiosity of dreamers in matters related to the Innerverse.
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Speaker 1: Because of the veil of meteorites and satellite fragments whirling
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Speaker 1: about their planet. Their astronomers had acquired torturous skills, but
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Speaker 1: only scraps of real knowledge. As I believe I mentioned
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Speaker 1: in some of my recorded lectures, Kenton answered, in their language,
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Speaker 1: the number is actually as vast as it seems to
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Speaker 1: those of you peering through the dome of eyes. The
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Speaker 1: scientists of my race have not yet encountered any beings
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Speaker 1: capable of estimating the total. He leaned back and scanned
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Speaker 1: the faces of his interviewers, faces that would have been
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Speaker 1: oddly humanoid were it not for the elongated snouts and pointed,
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Speaker 1: sharp toothed jaws. The average to pactin was slightly under
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Speaker 1: Kenton's height of five feet ten, with a long, supple
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Speaker 1: trunk under the robes their scholars affected. The shortness of
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Speaker 1: their two bowed legs was not obvious, but the sight
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Speaker 1: of the short, thick arms carried high before their chests
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Speaker 1: still left Kenton with a feeling of misproportion. He should
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Speaker 1: be used to it after ten years, he thought, But
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Speaker 1: even the reds or purples of the scales, or the
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Speaker 1: big teeth seemed more natural. I sympathize with your curiosity,
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Speaker 1: he added, It's a marvel that your scientists have managed
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Speaker 1: to measure the distance of so many stars. He could
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Speaker 1: tell that they were pleased by his admiration, and wondered
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Speaker 1: yet again why any little show of approval by him
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Speaker 1: was so eagerly received. Even though he was the first
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Speaker 1: stellar visitor in their recorded history. Kenton remained conscious of
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Speaker 1: the fact that in many fields he was unable to
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Speaker 1: offer the to Bactins any new ideas. In one or
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Speaker 1: two ways, he belie leave no Terran could teach their
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Speaker 1: experts anything. Then, will you tell us, George, more about
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Speaker 1: the problems of your first space explorers? Came another question.
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Speaker 1: Before Kenton had formed his answer, the golden curtains at
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Speaker 1: the rear of the austerly simple chamber parted. Claffed, the topoctin,
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Speaker 1: serving the current year as Kenton's chief aid, hurried toward
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Speaker 1: the dais. The twenty odd members of the group fell
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Speaker 1: silent on their polystone benches, turning their pointed visages to
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Speaker 1: follow Claft's progress. The aid reached Kenton and bent to
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Speaker 1: hiss and clock into the latter's ear in what he
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Speaker 1: presumably considered an undertone. The Terran laboriously spelled out the
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Speaker 1: message inscribed on the limp sat in the paper held
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Speaker 1: before his eyes. Then he rose and took one step
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Speaker 1: toward the waiting group. I regret I shall have to
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Speaker 1: conclude this discussion, he announced. I am informed that another
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Speaker 1: ship from space has reached the surface of Teapock. My
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Speaker 1: presence is requested in case the crew are of my
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Speaker 1: own planet. Klafft excitedly skipped down to lead the way
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Speaker 1: up the aisle, but Kenton hesitated. Those in the audience
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Speaker 1: were scholars or officials, to whom attendants at one of
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Speaker 1: Kenton's limited number of personal lectures was awarded as an honor.
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Speaker 1: They would hardly learn anything from him directly that was
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Speaker 1: not available in recordings made over the course of years.
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Speaker 1: The Deepocht and scientists, historians and philosophers had respectfully but
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Speaker 1: eagerly gathered every crumb of information Kenton knowingly had to offer,
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Speaker 1: and some he thought he had forgotten. Still he sensed
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Speaker 1: the disappointment at his announcement. I shall arrange for you
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Speaker 1: to await my return here in town, Kenton said, and
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Speaker 1: there were murmurs of pleasure. Later aboard the jet helicopter
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Speaker 1: that was basically like those Kenton remembered using on Tera
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Speaker 1: twenty light years away. He shook his head at Claff's
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Speaker 1: respectful protest. But George, it was enough that they were
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Speaker 1: present when you received the news. They can talk about
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Speaker 1: that the rest of their lives. You must not waste
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Speaker 1: your strength on these people who come out of curiosity.
