Read Ebook: Araukanien päällikkö: Intiaaniromaani by Aimard Gustave

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Ebook has 1299 lines and 39804 words, and 26 pages

Lee found it difficult to hide her contempt. She stared at her hands, clenched in her lap, and waited for Mantor to leave.

The looting and destruction were well under way an hour later when a couple of Mantor's men joined their chief, who stood with a somewhat bruised Marc Polder and an unharmed but furious Lee Treynor. Between them they carried a small, obviously heavy box.

"You know what this stuff is, boss?" one of the men asked. "They got a hundred or a hundred-fifty boxes like this in there." He nodded at the Navy warehouse.

They set the box down and Mantor flung back its lid. It was filled with small grey pellets. Mantor picked up a handful and stood fingering them.

Marc shrugged. "I don't know. It's a Navy secret."

Mantor's eyes glinted. Without warning his fist flew out, sent the comptroller sprawling in the dust where he lay stunned. Lee's hands flew to her mouth barely in time to suppress a cry.

After a few moments Marc rolled over slowly and pushed himself painfully to a sitting position. He looked up at Mantor who stood watching him coldly, his fist flexing.

The comptroller licked his lips and looked around at the several men who stood watching, their faces impassive. "Okay," he said in a none-too-steady voice. "I'll tell you. You'd find out anyway from the files."

"Cut the alibis and give," Mantor growled.

"Keep your shirt on." Marc's voice indicated he was regaining control of himself. "It's H.D.T.--Hyper-Degenerate-Thorium--the stuff the destroyers use to get extra push."

This was it, Lee thought as she stood by, watching--the final bitter pill. Mantor had as much as told them he was working for Venus. And the H.D.T. was all Venus needed to be ready for war--a war that might well blast civilization from the Solar System. Strange that so much should depend upon one man; tragic that the one man was a weakling.

With an effort Lee forced herself to be fair. It might have done no good to lie, she conceded. But anyone with even a normal amount of simple courage would have tried.

It was about two hours later when the siren went off again like a banshee wailing to a low-hanging moon. Men came running from all directions, shouting questions at the tops of their voices.

A midget auto came skidding down the pirate ship's ramp, its driver standing on the accelerator. The car knifed through the swirling crowd, barely missing several people, and skidded to a dusty stop directly in front of Mantor.

There was a mad scramble as the looters raced for their ship. Heavy-handed horseplay was forgotten. They knew they were helpless against a Navy destroyer. Their only hope lay in a fast getaway. Seconds could easily spell the difference between safety and defeat.

In less than ten minutes the ship's locks were sealed and they fired off. As the flames roared out and the huge ship lifted swiftly it was obvious that they were throwing on all the fuel their jets could take.

Marc Polder had faded back into the crowd at the first sound of the siren. As he stood watching the blastoff Lee joined him, hands in her pockets, looking more than ever like a boy.

"Maybe my idea of asking for help wasn't so far-fetched," she said quietly. "Maybe the patrol might have been here in time. Maybe you wouldn't have had to tell them about the H.D.T."

"Maybe," Marc answered without turning his eyes from the dwindling point of reddish light high in the dark sky.

"And just by way of keeping the record straight," the girl went on in a voice that began to rasp, "you know as well as I do that the files don't list any H.D.T. It's under a code name."

"Maybe," Marc replied in a noncommittal tone.

The point of light in the sky suddenly turned blue. Lee was staring at it too, now. And she knew also what the change of color meant. Mantor had started to use the new fuel!

Suddenly there was a blinding flash. Lee cried out and staggered back, covering her eyes. Marc, who had closed his eyes when the color change came, took hold of the girl's arm.

"I told you what would happen if they used the stuff," he said gently. "It's too hot for their jet chambers. It melts the walls. A lot of gas piles up in the tubes. The pressure pushes the fire back. And when it gets shoved back into the recoil chamber and you lose the protective layers of cold gas there--well, then you've got to look for your ship with an ionization gauge!

"You've got to keep a cool head and never forget for even a moment exactly what it is you want to accomplish." His voice was gentle, and it held no rebuke.

"All right," said Lee unhappily, "you win. You needn't bother to rub in the salt. I was going to chase you through all the inquiry courts for this. Instead, you got a lucky break, so I can't do a thing. You ought to be tarred and feathered through every city of the Federation, but because a destroyer happened to stumble in here at the right time you'll end up a hero." Her voice caught in a sob.

"What they thought was a destroyer was the radar system on the side of the rock, bouncing a signal off the moon. I gave the radar boys the word just before Mantor dropped in on us. The crew did a damned good job of juggling the power and frequency and all." He grinned. "Remind me to buy them a beer sometime."

He laughed then at the girl's expression as it changed from bitter disillusion to something akin to awe, close to hero-worship.

"And this, by the way," Polder said, "is as good a time as any to tell you that I'd like to see you look like a woman, for a change. How about changing into a dress before we go into town. You know, I've never seen you out of that uniform?"

She hesitated, unsure of herself now. "That will take a little time," she said doubtfully.

