Barracks’ airfield,” Harlan said hurriedly in a low voice, thrusting a tiny slate in my hand. “Anyone else would know. It’s not far.”
He opened the door just as Jessl reached it. It was now Jessl’s turn to stare at me.
“Well
,
well.” He looked nervously at Harlan. “That’s what kept you.”
With as much dignity as I could muster because I was still trembling, I gave both men a haughty look and swept out of the room.
Gartly was sitting facing the stair as we descended and he sprang to his feet, knocking the stool over. His face was completely expressionless. At first, I thought he must be equally struck speechless by my transformation. He turned without a word and left the house. I stared after him, hurt.
“The costume was his wife’s,” Harlan remarked gently. “She, too, was lovely.”
Young Sinnall appeared in the door and bowed low. As we left the house, Cire came round the side of the house, and he too bowed.
“A lot better than stolen fishermen’s clothes, hmm?” I said.
“That is the truth,” Cire said, his eyes wide.
“Hey, where’s my breakfast?” I demanded, stopping dead on the path outside the front door.
“Here,” laughed Harlan, holding up a metal bottle and a small package, cloth wrapped. “I’ll never let you starve again,” he remarked, cocking an eyebrow at me.
“Will you two stop that and let’s get off the ground?” Jessl snapped, irritably. “It’s a three-hour trip from this cave-forsaken stretch of soil.”
Laughing, I followed them down to the landing circle where the waiting official planecar idled its rotors. Sinnall had rigged a seat of sorts for me in the luggage area, apologizing profusely for the cramped accommodations. Cire announced that he would take the uncomfortable seat until such time as we encountered official traffic. Consequently I saw a great deal of such landmarks as the immense pit quarries of South Motlina, for Cire had been alone in Gartly’s house near Astolla and had taken us south, away from prying inquiries about the wrecked boat. I saw the oil fields of Wingar and finally the city of Astolla itself and the delta we had nearly landed on. Northward into the mountains of Lothar the ship climbed.
I realized that Lothar had been lucky in several respects: a common enemy to unite it early in its history and the geographical accident which linked its two largest land masses from the north pole to the sixty-sixth parallel. At this point the continents split and rapidly separated east and west, leaving a green ocean between their land legs, dotted with several large islands and driblets of isles in the southern hemisphere. The eastern continent, over which we flew, was more mountainous and larger, the western one, a vast rolling plain ringed with bluffs and precipices, periodically penetrated by navigable rivers and deep lagoons. The western sea was shallow, spiked with tiny islands, deepening finally into a great crevasse of several thousand square miles before the sprawling arm and exaggerated peninsular fist of the eastern continent pouted seaward.
Used as I was to the ribbons of roads seen from the air on Earth, it struck me that Lothar had leapt from primitive wheels to a form of jet plane, thanks to the accommodating Mil. The only roads were foot trails, since most transportation, even by the poorer farmers, was done by air. Land was too valuable to be used up in wasteful roads when the whole sky was open for travel. During the trip I was constantly amazed by the gigantic craft that carried freight and the almost fragile vehicles that transported a single passenger: hummingbirds and vultures.
I missed, however, what I had hoped most to see: an airborne view of Lothara. The excessive number of aircars above Lothara, official and civil, flying at distressing proximity, necessitated my retreat behind the curtain. Sinnall answered and satisfied several official summonses before he made the turn into a pattern at the Central
He opened the door just as Jessl reached it. It was now Jessl’s turn to stare at me.
“Well
,
well.” He looked nervously at Harlan. “That’s what kept you.”
With as much dignity as I could muster because I was still trembling, I gave both men a haughty look and swept out of the room.
Gartly was sitting facing the stair as we descended and he sprang to his feet, knocking the stool over. His face was completely expressionless. At first, I thought he must be equally struck speechless by my transformation. He turned without a word and left the house. I stared after him, hurt.
“The costume was his wife’s,” Harlan remarked gently. “She, too, was lovely.”
Young Sinnall appeared in the door and bowed low. As we left the house, Cire came round the side of the house, and he too bowed.
“A lot better than stolen fishermen’s clothes, hmm?” I said.
“That is the truth,” Cire said, his eyes wide.
“Hey, where’s my breakfast?” I demanded, stopping dead on the path outside the front door.
“Here,” laughed Harlan, holding up a metal bottle and a small package, cloth wrapped. “I’ll never let you starve again,” he remarked, cocking an eyebrow at me.
“Will you two stop that and let’s get off the ground?” Jessl snapped, irritably. “It’s a three-hour trip from this cave-forsaken stretch of soil.”
Laughing, I followed them down to the landing circle where the waiting official planecar idled its rotors. Sinnall had rigged a seat of sorts for me in the luggage area, apologizing profusely for the cramped accommodations. Cire announced that he would take the uncomfortable seat until such time as we encountered official traffic. Consequently I saw a great deal of such landmarks as the immense pit quarries of South Motlina, for Cire had been alone in Gartly’s house near Astolla and had taken us south, away from prying inquiries about the wrecked boat. I saw the oil fields of Wingar and finally the city of Astolla itself and the delta we had nearly landed on. Northward into the mountains of Lothar the ship climbed.
I realized that Lothar had been lucky in several respects: a common enemy to unite it early in its history and the geographical accident which linked its two largest land masses from the north pole to the sixty-sixth parallel. At this point the continents split and rapidly separated east and west, leaving a green ocean between their land legs, dotted with several large islands and driblets of isles in the southern hemisphere. The eastern continent, over which we flew, was more mountainous and larger, the western one, a vast rolling plain ringed with bluffs and precipices, periodically penetrated by navigable rivers and deep lagoons. The western sea was shallow, spiked with tiny islands, deepening finally into a great crevasse of several thousand square miles before the sprawling arm and exaggerated peninsular fist of the eastern continent pouted seaward.
Used as I was to the ribbons of roads seen from the air on Earth, it struck me that Lothar had leapt from primitive wheels to a form of jet plane, thanks to the accommodating Mil. The only roads were foot trails, since most transportation, even by the poorer farmers, was done by air. Land was too valuable to be used up in wasteful roads when the whole sky was open for travel. During the trip I was constantly amazed by the gigantic craft that carried freight and the almost fragile vehicles that transported a single passenger: hummingbirds and vultures.
I missed, however, what I had hoped most to see: an airborne view of Lothara. The excessive number of aircars above Lothara, official and civil, flying at distressing proximity, necessitated my retreat behind the curtain. Sinnall answered and satisfied several official summonses before he made the turn into a pattern at the Central
Similar Books