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Speaker 1: Kenton smiled at his aide's earnest concern. Then he turned
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Speaker 1: to look out the window as he recalled the shadow
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Speaker 1: that underlay such remonstrances. He estimated he was about forty
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Speaker 1: eight now, as nearly as he could tell from the
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Speaker 1: somewhat longer revolutions of Teapoch. The time would come when
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Speaker 1: he would age and die, whose wishes would then prevail.
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Speaker 1: Maybe he was wrong, he thought. Maybe he shouldn't stand
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Speaker 1: in the way of their biologists and surgeons. But he'd
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Speaker 1: rather be buried, even if that left them with only
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Speaker 1: what he could tell them about the human body. To
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Speaker 1: help himself, forget the rather preoccupied manner in which some
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Speaker 1: of the teepact and scientists occasionally eyed him. He peered
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Speaker 1: down at the big dam of the hydroelectric project being completed,
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Speaker 1: to Kenton's design. Power from this would soon light the
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Speaker 1: town built to house the staff of scientists, students, and
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Speaker 1: workers assigned to the institute organized about the person of Kenton.
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Speaker 1: Now there was an example of their willingness to repay
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Speaker 1: him for whatever help he had been, He reflected, they
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Speaker 1: hadn't needed that for themselves. In some ways, compared to
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Speaker 1: those of Terra, the industries of Teapok were underdeveloped. In
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Speaker 1: the first place, the population was smaller and had different
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Speaker 1: standards of luxury. In the second, a certain lack of
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Speaker 1: drive resulted from the inability to break out into interplanetary space.
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Speaker 1: Kenton had been inexplicably lucky to have reached the surface,
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Speaker 1: even in a battered hulk. The shell of the meteorites
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Speaker 1: was at least one hundred miles thick and constantly shifting.
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Speaker 1: We do not know if they have always been meteorites
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Speaker 1: the Tepactans had told Kenton, or whether part of them
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Speaker 1: come from a destroyed satellite, but our observers have proven
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Speaker 1: mathematically that no direct path through them may be predicted
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Speaker 1: more than a very short while in advance. Kenton turned
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Speaker 1: away from the window as he caught the glint of
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Speaker 1: Teapak's son on the hall of the spaceship they also
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Speaker 1: had built for him. Perhaps would it be fair to
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Speaker 1: encourage the newcomer to attempt the barrier. For ten years,
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Speaker 1: Kenton had failed to work up any strong desire to
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Speaker 1: try it. The Tepactans called the ever shifting Lights of
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Speaker 1: the Domise after a myth in which each tiny satellite
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Speaker 1: bright enough to be visible was supposed to watch over
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Speaker 1: a single individual on the surface. Like their brothers Onta,
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Speaker 1: the native astronomers could trace their science back to a
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Speaker 1: form of astrology, and Kenton often told them jokingly that
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Speaker 1: he felt no urge to risk a physical encounter with
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Speaker 1: his own personal eye. The helicopter started to descend, and
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Speaker 1: Kenton remembered that the city named in his message was
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Speaker 1: only about twenty miles from his home. The brief twilight
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Speaker 1: of Teapock was passing by the time he set foot
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Speaker 1: on the landing field, and he paused to look up.
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Speaker 1: The brighter stars visible from this part of the planet
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Speaker 1: twinkled back at him, and he knew that each was
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Speaker 1: being scrutinized by some amateur or professional astronomer. Before an
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Speaker 1: hour had elapsed, most of them would be obscured by
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Speaker 1: the tiny moonlits, some of which could already be seen.
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Speaker 1: These could easily be mistaken for stars or the other
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Speaker 1: five planets of the system, but in a short while,
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Speaker 1: the tinier ones in groups would cause a celestial haze
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Speaker 1: resembling a miniature milky way. Klaft, who had descended first,
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Speaker 1: leaving the pilot to bring up the rear, noticed Kenton's pause.
