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.I did not know how observant might be the riders.Eventhough I might stand, unseen, in the shelter of the ring s field, the sand,disturbed, might reveal my movements, my presence.If I attacked one rider,invisible, the other, alarmed, might simply flee, panic-stricken andterrified.At the level, where the sand ringed the fuselage of the ship, Idrank deeply, then I threw aside the flask.I then went into the desert. Water! I cried. Water!The riders stopped, a hundred yards from me.I did not approach them from thedirection of the ship. Water! I cried.I stumbled toward them.I staggered, and fell, repeatedly.file:///F|/My%20Shared%20Folder/John%20Norm.%20Gor%2010%20-%20Tribesmen%20of%20Gor.html (284 of 353) [1/21/03 7:52:06 PM]10 Tribesmen of GorThey let me approach.I saw them exchange glances.I fell to one knee, againstruggled to my feet.I extended my right hand to them.There was sand in myhair, on my body.I moved as though in pain, as though suffering fromabdominal and muscular cramps, as though I were dizzy.I stood unsteadily. Water! I cried to them. Please, water! I stopped some fifty yards fromthem.I saw them loosen their lances.I fell in the sand, on my stomach.I kept my head down.In the sand, I smiled.Iknew these men.I had seen them ride.They were truly agents of Kurii, minionsofIbn Saran, Abdul, the Salt Ubar.They had been among the herders of thewretches on the chain to Klima. On your feet! called one of them.He was some forty yards away.I struggled to stand upright in the sand, the sand about my ankles.I swayed,unsteadily.I stood looking at them, stupidly.The sun was at my back.I hadseen to this in my approach.He who was called Baram, the most skillful, would make the first pass. Water! I cried out to them. Please, water!He was right-handed.He would pass on my right.I noted the lance.It waslong, slim, some eight foot Gorean in length; it was marked with red andyellow swirling stripes; it terminated in an extremely narrow point, razored,steel, some eleven inches in length, lanceolate, as the leaf of the flahdahtree.It was no mistake that I stood where I did.The sand between us wassmooth.I wanted the gait of his kaiila to be even.I judged the angle of thelance.His thrust would be to the head; I assumed it would be to the rightear.It would be easy enough to judge that when the point sped toward me.Oneoften feints with the point, dropping it, or lifting it, or it to the one sideor the other, dropping or lifting, or tally, in war;but in sport accuracy and not deception is paramount; I observed the rider; Isaw him smile; I saw the kaiila rear up; I saw the lance fall into position;he lanced in sport; I faced him in war.He was unwary; his attention was fully focused on his target; did he think Iwas a slave girl on the plains of the Wagon Peoples, standing, a tospit in mymouth for his lance sport?Page 200ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlI moved to the side and, with both hands, a yard behind the point, turning,caught the lance; the rider, crying out, was torn from the saddle and fellrolling in the sand as the kaiila sped by; the lance strap broke; I lifted thelance and, as he rolledfile:///F|/My%20Shared%20Folder/John%20Norm.%20Gor%2010%20-%20Tribesmen%20of%20Gor.html (285 of 353) [1/21/03 7:52:06 PM]10 Tribesmen of Gor onto his back, eyes looking up, horrified, thrust itthrough his body, pinning him to the sand; I jerked the lance from his body,holding it down with my left foot and swirled to meet the charge of the nextman.I was startled.He had not charged.He had missed his chance.He was notskillful.I motioned him to charge.He remained in his position, not moving.There was fear in his face.I motioned him again to charge.He lifted his lance; he lowered it; then hedid not charge; he backed his kaiila away.I turned my back to him and, slowly, insolently, walked to fetch the kaiilawith the empty saddle.If he had approached, I would have heard him.I caught the rein of the other animal.The pack kaii1a were near the otherman, untended.I put my foot in the stirrup and swung into the saddle.The other rider turnedhis kaiila about, and fled.He neglected the pack animals.I rode my kaiila to the other animals and brought them back to the slainwarrior.It would not be difficult to follow the trail of the other man.I would do soat my leisure.I took what I needed, weapons and boots and clothing from thefallen rider.I did not take the shirt but threw it aside, for it wasbloodied.Then, on my kaiila, leading the other animals, I returned to theship, to sort through the packs, and, from them, and the stores of the ship,to choose my supplies.It would not be necessary to follow the backtrail of the two riders who hadapproached the ship.There would be a fresher trail to follow.I would let thefleeing man lead me from the desert.He could not have had more than aone-talu water bag at his saddle.I slept during the late afternoon, and then, when it was night, and cool, thekaiila fed from their pack supplies, and watered from the stores at the ship,I set forth.InI the light of the moons, the trail was not difficult to follow.23 I Make the Acquaintance of Haroun, HighPasha of the KavarsI could hear the drums of war. For whom do you ride? challenged the man. I ride with the Kavars, I told him.I moved the kaiila, with the string ofpackfile:///F|/My%20Shared%20Folder/John%20Norm.%20Gor%2010%20-%20Tribesmen%20of%20Gor.html (286 of 353) [1/21/03 7:52:06 PM]10 Tribesmen of Gor animals, over the crest of the hill.The wretch, stripped,wrists crossed, and bound on a tether to my pommel, stumbled behind me and tothe side.I had taken even his boots [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]