Page 4 (1/2)

The head nodded slightly, and the voice slurped, "Yes Yes, that would be h our offices Thank you for your time, Committee"

The screen went blank before Keel could respond Aues he found hi, What the devil is she up to? He knew that it must deal with the Mermen somehow, and the itch between his shoulder blades told hiested

We&039;ll find out how serious soon enough, he thought If it&039;s bad, the appointment will be for me alone

Ward Keel had done a little psychiatric study himself and he was not one to waste a skill He resolved to be particularly attentive to detail when he met later with Kareen Ale The C/P&039;s intrusion coincided with the Merman ambassador&039;s appointment too well - surely more than coincidence

Actually, I think I&039;ll cancel the appoint had best be onwe need circling out of reach above us while this terrible planet kills us off one by one Six births last nightside, allthe warh the open hatch, Iz Bushka rubbed the back of his neck and shook hiet to a shudder in the presence of Gallow and the other men of this Merman submersible crew

Pride made me accept Gallow&039;s invitation, Bushka decided Pride and curiosity - food for the ego He thought it odd that soocentric as Galloould want a "personal historian" Bushka felt the need for caution all around him

The Merh He had visited aboard Mere craft, all of their equip instruments As a historian, Bushka knew these Merman craft were not much different from those constructed by Pandora&039;s first colonists before the infaht of Fire"

"Quite a bit different from your Islander subs, eh?" Gallow asked

"Different, yes," Bushka said, "but sih that I could run it"

Gallow cocked an eyebrow, as ifBushka for a different suit "I was on one of your Islander subs once," Gallow said "They stink"

Bushka had to adanics that forive off a certain odor ree It was the nutrient, of course

Gallow sat at the sub&039;s controls to one side and ahead of Bushka, holding the craft steady on the surface The space around the Bushka had seen in an Islander sub But he had to avoid bues Bushka had already collected bruises from hatch rims, seat arms and the handles of coentle by Islander standards Just a little wash and slap against the hull

They had not been long into this "little excursion," as Gallow called it, before Bushka began to suspect that he was in actual danger - ulti that these people would kill him if he didn&039;tup" ainst the Merovernment, that much was clear from the idle chatter "The Movement," he called it Gallow and his "Green Dashers" and his Launch Base One "All mine," he said It was so explicit and unes-old fear that crept up on those who&039;d dared record history while it happened all down the ages It had a sweaty side

Gallow and his men were revealed as conspirators who had talked too much in the presence of an ex-Islander

Why did they do that?

It was not because they truly considered him one of their own - too much innuendo indicated otherwise And they didn&039;t know hih to trust him, even as Gallow&039;s personal historian Bushka was sure of that The answer lay there, obvious to so - all of that historical precedent upon which to draw

They did it to trap me

The rest of it was just as obvious If he were implicated in Gallow&039;s scheme - whatever that turned out to be - then he would be Gallow&039;s o Gallow did indeed want a captive historian in his service, and o down in history on his own terms He wanted to be history Gallow had made it clear that he had researched Bushka -"the best Islander historian"

Young and lacking some practical experience, that was how Gallow rated hi to beattractiveness of that other appeal

"We are the true humans," Gallow said

And point by point, he had co: "You&039;re one of us You&039;re not a Mute"

One of us There was power in thatparticularly to an Islander, and particularly if Gallow&039;s conspiracy succeeded

But I&039;m a writer, Bushka reminded himself I&039;m not soht hierous it was for writers to mix themselves up with their characters - or historians with their subjects

The sub took an erraticthe exterior hatch

Gallow asked, "Are you sure that you could run this sub?"

"Of course The controls are obvious"

"Are they, really?"

"I watched you Islander subs have so, Gallow"

"GeLaar, please," Gallow said He unstrapped himself from the pilot&039;s seat, stood up and moved aside "We are companions, Iz Companions use first names"

Bushka slid into the pilot&039;s seat at Gallow&039;s gesture and scanned the controls He pointed to the out their functions to Gallow: "Trim, ballast, propulsion, forward-reverse and throttles, fuel en conversion control, hues are self-explanatory More?"

"Very good, Iz," Gallow said "You are even more of a jewel than I had hoped Strap in You are now our pilot"

Realizing he had been drawn even further into Gallow&039;s conspiracy, Bushka obeyed The flutter in his stoain, the sub moved erratically Bushka flicked a switch and focused a sensor above the exterior hatch The screen above him showed Tso Zent and behind hi examples of deceptive looks Zent had been introduced as Gallow&039;s priist "and of course, my chief assassin"

Bushka had stared at the chief assassin, taken aback by the title Zent was smooth-skinned and schoolboy-innocent in appearance, until you saw the hard antagonism in his small brown eyes The wrinkle-free flesh had that soft deceptiveness of so An airfish scar puckered at his neck Zent was one of those Mer insight

Then there was Nakano - a giant with hulking shoulders and arms as thick as some human torsos, his face twisted and scarred by burns fro Gallow had already told Bushka the story twice, and Bushka got the iain Nakano allowed a feispy beard hairs to grow from the tip of his scarred chin; otherwise he was hairless, the burn scars prominent on his scalp, neck and shoulders

