And things formidable enough
to drag down that scaled horror were not foes he would choose to meet
in these unlighted ways.
The passage began to slope upward once more, and Raf saw a half-moon
of light ahead, brilliant light which could only come from the sun.
The alien was outlined there as he went out; then he himself was
scuffing through sand close upon another death scene. The dead
monster had had its counterparts, and here they were, sprawled out,
mangled, and torn. Raf remained by the archway, for even the open air
and the morning winds could not destroy the reek which seemed as
deadly as a gas attack.
It must have disturbed the officer too, for he hesitated. Then with
visible effort he advanced toward the hunks of flesh, casting back and
forth as if to find some clue to the manner of their death. He was
still so engaged when a second alien burst out of the archway, a
splintered length of white held out before him as if he had made some
important discovery.
The officer grabbed that shaft away from him, turning it around in his
hands. And though expression was hard to read on those thin features
under the masking face paint, the emotion his whole attitude expressed
was surprise tinged with unbelief--as if the object his subordinate
had brought was the last he expected to find in that place.
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