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Speaker 1: Glory glitters till it is known for a curse, he remarked,
9:00
Speaker 1: quoting a tippactin proverb often applied by the disgruntled scientists
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Speaker 1: to the dome of eyes. Kenton observed, however, that his
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Speaker 1: aid also stared upward for a long moment. The Tipactins
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Speaker 1: loved speculating about the unsolvable They had even found clubs
9:17
Speaker 1: to argue whether two satellites had been destroyed or only one.
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Speaker 1: Half a dozen officials hastened up to escort the party
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Speaker 1: to the vehicle awaiting Kenton. Klaft succeeded in quieting the
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Speaker 1: lesser members of the delegation so that Kenton was able
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Speaker 1: to learn a few facts about the new arrival. The
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Speaker 1: crash had been several hundred miles away, but someone had
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Speaker 1: thought of the hospital in this city, which was known
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Speaker 1: to have a doctor rating as an expert in human physiology.
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Speaker 1: The survivor, only one occupant of the wreck, alive or dead,
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Speaker 1: had been discovered, had accordingly been flown here. With the
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Speaker 1: clanging of bells. The little con boy of ground cars
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Speaker 1: drew up in front of the hospital. Away was made
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Speaker 1: through the chittering crowd around the entrance. Within a few minutes,
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Speaker 1: Kenton found himself looking down at a palette upon which
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Speaker 1: lay another terran, a man, he thought, then curled a
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Speaker 1: lip rightly at the sudden, unexpected pang of disappointment. Well,
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Speaker 1: he hadn't realized until then what he was really hoping for.
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Speaker 1: The spaceman had been cleaned up and banaged by the
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Speaker 1: native medicos. Kenton saw that his left thigh was probably broken.
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Speaker 1: Other dressings suggested cracked ribs and lacerations on the head
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Speaker 1: and shoulders. The man was dark haired, but pale of skin,
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Speaker 1: with a jutting chin and a nose that had been
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Speaker 1: flattened in some earlier mishap. The flaring set of his
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Speaker 1: ears somehow emphasized in overall leanness even in sleep. His
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Speaker 1: mouth was thin and hard thrown across the controls after
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Speaker 1: his belt broke loose. Kenton guest, I bow to your wisdom,
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Speaker 1: George said the plump he pocked and doctor who appeared
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Speaker 1: to be in charge. Kenton could not remember him, but
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Speaker 1: everyone on the planet addressed the Terran by the sound
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Speaker 1: they fondly thought to be his first name. This is
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Speaker 1: doctor Chuck Sulkey, murmured Klaft. Kenton made the accepted gesture
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Speaker 1: of greeting with one hand and said, you seem to
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Speaker 1: have treated him very expertly. Chuck Sulkey ruffled the scales
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Speaker 1: round his neck with pleasure. I have studied Terran physiology,
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Speaker 1: he admitted, complacently, from your records and drawings, of course, George,
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Speaker 1: for I have not yet had the good fortune to
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Speaker 1: visit you. We must arrange visits soon, said Kenton. Claughtwell.
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Speaker 1: He broke off at the sound from the patient, A Terran,
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Speaker 1: mumbled the injured man. He shook his head dazedly, tried
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Speaker 1: to sit up, and subsided with a groan. Why he
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Speaker 1: looked scared when he saw me, thought Kent. You're all
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Speaker 1: right now, he said, soothingly. It's all over, and you're
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Speaker 1: in good hands. I gather there were no other survivors
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Speaker 1: of the crash. The man stared curiously. Kenton realized that
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Speaker 1: his own language sputtered clumsily from his lips. After ten years,
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Speaker 1: he tried again, my name is George Kenton. I don't
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Speaker 1: blame you if I'm hard to understand. You. See, I've
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Speaker 1: been here ten years without ever having another Terran to
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Speaker 1: speak to. The spaceman considered that for a few breaths,
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Speaker 1: then seemed to relax al Berkin. He introduced himself laconically.
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Speaker 1: Ten years a little over, confirmed Kenton. It's extremely unusual
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Speaker 1: that anything gets through to the surface, let alone a spaceship.
