[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
the wood carriers of Mixtim. While the engines were prepared and checked out,
there was a two-hour layover.
"Figures," Gus commented. "You wouldn't want to burn wood in a land where the
people were the plants. They might take it personal."
"They must mine the coal elsewhere," Tony noted. "There didn't seem to be any
signs of such mining or of coal, period, anywhere we passed." She sighed.
"Well, time to at least find out some information. Excuse me."
Anne Marie stood looking at the ghostly border and what was beyond. "Looks
rather ominous," she commented. "And certainly wet."
The skies within Mixtim were bright, with just a few clouds, while the skies
on the other side of the border were a low uniform gray. The place was
certainly green, though; it seemed like an endless forest, perhaps a rain
forest from the looks of the fog and mist curling through the tops of the
trees beyond. Tony returned a few minutes later. "News good, not so good, and
in between,"
Page 109
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
she told them. "First, no more switches. They went into Leba, all right, and
so did the colonel's bunch following them. The ladies went through many hours
ago, the second group only on the train before this one. We are certainly
catching up, but I fear to the wrong group. I am most worried about the
colonel, Gus." "He's a slick meanie, all right," Gus agreed, "but I handled
him." "Yes, once. I remember thinking when we spoke to one another of Brazil
and Carnivale and old times that I was glad he was on our side. Now that it
seems he is not, my fears are realized."
"I still say he can be handled."
"In a high-tech hex, yes. He is as vulnerable to the energy weapons as we are.
But the energy weapons do not work here, Gus, or in Leba, either. Regular
guns, crossbows, that sort of thing, they will work, but what would be the
effect on a creature like him of shooting him full of bullets and arrows? Not
much. He can drown, yes, but we are far from the ocean, and I doubt if we
will be able to entice him to jump into a deep lake. We need a way to counter
him or we might rue catching up to him."
Gus considered it and nodded. "I think I see what you mean. In this kind of
hex you gotta think
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%2...20-%20Gods%20at%20the%20Well%2
0of%20Souls.TXT (93 of 157) [7/1/03 1:20:25 AM]
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20...of%20Souls%200
3%20-%20Gods%20at%20the%20Well%20of%20Souls.TXT
like you're in a western, and they didn't have Colt .45 disintegrators back
then. There's gotta be something, though, that'll get him. If those things
weren't mortal, they'd have eaten this whole damned world by now!"
"That is a point," Tony admitted. "But what?" Her eyes looked around the rail
yard, not really knowing what she was looking for but hoping for some kind of
hint, something that would give them an edge.
"What is that little beetle doing with the small tank up in front of the
engine there, dear?"
Anne Marie asked.
"Putting oil in the headlamps for the dark, I would say," Tony responded. All
three of them suddenly said at exactly the same time, "Say! Why not?" "I
wonder how much they can spare and how much we can safely carry?" Anne Marie
mused at last.
"Yeah, and don't forget the matches," Gus added.
Tony sighed. "That is still a worry. It looks awfully damp in there." "Look on
the bright side,"
Anne Marie said with a smile. "If they are all intelligent plants over there,
at least we won't be executed for starting any forest fires."
"There is a sort of train service area and such right here, in the middle of
the hex, just before the line branches off to the east," Juana Campos noted.
"That is where we must get off."
"What're we gonna do about all our bags and stuff?" Audlay- asked. "I mean, we
can't carry all that, and not even your cute little pony can take all that
much."
"Yeah, we're gonna be in the middle of nowhere," Kuzi agreed.
"I had hoped we could take more by hiring natives or animals when we needed
them," Campos told them both. "It seems like we can't count on anything being
what we think of as normal up here, though. We're just going to have to go
through the stuff, see what we have to take and what we can take. Anything
else will have to be left."
"You can leave that bird for all I care," Audlay commented. "That thing's
gonna be what takes up a lot of room."
"We can use some of the clothing to make a kind of brace, and she is light
enough to be able to be carried by our pack mule here. If she is truly
charmed, she won't starve. With all these plants there must be insects by the
Page 110 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl freetocraft.keep.pl
the wood carriers of Mixtim. While the engines were prepared and checked out,
there was a two-hour layover.
