Free Lin Carter - Down to a Sunless Sea by Lin Carter, Ken W. Kelly - Cover

as I've said, Tuan will be after us, no matter what we leave behind."
    Brant grinned wolfishly, a hard baring of white teeth.
    "Maybe," he grunted. "But dealing out his 'justice' to Agila will slow him up. Let's get packing!"
    Even as they left the tent, bearing with them the precious golden dish and the knife which Agila had carried in his boot, a thin, far call came to their ears.
    "Suoli!" exclaimed Brant. "She's on guard-duty right now—come on!"
    Zuarra, having heard some commotion, emerged from her tent to look questioningly at Brant. Leaping into the saddle, he handed her one of his power guns, briefly instructing her to stand watch over Agila. Then he and Harbin, sharing the saddle, loped off in the direction from which the warning cry had sounded.
    When they reached the dunes, Suoli came sliding down to point to the ridgeline.
    "They are come, O Brant!" she wailed.
    Brant studied the ridge through the binoculars. There fourteen of them, by now. He swore under his breath.
    "Yes, and it looks like they have reinforcements."
    12
    The Discovery
    They broke camp and made a run for it under cover of darkness. But Brant was getting awfully tired of running, and said so.
    "Sooner or later, it's gotta come to a showdown between us—a fight," he growled, as they saddled the lopers. "And I'd wish it was sooner than later."
    The older man said nothing, nodding silently. He knew that what truly irked Brant was the people under his care: two women, an old man, and a renegade. Brant would probably have taken a stand and fought it out, had it not been for them.
    But fourteen warriors—for there were at least that many— were too many to fight with any real chance of victory. So . . . run they must, no matter how it irked the big Earthsider.
    The one advantage in their favor was that, at least as yet, it would seem that none of the warriors of Tuan had been able to descend the cliffwall. This part of the shoreline of the prehistoric continent was too sheer to afford an easy descent, so all that Tuan and his war party could do was follow their route along the ridgeline.
    Once Tuan got a sizable number of his followers down to their level, it would, of course, be a very different ballgame. But that time had not yet come.
    As they rode out under cover of darkness, again abandoning some of their gear, Brant and Harbin conferred. Brant still felt that it would at least gain them time to leave the ancient golden dish behind, with the thief bound and helpless. Harbin again declined to agree with him, arguing that the insult to the clan-pride had been more than enough to rouse the ire of Tuan against the two of them, and the women, as well. Brant cursed under his breath, but in his heart he felt that the old scientist was probably right.
    So they ran. But—to what haven?
    Dawn broke, that sudden, silent explosion of pale light that illuminated the sky without warning, and they were still running. Mercifully, no riders were to be discovered on the ridgeline, which did not necessarily mean that they had outdistanced them, but just that the outlaw band was riding more cautiously than were they.
    After a brief rest break and some food, they mounted up and rode on ever deeper into the south, seeking a safe haven. They doubled up in the saddle, for, although bearing twice the usual weight would in time weary their steeds, they could make better time this way.
    Every time he had a chance, Doc Harbin studied the ancient dish with the aid of his powerful lens. During the second rest stop, he drew Brant aside to confer. The old scientist seemed agitated, as if suppressing a discovery of considerable interest.
    "Can you read the old writing yet, Doc?" inquired Brant. The other man shook his head.
    "I can only make out, or guess the meaning of, about one word in four," he confessed. "Nevertheless, Jim, I think I've discovered something that may help us."
    "Well, we could sure use a little help right now, so let me have it," said Brant. Harbin