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represented the ship from House were six of the vast gray shapes, including
the one visible through the port. Taken together, the six ships might enclose
a volume as great as the Earth itself.
Rail swallowed. "Who could build such a craft, far less six of them?"
"Only one people. I never expected in my time to see one of their ships. No
one has ever seen more than one. Yet there are six. The Isotat."
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The lights fluttered in the war room, and for an instant Kerwin was certain
they were under attack. He crouched behind a table. Miranda shook out her hair
and fumbled boredly through her purse until she found her sunglasses.
Hovering in the center of the room, and generating as much radiance as several
large spotlights, were two globes each six feet in diameter. Faint pink lines
crisscrossed their surfaces and appeared to move within. Each globe trailed
two dozen three-foot-long pale pink tentacles from their cream-colored
undersides. They had no eyes, mouths or other visible external features. Yet
one could sense what was front and back, what constituted top and bottom.
"Sorry for the intrusion," the nearer globe said in a stentorian toie.
Everyone in the war room clapped their hands to their outraged ears.
"Sorry for the loudness," exclaimed the other globe more quietly. "You must be
careful," he informed his spherical companion. "These are simple minds
equipped with the simplest of detectors."
"In the excitement I had forgotten. I apologize." To everyone's astonishment,
the first globe executed a slight bow.
It was a pure telepathic communication, Kerwin realized, but strictly oneway.
The first blast of mental energy had overpowered everyone. Well, almost
everyone. Seeth's brain had been dulled by attendance at too many concerts.
He'd spent too much time down on the floor beneath giant speakers. His
receptors were already numbed.
"Far out," he was murmuring. "Giant Christmas orna-ments from space!"
"Shut up!" Kerwin said warningly. "They might not like being insulted."
"Hey man, what makes you think it was an insult? I thought it was like a
compliment. Anyway, bugs like you and me, we're probably beneath their notice,
right?"
One of the globes turned and moved toward them, drifting slowly above the
carpet, the tips of its tentacles dangling a foot off the floor. It halted a
yard from Seeth, who squinted into the brightness.
"No harm intended, fat boy, okay?"
Two tentacles reached out. They wrapped around Seeth's waist and lifted him
off the floor. Kerwin took a step toward his brother but was held back by
Rail.
"Don't, my friend. There's nothing you can do. There's nothing anyone can do."
The Isotat leisurely examined its prisoner. "Fairly sim-ple water-based
lifeform." It stuck another tentacle into Seeth's left ear. Seeth contorted,
then went limp, his jaw hanging slack and drool dripping from his mouth. If
not for the presence of the alien it would have been a perfectly normal pose.
"Some intriguing undeveloped neuronic potential," the globe went on while
Kerwin gritted his teeth and held his ground. "Much of it misguided, I fear."
The tentacle slipped free and the creature placed Seeth back on the floor.
His legs were shaky and he would have fallen if Rail and Kerwin hadn't grabbed
him under the arms. They kept a wary eye on the nearby globes.
"You all right, kid?"
"Hey, I'm okay," Seeth responded thickly. "I took some pills made me feel
that way once, Jack. Like your head's a ball bearing and the rest of you's a
chrome wheelcover.''
The globes continued across the room, examined one of Ganun's technicians,
then turned abruptly toward Arthwit Rail. The Prufillian let out a moan and
bolted for the exit. There was a slight crackling noise and he crumpled to the
deck, momentarily paralyzed. The Isotat repeated their inspection procedure
before withdrawing, leaving him groan-ing but apparently unharmed by the
ordeal.
"Associate species. Related form," declared the second globe.
Now they headed toward Izmir.
"Uh-oh. Friday night at the fights," mumbled Seeth as he and his friends
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joined most of the war room staff in running for opposite corners. The
Prufillian and Oomemian fleets could have swept down on them together now, but
no one cared enough to so much as glance in the direction of the battle
sphere.
The Astarach had traded his attenuated poles for a pair of intersecting black
rectangles shot through with silver sparks. Kerwin held his breath. He had
plenty of company.
One of the globes extended its tentacles toward Izmir.
"Amazing how we can hear them like that," Kerwin whispered.
"C'mon, man, use your head," Seeth said loudly. "They ain't talking to us.
We're just picking up loose broadcasts. We're just ants to them. The only
thing on this boat worth noticing is old Izmir there."
As he finished, the first Isotat wrapped several tentacles around Izmir and
pulled. They could tell it was pulling because you could see the strain in the
muscular pink limbs. Izmir continued to hover in place, unmoved.
After several minutes of this, the second Isotat joined the first. Their joint
exertions were insufficient to budge the Astarach, who simply observed them
silently out of his single bright blue eye. As they pulled he hummed to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]