"Figures," Gus commented. "You wouldn't want to burn wood in a land where the
people were the plants. They might take it personal."
"They must mine the coal elsewhere," Tony noted. "There didn't seem to be any
signs of such mining or of coal, period, anywhere we passed." She sighed.
"Well, time to at least find out some information. Excuse me."
Anne Marie stood looking at the ghostly border and what was beyond. "Looks
rather ominous," she commented. "And certainly wet."
The skies within Mixtim were bright, with just a few clouds, while the skies
on the other side of the border were a low uniform gray. The place was
certainly green, though; it seemed like an endless forest, perhaps a rain
forest from the looks of the fog and mist curling through the tops of the
trees beyond. Tony returned a few minutes later. "News good, not so good, and
in between,"
Page 109
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
she told them. "First, no more switches. They went into Leba, all right, and
so did the colonel's bunch following them. The ladies went through many hours
ago, the second group only on the train before this one. We are certainly
catching up, but I fear to the wrong group. I am most worried about the
colonel, Gus." "He's a slick meanie, all right," Gus agreed, "but I handled
him." "Yes, once. I remember thinking when we spoke to one another of Brazil
and Carnivale and old times that I was glad he was on our side. Now that it
seems he is not, my fears are realized."
"I still say he can be handled."
"In a high-tech hex, yes. He is as vulnerable to the energy weapons as we are.
But the energy weapons do not work here, Gus, or in Leba, either. Regular
guns, crossbows, that sort of thing, they will work, but what would be the
effect on a creature like him of shooting him full of bullets and arrows? Not
much. He can drown, yes, but we are far from the ocean, and I doubt if we
will be able to entice him to jump into a deep lake. We need a way to counter
him or we might rue catching up to him."
Gus considered it and nodded. "I think I see what you mean. In this kind of
hex you gotta think
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%2...20-%20Gods%20at%20the%20Well%2
0of%20Souls.TXT (93 of 157) [7/1/03 1:20:25 AM]
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20...of%20Souls%200
3%20-%20Gods%20at%20the%20Well%20of%20Souls.TXT
like you're in a western, and they didn't have Colt .45 disintegrators back
then. There's gotta be something, though, that'll get him. If those things
weren't mortal, they'd have eaten this whole damned world by now!"
"That is a point," Tony admitted. "But what?" Her eyes looked around the rail
yard, not really knowing what she was looking for but hoping for some kind of
hint, something that would give them an edge.
"What is that little beetle doing with the small tank up in front of the
engine there, dear?"
Anne Marie asked.
"Putting oil in the headlamps for the dark, I would say," Tony responded. All
three of them suddenly said at exactly the same time, "Say! Why not?" "I
wonder how much they can spare and how much we can safely carry?" Anne Marie
mused at last.
"Yeah, and don't forget the matches," Gus added.
Tony sighed. "That is still a worry. It looks awfully damp in there." "Look on
the bright side,"
Anne Marie said with a smile. "If they are all intelligent plants over there,
at least we won't be executed for starting any forest fires."
"There is a sort of train service area and such right here, in the middle of
the hex, just before the line branches off to the east," Juana Campos noted.
"That is where we must get off."
"What're we gonna do about all our bags and stuff?" Audlay- asked. "I mean, we
can't carry all that, and not even your cute little pony can take all that
much."
"Yeah, we're gonna be in the middle of nowhere," Kuzi agreed.
"I had hoped we could take more by hiring natives or animals when we needed
them," Campos told them both. "It seems like we can't count on anything being
what we think of as normal up here, though. We're just going to have to go
through the stuff, see what we have to take and what we can take. Anything
else will have to be left."
"You can leave that bird for all I care," Audlay commented. "That thing's
gonna be what takes up a lot of room."
"We can use some of the clothing to make a kind of brace, and she is light
enough to be able to be carried by our pack mule here. If she is truly
charmed, she won't starve. With all these plants there must be insects by the
Page 110 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]