“There is a three-story tower on the west corner of this building,” cut in Fylh. “Should we withdraw to that lofty perch—well, it may be that they will be so glad to be rid of us that they will permit it.”
“Let ourselves be bottled up?” asked Zinga with some sting in his hissing voice.
Fylh clicked his claws with an irritated snap. “No one is going to be bottled up. Please remember we are dealing with highly civilized city dwellers, not explorers. To them all possible passages in and out of a building are accounted for by windows and doors only.”
“Then this tower of yours boasts some feature not included in that catalogue which would serve us in a pinch?” There was a little smile curving Rolth’s pale lips.
“Naturally. Or I would not have seen its possibilities as our stronghold. There are a series of bands projecting in a pattern down the outer walls. As good as a staircase to someone who knows how to use fingers and toes—”
“And keep his eyes closed while he does it,” groaned Zinga. “Sometimes I wish I were civilized and could lead a sane and peaceful life.”
“We could allow”—Fylh had talked himself back into his best humor again—“these people to believe that we are safely out of mischief. They can put a guard at the single stairway leading up in that tower if they wish.”
Kartr nodded. “I’ll see Jaksan. After all, we may be rangers, but we are also Patrol. And if we want to stick together no civilian has any right to question us—Vice-Sector Lord or not! Stay out of trouble now.”
He got up and the three nodded. They might not be sensitives—though he suspected that Zinga had some power akin to his, but they knew that they were only four in a potentially dangerous environment. If they could just get themselves exiled into Fylh’s tower!
But he had to wait a long time to see Jaksan. The arms officer had accompanied Vibor to the medico. And when he at last returned to his quarters and found Kartr waiting for him, he was anything but cordial.
“What do you want now? The Vice-Sector Lord has been asking for you. He had some orders—”
“Since when,” Kartr interrupted, “has even a Vice-Sector Lord had orders for one of the Patrol? He may advise and request—he does not order any wearer of the Comet, patrolman or ranger!”
Jaksan had crossed to the window and now he stood there, tapping his nails against the casing, his shoulders and back stubbornly presented to the sergeant. He did not turn when he answered:
“I do not believe that you take our position now into proper consideration, Sergeant. We do not have a ship. We—”
“And since when has a ship been necessary?” But maybe that was the exact truth, right there. Maybe to Jaksan and the crew the ship was necessary—without it they were naked, at a loss. “It is because I feared this very thing,” he continued more quietly, “that I was against our coming here.” Whether it was politic or not he had to say that.
“Under the circumstances we had very little choice in the matter!” Jaksan showed some of his old fire in that burst. “Great Space, man, would you have us fight the wilderness for food and shelter when there was this to come to? What of the Commander? He had to have medical attention. Only a—” He stopped in mid-sentence.
“Why not finish that, sir? Only a barbarian ranger would argue against it. Is that what you want to say? Well, I maintain, barbarian that I am, that it is better to be free in the wilderness than to come here. But let me have this clear—am I to understand that you have surrendered the authority of the Patrol to Joyd Cummi?”
“Divided authority is bad.” But Jaksan refused to turn and face him. “It is necessary that each man contribute his skills to help the community. Joyd Cummi has discovered evidence that there is a severe cold season coming. It is our duty to help prepare for that. I think he wishes to send out hunting parties as food may be a problem. There are women and children to provide for—”
“I see. And the rangers are to take over the hunting? Well, we shall make a few plans. In the meantime we will take quarters for ourselves. And it might be well to arrange those with an eye to the future—unless there is also a butcher to be found among these city men.”
“You and Rolth were assigned rooms here—”
“The rangers prefer to remain as a unit. As you know, that is only Patrol policy. Or has the Patrol totally ceased to exist?” If Kartr had not been needled by increasing uneasiness he might not have added that.
“See here, Kartr.” Jaksan turned away from the window. “Isn’t it about time that you looked straight at some hard facts? We’re going to be here for the rest of our lives. We are seven men against almost two hundred—and they have a well-organized community going—”
“Seven men?” queried Kartr. “We number nine if you count the Commander.”
“Men.” Jaksan stressed the word.
There it was—out in the open. Kartr had feared to hear it for a long time now.
“There are four qualified Patrol rangers and five of you,” he returned stubbornly. “And the rangers stick together.”
“Don’t be a fool!”
“Why shouldn’t I have that privilege?” Kartr’s rage was ice cold now. “All the rest of you seem to enjoy it.”
“You’re a human being! You belong with your kind. These aliens—they—”
“Jaksan”—Kartr repudiated once and for all the leadership of the arms officer—“I know all those threadbare, stock arguments. There is no need to run through them again. I have had them dinned into me by your kind ever since I joined the Service and asked for ranger detail—”
“You young idiot! Since you joined the Service, eh? And how long ago was that? Eight years? Ten? You’re no more than a cub now. Since you joined the Service! You don’t know anything at all about it—this Bemmy problem. Only a barbarian—”
“We’ll admit that I’m a barbarian and that I have odd tastes in friends, shall we? Admit it and leave it out of this conversation!” Kartr was gaining control of his temper.
It was plain that Jaksan was attempting to justify some stand he had taken or been forced into agreement with, not only to Kartr but to himself.
“Suppose you allow me to go to perdition my own way. Is this ‘All humans stand together’ a rule of Cummi’s?”
Jaksan refused to meet the sergeant’s demanding gaze. “He is very prejudiced. Don’t forget he is an Ageratan. They had an internal problem in that system when they had to deal with a race of alien non-humans—”
“And they solved that problem neatly and expediently by the cold-blooded massacre of the aliens!”
“I forgot—your feeling against Ageratans—”
“My feeling for Ageratans, which, I might say, is different from the one you deem it to be, has nothing to do with this case. I simply refuse now or ever to hold any such views against any stranger, human or Bemmy. If the Vice-Sector Lord wants the rangers to do his hunting—all right. But we shall stick together as a unit. And if to continue to do so means trouble—then we might oblige in that direction also!”
“Look here.” Jaksan kicked moodily at the bedroll which lay on the floor. “Don’t stop thinking about it, Kartr. We’ll have to live the rest of our lives here. We’re really lucky beyond our dreams—Cummi believes that this city can be almost entirely restored. We can start all over. I know that you don’t care for Cummi, but he is able enough to organize a shipload of hysterical passengers into a going settlement. Seven men can’t fight him. All I ask of you for the present is don’t repeat to Cummi what you just said to me. Think it over first.”
“I shall. In the meantime the rangers will take quarters together.”
“Oh, all right.” Jaksan shrugged. “Do it—wherever you please.”
“Maybe he should have said where Cummi pleases,” thought Kartr as he left the room.
He found the rangers waiting for him and gave his own orders.
“Rolth, you and Fylh get up to that tower. If anyone tries to stop you pull Patrol rank on him. It may still carry some weight with the underlings here. Zinga, where did you leave our packs?”
Five minutes later Kartr and the Zacathan gathered the four pioneer packs. “Slip an anti-gravity disc under them,” said Kartr, “and come on.”
With the packs floating just off the floor and easy to tow, they made their way toward the rear of the building. But, as they approached the narrow flight of stairs Zinga said led to the roof, they were met by Fortus Kan. He edged back against the wall to let them pass, since Kartr did not halt. But he asked as they went by: