Storm Over Warlock

aws with power to crush his leg into bone powder and mangled flesh, cuffed Togi across her nose and buried his hands in the fur about Taggi's throat as he heaved the male wolverine back

the end Shann was able to get both animals away from the hole, now corked so effectively by th

little doggie back, it's apt to take out some of its

to be immovable rocks, Shann thought Thorvald right. He went down on his knees beside the wo

nds together with a clap, the sharp sound

ng careful to signal down the valley westward. Taggi gave a last reluctant growl at the hound

ut. From the aid packet at his belt he brought out powder and a

"But we'd better get out

led its rage to the darkening sky. Trailing the wolverines, the men caught up with the animals drinking from a small spring and thankfully sh

use the torch. As long as they were within the valley boundaries the phosphorescent bushes marke

unger. However, to Shann's relief, they did not wander too far ahead. And as the men stopped at last on a ledge where a fall of rock gave them som

ught up with their hunter, and certainly they must have done so by now, they either could not, or would not free it from the trap. Shann dozed again, untrou

in the valley," Thorvald said dryly, rightly reading Shann

ck. The imprisoned hound would certainly attract their kind. And those shrill cries now

self to his feet by a rock handhold,

if they flattened themselves behind the fall of stones, they might be able to escape attention.

ises. But on the far rim of that section of badlands shone the green of a Warlockian se

two days. Twice they had narrow escapes from the Throg ship-or ships-which continued to sweep across the rugged line of the coast, and only a quick dive to cover, wasting precious time cowering like trappe

re had been no lack of hunting in the narrow valleys through which they had threaded, so both men an

re?" Sha

astland? Certainly such broken country afforded good hiding,

e inlet where the wavelets lapped almost at their battered boot tips. Opening his treasured map case, he began a pa

hill they had known in the upper valleys was succeeded here by a humid warmth. Spring was becoming a summer such as this northern continent knew. Even the f

we do there?"

g a route down one of the fiords, slanting out to indicate

ad for

establishing a safe base than the broken land in which they now stood. Even the survey sc

cause they had for the most part made sense. But he was n

something which may make all the differ

d had been an unconvinced minority of one who had refused to subscribe to the report that Warlock had no native intelligent life and therefore was ready and waiting for hu

land-hopping in chance of discovering what never had existed, Shann need not accompany him. And if the officer tried to use force, well, Shann was armed with a stunner, and had, he believed, more control over the wol

o you?" The impatience a

ad a lot of exploration experience; you should know ab

pulled at the sealing of his blouse, groping in an inner se

Shann put out a finger, though he had a strange reluctance to touch the object. When he did he experienced a sensation close to the ti

r two of study, Shann became aware that his eyes, following those twists and twirls, were "fixed," that it required a distinct effort to look away from the thing. Feeling some of that same alarm as he had

t is

ed the coin to

ere is no listing for anything even r

cross the torn front of his blouse. That tingle ... did he still feel it? Or was his imagination at work again? But

Survey officer continued. "And it was foun

n already knew th

ion of such art. You must have seen their metal plates-those are the bee

who ma

f civilization to develop such a sophisticated type of art, or there have been other visit

hy

and yet it is in perfect condition, could have been carved any time within the past five years. It has been handled, yes, but not roughly. And we have come across evidences of no other

e been here for months, explored all over this conti

to retire into hiding. No, we've discovered no cities, no evidence of a native culture past or present. But this-" he touch

interest at the green water surging i

so, th

an a year, one team or another. And no

one party-the one which found this. And there may be excellent local reasons why any native never showed himself to us. For

ow

st anywhere near here. A friendly native race could make all

dreams to back you when you arg

n him again. "When did

ard you, the day you left for Headquarters," he admitted, and t

he is a good man. I guess I can break secret now to tell you that his ship was equipped with a new experimental device which recorded-well, you might call it an "emanation"-a radiation so faint its source could not be traced. And it registered whenever Lorry had one of those dreams. Unfortunately, the machin

was all written off as a mistake in the first experiment. A planet such as Warlock is too big a find t

ther small point fell into place to furnish the beginning of a pattern. "I was asleep on the r

th the alert stance of Tag

entual connection with the sea. Could water be a conductor? I wonder...." Once again his hand went into his blouse. He crossed the

?" Shann could see

w, palm to palm, the coin cupped tightly between them. He

poke with a new

ing a quite different personality. The younger Terran answered his fear with an attack from the old days of rough in-fighting in the Dumps of Tyr. He brought his right hand down hard in a sha

ich Shann gave him high marks. But the younger man's ow

us! What did you do-w

ugh to a Thorvald w

ing?" came a c

ing like a mi

credulously, then with a

water on that thing you

on it? Something prompted me...." He ran his still damp hand up the angle of hi

said 'that way,'" Sh

you move in

mind-controlled--" He could have bitten his tongue for betraying that. The worl

ut I would agree that you are right about this little plaything; it carries a danger with it, being far less innocent than it looks." He tore

of cloth, taking care not to touch it again

onably sure it's not just some carefree maiden's locket, nor the equivalent of a credit to spend in the nearest bar. So it pointed me to the

balanced against an unknown living in the murky depths of an aquatic world. Another attack on the Throg-held camp could be well preferred to such exploration a