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The other eight reptiles were just beginning to react, as their sluggish wits
struggled to grasp the new situation. The last wild one suddenly found that
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its herders were no longer paying any attention to it.
Foam churned around it as it dove away for open water.
The seven implanted reptiles were slowly realizing that no one was sending
commands through their brains any more. They seemed totally unaware of the
eight Menel in the water, all swimming furiously toward the submarine.
Blade didn't much care for what he had to do next. The submarine was the last
chance the Menel had for rejoining their comrades elsewhere, or even fighting
off the reptiles now. It still had to be destroyed, for it was also their last
chance for catching and killing Blade on his way back to the safety of the
land.
Blade raised the beamer and sighted on the submarine's conning tower. As he
did, one of the Menel raised a laser and let fly wildly. A beam of green light
flashed close enough for Blade to feel searing-hot air blow painfully across
one leg. Then he slapped the trigger plate of the beamer.
The submarine's conning tower exploded upward on top of a pillar of foam and
steam. It shot ten feet into the air, then splashed back among the Menel. They
stopped swimming as the wave from the explosion swept over them. Now they were
too close to the submarine for Blade to have another clear shot at its bow. He
shifted his aim, and with another pulse of the beam blew off the stern. Then
Blade picked up his fallen sword, tucked the beamer under one arm, and started
back the way he'd come.
Seven uncontrolled and angry reptiles would certainly be enough to keep eight
Menel too busy to think any more about Richard Blade.
Blade was tempted to leave the beamer and swim back to shore. He could
probably go faster that way than aboard the raft. But he wasn't sure how long
the beasts would be occupied with the Menel, or how well the beamer would work
after it got wet. Besides, he wanted to get it back to shore if he could. He
might need something to convince the Kargoi of what they faced, if a time
suddenly came when they had to be told. He could hardly think of anything more
convincing than the beamer.
So he sprinted through the darkness along the shore to where he'd left the
raft. He slashed the line with his sword and leaped aboard. The raft dove
several inches deep under the impact, then bobbed to the surface. Blade put
down the beamer, snatched up the paddle, and began paddling as if a dozen of
the sea reptiles were already hard on his trail.
It seemed forever before the little island began receding in the darkness. At
last Blade felt free to turn and look toward the shore. The fires there were
blazing higher, and smaller dots of light moving back and forth along the
shore told Blade of lit torches. He wondered what wild guesses the watchers
were making about what they saw and heard, and paddled on. Slowly the island
faded behind him, and so did the noise of the battle the Menel were fighting
against the sea beasts.
A little while longer, and Blade could begin to make out individual figures
moving along the shore, in and out of the pools of light thrown by the fires.
In another few minutes he'd be in water shallow enough to slow the attack of
the great reptiles, and . . . .
The sea behind him rose into two glistening mounds, and a too familiar roaring
hiss rolled across the water.
As the fanged heads broke the surface and rose dripping and terrible, Blade
was already lifting the beamer. The two beasts surged forward, Blade's hand
came down on the trigger plate, and the crimson beam vanished into the mouth
of the one on the left. The whole top of the skull came off, with bits of bone
and teeth, hide, flesh, and brain tissue raining down. Blade shifted his aim
as the second beast came at him, ignoring the fate of the first one. Again his
hand came down on the trigger plate, and this time nothing happened.
Blade struck the trigger plate a second time, a third. Broken or exhausted,
the beamer was certainly useless for the moment. Blade shifted it to his left
hand and drew his longsword with his right. He still had a chance, if the
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beast would stay on the surface and not have the sense to dive and come up
under the raft.
It came on. Its head reared high above Blade, they scraping and clashing of
long teeth added to the hisses and roars. Then the head dipped toward him.
Blade saw the yard-wide mouth descending on him and thrust upward with the
useless beamer, ramming it between the filth-caked teeth. At the same time he
struck with his sword, putting every bit of his strength into the slash. Even
the beast's rugged hide could not stand up under such a blow. Hide and flesh
gaped open to the bone all across the beast's nose. It jerked its head back
with a convulsive whipping of the long neck, roaring deafeningly. Blade thrust
his sword into its scabbard and plunged over the side of the raft.
He dove deep, striking out toward the shore. Hopefully the wounded beast would
be distracted by the beamer, then by the raft. By that time he would be safely
on land. It was a faint hope, but all he had. He thrust himself furiously
through the black depths until a burning in his lungs warned him that his
breath was about to run out. He lunged toward the surface and thrust his head
up for a gulp of air.
The beast floated now with its head high in the air, twisting about wildly.
Between the teeth Blade saw the beamer shining. Good. He'd gained a few
seconds head start, at least. He took a deep breath, then got ready to dive
again.
As Blade's head was about to dip under, the beast's jaws clamped down hard on
the beamer. Somehow that triggered the release of all the weapon's stored
energy in a single explosive second. Gold and crimson flame flared where the
reptile's head had been, and its last hissing roar was lost in the thunderous
crash of the explosion. Bits of charred flesh and bone sprayed down into the
water like the blast of a shotgun, kicking up the water all around Blade.
For another moment the mangled stump of the beast's neck waved high in the
air, as its body obeyed the last few signals from the now shattered brain.
Then it dropped limply into the water, throwing up a wave that washed over
Blade's head. By the time he could see again the beast had sunk out of sight,
and nothing was left from the battle except a few stray planks of the raft.
So much for using the beamer to convince anybody of anything! At least he was
alive, instead of making a meal for one of the reptiles, and now he wouldn't
have to worry about how to conceal the beamer until the right time came to
reveal it.
On shore the people seemed to be dashing about like ants from a broken hill.
It was time to get ashore and try to give them some sort of plausible
explanation of what had been going on.
Blade turned and began to swim.
Chapter 16
The moment Blade stepped out of the water, all the warriors crowded around
him. They pounded him on the back, wrung his hand, shouted questions and cries
of joy at his return. Paor finally broke up the mob, shouting orders and
prodding a few laggards with the butt of his spear, and Blade was able to sit
down and drink some water.
That gave him enough time to think up an explanation of what he'd been doing
and what had happened.
The island had a volcanic vent on it, he said, and some of the escaping gas
had ignited. The noise attracted some of the sea beasts, but they'd become
interested in fighting each other. So he'd been able to escape, although only
by the skin of his teeth!
Everyone on shore had seen the lights and heard the sounds of Blade's battle
and seen the two beasts that chased his raft. With the darkness and their own
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