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Speaker 1: What happened to you, Birkin's stair was suspicious. Then you
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Speaker 1: ain't heard about the new colonies. Nah, you must have
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Speaker 1: come here when all the planets were open. We had
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Speaker 1: a small settlement on the complant, Kenton told him. You
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Speaker 1: mean there are new Terran colonies. Yeah, jet hoppers spreading
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Speaker 1: all over the other five. None of the land hungry
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Speaker 1: poops figured away to set down here, though, or they'd
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Speaker 1: be creeping around this planet too. How did you happen
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Speaker 1: to do it? Run out of fuel? The other eyed
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Speaker 1: him for a few seconds before dropping his gaze. Kenton
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Speaker 1: was struck with sudden doubt. The outposts of civilization were
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Speaker 1: followed by less desirable developments as a general rule, prisons,
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Speaker 1: for instance, he resolved to be wary of the visitor.
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Speaker 1: You might say I was explorin, Berkin replied at last,
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Speaker 1: that's why I come alone. Didn't want anybody else heard
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Speaker 1: if I didn't make it say how bad am I
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Speaker 1: banged up? Kitton realized guiltily that the man should be resting.
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Speaker 1: He had lost track of the moments he had wasted
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Speaker 1: in talk while the others with him stood attentively about
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Speaker 1: mentioned the doctor briefly and relate the information that Berkin's
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Speaker 1: leg was broken, but that the other entries were not serious.
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Speaker 1: They'll fix you up, he assured the spacemen. They're quite
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Speaker 1: good at it, even if the sight of one does
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Speaker 1: not make you think a little of an iguana. Rest
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Speaker 1: up now, and I'll come back again when you're feeling better.
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Speaker 1: For the next three weeks, Kenton flew back and forth
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Speaker 1: from his own town nearly every day. He felt that
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Speaker 1: he should not neglect the few meetings, which were the
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Speaker 1: only way he could repay the depactins for all they
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Speaker 1: did for him. On the other hand, the chance to
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Speaker 1: see and talk with one of his own kind drew
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Speaker 1: him like a magnet. To the hospital. The doctors operated
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Speaker 1: upon Birkin's leg, inserting a metal rod inside the bone
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Speaker 1: by a method they had known before Kenton described it.
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Speaker 1: The new arrival expected to be able to walk with
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Speaker 1: care almost any day, although the pen would have to
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Speaker 1: be removed after the bone healed. Meanwhile, Burkin seemed eager
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Speaker 1: to learn all Kenton could tell him about the planet
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Speaker 1: Tea poked about himself, he was remarkably reticent. Kenton worried
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Speaker 1: about this. I think we should not expect too much
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Speaker 1: of this Terran, he warned Claft uneasily. You too have
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Speaker 1: citizens who do not always obey your laws, who sometimes,
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Speaker 1: that is, who are born to die under the axe,
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Speaker 1: as we say, interrupted Klaft, as if to ease the
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Speaker 1: concern playing on Kenton's face. In other words, criminals, you
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Speaker 1: suspect this Alburkean is such a one, George, it is
15:41
Speaker 1: not impossible, admitted Kenton, unhappily. He will tell me little
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Speaker 1: about himself. It may be that he was caught in
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Speaker 1: Teapo's gravity while fleeing from justice to himself. He wished
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Speaker 1: he had not told Burkin about the spaceship. He didn't
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Speaker 1: think the man exactly believed his explanation of why there
16:01
Speaker 1: was no use taking off in it. Yet he continued
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Speaker 1: to spend as much time as he could visiting the
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Speaker 1: other man. Then, as his helicopter landed at the city
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Speaker 1: port one gray dawn, the news reached him. The other
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Speaker 1: Terran has gone, Claft reported, turning from the breathless messenger
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Speaker 1: as Kenton followed him from the machine gone. Where'd they
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Speaker 1: take him? Cleft look uneasy? Embarrassed? Kenton repeated his question,
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Speaker 1: wondering about the group of armed police on hand in
16:34
Speaker 1: the night. Cleft hissed and clucked when none would think
16:38
Speaker 1: to watch him, they tell me, and quite rightly, I think,
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Speaker 1: get on with it, Claft, please in the night. Then
16:47
Speaker 1: Alberkan left the chamber in which he lay. He can
16:50
Speaker 1: walk some now, you know, because of doctor chuckxel Key's
16:54
Speaker 1: metal pin. He he stole a ground car and is gone.
