The Incredible Tide Read Free

angrily above them.
    â€œNoisy pests!” muttered the woman. “What’s got into them?”
    â€œThey don’t like you. They know how I feel about you.”
    â€œEh?” growled the man. “What d’you mean? Aren’t you even thankful that you’re being rescued?”
    â€œShould I be?”
    â€œThis is no time to be stupidly insolent! Where is your gratitude? If you ever hope to become a citizen of the New Order—”
    â€œThe New Order?” Conan interrupted. “Is that another name for the Peace Union?”
    â€œCertainly not! All the survivors of the Change are being reorganized under our banner. The world must be rebuilt. It will take every able-bodied person to do it.”
    The man with the heavy beard paused and glanced curiously about the islet. He scowled at Conan. “Now, I want the truth,” he demanded. “You haven’t lived here since the Change—not all alone. That’s impossible.”
    â€œWhy do you say it’s impossible?”
    â€œBecause it is impossible,” the woman retorted. “Why, this is nothing but a rock pile! You’re entirely too healthy. Briac Roa himself—”
    â€œQuiet, Citizen Doctor,” the man ordered. “I want to question him.”
    â€œYes, Citizen Captain. But something is obviously wrong here.”
    The captain nodded. “And I’ll have the truth. This matter of Briac Roa—ah, you know Briac Roa, young man?”
    â€œI—I know who he is.” Conan faltered. “Of course. Everyone does. Why?”
    He was astounded to find four pairs of eyes looking at him intently. The captain said, “There is a rumor that Briac Roa is alive. We have orders to find him.”
    â€œBut—I don’t understand. He’s a Westerner. What—”
    â€œIt doesn’t matter who or what he was. The New Order needs him. He’s not at the refuge where his people went. So, if he’s not in hiding, he’s a castaway like yourself. He could be anywhere, even here.”
    â€œThen why don’t you look for him?” Conan said coldly.
    The captain was already pressing forward, eyes probing the tiers of walls, the cluster of huts behind their protective shield of stonework. The others spread out, searching. In a few minutes they were back where they had started, having twice covered every inch of the islet. All they had found of real interest to them were a few pieces of smoked fish from the storage hut. The captain and the doctor were devouring them eagerly.
    â€œAh, this is good!” murmured the doctor. “So good! The first I’ve tasted since—since—it was long before the Change.”
    â€œThe sea is full of fish,” Conan reminded her. “Doesn’t the New Order allow you to have it?”
    â€œWe have it,” growled the captain. “Plenty of fish! We dry it, and even make meal of it. By a fine new process—”
    â€œBut we don’t smoke it,” the doctor said a bit wistfully.
    â€œOf course not! Smoking it would be a senseless waste of wood. The New Order doesn’t waste valuable materials.” He pulled a well-cleaned bit of backbone through his teeth, tossed it away, and licked his lips. Then he looked hard at Conan.
    â€œYou still persist in saying you’ve been here ever since the Change, and alone?”
    â€œI told you I had my friends.”
    â€œNonsense! You’re hiding something. What is it?”
    â€œI don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    The captain frowned and glanced at the woman. “What do you think, Citizen Doctor? You saw the wretches we found on the last trip. They had a big island—and they weren’t worth saving.”
    â€œDid—didn’t you save them?” Conan asked.
    â€œWhat for?” snapped the doctor. “They would have been a burden. The New Order couldn’t have used them. But