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a gamble than staying on the Wall. Blade had almost a wild animal's instinct
for detecting danger, and that instinct was now sending him a clear message.
They told him that the Wall was protected by Watchers or by something that was
waiting, invisible for the moment, but able to turn deadly dangerous in the
blink of an eye.
Midafternoon now, and the sky was growing cloudy. There would be no more
reflected sunlight to give warning of whatever might be lying in wait for
them, at least not today. Before long the sky had turned gray, and a premature
twilight began to spread across the land. Blade and Twana stopped, drank
without eating, and went on. Fatigue and strain had bleached Twana's face to
the color of bone, and her feet were swollen and blistered. Yet she still
seemed quite ready to follow Blade to the end of the Wall, or even farther.
Suddenly Blade heard a faint hooting, like the sound of a distant owl. It came
from ahead, but a moment later it was echoed from behind them. Blade stopped
and drew his sword. Twana pressed herself against him for a moment, then
stepped back, drawing her own sword and standing to guard his back.
The hooting came again, from both in front and behind. It was either louder or
closer or both. Then it came a third time. The cat had finished watching the
mouse. Now it was stalking. In another moment it
would leap. Blade was not sure exactly what the cat would be, but he suspected
it would be something against which a sword would be as useless as a feather
duster.
The hooting came again, still louder, with a distinct metallic note in it. No
living throat could be making that sound. Blade sidestepped toward the edge of
the Wall. With only a minute or two more, he could let down the rope to make
an escape route for Twana. He himself would probably have to ....
Then the hooting was echoed from close at hand, so loudly that the Wall seemed
to quiver from the sound. There was a rushing and roaring of violently
disturbed air from beyond the blindness field. A blast of wind hit Blade and
Twana, hard enough to force the girl to her knees. Something that seemed to be
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the size of a small house shot high into the air from inside the Wall. It hung
in the air above Blade, long enough to give him a grisly moment's anticipation
of being crushed flat under it. Then, with another hurricane blast of air and
a ringing metallic crash, it came down on top of the Wall.
Twana's mouth fell open, and she gave a gurgling scream of sheer terror. "A
Watcher!" she cried. Her sword was shaking in her hand, but somehow she held
her ground.
Blade's mouth was open in surprise rather than fear, although he didn't blame
Twana. He stared at the
Watcher, and from what he had to call its head, two yellowish eyes stared back
at him.
The rest of the Watcher-well, start with a rectangular metal box the size of a
small truck, set on end. Put the dome-shaped head on top of that, with the
eyes, half a dozen antennae, and the twin glassy-blue muzzles of what looked
very much like lasers or guns. On each side of the box, stick two arms-the
upper one a pair of long, jointed rods ending in massive steel claws, the
lower one an eight-foot steel tentacle.
Mount the whole thing on a circular base ten feet in diameter. Color it a
dirty bronze-tinted blue all over, and add a few dents, patches, and scars.
That was a Watcher, as Richard Blade faced one for the first time on top of
the Wall.
He could hear Twana's breath coming in quick gasps, and he didn't blame her.
Even if one hadn't gone in fear of the Watchers all one's life, they weren't a
pleasant thing to meet. Particularly when there wasn't much hope of either
fighting or running.
Those weren't the only choices, fortunately. This machine had to be the
creation of an advanced civilization. If its masters were watching through its
eyes and listening through its ears, perhaps there was a way to communicate
with them. Certainly it was worth trying.
Carefully Blade laid down his sword. Then he straightened up, holding his
empty hands well out from his sides, fingers spread wide. If the Watcher's
masters were humanoid, the gesture should have its almost universal meaning of
"Peace." Then he whispered sharply to Twana, "Do the same as I've done."
"Blade, I-"
"Do it!"
He heard Twana suck in her breath with a hiss. Then at last her courage
deserted her, and she turned and ran. Before she'd taken two steps, the
Watcher let out another ear-splitting hoot, rose a foot off the ground with a
whine and a blast of air, and started after her. All four arms were raised,
and both eyes were blinking rapidly.
Blade threw himself to one side, just in time to save his life. A beam of
dazzling white light flared from
one of the blue muzzles in the Watcher's head. It played across Blade's sword,
and when it passed on, it left the metal blackened and warped.
As Blade sprang to his feet, the Watcher's arms on the side toward him lashed
out. The tentacle whipped around his knees, while the claw on the upper arm
unfolded until it could span his waist. Blade was jerked off his feet and into
the air, as the Watcher swept by in pursuit of Twana.
The girl screamed as she saw the Watcher gaining on her. Then she stumbled and
went down, the sword flying out of her hand. Blade's arms were free. He
reached down to the jointed arm that held him by the waist, grabbed the elbow
with both hands, and heaved with all his strength.
It should have been impossible, flesh matched against metal in this way, but
Blade's strength somehow made it possible. The arm gave with a screech of
twisted and torn metal and went limp, pouring out smoke and sticky bluish
fluid. Blade found himself dangling in midair, held only by the tentacle
around his knees. He tried to swing himself toward the body of the Watcher. If
he could get a firm grip there and then start on the joints with the knife
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from his belt-
He never made it. The head turned toward him, and Blade had a moment of
staring into the mouth of one of the blue tubes-a moment just long enough for
him to know that he was about to die.
Then Twana screamed again, and the world dissolved around Blade in white fire
and terrible pain.
Chapter 9
Blade awoke in a comfortable bed. He was surprised not only at the bed, but at
still being alive to wake up at all. Apparently the Watcher had merely knocked
him unconscious, rather than frying him like a piece of bacon. It had left a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]