Страница 246 из 281
Yes, Dwight was there! Yes, Dwight had gotten tu
It was all right for Jo
It took Jo
Finally, with considerable blasphemy that the communicators couldn't handle well in Pali, Sir Robert said he would pry a pilot loose and fly down.
Jo
The small gray man looked very pleased when Chong-won told him Sir Robert was coming.
Chapter 4
Out of the night sky from the north, rushing far ahead of its sound, seen at first as just another star, a plane approached Kariba.
The antiaircraft gu
Jo
A finger pointing at Jo
It was Du
They swatted each other happily. Then Du
“The very thing! Somebody cut your beard half-off! And mine's burned half-off! Make an appointment for me with your barber!”
“Did you get shot down?” said Jo
“Now, laddie, don't be insulting!” said Du
“How is it up there?” said Jo
“Bad. We got the fire out but that's all you can say for it. Dwight and Thor are trying to open tu
“Oh, that he was. Went all around bothering everybody asking questions. Got in everybody's way. And then he seemed to get what he was looking for and went swooshing up to Aberdeen. Almost got himself shot down! He was looking for the king-you know, Chief of Clanfearghus."
“How is he? The Chief?” said Jo
“Well, he's a bleeder. You know, doesn't stop bleeding once he's cut. I’m always telling him to stay out of wars– they're unhealthy! Anyway, we found him outside and rushed him to the Aberdeen hospital and they gave him transfusions. This small gray man tried to get in to see him and of course the gillies threw him out. But then Dr. Allen got cornered by him. Seems like this guy,” he indicated the ship where the lights were flashing, “has been collecting books and libraries all over the place. He picto-graphs them. And he got Dr. Allen to tell him what was wrong with the Chief and they looked it up in a lot of old man-books, and Dr. Allen found there was a compound called Vitamin K that made blood coagulate and they synthesized some and what do you know...the bleeding stopped! The Chief's recovering. What is this small gray man, a doctor?”
“No,” said Jo
“Well, it was a nice thing to do, anyway,” said Du
Jo
Du
And Sir Robert really was dead to the world. Singed and gray-faced where his skin wasn't blacked with soot, his hands torn, his clothes in burned rags, Sir Robert looked exactly what he was– an old man who had been going through hell for days without rest.
They tried to lift and carry him between them but the old War Chief was a very heavy man, especially when dead weight. They got a mine cart and wheeled him into the hospital.
Jo
Mr. Tsung and his family were suddenly up and hovering around and they ran off to get things organized. Shortly, they were giving Sir Robert a bath and trimming the burned areas in his beard and hair so they looked more even. They soon had him in a bed. He had never opened his eyes!
Jo
Jo
It must be hell in Edinburgh!
Jo
The most vital question now was: where was Stormalong? Where was MacAdam? The only thing they ever got out of Luxembourg was a girl saying something that sounded like "Je n' comprempt pas!” and that sure didn't spell Stormalong or the Scot banker. Was he going to have to handle this foreclosure thing with no help?
Chapter 5
The treaty signing, Jo
They came, Lord Dom and Dries Gloton, to the ops room. Dries seemed extraordinarily pleased. “I hear,” he said, “that the Earth representative arrived last night. Be sure he is at the signing.”
Jo
Du
“I want you to take over this post,” said Jo
The old Scot was as grumpy as a bear. He was sitting on the edge of bed with nothing much to cover his bony limbs and eating something Chief Chong-won had brought him.
“Treaty signing!” he grumped between bites. “Waste of time. They'll never keep any treaties. This is a beautiful planet here and they want it! I belong right up in Edinburgh helping dig those poor people out. Oh, you were right, MacTyler, they all should have been at Cornwall!”