Warriors Of Latan

No, he would act on the assumption that he was really holding an Englor army-issue UZI submachine gun, and consider how it could have got here. It seemed to Blade that there were three ways.

Latan could be on the same alternate Earth as Englor, Russland, Gallia, and so on.

Latan could be on another planet in the same Dimension as Englor, which had developed spaceflight and reached it.

Englor had discovered the Dimension X secret on its own and had left the gun in Latan. This last possibility — that Englor had discovered inter-Dimension travel-was the most unpleasant. It also seemed to Blade the most likely.

If the Englorians were on the same planet, it was possible that they should not have come to Latan again some time in the last two hundred years. Or it was impossible unless there'd been a war large enough to destroy civilization and leave remote parts of the planet isolated. That didn't seem likely. Such a war would certainly have affected the whole planet violently enough for there to be legends about it. Blade hadn't heard anything of the kind.

An interplanetary expedition also seemed unlikely. There were no legends of the Idol Makers coming out of the sky. One day they hadn't been there, the next day they had. After a while another day came when they were simply gone, leaving the Idol behind.

No, Englor had discovered Dimension X and sent at least one full-scale expedition into it. (Never mind whether there was more than one Englor. That way lay madness.) The Englorians had left the gun here, the inhabitants of Latan had found it, and they had made it into an Idol. That seemed the best explanation for everything Blade had seen here. He remembered with uneasy clarity Lord Leighton's words about the Dimension X secret probably not really being much of a secret anymore.

And if Englor discovered inter-Dimensional travel at least two centuries ago, what had they done with it since then? Except that it might not be two centuries to Englor's Dimension; it might be only a few years.

There were too bloody many questions ru

Step three was to get out of Rutari territory as fast as possible. Blade knew he just might find a few answers by exploring these caves, but it was likely that somebody would notice the missing sentries, draw the appropriate conclusions, and make more trouble than he and Crystal and Cheeky could handle.

Blade scooped the magazines into his pack and picked up the gun. The UZI's plastic sling was cracked and yellow with age and spotted with mold. Blade unhooked it and left it on the altar, making a mental note to make a new sling out of some of the leather thong once they were out of the cave. A sling would leave both hands free for a useable weapon like his bow and arrow. He couldn't imagine that the UZI was still useable, and even if it wasn't a piece of junk, the ammunition would have deteriorated hopelessly.

Blade grabbed Crystal and said, «We have the Idol. Let us take it to its lawful home among your people before the Rutari come.»

Crystal nodded and found the leather thong. They followed the thong back to the entrance of the cave. Outside they delayed their leaving just long enough for Blade to find a deep crevice in the side of the valley. He dropped the two dead sentries and all their gear down the crevice. It was now getting toward the rainy season in this part of the mountains; one good storm would wash away any bloodstains. If it looked as if the sentries had vanished by magic, it might sow fear among the Rutari and delay their pursuit, giving the Uchendi more time to prepare for the attack.

With Cheeky on Blade's back, he and Eye of Crystal walked hand and hand into the mist as the valley of the Idol vanished behind them.

Chapter 24

They were in Uchendi territory, as far as Blade and Crystal could remember. They'd been in it since dawn, and both now looked forward to a good night's sleep with no worries about mounting guard. Cheeky shared their pleasure, though Crystal had been heard to grumble that he hadn't shared the sentry duty. Although there had been no physical or telepathic signs of pursuit, they still couldn't take chances.

«It would be just too shameful for us to end up spitted by some ezinti herder either of us could have slain with one hand,» Crystal said. «I will not go into the Great Sleep merely to gain more of the Little Sleep.»

Very sharp indeed, thought Blade. Eye of Crystal had enough common sense about war, apart from what he was teaching her, to make a good war chief. Of course they weren't going to let her take that job, but this wisdom might ease her way to becoming She Who Guards the Voice. She'd have to play that one herself, though. He wasn't likely to be around to advise her.

Now it looked as if they might not be able to sleep easy tonight after all. There were too many small signs of a large mounted party in the area-ezinti droppings and a few tracks, traces of campfires and latrines imperfectly hidden.

«Maybe it is Uchendi,» said Eye of Crystal.

«Maybe,» said Blade. «But then why would they be trying to hide at all?» Both tribes were careful about leaving clean campsites; they were natural ecologists. But neither spent the extra time involved in concealing all their traces when they were in friendly territory.

«You think the enemy is ahead of us?»

«I think we should be ready for the worst.»

Blade debated with himself the idea of burying the Idol, then the two of them splitting up and heading south separately. One of them should make it home and be able to lead the Uchendi back to the person with the Idol. However, the Rutari might already be watching them. Besides, he was reluctant to leave Crystal, and she would almost certainly refuse to leave him.

They moved on, eyes roaming the landscape, hands close to weapons. Blade had his bow strung and wished that he had a functional UZI or even a good automatic pistol with an extra magazine…

They came up to the bank of a stream, and Blade looked carefully up and down it, then at the hillside above the far bank. Lots of rocks and stunted trees, but nothing within spear-throw. He motioned Eye of Crystal forward after him. As she came she unslung their waterskins from her belt and dipped them into the stream.

Blade stepped up onto the far bank. Crystal was reslinging the bulging waterskins when suddenly the hillside sprouted human figures. Blade froze, then grabbed wildly for his bow, turned to shout to Eye of Crystal-then recognized the figures as Uchendi archers, raising and drawing their bows. Only one actually let fly, but that arrow went thuk into the gravel bank no more than a yard from Blade. He pulled it out and waved it at the archers, not sure whether he should curse them for their taste in practical jokes or praise them for their skill in laying the ambush. If all those archers had let fly, he and Crystal and Cheeky would now be punctured corpses turning the stream pink.

Cheeky was yeeeping with the tone Blade recognized as his laughter.

(«All right, you little bugger, what's so fu

(«You are, Master. I felt you getting ready to die, when I knew the Masters on the hill were friends.»)

(«You-you heard their minds?») For a moment Blade felt like dunking the feather-monkey in the stream to improve his ma

(«Yes. I am sorry if it was a wrong thing. I would have told you if I heard the minds of the bad Rutari Masters.»)

(«I should bloody well hope so!») Cheeky might be more intelligent now, but he was still an incorrigible practical joker. Blade shuddered at the thought of the feather-monkey's getting in telepathic contact with the Project's computer-then realized that under controlled conditions that might be a rather valuable experiment.