flock. The being inside it felt a little thrill of
pleasure. Scientific exploration was satisfying, but rarely exciting; one
naturally protected oneself adequately when gathering specimens. But it was
exciting to have come upon a type of animal which would dare to offer battle.
The Qul-En in the mountain-lion shape reflected that this was a new source of
pleasure—to do battle with the fauna of strange planets in the forms native to
those planets.
The paddling vehicle went quietly
in among the wooly sheep. It saw the tiny blossom of flame that was Antonio’s
campfire. Another high-temperature oxidation process ... It would be
interesting to see if the biped was burning another carcass of its own killing.
. . .
The shape was two hundred yards
from the fire when Salazar scented it. It was upwind from the dog; its own
smell was purely that of metals and plastics, but the fur, now, was bedabbled
with the blood of the sheep which had been its first specimen of the night.
Salazar growled. His hackles rose, every instinct for the defense of his flock.
He had smelled that blood when the thing which wasn’t a mountain lion left him
behind with impossible leapings.
He went stiff-legged toward the
shape. Antonio followed in a sort of despairing calm born of utter
hopelessness.
A sheep uttered a strangled
noise. The Qul-En had come upon a second specimen which was exactly what it
wished. It left the dead sheep behind for the moment, while it went to look at
the fire. It peered into the flames, trying to see if Antonio—the biped—had
another carcass in the flames as seemed to be a habit. It looked—
Salazar leaped for its
blood-smeared throat in utter silence and absolute ferocity. He would not have
dreamed of attacking a real mountain lion with such utter lack of caution, but
this was not a mountain lion. His weight and the suddenness of his attack
caught the operator by surprise, the shape toppled over. Then there was an
uproar of scared bleatlngs from sheep nearby, and bloodthirsty snarlings from
Salazar. He had the salty taste of sheep-blood in his mouth and a yielding
plastic throat between his teeth.
The synthetic lion struggled
absurdly. Its weapon, of course, was a ray-gun which was at once aimed and
fired when the jaws opened wide. The being inside tried to clear and use that
weapon. It would not bear upon Salazar; the Qul-En would have to make its
device lie down, double up its mechanical body, and claw Salazar loose from its
mechanical throat with the mechanical claws on its mechanical hind-legs. At
first the Qul-En inside concentrated on getting its steed back on its feet.
That took time, because whenever
Salazar’s legs touched ground he used the purchase to shake the throat
savagely. In fact, Antonio was within twenty yards when the being from the ship
got its vehicle upright. It held the mechanical head high, then, to keep
Salazar dangling while it considered how to dislodge him.
And it saw Antonio. For an
instant, perhaps, the Qul-En was alarmed. But Antonio did not kneel; he made no
motion which the pilot—seeing through infra-red sensitive photocells in the
lion’s eyeballs—could interpret as offensive. So the machine moved boldly
toward him. The dog dangling from its throat could be disregarded for the
moment. The killing-ray was absolutely effective, but it did spread, and it did
destroy the finer anatomical features of tissues it hit. Especially, it
destroyed nerve-tissue outright. So the closer a specimen was when killed, the
smaller the damaged area.
The being inside the mountain
lion was pleasantly excited and very much elated. The biped stood stock-still,
frozen by the spectacle of a mountain lion moving toward it with a snarling dog
hanging disregarded at its throat. The biped would be a most interesting
subject for dissection, and its means of offense would be most fascinating to
analyze. . . .
Antonio’s fingers, contracting as
the shape from the
pleasure. Scientific exploration was satisfying, but rarely exciting; one
naturally protected oneself adequately when gathering specimens. But it was
exciting to have come upon a type of animal which would dare to offer battle.
The Qul-En in the mountain-lion shape reflected that this was a new source of
pleasure—to do battle with the fauna of strange planets in the forms native to
those planets.
The paddling vehicle went quietly
in among the wooly sheep. It saw the tiny blossom of flame that was Antonio’s
campfire. Another high-temperature oxidation process ... It would be
interesting to see if the biped was burning another carcass of its own killing.
. . .
The shape was two hundred yards
from the fire when Salazar scented it. It was upwind from the dog; its own
smell was purely that of metals and plastics, but the fur, now, was bedabbled
with the blood of the sheep which had been its first specimen of the night.
Salazar growled. His hackles rose, every instinct for the defense of his flock.
He had smelled that blood when the thing which wasn’t a mountain lion left him
behind with impossible leapings.
He went stiff-legged toward the
shape. Antonio followed in a sort of despairing calm born of utter
hopelessness.
A sheep uttered a strangled
noise. The Qul-En had come upon a second specimen which was exactly what it
wished. It left the dead sheep behind for the moment, while it went to look at
the fire. It peered into the flames, trying to see if Antonio—the biped—had
another carcass in the flames as seemed to be a habit. It looked—
Salazar leaped for its
blood-smeared throat in utter silence and absolute ferocity. He would not have
dreamed of attacking a real mountain lion with such utter lack of caution, but
this was not a mountain lion. His weight and the suddenness of his attack
caught the operator by surprise, the shape toppled over. Then there was an
uproar of scared bleatlngs from sheep nearby, and bloodthirsty snarlings from
Salazar. He had the salty taste of sheep-blood in his mouth and a yielding
plastic throat between his teeth.
The synthetic lion struggled
absurdly. Its weapon, of course, was a ray-gun which was at once aimed and
fired when the jaws opened wide. The being inside tried to clear and use that
weapon. It would not bear upon Salazar; the Qul-En would have to make its
device lie down, double up its mechanical body, and claw Salazar loose from its
mechanical throat with the mechanical claws on its mechanical hind-legs. At
first the Qul-En inside concentrated on getting its steed back on its feet.
That took time, because whenever
Salazar’s legs touched ground he used the purchase to shake the throat
savagely. In fact, Antonio was within twenty yards when the being from the ship
got its vehicle upright. It held the mechanical head high, then, to keep
Salazar dangling while it considered how to dislodge him.
And it saw Antonio. For an
instant, perhaps, the Qul-En was alarmed. But Antonio did not kneel; he made no
motion which the pilot—seeing through infra-red sensitive photocells in the
lion’s eyeballs—could interpret as offensive. So the machine moved boldly
toward him. The dog dangling from its throat could be disregarded for the
moment. The killing-ray was absolutely effective, but it did spread, and it did
destroy the finer anatomical features of tissues it hit. Especially, it
destroyed nerve-tissue outright. So the closer a specimen was when killed, the
smaller the damaged area.
The being inside the mountain
lion was pleasantly excited and very much elated. The biped stood stock-still,
frozen by the spectacle of a mountain lion moving toward it with a snarling dog
hanging disregarded at its throat. The biped would be a most interesting
subject for dissection, and its means of offense would be most fascinating to
analyze. . . .
Antonio’s fingers, contracting as
the shape from the
Similar Books
