Perhaps,
thinking Raf dead, they had returned to their space ship.
Now there were other, more immediate, problems to be met. They had
done everything that they could to insure the well-being of the
stranger, without whom they could not have delivered that one
necessary blow which meant a new future for Astra.
The aliens were not all dead. Some had gone down under the spears of
the mermen, but more of the sea people had died by the superior
weapons of their foes. To the aliens, until they discovered what had
happened to the globe and its cargo, it would seem an overwhelming
triumph, for less than a quarter of the invading force fought its way
back to safety in the underground ways. Yes, it would appear to be a
victory for Those Others. But--now time was on the other side of the
scales.
Dalgard doubted if the globe would ever fly again. And the loss of the
storehouse plunder could never be repaired. By its destruction they
had insured the future for their people, the mermen, the slowly
growing settlement at Homeport.
They were well out of the city, in the open country, traveling along a
rocky gorge, through which a river provided a highway to the sea.
Pages:
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281