Storm Over Warlock

his luck as that sound grew fainter, drew away into the valley he had just left. With infinite caution he raised his head

and ordered a routine patrol. After all, how could the aliens know that they had caught all but one of the Survey party in camp? T

rder to overhear reports and the small talk of specialists keen on their own particular hobbies. But so much of the information Shann had thus picked up to store in a retentive memory he had not understood and could not fit together. It had been as if he were trying to solve some highly

trek into the wilderness bring about a revolt for complete freedom? If Shann could depend upon the animals, it would mean a great deal. Not only would their

s, none had proved hostile if unprovoked. But that did not mean that somewhere back in the wild lands into which Shann was

d from his boots and thought about the dreams. Did they or did they not exist? You could start an argument any time by mak

go by one of those explorers traveling solo in Survey service. Everyone knew that the First-In Scouts w

, was too hot for human occupancy without drastic and too costly world-changing. Wizard, the third out from the sun, was mostly bare rock and hi

econd visit to Warlock in check; worlds so well adapted to human emigration could not be lightly thrown away. And this time there was a negative report, no trace of dreams, no registration of any outside influence on the delicat

ock. That first scout had planeted in summer; his successors had come in fall and winter. They argued that the

rom the Throgs. So they had speeded up the process of declaring Warlock open. Only Ragnar Thorvald had protested that decision

t landing apron on another world, remembered with a sense of loss he could not define. That had been about the second b

inside him until he thought that he could not continue to throttle down that wild happiness. There was a waiting starship. And he-Shann

that compact group wearing the same uniform-with a slight difference, that of service bars and completion

oused in him hero worship. And he could not have put a name to the new emotion that added so suddenly to his burning desire to make good, not only to hold the small niche in Survey which he had already

been as wild as the ones reported by the first scout on Warlock. Shann grinned wryly now at the short period of childish hope and half-

ver showed, Garth was a cadet on his first mission, intent upon making Shann realize the unbridgeable gulf between a labo

n any academy. He had always been sure that he could take Garth if they mixed it up. But if he had loosed the tight rein he had kept on his temper and offered that challenge, he would have lost his chance with Survey. Garth had proved himself able to talk his way out of any scrape, even minor derelictions of duty, and he far out-rank

ere would be no other assignments for him, the Throgs had seen to that. And Garth ... well, there woul

from which the falls tumbled, Taggi and Togi rubbed against him, cried for his attention. They, too, appeared to need the reass

t slung across one shoulder. Taggi and Togi ranged ahead, twice catching skitterers, which they devoured voraciously. A shadow on a sun-baked rock sent the Terran skidding for c

wn powers to take it without proper equipment or supplies. He must turn either north or south, though he would then have to abandon a sure water supply in the stream. Tonight he would camp where he was. He

dwiching him, Shann dozed, awoke, and dozed again, listening to night sounds-the screams, cries, h

nd why the smooth plasta wall of his bunk had become rough red stone. Then he remembered. He was alone and he threw himself frantically out of the cave, afraid t

treated hurriedly from the vicinity of the excavation. They had found an earth-wasp's burr

ew was uncertain. Sooner or later he must experiment for himself. Already he drank the stream water without the aid of purifiers, and so far there had been no ill results from that necessary recklessness. Now the stream suggested fish. But instead

nd then gulped. Shann built a small fire and seared the firm greenish flesh. The taste was flat, lacking salt, b

n shade to the dusky purple of the vegetation. Smaller than a Terran deer, its head bore, not horns, but a ridge of stiffened hair rising in a point som

or heard nothing of the flyers since he had left the lake valley. But from the noise now rising in an earspl

ading toward the source of that outburst. If the claks wer

tretch of grassland which sloped at a fairly steep angle to the south and which

flight formation, Shann decided that whatever they railed against was on the lower level, out of his sight from that po

he mountains. No, south was his best path, and he shoul

their now general clamor, the Terran crawled on to where tall grass provided a screen at the top

Shann rose to one knee, his shout of welcome choked in his throat. One of those fins sank, canting the ship crookedly, p

to their size. He was sure that the Terran ship could hold its own against the Throg, even eliminate the enemy. But there was no fire from the slanting pencil of the scout. The Throg circled warily, ob

ould box the other in, cut the downed ship to pieces with their energy beams. He wanted to crawl away

ar plate across the stricken scout. The man who had piloted her, if not dead already (which might account for the lack of defense), must have fallen victim to that. But the Throg was going to make very sure. The

on his arm, as pinwheels of scarlet light blotted out normal sight. There was an explosion, a deafening

eaf tossed in a gust of wind. Its rim caught against a rust-red cliff, it rebounded and crumpled. Then it came down, smashing perhaps half a mile away from the smok

ship flashing away westward. Perhaps it was only his impaired sight, but it appeared to him that the Throg followed an er

arming here soon. They would not dare to leave the scene unsearched. He wondered about that scout. Had the pilot been aiming for the Survey camp, the absence of any rider beam from there warning him off so that he made the detour which bro

the end of the crippled ship. On the other hand, seeing the Throgs take a beating had exploded his subconscious acceptance of their superiority. He might not have even the resources of a d

r the years. There had to be some way a Terran could move effectively against a beetle-head. And he had a lot of time, maybe the rest of his life to work out a few answers. That Throg ship ly