The Torian Pearls

Chapter 14

For the moment there was nothing to do but hide and watch the Menel at work for as long as he could. Somehow they hadn't detected his presence, which was distinctly odd. The great stronghold of the Menel under the polar ice of the Dimension of the Ice Dragons had been an incredible display of advanced technology in a dozen fields.

If the Menel had wanted to guard their signal station and rendezvous, they could easily have done so. They could have made it impossible for anyone as poorly equipped as Blade to approach it. That he was here within fifty feet of the Menel, alive and undetected, suggested that the Menel hadn't thought to guard the area at all.

Why? They might despise the inhabitants of this Dimension as hopelessly primitive. So primitive, in fact, that there could be no danger of an attack from them. In that case the Menel might be in for a rude surprise before this night was over.

Or perhaps they didn't have the necessary equipment. Certainly the eight Menel now in sight seemed to have plenty of gear of one sort or another. Blade saw tools adapted to their claws, stacks of gleaming plastic disks, two unmistakable lasers, an array of boxes and tubes that might hold anything. The two signalers had the light and a large metal box with a control panel on one side and wires leading from the other side down into the water. There was nothing that looked like a weapon or a detection device in sight, except possibly the lasers. Even they looked like drills or more signaling devices rather than weapons.

In spite of their lack of alertness, Blade knew that he was really too close to the Menel for safety. They might not be expecting visitors, but he knew they had better night vision than human beings. He didn't know what their hearing was like. Under those circumstances, it might be as dangerous to move back as to stay put.

His present position also had one advantage. He was close enough to the Menel so that he could charge in among them in a matter of seconds. They were slow moving on their disks, although the four claw-equipped arms could strike fast and far. If he could get in among them quickly enough, Blade was fairly sure he could do as much damage as might be needed. Possibly he wouldn't get out alive, but almost certainly he would take most of the Menel with him.

If he got in among them. Blade wasn't going to lift a finger against the Menel until he knew what they were doing. From his experience with them in the Dimension of the Ice Dragons, he doubted they were harmless or friendly here. But harmless or not, they were intelligent beings from another world. The first time he fought them, he'd refused to kill a helpless Menel and actually given first aid to a wounded one. He'd follow the same policy here.

Blade didn't know if anything more would come of this second meeting with the Menel than had come of the first one. He didn't know how often the Menel's travels among the stars (and perhaps among the Dimensions?) might bring them into contact with human beings. He did know that he would do everything he could to make the Menel realize that human beings did not kill them on sight. If that idea could sink into the brains that lay somewhere in those mammoth asparagus stalks, it might open a new direction for the history of both races.

It seemed like an hour but it must have been only a few minutes more before the Menel started their night's work. One of the two signalers at the control panel started twisting switches and pulling levers. The box began to hum quietly to itself, like a distant hive of sleepy bees. Triangular patches that might be dials or indicators began to glow faintly, purple, gold, and green.

Three of the other six Menel opened one of the boxes and pulled out dark plastic tubes. They looked like hypodermic syringes or sprays, but they were four feet long and as thick as a man's arm. All six of the Menel not busy at the control panel began putting on their diving gear again.

This time it was nearly an hour before anything else happened. Then suddenly the night's stillness was ripped apart. The hissing roars of a number of the great reptiles sounded close at hand. Blade looked out to sea, in time to watch the fanged heads and dark humped backs rise into view.

Then Blade saw them begin to swim toward him and the Menel. He could count nine of them, and he had the distinct impression that six of them were herding the other three toward the shore, like dogs herding sheep.

As the reptiles approached land five of the six Menel divers slipped into the water. They were carrying one of the lasers, the syringes, and several other pieces of equipment whose use Blade couldn't guess.

The Menel swam out toward the approaching reptiles. They were not particularly graceful in the water, but with three of their four arms beating steadily they moved surprisingly fast. Blade found himself forced to respect the courage of the five swimmers. It seemed likely that some of the approaching beasts were under control by the two signalers. That didn't mean it was safe to swim up to those jaws that could bite a Menel in half as easily as a man.

The last of the Menel reached into one of the opened boxes and drew out what Blade recognized as a weapon. He'd seen the Menel carrying them in the land of the Ice Dragons, when they came up from their underground base to put down a rebellion among their human guards and servants. The weapon was a six-foot black tube with a red lens set in one end. The Menel held it crosswise with two arms, rather like a man holding a submachine gun.

Now the nine reptiles were nearly in shallow water. Four of the six herders surrounded two of the others, hissing and butting them in the side to drive them away from the Menel swimmers and from the submarine. The other two herders pushed the last reptile in toward the Menel, who went splashing out to meet it.

The arms of the two signalers now moved furiously as they sent out increasingly complex signals to the beasts they were controlling. In the darkness they looked like grotesque idols in some Oriental temple, come to life and performing some impossible and inhuman dance. Their attention seemed completely fixed on the sea and their five comrades. The same was true of the armed Menel, who seemed to be in charge of whatever was going on here.

The five swimmers surrounded the «wild» reptile. A shot of anaesthetic left it semiconscious. One of them clamped a disk to the top of its skull. Another pressed the laser against the scaly hide and activated it. A brief red glow, and hide and skull parted.

A third Menel raised one of the electronic brain implants. Another few seconds' work with the laser, and the implant settled into place. From another of the tubes shot a fine mist of what was probably an antiseptic. Then the skull and hide were closed and the whole incision sealed with another brief burst of the laser. The last step in the operation was an injection to counteract the anaesthetic. The reptile shook its head, hissed faintly, then permitted the two herders to drive it into deeper water.

Blade crouched in the darkness, realizing that he'd just seen a breathtaking display of advanced technology and skilled surgery. He also realized that the Menel would have to be treated as enemies. They were using their knowledge to implant in the sea reptiles-and no doubt the bat-birds-the control devices that made it possible to drive them against the Kargoi. Exactly why they were doing this Blade didn't know, but he did know one thing-tonight's operations should be stopped. He would be as careful as he could be to avoid killing any of the Menel. He would be just as careful to leave not one bit of their equipment intact or one of their implanted monsters alive.

There was only one weapon in sight, the tube held by the Menel commander. If he could disable or capture it, that should be a good enough start. After that he couldn't plan in too much detail. He didn't know his enemy that well.

Blade waited as two more of the herders drove one of the wild reptiles toward the waiting surgical team. He waited long enough after that for the operation to begin, and draw the attention of all the Menel.

Then he sprang to his feet and charged down the slope to the attack.