call you when it is safe." She
got the decoy he had seen her use last time from her carry pack.
This time he was going to show her how to deal with that vulture.
While she was busily assembling the spring mechanism, he set his gun
at maximum charge and ran into the open space. Almost instantly he
heard the bone-shattering scream coming from the sea. He turned, taking
aim at the fast-approaching bird as it swooped down. But before he could
press the trigger, he was bowled over, thrown into one of the few patches
of deep water and pulled under, feeling a sharp stab of pain on his
shoulder. Water immediately filled his mouth and nose. Then he was set
upright again, spluttering and coughing, and his head held above water.
No more than stone’s throw away, the dinosaur-like creature was
screaming and trying ineffectually to free itself from the muddy patch
where it had crashed.
Yuen-mong helped him get onto dry land. Recovering from his cough,
he found his voice. "You stupid woman! That bird was as good as dead.
You almost got us killed."
For the first time he saw her get angry. "You call me stupid? Don’t
you ever listen?"
She picked up the gun that he had dropped, pointed it at him and
pressed the trigger. He already anticipated the laser’s sharp burning pain.
But nothing happened.
"Here, have your useless toy." She threw it at him. "And from now on
you do what I say or I will deliver you to the savages. You can become
one of them. They are about equally stupid." She turned and went back
into the forest.
She must have done something wrong. He aimed the gun into some
grasses and pressed the trigger. Nothing happened. He checked that it
was ready to fire, tried again, knocked the gun hard with his fist, tried
again. By then the creature had extricated itself and was getting threateningly closer. He retreated a few steps and aimed again, but the gun
remained silent. He became aware of the throbbing pain on his shoulder
and saw the bloody rip. Delayed fright shot into his guts. The monster
bird looked suddenly twice its previous size, and he ran quickly into the
forest.
Yuen-mong was just stowing the craw decoy into her carry pack. She
briefly glanced up. He did not dare to meet her gaze. She had risked her
own life to save his, and he had insulted her. Hadn’t she told him several
times that nothing using electronics worked here? As usual, he had
known better. And when she had agreed to take him to the shuttle this
morning, she had not done it out of fear, as he had thought. He felt
smaller and smaller, just thinking of how he had threatened her, of how
she must have laughed inside at him.
She finished packing and got up. "Come here. That scratch needs
cleaning or it will infect." Her voice had again its usual deep soft tone.
He went to her and murmured: "Yuen-mong, I’m sorry… I’m stupid."
"Take off the top," she ordered, not acknowledging his meek apology.
She inspected the deep scratch on his shoulder; it looked almost like a
cut. "Wait."
She ran back into the estuary. The craw was just making a run to take
off. A short time later she returned with a leafy plant, including its root,
similar to a dandelion. She poured water from her water container over
the cut and used the crushed leaves of the plant to wipe the wound clean
of any dirt. It stung terribly, and he squirmed.
"Hold still," she said, showing no sympathy. Then she broke the root
in two and dabbed the rubbery, milky liquid that oozed from the breaks
over the entire length of the cut. "Keep your top off for a while."
She shouldered her gear and his pack, stood quietly for a moment,
eyes closed, and then said: "We must hurry now. The storm will break
soon. Come."
She dashed off like an arrow. For a second he hesitated whether he
should take the gun along, but then left it on the
got the decoy he had seen her use last time from her carry pack.
This time he was going to show her how to deal with that vulture.
While she was busily assembling the spring mechanism, he set his gun
at maximum charge and ran into the open space. Almost instantly he
heard the bone-shattering scream coming from the sea. He turned, taking
aim at the fast-approaching bird as it swooped down. But before he could
press the trigger, he was bowled over, thrown into one of the few patches
of deep water and pulled under, feeling a sharp stab of pain on his
shoulder. Water immediately filled his mouth and nose. Then he was set
upright again, spluttering and coughing, and his head held above water.
No more than stone’s throw away, the dinosaur-like creature was
screaming and trying ineffectually to free itself from the muddy patch
where it had crashed.
Yuen-mong helped him get onto dry land. Recovering from his cough,
he found his voice. "You stupid woman! That bird was as good as dead.
You almost got us killed."
For the first time he saw her get angry. "You call me stupid? Don’t
you ever listen?"
She picked up the gun that he had dropped, pointed it at him and
pressed the trigger. He already anticipated the laser’s sharp burning pain.
But nothing happened.
"Here, have your useless toy." She threw it at him. "And from now on
you do what I say or I will deliver you to the savages. You can become
one of them. They are about equally stupid." She turned and went back
into the forest.
She must have done something wrong. He aimed the gun into some
grasses and pressed the trigger. Nothing happened. He checked that it
was ready to fire, tried again, knocked the gun hard with his fist, tried
again. By then the creature had extricated itself and was getting threateningly closer. He retreated a few steps and aimed again, but the gun
remained silent. He became aware of the throbbing pain on his shoulder
and saw the bloody rip. Delayed fright shot into his guts. The monster
bird looked suddenly twice its previous size, and he ran quickly into the
forest.
Yuen-mong was just stowing the craw decoy into her carry pack. She
briefly glanced up. He did not dare to meet her gaze. She had risked her
own life to save his, and he had insulted her. Hadn’t she told him several
times that nothing using electronics worked here? As usual, he had
known better. And when she had agreed to take him to the shuttle this
morning, she had not done it out of fear, as he had thought. He felt
smaller and smaller, just thinking of how he had threatened her, of how
she must have laughed inside at him.
She finished packing and got up. "Come here. That scratch needs
cleaning or it will infect." Her voice had again its usual deep soft tone.
He went to her and murmured: "Yuen-mong, I’m sorry… I’m stupid."
"Take off the top," she ordered, not acknowledging his meek apology.
She inspected the deep scratch on his shoulder; it looked almost like a
cut. "Wait."
She ran back into the estuary. The craw was just making a run to take
off. A short time later she returned with a leafy plant, including its root,
similar to a dandelion. She poured water from her water container over
the cut and used the crushed leaves of the plant to wipe the wound clean
of any dirt. It stung terribly, and he squirmed.
"Hold still," she said, showing no sympathy. Then she broke the root
in two and dabbed the rubbery, milky liquid that oozed from the breaks
over the entire length of the cut. "Keep your top off for a while."
She shouldered her gear and his pack, stood quietly for a moment,
eyes closed, and then said: "We must hurry now. The storm will break
soon. Come."
She dashed off like an arrow. For a second he hesitated whether he
should take the gun along, but then left it on the
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