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Speaker 1: He did. Kenton had an empty feeling in the pit
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Speaker 1: of his stomach. Is it known where he went? I
17:06
Speaker 1: mean he has been curious to see some of Teapock.
17:09
Speaker 1: Perhaps he stopped his ownwards brain in his ears. Claft
17:15
Speaker 1: was clicking two claws together, a sign of emphatic disagreement.
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Speaker 1: Al Burkin, he said, was soon followed by three police
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Speaker 1: constables in another vehicle. They found him heading in the
17:27
Speaker 1: direction of our town. Why did he say he was
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Speaker 1: traveling that way, asked Kenton, thinking to himself of the spaceship.
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Speaker 1: Was the man crazy? He did not say, answered Klaft, expressionlessly,
17:41
Speaker 1: Taking them by surprise, he killed two of the constables
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Speaker 1: and injured the third, before fleeing with one of their spears.
17:48
Speaker 1: Clinton felt his eyes bulging with dismay. Yes, for they
17:52
Speaker 1: carried only the short spears of their authority, not expecting
17:55
Speaker 1: to need fire weapons. Kenton looked from him to the messenger,
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Speaker 1: noticing for the first time that the latter was an
18:03
Speaker 1: under officer of police. He shook his head distractedly. It
18:08
Speaker 1: appeared that his suspicions concerning Burkin had been only too accurate.
18:13
Speaker 1: Why was it one like him who got through, he
18:16
Speaker 1: asked himself in silent anguish. After ten years, the Tobactans
18:22
Speaker 1: had been thinking well of Terence, but now he did
18:26
Speaker 1: not worry about his own position. That was well enough
18:29
Speaker 1: established whether or not he could again hold up his
18:32
Speaker 1: head before the purple scaled people who had been so
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Speaker 1: generous to him. Even if they had been aroused to
18:39
Speaker 1: a rage by the killing, Kenton told himself he would
18:43
Speaker 1: not have been concerned about himself. He had reached a
18:46
Speaker 1: fairly ripe age for a spaceman. In fact, he had
18:50
Speaker 1: already enjoyed a decade of borrowed time. But they were
18:54
Speaker 1: more civilized than that wanton murderer, he realized. He straightened up,
19:00
Speaker 1: seen back his early morning weariness. We must get into
19:04
Speaker 1: the air immediately, he told Klaft. Perhaps we may see
19:08
Speaker 1: him before he reaches He broke off at the word spaceship,
19:12
Speaker 1: but he noticed a reserved expression on Claft's pointed face.
19:16
Speaker 1: His aid had probably reached a conclusion similar to his own.
19:20
Speaker 1: They climbed back into the cabin and Klaft gave brisk
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Speaker 1: orders to the lean young pilot. A moment later, Kenton
19:27
Speaker 1: saw the ground outside drop away. Only upon turning around
19:31
Speaker 1: did he realize that two armed to Poctin's had materialized
19:35
Speaker 1: in time to follow Claft inside. One was a constable,
19:39
Speaker 1: but the other he recognized for an officer of some rank.
19:43
Speaker 1: Both war slung across their chests, weapons resembling long barreled
19:48
Speaker 1: pistols with large, oddly indented butts to fit to pockden claws.
19:53
Speaker 1: The constable, in addition, carried a contraption with a quadruple
19:57
Speaker 1: tube for launching tiny rockets thicker than Kenton's thumb. These,
20:02
Speaker 1: he knew, were loaded with an explosive worthy of respect
20:06
Speaker 1: on any planet he had heard of. To protect him,
20:09
Speaker 1: he wondered, or to get Burkin. The pilot headed the
20:14
Speaker 1: craft back toward Kenton's town in the brightening sky of
20:17
Speaker 1: early day, long before the buildings of Kenton's institute came
20:22
Speaker 1: into view, they received a radio message about Burkean. He
20:26
Speaker 1: has just been seen on the road passing the dam,
20:29
Speaker 1: Cleft reported soberly. After having been called to the pilot's compartment.
