[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
rear end weren't used to riding horseback. And for another, I was chilly. But
mainly I had stuff on my mind.
It seemed to me that as smart as Arno was, he wasn't in a position to be my
number-one man on Fanglith. He wasn't the native leader I needed. The kind of
man I
should be looking for was someone already established in power. His Count
Roger maybe, or even better, the
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
duke, Robert Guiscard. Those guys already had armies, and ruled pieces of real
estate that apparently were pretty big and important for a planet like
Fanglith, where communication and transportation were so primitive. Give them
communicators and air support and let their enemies see a demonstration by a
turret blaster, and they wouldn't have to fight to conquer.
I shifted on my grass pile, trying to get more comfortable. Arno, I told
myself, would be my front man, my introduction to Roger or Robert.
"It sounds as if you're getting it all sorted out."
Deneen's voice in my ear startled me, and I heard her laugh. "We're sitting
about a hundred yards above you with the windows opaqued. There are so few
people awake down there that Bubba can follow your thoughts.
He's been giving us a running summary, "I've been thinking about possible
rescue plans," she went on.
"If you'd like, I can put Tarel down on the roof of the building you're in;
there's a trapdoor in it. He could take a stunner and have a remote in his
ear, and Bubba and I could guide him in finding you."
I looked at that. "Bubba, can you read Arno's thoughts?" I asked with my mind.
"It would help to know more about what he's thinking."
There was a long pause, a minute or longer. Bubba's form of speech was hard to
understand over a communicator, and I could picture him giving his answer to
Deneen.
"Arno's still awake," she said at last, "but Bubba hasn't been paying much
attention to him. He's not used to Norman French, or to the nonverbal mix in
Arno's thoughts. The general tone doesn't feel threatening, but if you want,
he'll monitor and see what he gets."
I knew that Bubba does better with people whose thought style he's used to.
"Fine," I said. "If
Arno's still awake, Bubba can monitor him for a while, and if he learns
anything I ought to know about, tell me.
"Meanwhile, let's leave things the way they are-at least for now. I'll play
things by ear, and you can bail me out later if necessary. I'm pretty sure
Arno plans to take me to Sicily with him, and that's where
I need to go anyway. That's where Robert and Roger are."
That's about all that needed saying just then. We
"talked" a minute longer just for company, but I knew it was hard work for
Bubba, so we ended off. Then I
got myself as comfortable as I could and waited, scratching, for sleep. It
seemed to me that, in spite of the lice and fleas, I'd rather be down here
than up there: it was more interesting.
Now there was a different viewpoint for me! I was learning to relax and enjoy
the situation. Give me a little time and maybe I'd make a good adventurer
after all!
EIGHTEEN
The next day wasn't all that enjoyable though. For one thing, I felt as if l
should have slept a few more hours. And the weather had changed; it was
beginning to be windy again, but out of the south this time-a warm wind gritty
with sand. The sirocco, they called it, out of Africa. By the time we'd
climbed into our saddles to help fetch Arno's horses, it was a stiff breeze,
damp and almost hot. We chewed grit, breathed grit, and got grit in our eyes.
Nobody there seemed very happy about it.
It could last for days, they told me, though it might be gone tomorrow. If it
ever came to a vote, I'd vote for gone tomorrow.
The country behind Mileto was rough, with draws and little canyons, and Arno's
herd was scattered in several loose bands with some young locals keeping track
Page 73
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
of them. There were three stallions, thirty-seven big mares, and thirty-three
foals-a lot of horses. It took us till afternoon to get them all down out of
the hills and penned near the wharf.
There Arno selected sixty to take to Palermo this trip. That was all the ship
would hold-the biggest horse ship available in Reggio.
Then we went back to the tower-the donjon, they called it-and actually bathed!
The Normans were quite cheerful about it-not only Arno, but Brislieu and their
squires. They even had soap, and what the soap lacked in quality, the Normans
made up for with scrubbing.
It was the first time I'd had my clothes off since before I'd boarded the ship
at Marseille. There were red blotches-bug bites-all over my body; it was
pretty impressive. They didn't bother me the way they had at first though. And
the Normans didn't have the blotches. It was as if the body quit reacting much
to them after a while.
When we'd gotten rid of the grit temporarily, we had a meal. Then Arno and I
sat alone in the shelter of a garden wall to talk. I'd thought he might
present me to Roger's wife, but he didn't. I decided that one, he didn't know
how to explain me; and two, he didn't want them to know what sort of resource
I was.
What we did do was talk about the kind of kingdom or empire he'd run, if he
had one. First of all, he said, he would establish his sovereignty over the
Greeks- the Byzantines. Then he'd bring the cleverest artisans and weapons
makers of Byzantium to his court, which would be at Palermo. At the same time,
he'd send me back to the heavens to get more of our powerful weapons, an idea
that fitted in with my own.
