I'm of the Federation of Free Men--"
"Will the stranger use his fire now?" The question formed in Dalgard's
mind. The mermen were growing impatient, as well they might. This was
no time for talk, but for action. Could Raf be persuaded to aid them?
A Federation of Free Men--Free Men! That was what they were fighting
for here and now.
"You are free," he said. "The sea people won their freedom when Those
Others fought among themselves. My people came across the star void in
search of freedom, paying in blood to win it. But these, these are not
the weapons of the free." He pointed to the supplies about the globe,
to the globe itself.
The mermen were waiting no longer. With the butts of their spears they
smashed anything breakable. But the damage one could do by hand in the
short space of time granted them--Raf was surprised that a guard was
not already down upon them--was sharply limited. The piled-up secrets
of an old race, a race which had once ruled a planet. He thought
fleetingly of Lablet's preoccupation with this spoil, of Hobart's hope
of gaining knowledge they could take back with them.
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