When the islands came over the horizon, the signal began to dip.
“Slow now,” Jason called. “Those islands ahead look like our source!”
A continent had been here once, floating on Pyrrus’s liquid core. Pressures changed, land masses shifted, and the continent had sunk beneath the ocean. All that was left now of the teeming life of that land mass was confined to a chain of islands, once the mountain peaks of the highest range of mountains. These islands, whose sheer sides rose straight from the water, held the last inhabitants of the lost continent. The weeded-out descendants of the victors of uncountable violent contests. Here lived the oldest native Pyrrans.
“Come in lower,” Jason signaled, “toward that large peak. The signals seem to originata there.”
They swooped low over the mountain, but nothing was visible other than the trees and sunblasted rock.
The pain almost took Jason’s head off. A blast of hatred that drove through the amplifier and into his skull. He tore off the phones and clutched his skull between his hands. Through watering eyes, he saw the black cloud of flying beasts hurtle up from the trees below. He had a single glimpse of the hillside beyond before Meta blasted power to the engines and the ship leaped away.
“We’ve found them!” Her fierce exultation faded as she saw Jason through the communicator. “Are you all right? What happened?”
“Feel … burned out… . I’ve felt a psi blast before, but nothing like thati I had a glimpse of an opening, looked like a cave mouth, just before the blast hit. Seemed to come from there.”
“Lie down,” Meta said. “I’ll get you back as fast as I can. I’m calling ahead to Kerk. He has to know what happened.”
A group of men were waiting in the landing station when they came down. They stormed out as soon as the ship touched, shielding their faces from the still-hot tubes. Kerk burst in as soon as the port was cracked, peering around until he spotted Jason stretched out on an acceleration couch.
“Is it true?” he barked. “You’ve traced the alien criminals who started this war?”
“Slow, man, slow,” Jason said. “I’ve traced the source of the psi message that keeps your war going. I’ve found no evidence as to who started this war, and certainly wouldn’t go so far as to call them criminals… .”
“I’m tired of your word play,” Kerk broke in. “You’ve found these creatures and their location has been marked.”
“On the chart,” Meta said, “I could fly there blindfolded.”
‘Pine, fine,” Kerk said, rubbing his hands together so hard they could hear the harsh rasp of the calluses. “It takes a real effort to grasp the idea that, after all these centuries, the war might be coming to an end. But it’s possible now. Instead of simply killing off these self-renewing legions of the damned that attack us, we can get to the leaders. Search them out, carry the war to them for a change-and blast their stain from the face of this planet!”
“Nothing of the sort!” Jason said, sitting up with an effort. “Nothing doing! Since I came to this planet I have been knocked around, and risked my life ten times over. Do you think I have done this just to satisfy your bloodthirsty ambitions? It’s peace I’m after-not destruction. You promised to contact these creatures, attempt to negotiate with them. Aren’t you a man of honor who keeps his word?”
“I’ll ignore the insult-though I’d have killed you for it at any other time,” Kerk said. “You’ve been of great service to our people, we are not ashamed to acknowledge an honest debt. At the same time, do not accuse me of breaking promises that I never made. I recall my exact words. I promised to go along with any reasonable plan that would end this war. That is just what I intend to do. Your plan to negotiate a peace is not reasonable. Therefore we are going to destroy the enemy.”
“Think first,” Jason called after Kerk, who had turned to leave. “What is wrong with trying negotiation or an armistice? Then, if that fails, you can try y~ur way.”