Free Star Hunter by Andre Norton Page B

propulsion unit faltered, broke into protesting
coughs. Hume worked over the controls, beads of sweat showing on his
forehead and cheek in the gleam of the cabin light.
    "Deading—deading out!"
    He brought the flitter around in a wide circle, the purr smoothed out
once more in a steady reassuring beat.
    "Out run them!"
    But Vye feared they were back again on the losing side of a struggle
with the unknown alien power. As they had been herded along the river,
so now they were being pushed across the sky, towards the mountains.
The enemy had followed them aloft!
    Some core of stubborn will in Hume would not yet allow him to admit
that. Time and time again he climbed higher—always to meet climbing,
twisting, spurting lines of lights which reacted on the engine of the
flitter and threatened it with complete failure.
    Where they were now in relation to Wass' camp or that of the safari,
Vye had no idea, and he guessed that Hume could not be too certain.
    Hume switched on the flitter's com unit, tried a channel search until
he picked up a click of signal—the automatic reply of the safari
camp. His fingertip beat out in return the danger warning, then the
series of code sounds to give an edited version of what must be
guarded against.
    "Wass has a man in your camp. His skin is in just as much danger as
the rest. He may not relay it to the Patrol, but he'll keep the force
barrier up and the civs inside—anything else would be malicious
neglect and a murder charge when the Guild check tape goes in. This
call is on the spacer tape now and will be a part of that—he can't
possibly alter such a report and he knows it. This is the best we can
do now—"
    "We're close to the mountains, aren't we?"
    "Do you know much about this part of the country?" Vye persisted.
Hume's knowledge might be their only hope.
    "Flew over the range twice. Nothing to see."
    "But there has to be something there."
    "If there is, it didn't show up during our survey." Hume's voice was
dull with fatigue.
    "You're a Guild man, you've dealt with alien life forms before—"
    "The Guild doesn't deal with intelligent aliens. That's X-Tee Patrol
business. We don't land on any planet with unknown intelligent life
forms. Why should we court trouble—couldn't run a safari in under
those conditions. X-Tee certified Jumala as a wild world, our survey
confirmed that."
    "Someone or something landed here after you left?"
    "I don't believe so. This is too well organized an action. And since
we have a satellite guard in space, any ship landing would be taped
and recorded. No such record appeared on the Guild screens. One small
spacer—such as Wass'—could slip through by knowing procedure—just
as he did. But to land all those beasts and equipment they'd need a
regular transport. No—this must be native." Hume leaned forward
again, flipped a switch.
    A small red light answered on the central board.
    "Radar warn-off," he explained.
    So they wouldn't end up smeared against some cliff face anyway. Which
was only small comfort amid terrifying possibilities.
    Hume had taken the precaution just in time. The light blinked faster,
and the speed of the flyer was checked as the automatic control
triggered by the warn-off came into command. Hume's hands were still
on the board, but a system of relays put safety devices into action
with a speed past that which a human pilot could initiate.
    They were descending and had to accept that, since the warn-off,
operating for the sake of the passengers, had ruled that move best.
The directive would glide the flitter to the best available landing.
It was only moments before the shock gear did touch surface. Then the
engine was silent.
    "This is it," Hume observed.
    "What do we do now?" Vye wanted to know.
    "Wait—"
    "Wait! For what?"
    Hume consulted his planet-time watch in the light of the cabin.
    "We have about an hour until dawn—if dawn arrives here at the same
time it does in the plains. I don't propose to go out blindly in