第58节
y the Federation
Skyhawk that they got the first glimmering of what they were getting
into.
The glider, covered in white silk tinted rose-pink by the rays of the
setting sun and bearing a solid red disc under each wing, circled
almost directly overhead, then dropped its right wing, making a deep,
sideways descent before straightening out to land beyond the cluster of
buildings that were now in sight to the left of the road.
Kelso looked across at Jodi with raised eyebrows. 'Are you thinking
what I'm thinking?"
'I doubt it - but they sure as heck didn't bring us all this way just
to sweep the yard."
'Right. All that thing needs is an engine and you and I could be on
our way out of here.".
Jodi smiled. 'Don't get too excited, Dave. If they're aiming to let
us near those things then you can bet your sweet ass they've already
got that angle covered. These guys aren't idiots, y'know."
'Neither are we,' said Kelso. 'Neither are we..."
By one of those coincidences with which both life and fiction abound,
Steve had also been watching the glider's descent. Approaching from
the west with a sack of mail on his back, he had picked up the old
Highway 20 at Awo-seisa and was, at that very moment, about
three-quarters of a mile behind Jodi and Kelso. Steve's heart
quickened as he saw the swept-wing craft drift lazily across the
cloudless sky, then dip towards the ground. This was it. The Heron
Pool. He was within reach of his first objective.
Steve saw a small party ahead of him on the road. By the time he
passed the compound, the marchers had turned in through the open
gates.
Shortening his stride to a slow jog, he took a look at the courtyard
beyond.
There were a number of buildings, some people moving round, but nothing
of any interest and no clue, apart from the fact that the glider had
landed close by, to indicate what was going on there. Never mind, he'd
be back...
In the meantime, he had mail to deliver to Consul-General Nakane
Toh-Shiba, whose official residence lay a few miles down the road.
This was to be his new base until the Man in Black came out from behind
the woodwork and fixed him up with the promised job at the Heron
Pool.
At that point he would cease to be a roadrunner. With the aid of the
precious bundle of pink leaves he would lose his stripes and become the
newest recruit to the small team of Tracker renegades led by
Cadillac.
And then things would start to happen . . .
Passing beneath a tile-roofed timber lintel that kept the rain off the
ten-foot-high gates, Jodi and Kelso found themselves in a walled
compound containing two brand-spanking-new single-storey accommodation
units.
Like most Iron Master dwellings, they were built clear of the ground
and used a modular system of rectangular frames, lattice screens and
paper panels. The roof was made of overlapping wooden shingles,
suggesting that they might not be intended as permanent structures.
There were also the usual support facilities they'd observed at the
various post-house inns along the way: bathhouse, cookhouse, laundry,
et cetera, plus several older structures.
The two new arrivals were relieved of their 'yellow cards' and booked
in with the usual flurry of paperwork.
The ink and paper had a pleasing odour, and from the wide-eyed way the
dinks went to work it was clear they got a big buzz out of handling the
material. Once they were officially 'on strength', the armlets which
the Trackers had been fitted with at the trading post were prised loose
and replaced by a metal identity disc, fastened round their neck with a
loop of thin wire. The pint-sized chief clerk, faced with the choice
of looking up their noses or remaining on his perch behind the high
desk, stayed put and wagged a warning finger. 'You wear a-disc all-uh
time. Remove this an' we-uh remove head.
Hob-kay?"
Jodi and Kelso swallowed hard and hung their heads meekly.
A female Mute was summoned to take them to the bathhouse, where the
sight of hot water triggered a yell of delight. Casting aside the
straw cape, bedding roll and bag of eating utensils issued to them at