Storm Over Warlock

ully reconnoitered and prepared that attack. Eye-searing lances of energy lashed back and forth across the base with methodical accuracy. And a single cower

e sleeve covering his thin forearm, and in his t

f to move. The sheer ruthlessness of the Throg move-in left him momentarily weak. To listen to a tale of Throgs in action, and to

force? The last report had placed the nearest Throg nest at least two systems away from Warlock. And a patrol lane had been drawn about the Circe system the minute that Survey had marked its second planet ready for colonization. S

al as a galactic power, Terra had that one small edge over the swarms of the enemy. They need only stake out their new-found world and get the grids assembled on its surface; then that planet would be locked to

riving men from the over-populated worlds, out of Sol's system to the far stars. And those worlds barren of intelligent native life, open to settlers, were none too many and widely scattered. Perhaps half a d

ring life by the destruction of the planet on which they had originally been spawned. But they were raiders now, laying waste defenseless worlds, picking up the wealth of shattered cities in which no native life remained. And their hidden temporary base

ared to be no meeting ground at all-total differences of mental processes producing insurmountable misunderstanding. There was simply no point of communication. So

not on

s ached as he unclenched his teeth. That was the finish. Breathing raggedly, he raised his head, beginning to realize that

rs he could not master, shaking his thin body, he looked even smaller and more vulnerable. Shann drew his knees up close under his chin. The hood of his woo

him completely except to give orders, and one or two had been actively malicious-like Garth Thorvald. Shann grimaced at a certain recent memory, and then that grimace faded into wonder. If yo

en the least important. The dirty, tedious clean-up jobs, the dull routines which required no technical training but which had to be performed to keep the camp functioning comfortably, those had been his

d found something new, something so absorbing that most of the tiring dull labor had ceased t

g farms on Terra came a trickle of specialized aides-de-camp to accompany man into space. Some were fighters, silent, more deadly than weapons a man wore at his belt or carried in his hands. Some

ed in their breed, made them testers for new territory. Able to tackle in battle an animal three times their size, they should be added protection f

and Togi he was a person, an important person. Those teeth, which could tear flesh into ragged strips, nipped gently at his fingers, closed without any pressure on arm, even on nose and ch

r to make him flush with impotent anger. Shann's explanation had been contemptuously brushed aside, and he had been delivered an ultimatum. If his carelessness occurred again, he wo

alone when he had discovered that the test animals were gone. He had to locate and return them before Fad

vicinity of those silent domes as he could get. Shann's slight body was an asset as he wedged through the narrow mouth of a cleft and so back into the cliff wall. The climb before him he knew in part, for this was the path the wolverines had followed on their two other escapes. A few moments of tricky scrambling

er-winged flyers that laired in pits along the cliff walls. That present snap of two-tone complaint suggested that the land

could. But to arouse the attention of inquisitive clak-claks was asking for trouble. Perhaps it would be best to

f that Taggi and his mate had preceded him, for printed firmly there was the familiar paw mark

, the breast marked with the Survey insignia. His belt supported a sheathed stunner and bush knife, and seam pockets held three credit tokens, a twist of wire intended to reinforce the latch of the wolverine cage,

en though that scent meant he could climb down to the valley floor here without fearing any clak-clak attent

get away-then find food, water, a hiding place. That will to live which had made Shann Lantee f

aner air. That sickly lavender vegetation bordering the spring deepened in color to the normal purple-green

t had appeared. Shann squeezed between two trees and then paused. The trunk of the larger was deeply scored with scratches

p out of existence; they had only made sure of the death of its occupiers. Which meant they must have some use for the installations. For the general loot of a Survey field camp would be

n his own to scratch a living-a borderline existence of a living-on the Dumps of Tyr, he had had to use his wits to keep life in a

ts, formidable ones. He was alone on a strange and perhaps hostile world. Water, food, safe shelter, those were important now. And once again, away from the ordered round of the camp where he had been ruled by the d

e him-the lake! Shann wriggled through a last bush barrier and stood to look out over that surface. A sleek brown head bobbed up. Shann put fingers to his m

e came upslope at a clumsy gallop to Shann. With an unknown feeling swelling inside him, the Terran went dow

uld answer. He gazed back to the lake,

at Fadakar and the other experts had underrated them and that both beasts understood more than they were given credit for. Now he followed an experiment of his own, one he had had a chance to try only a fe

nivore to whom they were weapons of aggression. Danger.... Shann thought "danger." The

ter period. She was finishing a hearty breakfast, the remains of a water rat being buried thriftily against futu

g flyers sight them, and the little group was finished. Better cover, that's what the three fugitives must

de of sorts. With very little knowledge of the

ing feeding. Lake duck was good eating, but Shann had no time to hunt one now. Togi started down the bank of the stream, Taggi behind

ength free and had his first weapon of his own manufacture, a club. Us

r long hind feet lashed together with a thong of grass, hung from his belt.

eir first camp. Judging that the morning haze would veil any smoke, Shann built a pocket-size fire. He seared rather than roasted the skitterers after he had made an awkward and messy business of skinning t

ing fire. He had only time to fling himself face-down, hoping the drab and weathered clo

That terror he had known on the ledge was back in full force as he waited for the b