20:34
Speaker 1: He stopped to demand fuel from some maintenance workers. But
20:38
Speaker 1: they had been warned and fled. Couldn't they have seized him?
20:41
Speaker 1: Demanded Kenton, his tone sharp with the worry he endeavored
20:45
Speaker 1: to control. He has that spear, I suppose, but he
20:49
Speaker 1: is only one and injured. Cleft hesitated, well, couldn't they?
20:55
Speaker 1: The aid looked away out one of the windows. At
20:58
Speaker 1: some sun dyed clouds ranging from pink to orange. He
21:02
Speaker 1: grimaced and clicked his showy teeth uncomfortably. Perhaps they thought
21:07
Speaker 1: you might be offended, George, he answered. At last. Kenton
21:11
Speaker 1: settled back in the seat, especially padded to fit the
21:13
Speaker 1: contours of his Terran body, and stared silently at the
21:17
Speaker 1: partition behind the pilot. In other words, he thought he
21:21
Speaker 1: was responsible for Birkin, who was a Terran, one of
21:25
Speaker 1: his own kind. Maybe they really didn't want to risk
21:29
Speaker 1: hurting his feelings, but that was only part of it.
21:32
Speaker 1: They were leaving it up to him to handle what
21:35
Speaker 1: they considered his private affair. He wondered what to do.
21:39
Speaker 1: He had no actual faith in the idea that Birkin
21:42
Speaker 1: was delirious or acting under any influence but that of
21:46
Speaker 1: a criminally self centered nature. I shouldn't have told him
21:50
Speaker 1: about the ship, Kenton muttered, gnawing the knuckle of his
21:53
Speaker 1: left thumb. He's on the run, all right, probably scared
21:58
Speaker 1: the colonial authorities will trail him right down through the domise.
22:03
Speaker 1: Wonder what he did. He caught himself and looked around
22:06
Speaker 1: to see if he had been overheard. Klaft and the
22:10
Speaker 1: police officers peered from their respective windows incalculated withdrawal. Kenton, disturbed,
22:17
Speaker 1: tried to remember whether he had spoken in Tarin or Tipoctin.
22:21
Speaker 1: Would Burken listen if he tried reasoning, he asked himself.
22:25
Speaker 1: Maybe if he showed the man how they had proved
22:28
Speaker 1: the unpredictability of the openings through the shifting dome of eyes.
22:33
Speaker 1: An exclamation from the constable drew his attention. He rose,
22:37
Speaker 1: and room was made for him at the opposite window.
22:41
Speaker 1: In the distance beyond the town landing field they were
22:45
Speaker 1: now approaching, Kenton saw a halted ground car across the plain,
22:50
Speaker 1: which was colored a yellowish tan by short grass like growth.
22:54
Speaker 1: A lone figure plodded toward the upthrust bulk of the
22:57
Speaker 1: spaceship that had never flown, never mind landing at the town.
23:02
Speaker 1: Snapped Kenton, go directly out to the ship. Klaft relaid
23:06
Speaker 1: the command to the pilot. The helicopter swept a descending
23:10
Speaker 1: curve across the plain toward the gleaming hall. As they
23:14
Speaker 1: passed the man below, Burkin looked up. He continued to
23:18
Speaker 1: limp along at a brisk pace, with the aid of
23:20
Speaker 1: what looked like a short spear. Go down. Kenton ordered
23:25
Speaker 1: the pilot landed about a hundred yards from the spaceship.
23:29
Speaker 1: By the time his passengers had alighted, however, Berkin had
23:33
Speaker 1: drawn level with them about fifty feet away. Burkin shouted, Kenton,
23:38
Speaker 1: where do you think you're going? Seeing that no one
23:42
Speaker 1: ran after him, Burkin slowed his pace, but kept walking
23:45
Speaker 1: toward the ship. He watched them over his shoulder. Sorry, Kenton,
23:50
Speaker 1: he shouted, with no noticeable tone of regret. I figure
23:54
Speaker 1: i'd better travel on for my health. It's not so
23:57
Speaker 1: damn healthy up there, called Kenton. I told you how
24:00
Speaker 1: there's no clear path. Yeah, yeah, you told me that.