"I saved his life," Gallow had said, speaking in Nakano&039;s presence as though thefor me"

But Bushka had found evidence of human warmth in Nakano - a hand outstretched to protect the new co There was even a sense of hu bruises," Nakano had said, s shyly His voice was husky and a bit slurred

There was certainly no warerous," he&039;d said when Gallow explained Bushka&039;s function "They speak out of turn"

"Writing history while it happens is always dangerous business," Gallow agreed "But no one else will see what Iz writes until we are ready - that&039;s an advantage"

It had been at this point that Bushka fully realized the peril of his position They had been in the sub, seventy klicks froe kelp bed Both Gallow and Zent had that irritating habit of speaking about hilanced at Galloho stood, back to the pilot&039;s couch, peering out one of the slas ports at whatever it was that Zent and Nakano were race and beauty of Gallow had taken on a new dimension for Bushka, who hadaccidents Nakano was a living example of what Gallow feared most

Another chanted notation went into Bushka&039;s "true history," the one he elected to keep only in his es-old Islander fashion Much of Islander history was carried in memorized chants, rhythms that projected theitive on the Islands, subject to rot, and where could it be stored that the container itself would not eat it? Permanent records were confined to plazbooks and the memories of chanters Plazbooks were only for the bureaucracy or the very rich Anyone could memorize a chant

"GeLaar fears the scars of Tie is Ti"

If only they knew, Bushka thought He brought a notepad from his pocket and scribbled four innocuous lines on it for Gallow&039;s official history - date, time, place, people

Zent and Nakano entered the cabin without speaking Sea water slopped all around thean a run-through on the sub&039;s sensory apparatus Both reen-striped, skin-tight dive suits "Cae," had been Gallow&039;s response to Bushka&039;s unasked question when he first saw them

Galloatched with quiet approval until the check-list had been run, men said, "Get us under way, Iz Course three hundred and twenty-five degrees Hold us just beneath wave turbulence"

"Check"

Bushka coentled it into position Energy conservation was second nature to an Islander and he trimmed out as much by instinct as by the instrulanced at Zent "Didn&039;t I tell you?"

Zent didn&039;t respond, but Nakano smiled at Bushka "You&039;ll have to teach me how you do that," he said "So smooth"

"Sure"

Bushka concentrated on the controls, fa the minute responses transmitted from water to control surface to his hands The latent power in this Merht respond at full thrust It would gulp fuel, though, and the hydrogen engines would heat

Bushka decided he preferred Islander subs Organics were supple, living-warm They were smaller, true, and vulnerable to the accidents of flesh, but there was so on life Islanders didn&039;t go blundering about down under An Islander sub could be thought of as just big valves and uts But it gave a pulsing ride, soothing and noiseless - none of this hu, none of these hard vibrations in the teeth

Gallow spoke froet more moisture in the air, Iz You want us all to dry out?"

"Here" Nakano pointed at a dial and alphanu curve of the hull A red "21" showed on the air-moisture repeater "We like it above forty percent"

Bushka increased hu that here was another Merman vulnerability Unless they became acclimated to topside existence - in the diplomatic corps or some commercial enterprise - Mere, bloody creases in exposed soft tissues

Gallow touched Zent&039;s shoulder "Give us the ation instruments while Bushka studied the man furtively What was this? Why did they want to locate Gueh to support ten thousand souls just above the lip of malnutrition Why was Gallow interested in it?

"Grid and vector five," Zent said "Two eighty degrees, eight kiloation screen above therid squares and a soft blob in one of therees, Iz," Gallow said "We&039;re going fishing"

Fishing? Bushka wondered Subs could be rigged for fishing but this one carried none of the usual equipment He didn&039;t like the way Zent chuckled at Gallow&039;s comment

"The Movement is about to make its mark on history," Gallow announced "Observe and record, Iz"

The Moveht Galloays named it in capital letters and frequently with quotation h he saw it already printed in a plazbook When Gallow spoke of "The Movement," Bushka could sense the resources behind it, with nameless supporters and political influence in powerful places

Responding to Gallow&039;s orders, Bushka kicked the dive planes out of their locks, checked the range detectors for obstructions, scanned the trim display and the forward screen It had becolided into an easy descent as it ca up," Zent said, s at Bushka Bushka noted the smile in the reflections of the screens and made a mental note Zent must know it irritated a pilot to read his instru told what they already know

Cabin air getting sticky, Bushka noted His topside lungs found the high hu if they would object to thirty-five percent He locked on course

"On course," Zent said, still so play with yourself?" Bushka asked He leveled the dive planes and locked them

"I don&039;t take orders from writers," Zent said

"Now, boys," Gallow intervened, but there was amusement in his voice

"Books lie," Zentthe hydrophone headset, lifted one earphone "Lots of activity," he said "I countboats"

"A hot spot," Gallow said

"There&039;s radio chatter from the Island, too," Nakano reported "AndI&039;ll ood?" Zent asked