Also, he would not, he said, allow the barons to build castles; it encouraged [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl aikidobyd.xlx.pl
rear end weren't used to riding horseback. And for another, I was chilly. But
mainly I had stuff on my mind.
It seemed to me that as smart as Arno was, he wasn't in a position to be my
number-one man on Fanglith. He wasn't the native leader I needed. The kind of
man I
should be looking for was someone already established in power. His Count
Roger maybe, or even better, the
Page 72
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
duke, Robert Guiscard. Those guys already had armies, and ruled pieces of real
estate that apparently were pretty big and important for a planet like
Fanglith, where communication and transportation were so primitive. Give them
communicators and air support and let their enemies see a demonstration by a
turret blaster, and they wouldn't have to fight to conquer.
I shifted on my grass pile, trying to get more comfortable. Arno, I told
myself, would be my front man, my introduction to Roger or Robert.
"It sounds as if you're getting it all sorted out."
Deneen's voice in my ear startled me, and I heard her laugh. "We're sitting
about a hundred yards above you with the windows opaqued. There are so few
people awake down there that Bubba can follow your thoughts.
He's been giving us a running summary, "I've been thinking about possible
rescue plans," she went on.
"If you'd like, I can put Tarel down on the roof of the building you're in;
there's a trapdoor in it. He could take a stunner and have a remote in his
ear, and Bubba and I could guide him in finding you."
I looked at that. "Bubba, can you read Arno's thoughts?" I asked with my mind.
"It would help to know more about what he's thinking."
There was a long pause, a minute or longer. Bubba's form of speech was hard to
understand over a communicator, and I could picture him giving his answer to
Deneen.
"Arno's still awake," she said at last, "but Bubba hasn't been paying much
attention to him. He's not used to Norman French, or to the nonverbal mix in
Arno's thoughts. The general tone doesn't feel threatening, but if you want,
he'll monitor and see what he gets."
I knew that Bubba does better with people whose thought style he's used to.
"Fine," I said. "If
Arno's still awake, Bubba can monitor him for a while, and if he learns
anything I ought to know about, tell me.
"Meanwhile, let's leave things the way they are-at least for now. I'll play
things by ear, and you can bail me out later if necessary. I'm pretty sure
Arno plans to take me to Sicily with him, and that's where
I need to go anyway. That's where Robert and Roger are."
That's about all that needed saying just then. We
"talked" a minute longer just for company, but I knew it was hard work for
Bubba, so we ended off. Then I
got myself as comfortable as I could and waited, scratching, for sleep. It
seemed to me that, in spite of the lice and fleas, I'd rather be down here
than up there: it was more interesting.
Now there was a different viewpoint for me! I was learning to relax and enjoy
the situation. Give me a little time and maybe I'd make a good adventurer
after all!
EIGHTEEN
The next day wasn't all that enjoyable though. For one thing, I felt as if l
should have slept a few more hours. And the weather had changed; it was
beginning to be windy again, but out of the south this time-a warm wind gritty
with sand. The sirocco, they called it, out of Africa. By the time we'd
climbed into our saddles to help fetch Arno's horses, it was a stiff breeze,
damp and almost hot. We chewed grit, breathed grit, and got grit in our eyes.
Nobody there seemed very happy about it.
It could last for days, they told me, though it might be gone tomorrow. If it
ever came to a vote, I'd vote for gone tomorrow.
The country behind Mileto was rough, with draws and little canyons, and Arno's
herd was scattered in several loose bands with some young locals keeping track
Page 73
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
of them. There were three stallions, thirty-seven big mares, and thirty-three
foals-a lot of horses. It took us till afternoon to get them all down out of
the hills and penned near the wharf.
There Arno selected sixty to take to Palermo this trip. That was all the ship
would hold-the biggest horse ship available in Reggio.
Then we went back to the tower-the donjon, they called it-and actually bathed!
The Normans were quite cheerful about it-not only Arno, but Brislieu and their
squires. They even had soap, and what the soap lacked in quality, the Normans
made up for with scrubbing.
It was the first time I'd had my clothes off since before I'd boarded the ship
at Marseille. There were red blotches-bug bites-all over my body; it was
pretty impressive. They didn't bother me the way they had at first though. And
the Normans didn't have the blotches. It was as if the body quit reacting much
to them after a while.
When we'd gotten rid of the grit temporarily, we had a meal. Then Arno and I
sat alone in the shelter of a garden wall to talk. I'd thought he might
present me to Roger's wife, but he didn't. I decided that one, he didn't know
how to explain me; and two, he didn't want them to know what sort of resource
I was.
What we did do was talk about the kind of kingdom or empire he'd run, if he
had one. First of all, he said, he would establish his sovereignty over the
Greeks- the Byzantines. Then he'd bring the cleverest artisans and weapons
makers of Byzantium to his court, which would be at Palermo. At the same time,
he'd send me back to the heavens to get more of our powerful weapons, an idea
that fitted in with my own.
Also, he would not, he said, allow the barons to build castles; it encouraged [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]