24:04
Speaker 1: Don't mean I gotta believe it. Wait, don't you think
24:07
Speaker 1: they tried sending unmanned rockets up? Every one was struck
24:11
Speaker 1: and exploded. Burkean showed no more change of expression than
24:16
Speaker 1: if the other had commented on the weather. Kenton had
24:19
Speaker 1: stepped forward six or eight paces, irritated despite his anxiety
24:24
Speaker 1: at the way Burkin persisted in drifting before him. Kenton
24:28
Speaker 1: couldn't just grab him, bad leg or not, he could
24:31
Speaker 1: probably break the older man in two. He glanced back
24:35
Speaker 1: at the topoctins beside the helicopter, claffed the pilot, the officer,
24:40
Speaker 1: the constable with the rocket weapon. They stood silently looking
24:44
Speaker 1: back at him. The call for help that had arisen
24:47
Speaker 1: to his lips died there, not their party, he muttered.
24:52
Speaker 1: He turned again to Burkin, who still retreated toward the ship.
24:56
Speaker 1: But he'll only get himself killed and destroy the ship.
25:00
Speaker 1: Or if some miracle gets him through, that's worse. He's
25:04
Speaker 1: nothing to turn loose on a civilized colony. Again, a
25:08
Speaker 1: twinge of shame tugged down the corners of his mouth
25:11
Speaker 1: as he realized that keeping Burkin here would expose a
25:14
Speaker 1: highly cultured people to an unscrupulous criminal who had already
25:18
Speaker 1: committed murder the very first time he had been crossed Burkin,
25:23
Speaker 1: he shouted, for the last time, do you want me
25:26
Speaker 1: to send them to drag you back here? Burkin stopped
25:29
Speaker 1: at that. He regarded the motionless to Poctin's with the
25:33
Speaker 1: derisive sneer. They don't look too eager to me, he taunted.
25:38
Speaker 1: Kenton growled ato pokedin expression the meaning of which he
25:41
Speaker 1: had deduced after hearing it used by the dam workers.
25:45
Speaker 1: He whirled to run toward the helicopter. Hardly had he
25:49
Speaker 1: taken two steps, however, when he saw startled changes in
25:53
Speaker 1: the carefully blank looks of his escort. The constable half
25:57
Speaker 1: raised his heavy weapon, and Klaft sprang forward with a
26:00
Speaker 1: hissing cry. By the time Kenton's aging muscles obeyed his
26:04
Speaker 1: impulse to side step, the spear had already hurtled past.
26:09
Speaker 1: It had missed him by an air of over six feet.
26:12
Speaker 1: He felt his face flushing with sudden anger. Burkin was
26:16
Speaker 1: running as best he could toward the spaceship and had
26:19
Speaker 1: covered nearly half the distance. Kenton ran at the Topocchkin's
26:24
Speaker 1: brushing aside the concerned cleft. He snatched the heavy weapon
26:28
Speaker 1: from the surprised constable. He turned and raised it to
26:32
Speaker 1: his chest. Because of the shortness of Tepacchkin arms, the
26:36
Speaker 1: launcher was constructed so that the butt rested against the chest,
26:40
Speaker 1: with the sighting loops before the eyes. The little rocket
26:44
Speaker 1: tubes were above head height to prevent the handlers catching
26:47
Speaker 1: the blast. The circles of the sights weaved and danced
26:51
Speaker 1: about the running figure. Kitten realized, to his surprise that
26:55
Speaker 1: the effort of seizing the weapon had him panting, or
26:59
Speaker 1: was it the fright at having a spear thrown at him.
27:03
Speaker 1: He decided that Burkin had not come close enough for that,
27:06
Speaker 1: and wondered if he was afraid of his own impending action.
27:10
Speaker 1: It wasn't fear, he complained to himself. The poor slab
27:15
Speaker 1: only had a spear, and a man couldn't blame him
27:18
Speaker 1: for wanting to get back to his own sort. He
27:21
Speaker 1: was limping hurt. How could they expect him to realize?
