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again a sharp snap of sound in the glade. The baron stopped, wrestling
with pain ten feet from the pale renegade.
Suddenly he flung the sword. It looped in mid-air and slashed the man's
face from chin to cheekbone. He tripped and tumbled backward as ven
Klaeden slipped to his knees on the moss.
Meikl dived for the gun. By the time he wrestled it away from the
officer with the bloody face, ven Klaeden was sitting like a gaunt
Buddha on the moss, and the body of Letha lay nearby, while a confused
Evon clutched his hands to his face and rocked slowly. Meikl came slowly
to his feet. The renegade officer wiped his face of blood and shrank
back into shrubs.
"Get him," croaked ven Klaeden.
Scarcely knowing why, the analyst jerked the trigger, felt the gun
explode in his fist, saw the renegade topple.
There was a moment of stillness in the glade, broken only by ven
Klaeden's wheezing breath. The baron looked up with an effort, his eyes
traveling over the girl, then up to the figure of the child of Earth.
"Your woman, Earthling?"
Evon lowered his hands, stood dazed and blinking for a moment. He
glanced at Meikl, then at the girl. He knelt beside her, staring, not
touching, and his knee encountered the blade of the sword.
"You have brought us death, you have brought us hate," he said slowly,
his eyes clinging to the sword.
"Pick it up," hissed the baron.
"You will never leave. A party of men is wrecking what you have done.
Then we shall wreck your ships. Then we...."
"Pick it up."
The native hesitated. Slowly, his brown hand reached for the hilt, and
fascination was in his eyes.
"You know what it is for?" the analyst asked.
The native shook his head slowly.
Then it was in his hand, fingers shaping themselves around the hilt as
the fingers of his fathers had done in the ages before the Star Exodus.
His jaw fell slightly, and he looked up, clutching it.
"Now do you know?" the baron gasped.
"My my hand it knows," the native whispered.
Ven Klaeden glanced sourly at Meikl, losing his balance slightly, eyes
glazed with pain. "He'll need it now, won't he, Analyst?" he breathed,
then fell to the moss.
Evon stood up slowly, moistening his lips, feeling the grip of the sword
and touching the red-stained steel. He peered quickly up at Meikl. Meikl
brandished the gun slightly.
The low rumble of a dynamite blast sounded from the direction of the
mines.
"You loved her too," Evon said.
He nodded.
The native held the sword out questioningly, as if offering it.
"Keep it," the analyst grunted. "You remembered its feel after twenty
thousand years. That's why you'll need it."
Some deeds, he thought, would haunt the soul of Man until his end, and
there was no erasing them... for they were the soul, self-made,
lasting in the ghost-grey fabric of mind as long as the lips of a child
greedily sought the breast of its mother, as long as the child mirrored
the mind of the man and the woman. Kulturverlaengerung.
The analyst left the native with the sword and went to seek the next in
line of command. The purpose of the fleet must be kept intact, he
thought, laughing bitterly. Yet still he went.
The kitchen stinks. __eou__ I'll throw out the garbage. __eou__
So Dick, how about getting some coffee for tonight? __eou__ Coffee? I don’t honestly like that kind of stuff. __eou__ Come on, you can at least try a little, besides your cigarette. __eou__ What’s wrong with that? Cigarette is the thing I go crazy for. __eou__ Not for me, Dick. __eou__
Are things still going badly with your houseguest? __eou__ Getting worse. Now he’s eating me out of house and home. I’Ve tried talking to him but it all goes in one ear and out the other. He makes himself at home, which is fine. But what really gets me is that yesterday he walked into the living room in the raw and I h...
Would you mind waiting a while? __eou__ Well, how long will it be? __eou__ I'm not sure. But I'll get a table ready as fast as I can. __eou__ OK. We'll wait. __eou__
Are you going to the annual party? I can give you a ride if you need one. __eou__ Thanks a lot. That's the favor I was going to ask you for. __eou__ The pleasure is mine. __eou__
Isn’t he the best instructor? I think he’s so hot. Wow! I really feel energized, don’t you? __eou__ I swear, I’m going to kill you for this. __eou__ What’s wrong? Didn’t you think it was fun?! __eou__ Oh, yeah! I had a blast! I love sweating like a pig with a bunch of pot bellies who all smell bad. Sorry, I’m just not ...
Can I take your order now or do you still want to look at the menu? __eou__ Well, I want a fillet steak, medium, but my little girl doesn't care for steak. Could she have something else instead? __eou__ Certainly. How about spaghetti with clams and shrimps. __eou__ Sounds delicious. OK. She'll try that. __eou__
Can you manage chopsticks? __eou__ Why not? See. __eou__ Good mastery. How do you like our Chinese food? __eou__ Oh, great! It's delicious. You see, I am already putting on weight. There is one thing I don't like however, MSG. __eou__ What's wrong with MSG? It helps to bring out the taste of the food. __eou__ According...
I'm exhausted. __eou__ Okay, let's go home. __eou__
Good evening. Welcome to Cherry's. Do you have a reservation? __eou__ No, we don't. __eou__ How many of you, please? __eou__ Six, including two kids. __eou__ I'm afraid all the big tables are taken. __eou__
What kind of food do you like? __eou__ I like Chinese food. __eou__ But your American? __eou__ We have a lot of Chinese restaurants in America. __eou__
Would you like to take a look at the menu, sir? __eou__ Yes. Thank you. __eou__ Would you care for a drink before you order? __eou__ A glass of Qingdao beer. __eou__ Yes, sir. I'll bring it over. Have you decided what you'd like, sir? __eou__ Will you make some recommendation? __eou__
Can I help you sir, what do you need? __eou__ I need a packet of cigarettes please. __eou__ Of course sir, no problem. __eou__ Thanks. __eou__
Could I have my bill, please? __eou__ Certainly, sir. __eou__ I'm afraid there's been a mistake. __eou__ I'm sorry, sir. What seems to be the trouble? __eou__ I believe you have charged me twice for the same thing. Look, the figure of 6.5 dollar appears here, then again here. __eou__ I'll just go and check it for you, ...
May I sit here? __eou__ By all means. __eou__
Is everything to your satisfaction? __eou__ No, the steak was recommended, but it is not very fresh. __eou__ Oh! Sorry to hear that. This is quite unusual as we have steak from the market every day. __eou__ So what? It is not fresh and I'm not happy about it. __eou__ I'm sorry, sir. Do you wish to try something else? T...