"Chad Oliver - Blood's a Rover" - читать интересную книгу автора (Oliver Chad)

throughтАФ
He was out. He felt AndyтАЩs hands beating out the rivulets of flame that clung to his body and he
forced the clean, pure air of night into his sick lungs. The pain, the painтАФ
тАЬStick with it, Cone,тАЭ Andy whispered in his ear. тАЬStick with it.тАЭ
Conan Lang managed to open his eyes and stared blankly into a hot-red haze. The haze cleared and
he was faintly surprised to find that he could still see. The natives were awestruck with fearтАФthey had
angered their gods and death was in the air. Conan Lang knew that the shaman who had denounced him
would quite probably be dead of fear before the night was overтАФif he did not die before then of some
less subtle malady. He had endangered the tribe without reason, and he would pay with his life.
 Conan Lang kept his face expressionless. Inside, he was on fire. Water, he had to have water, cold
waterтАФ
Ren came to him, his eyes filled with pain. тАЬI am sorry, my brother,тАЭ he whispered. тАЬFor my people, I
am sorry.тАЭ
тАЬIt is all right, Ren,тАЭ Conan Lang heard his voice say steadily. тАЬI am, of course, unharmed.тАЭ
Conan Lang touched AndyтАЩs arm and moved across to the chiefs. He felt Andy standing behind him,
ready to catch him, just in case. He could feel nothing in his feetтАФquite suddenly, he was convinced that
he was standing on the charred stumps of his legs and he fought to keep from looking down to make sure
he still had feet.
тАЬYou have doubted your brothers who have come far to help their people,тАЭ he said quietly, looking
directly into the eyes of the old chief who had sent him into the flames. тАЬWe are disappointed in our
peopleтАФthere are sorcerers at work among you, and they must be destroyed. We leave you now. If you
anger your brothers again, the Oripesh shall cease to be.тАЭ
He did not wait for an answer but turned and started away from the clearing, back through the village.
Andy was at his side. Conan Lang set his teeth and moved at a steady pace. He must have no help until
they were beyond the village; the natives must not suspectтАФ
He walked on. The great yellow moon was high in the night sky, and there was the face of Loe with
stars in her hair. The moon shuddered and burst into flame and he heard himself laughing. He bit his lips
until the blood came and kept going, into the darkness, into nothing. The pain clawed at his body.
They were through the village. Something snapped in Conan LangтАФthe steel clamp that had carried
him through a nightmare parted with a clean ping. There was emptiness, space. Conan Lang collapsed.
He felt AndyтАЩs arm-around him, holding him up.
тАЬYouтАЩll have to carry me, kid,тАЭ he whispered. тАЬI canтАЩt walk at all.тАЭ
Andy Irvin picked him up in his arms and set out through the night.
тАЬIt should have been me,тАЭ he said in bitter self-reproach. тАЬIt should have been me.тАЭ
Conan Lang closed his eyes and, at last, nothing mattered any more, and there was only darkness.


A week later, Conan Lang stood in the dawn of Sirius Ten, watching the great double sun lift above
the horizon and chase the shadows from the green field that they had carved out of the wilderness. He
was still a very sick man, but Andy had pulled him through as best he could and now the star cruiser was
coming in to pick him up and leave a replacement with the kid.
The fresh leaves of the ricefruit plants were shoulder high and the water in the irrigation trenches
chuckled cleanly, waiting for the full fury of the sun. The tenuous, almost hesistant breeze crawled through
the still air.
Conan Lang watched the green plants silently. The words of the dead baratk-tui, the shaman,
echoed in his brain. They are not ancestors, the man had screamed. They have come to do us evil!
They have come to do us evilтАж
How could he have knownтАФwith only a pig and a stone knife? A crazy shaman working the
discredited magic of divinationтАФand he had been right. Coincidence? Yes, of course. There was no
other way to look at it, no other sane way. Conan Lang smiled weakly. He remembered reading about