27:25
Speaker 1: Then abruptly, his lips tightened to a thin line. The
27:30
Speaker 1: sight steadied on Burkin. As the ladder approached the foot
27:33
Speaker 1: of the ladders leading to the entrance port of the spaceship,
27:36
Speaker 1: Kenton pressed the firing stud across the hundred yard space
27:41
Speaker 1: streaked four flaring little projectiles. Kenton, without exactly seeing each,
27:47
Speaker 1: was aware of the general lines of flight, diverging gradually
27:51
Speaker 1: to bracket the figure of Burkin. One struck the ground
27:54
Speaker 1: beside the man just as he set one foot on
27:57
Speaker 1: the bottom rung of the ladder and skittered away, passed
28:00
Speaker 1: one fin of the ship before exploding. The others burst
28:04
Speaker 1: against the hall, scattering metal fragments. Another puffed on the
28:08
Speaker 1: upright of the ladder, just above Berkin's head. The spaceman
28:13
Speaker 1: was thrown back from the ladder. He balanced on his
28:16
Speaker 1: heels for a moment, with outstretched fingers reaching toward the
28:19
Speaker 1: grips from which they had been torn. Then he crumpled
28:22
Speaker 1: into a limp huddle on the yellowing turf. Clinton sighed.
28:27
Speaker 1: The constable took the weapon from him, reloaded deftly, and
28:32
Speaker 1: proffered it again. When the terran had not reached for it,
28:36
Speaker 1: the officer held out a claw hand to receive it.
28:39
Speaker 1: He gestured silently, and the constable trotted across the intervening
28:43
Speaker 1: ground to bend over Burkin. He is dead, said Klaft,
28:47
Speaker 1: when the constable straightened up with a curt wave. Will
28:51
Speaker 1: will you have someone see to him, please, Kenton requested,
28:55
Speaker 1: turning toward the helicopter. Yes, George, said Klaft. George, well,
29:01
Speaker 1: it would be very instructive, that is, I believe doctor
29:05
Speaker 1: Schuckxelkey would like to all right, yielded Kenton, surprised at
29:10
Speaker 1: the harshness of his own voice. Just tell him not
29:13
Speaker 1: to bring around any sketches of the various organs for
29:16
Speaker 1: a few months. He climbed into the helicopter and slumped
29:20
Speaker 1: into his seat. Presently he was aware of claft edging
29:25
Speaker 1: into the seat across the aisle. He looked up. The
29:28
Speaker 1: police will stay until cars from town arrive. They are
29:31
Speaker 1: coming now, said his aide. Kenton stared at his hands,
29:36
Speaker 1: wondering at the fact that they were not shaking. He
29:39
Speaker 1: felt dejected, empty, not like a man who had just
29:43
Speaker 1: been at a high pitch of excitement. Why did you
29:46
Speaker 1: not let him go, George? What? Why? Why he would
29:50
Speaker 1: have destroyed the ship you work so hard to build.
29:52
Speaker 1: There is no safe path through the dome of eyes,
29:56
Speaker 1: no predictable path. Klaft corrected, But what the We should
30:00
Speaker 1: have built you another ship, George, for it was you
30:03
Speaker 1: who showed us how. Kenton flexed his fingers slowly. He
30:08
Speaker 1: was just so good. You know, the murder he did there.
30:11
Speaker 1: We can only guess what he did among my own,
30:13
Speaker 1: among terrans. Should he have a chance to go back
30:17
Speaker 1: and commit more crimes? I understand, George, the logic of it,
30:21
Speaker 1: said Klafft. I meant, it's not my place to say this,
30:25
Speaker 1: but you seem unhappy, possibly grunted Kenton. Riley, We too
30:32
Speaker 1: have criminals, said the aid as gently as was possible
30:35
Speaker 1: in his clicking language. We do not think it necessary
30:39
Speaker 1: to grieve for the pain they bring upon themselves. No,
30:43
Speaker 1: I suppose, not sighed Kenton. I. It's just he looked
30:48
Speaker 1: up at the pointed visage, at the strange eyes regarding
30:51
Speaker 1: him sympathetically from beneath the sloping, purple scaled forehead. It's
30:56
Speaker 1: just that now I'm lonely again, he said, end of
31:02
Speaker 1: Section eleven.