beyond her reach, let alone seeing inside. Back to the door-only one?-that does not fit the rest of it- she climbed the steps, paused in the doorway and considered what she saw.
Placed two feet from the right corner of the cabin, the door opened inward and to her left. She pulled it nearly shut, then slowly opened it. Straight ahead was the kitchen entrance; on the right the end of the table could be seen-but not the seating, nor the sink and cupboards to the left.
To see the bed-in the left front corner, its head against the far wall-she had to come al the way inside. The left rear of the cabin was bathroom, and its door also opened inward and left.
She nodded. No one could come through the door without giving an alert occupant both warning and time to take cover. Now she prowled the place. Only one kitchen window faced the hill behind. She moved around, looking out; the part of that slope that commanded a view into the kitchen was sheer stone cliff. Again she nodded and went back into the main room. There had to be more-she was going to find it for herself.
The two men had changed the bed-a fair job but not ex-cessively neat. She stood at the foot of it. Which side? Oh, yes-away from the wall, toward the bathroom. Tregare would want to move quickly. So ...
Yes-barely hidden inside the bed frame, near the head, she found the holder-and the gun, butt turned toward the foot for right-handed convenience. She pulled it out-a projectile weapon such as Ernol had carried, with an oversized magazine and a tiny bore in the thick barrel. She put it back.
At lunch Tregare had sat facing the cabin's front. She was not surprised to find, in a holder under that side of the table, the first gun's twin. Consistently, the butt pointed to the right. She went again to the door; now she knew what to look for. The three large embossed leather ornaments hung in a pattern slanting down from the door's upper right corner. The lowest was near her right hand as she took the doorknob in her left; she reached behind it and brought out the weapon.
No needle-spitter, this; it was an energy gun, and heavy. Rissa knew her strength, but she could not hold this piece steady, one-handed. Automatically, before replacing it, she checked the charge indicator and found it near maximum. There might be more weapons and there might not-but one thing there had to be. She scanned the floor carefully, lifting and replacing the small rugs here and there-in the main room, then kitchen, and finaly bathroom. She paused to con-firm another needle-gun beside the tub, hidden by a hanging towel, then stood, baffled. Finally she laughed and pulled sidewise at the tub. It pivoted around the mounting that held its plastic water-connections. And there she found what she sought. There was no pull-ring to the trapdoor; only a button in the floor near one end. She pressed it; the spring-loaded seg-ment swung upright with a crash, vibrating for a moment. She looked down; the hole dropped at least twice her height; on one of its glazed sides were metal rungs for climbing. At the bottom she could make out the shadow of a tunnel mouth. This, she thought, explained the need for an outhouse much better than Tregare had done. She closed the trapdoor and would have replaced the tub, but it swung back automatically. Yes-of course-that would be necessary, She had no reason to doubt Tregare's thoroughness, but she checked anyway. Outside and around to the back, looking at the outhouse, she considered its position-largely sheltered in front by the cabin, and from behind by one of the stor-age buildings. Entering it, this time she observed the heavy construction. She was not at all surprised to find, hidden in convenient reach of a right-handed sitter, the now-familiar needle-gun.
the hills brought sunset early. Expecting Tregare's return, Rissa looked through the assortment of kitchen supplies and chose foods for the evening meal. When she heard him at the door, she had an improvised
Placed two feet from the right corner of the cabin, the door opened inward and to her left. She pulled it nearly shut, then slowly opened it. Straight ahead was the kitchen entrance; on the right the end of the table could be seen-but not the seating, nor the sink and cupboards to the left.
To see the bed-in the left front corner, its head against the far wall-she had to come al the way inside. The left rear of the cabin was bathroom, and its door also opened inward and left.
She nodded. No one could come through the door without giving an alert occupant both warning and time to take cover. Now she prowled the place. Only one kitchen window faced the hill behind. She moved around, looking out; the part of that slope that commanded a view into the kitchen was sheer stone cliff. Again she nodded and went back into the main room. There had to be more-she was going to find it for herself.
The two men had changed the bed-a fair job but not ex-cessively neat. She stood at the foot of it. Which side? Oh, yes-away from the wall, toward the bathroom. Tregare would want to move quickly. So ...
Yes-barely hidden inside the bed frame, near the head, she found the holder-and the gun, butt turned toward the foot for right-handed convenience. She pulled it out-a projectile weapon such as Ernol had carried, with an oversized magazine and a tiny bore in the thick barrel. She put it back.
At lunch Tregare had sat facing the cabin's front. She was not surprised to find, in a holder under that side of the table, the first gun's twin. Consistently, the butt pointed to the right. She went again to the door; now she knew what to look for. The three large embossed leather ornaments hung in a pattern slanting down from the door's upper right corner. The lowest was near her right hand as she took the doorknob in her left; she reached behind it and brought out the weapon.
No needle-spitter, this; it was an energy gun, and heavy. Rissa knew her strength, but she could not hold this piece steady, one-handed. Automatically, before replacing it, she checked the charge indicator and found it near maximum. There might be more weapons and there might not-but one thing there had to be. She scanned the floor carefully, lifting and replacing the small rugs here and there-in the main room, then kitchen, and finaly bathroom. She paused to con-firm another needle-gun beside the tub, hidden by a hanging towel, then stood, baffled. Finally she laughed and pulled sidewise at the tub. It pivoted around the mounting that held its plastic water-connections. And there she found what she sought. There was no pull-ring to the trapdoor; only a button in the floor near one end. She pressed it; the spring-loaded seg-ment swung upright with a crash, vibrating for a moment. She looked down; the hole dropped at least twice her height; on one of its glazed sides were metal rungs for climbing. At the bottom she could make out the shadow of a tunnel mouth. This, she thought, explained the need for an outhouse much better than Tregare had done. She closed the trapdoor and would have replaced the tub, but it swung back automatically. Yes-of course-that would be necessary, She had no reason to doubt Tregare's thoroughness, but she checked anyway. Outside and around to the back, looking at the outhouse, she considered its position-largely sheltered in front by the cabin, and from behind by one of the stor-age buildings. Entering it, this time she observed the heavy construction. She was not at all surprised to find, hidden in convenient reach of a right-handed sitter, the now-familiar needle-gun.
the hills brought sunset early. Expecting Tregare's return, Rissa looked through the assortment of kitchen supplies and chose foods for the evening meal. When she heard him at the door, she had an improvised
Similar Books