He put hands on her slim shoulders, gave her a gentle shove toward her quarters. "We've got time," he told her. "Lots of it. But I've been waiting quite a while."

Transcriber's Note:

"T?ss? ei ole viel? kaikki, puelkat", ilmoitti h?n kovalla ??nell?. "Mit? nyt olen jo n?ytt?nyt teille, on vain lastenleikki? munapannukakun valmistamiseen verraten. Sit? taitoa ei opikaan helposti. Seuratkaa nyt jokainen tarkasti liikkeit?ni." Nopeasti ryhtyi h?n nyt ty?h?n araukanien vilkkaasti seuratessa h?nen hommiaan.

Kun pannukakku oli valmistunut, pani ranskalainen sen puulautaselle vied?kseen sen Apo-Ulmenille. Mutta t?m? oli tullut niin himokkaaksi hyv?st? hajusta, ett? h?n unohti kokonaan arvokkuutensa ylip??llikk?n? ja rynt?si muiden Ulmenien seuraamana p?yd?n luo.

Pannukakun menestys oli ennenkuulumaton. Araukanit pitiv?t paljon uudesta, tuntemattomasta ruokalajista, ja kaikkialla n?kyi onnellisia kasvoja. Valentin, joka oli tyytyv?inen voittoonsa, kielt?ytyi kaikista kunnianosoituksista ja palasi kiireesti Trangoil Lanecin ja Ludvigin kanssa edellisen majalle.

Ranskalaiset olivat jo edellisen? p?iv?n? p??tt?neet jatkaa matkaansa. He tahtoivat l?hte? heti, sill? he eiv?t tunteneet tiet?, ja t?st? oli paljon haittaa heid?n pikaiselle matkalleen. He olivat j?rjest?m?ss? matkatavaroitansa kuntoon, kun heid?n is?nt?ns? saapui Curumillan seuraamana majaan. P??llik?t tervehtiv?t heit? kohteliaasti painamalla k?tens? syd?melleen, heitt?ytyiv?t sitten maahan ja sytyttiv?t piippunsa. Valentin ja Ludvig arvasivat, ett? intiaanit aikoivat tehd? heille jonkun ehdotuksen ja odottivat k?rsiv?llisesti, ett? n?m? alkaisivat puhua.

Poltettuaan piippunsa loppuun ja pistetty??n sen vy?h?ns?, kysyi Trangoil Lanec:

"Aikovatko valkoiset veljeni j?tt?? yst?v?ns? ja jatkaa matkaansa?"

"Aiomme", vastasi Ludvig.

"Ovatko he tyytyv?isi? meihin? Ovatko intiaanit osoittaneet heille kylliksi vieraanvaraisuutta?"

"Siit? ei puhettakaan, p??llikk?. Te olette kohdelleet meit? kuin omia heimolaisianne."

"Mink?t?hden matkustavat muukalaiset sitten luotamme?"

"Tied?tteh?n, ett? olemme tulleet maahanne etsim??n Antinahuelia. -- Meid?n t?ytyy puhutella h?nt?."

Ulmenit vaihtoivat merkitsev?n silm?yksen. "Niinkuin kultahiuksinen veljeni haluaa" -- t?ll? tarkoitettiin Valentinia. -- "Antinahuel kuuluu Mustan Dumanasin heimoon ja oleskelee kyl?ss??n."

"Siin? tapauksessa l?hdemme heti h?nen luokseen."

"Veljeni eiv?t matkusta yksin", sanoi Trangoil Lanec p??tt?v?isesti. "Olen luvannut vied? heid?t Antinahuelin luo, sill? on sangen vaarallista kulkea yksin punaisten miesten alueella. Kultahiuksinen veljeni on pelastanut henkeni -- min? seuraan h?nt?."

"Trangoil Lanec puhuu hyvin. My?skin Curumilla on kiitollisuudenvelassa veljilleen ja seuraa siis yst?vi?ns?."

"Mit? te puhutte, Ulmenit?" sanoi Valentin nousten nopeasti yl?s. "Me olemme matkalaisia, ja olemme varustautuneet pahimpienkin sattumien varalta, emmek? saa siis yhdist?? teid?n kohtaloanne omiimme. Mit? sanoisivat teid?n naisenne ja lapsenne siit??"

"He odottaisivat paluutamme."

"Mutta meh?n emme viel? tied?, mit? tulee tapahtumaan puhuteltuamme miest?, jonka luokse valkonaamojen Suuri Kotka -- siksi kutsutte varmaankin don Tadeo de Leonia -- on l?hett?nyt meid?t. Ei, ei, p??llik?t, me kiit?mme teit? yst?v?llisyydest?nne, mutta sellaista uhrausta emme voi ottaa vastaan."

"Veljeni eiv?t tunne Llanoeneja. Kaksi miest? on mennytt? kalua, mutta nelj? muodostaa jo taisteluvoiman", v?itti Trangoil Lanec, ja ??nell?, joka ei sallinut vastustamista, jatkoi h?n: "Me emme j?t? yst?vi?mme."

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