Dirge Read Free Page A

bobbing heads in the direction of the field, where the leaders of the survey team’s scientific and support contingents stood side by side, watching the northern horizon and waiting for something to happen. “Better them than you or I.”
    “I could do a better job than any of ’em,” Alwyn avowed. “At least I wouldn’t be standing out there with my ass exposed to the four winds and no gun.”
    “You heard the appraisal from the experts on board the
Chagos
,” Kairuna admonished him. “If these aliens intended hostilities they would already have attacked the ship.”
    “Not if they’re still sizing us up and trying to gauge our strength,” Alwyn shot back. “Or waiting to see if we’re good to eat.”
    “What are you doing here, anyway?” Idar challenged him angrily. “If you’re so worried about malicious aliens, what possessed you to apply for a position on a deep-space exploration run?”
    “Let me guess.” Kairuna responded before the other man could reply. “Money.”
    “Good guess.” Alwyn tugged the brim of his warming cap down over his forehead, trying to shut out the wind. “But that’s not the only reason. Earth was getting too dangerous. Too many people crammed into too many big cities. That’s what the colonies are all about. Room to move around and keep clear of the crazies.”
    “So why didn’t you apply to move to one of the Centaurus worlds, or New Riviera?” Idar wondered aloud. “With your technical qualifications you could have emigrated anywhere.”
    “It’s the same there as on Earth,” he responded without hesitation. “Too many lunatics. The only difference between Earth and the colonies is that the more adventurous nuts apply for emigration.” He nodded skyward. “Deep space seemed the safer bet. At the time.”
    “It still is.” Kairuna exuded quiet assurance. “I think you’re going to be surprised. I think we’re all going to be surprised.”
    “Yeah, we’ll be surprised, all right,” the specialist muttered. “That’s why I’m standing back here, as far away from the designated greeting point as possible. Closer to the forest that way. At least in the woods we’ll have a chance.”
    “You’ll have a chance.” Idar did not try to hide her distaste. “The rest of us aren’t going anywhere. I’ve got work to do, and as soon as this formality is concluded, I’m going right back to it.”
    Not deigning to respond, Alwyn turned to his other companion. “What about you, Kai? You with me?”
    “Only as far as dinner.” The big man taunted him gently. “Why wait for disaster to strike, Alwyn? Why not make a break for the forest now, before the unspeakably horrid alien invaders arrive?”
    “Because I’d have my pay docked for disobeying a general directive, and you know it. Go ahead and laugh. We’ll see which one of us snickers last, and which of us is still able to do so.”
    “Hush!” Idar was staring to the north, where the first snow-covered mountains rose above miscolored alien trees. “I think it’s coming.”
    At first nothing more than a distant point of light sifting down through an azure sky, the alien landing craft grew rapidly in size and dimension until its descending silhouette differentiated sharply from the framing clouds. Assembled between field and forest, fewer than a hundred human faces strained to make out the lines and design of the unknown vessel.
    As it drew nearer still they saw that it boasted a peculiar arrangement of wheels instead of the familiar, all-purpose struts that extended from the underside of similar human and thranx craft. Half a dozen wings protruded from its flanks, running from the nose all the way back to the tail. This extravagance of lifting surfaces was counterbalanced by an absence of any visible antennae or weapons. Tinted bright yellow, the sides and undercarriage of the alien superstructure were flecked with unfamiliar and indecipherable mauve hieroglyphs.
    The landing was smooth and almost