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The com-tech's eyebrows slid up, "Think you might lose one, sir?" "I don't know. Anyway, we'll play it safe with double records." He accepted the ration pack Raf had brought out for him. But he did not unwrap it at once; instead he stared at the globe, digging the toe of his space boot into the soil as if he were grinding something to powder. "They're operating under full jets," he commented.
So they took watch and watch, three hours on and three hours in rest. When it came Raf's turn he did not remain sitting in the flitter, listening to the com-tech's heavy breathing, but walked a circular beat which took him into the darkness of the night in a path about the flyer. Overhead the stars were sharp and clear, glittering gem points.
But use your homer and your eyes!" Raf paused. There was an unmistakable note of friendliness in the com-tech's warning. Almost he was tempted to try and explain. But how could one make plain feelings for which there was no sensible reason? Sometimes it was better to be quiet. "Don't dig up more than you can rebury."
"That's it!" He paid credit where it was due. But he was unable to break his long habit of silence. Something within him still kept him wary of the com-tech's open friendliness. None of the aliens approached the flitter as the shadows began to draw in. The procession of moving teams stopped, and most of the burden-bearing warriors withdrew to the globe and stayed there. Soriki pointed this out.
Upon him alone rested the responsibility of bringing in the ship along a vector which crossed no well traveled space lane where the Patrol might challenge them. Dane rode out the orbiting in the Com-tech's seat, listening in for the first warning of danger that they had been detected. The mechanical repetition of their list of crimes was now stale news and largely off-ether.
But the truth in the com-tech's words made an impression on Raf, a crew of aliens who had been misguided enough to seek out and try to establish friendly relations with the officials of Pax would have had a short and most unhappy shrift. If all the accounts of that dark dictatorship were true, they would have vanished from Terra, and not in their ships either.
He knew that he would not be able to explain why he must do what he was going to do. There was no reason why he should. Soriki, except for being a few years his senior, had no authority over him. He was not under the com-tech's orders. "Another trip into the blue?" The pilot replied to that with a nod. "Somehow, boy, I don't think anything's going to stop you, so why waste my breath?
But in the dead city no light showed, and he was sure that no aliens camped there tonight. He was sleeping when Soriki's grasp on his shoulder brought him to that instant alertness he had learned on field maneuvers half the Galaxy away. "Business," the com-tech's voice was not above a whisper as he leaned over the pilot. "I think they are on the move." The light was the pale gray of pre-dawn.
What if something like Pax ruled here? They had no way of knowing for sure. Raf's eyes met Soriki's, and the com-tech's hand dropped to hook fingers in his belt within touching distance of his side arm. The flitter pilot nodded. "Kurbi!" Hobart's impatient call sent him on his way.
The voice came back, thinned by its journey from the Queen's interior. "Ought-five-nine " That was Jellico. Dane found himself suddenly unable to watch. He shut his eyes and braced himself against the vertigo of snap-out. It came and he whirled sickeningly through unstable space. Then he was sitting in the laced Com-tech's seat looking at Rip. Runnels of sweat streaked Shannon's brown face.
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