Short Stories - Metrognome and other Stories

by Foster, Alan Dean;

  He breakfasted on some of the concentrated rations he'd managed to gather before taking flight, then strode down from the rocks into the grass, heading east. There were many small streams meandering lazily through the vegetation, and he didn't lack for water.

  Occasionally he would dip down into a little valley, and the grasses would grudgingly give way to shelf and stool fungi of equal size. A ten‑foot mushroom would nicely supplement his diet if he could decide which ones were edible and which toxic.

  It would be a cold, raw diet he'd have to survive on, he knew. Only in the rare safety of such spots as his cave of the night before could he risk a fire. It wasn't the possible sighting of any smoke that he feared. A grass fire on Dakokraine was something any sensible person hoped never to come within reach of.

  He heard many animals but saw few. Insects in pro­fusion swarmed through the Veldt, feeding on the endless supply of tree‑tall grass, nibbling at the bases, munching on roots as thick as his arm while aerating the soil. None of them bothered the solitary human. His concern was for the carnivores that skulked through the grassy forest in search of those who fed upon it.

  Ironically, it was a herd of herbivores that nearly got him. He heard them approaching long before they reached him, a deep swishing sound like soft thunder, too incon­stant to be the result of a rising wind. Wildly he searched for something to climb. There were no trees. He scanned the ground, found no cover. The grass began to bend toward him, and the soft rustling had become a rumbling in the earth.

  A hole, there, a glint of light off rock‑something's den. Without hesitation he plunged into it, squirming to fit himself feet first into the gap.

  The mufleens stampeded over him, their long hair brushing the entrance to his refuge as they ate their way northward. His eyes stung from the dust the herd stirred up, and he saw nothing but shaggy bellies and cloven hooves the size of a man's head. He feared he might suffocate. The slab of granite that formed the roof of the burrow he'd appropriated quivered whenever a mufleen strode across but did not descend to smash him into the dirt.

  When the herd had finally passed; he emerged from the hole, filthy and shaken. Already the trampled grass was beginning to display its inherent resiliency, the flat­tened stalks arching skyward again. Something had nib­bled away part of his left shoe heel. If it was the owner of the burrow, still ensconced in darkness behind him, Jachal hoped he found it nourishing. He would have gratefully given up the rest of the shoe, except that he needed it for something more important than food.

  A steady afternoon rain began to fall, cooling and cleansing him. He continued eastward, too tired to won­der at his narrow escape.

  He'd expected the Lopers to have found him sooner. There were no fences out here to hide behind. He did not expect to find them and certainly did not expect to have the upper hand when the dreaded confrontation took place.

  The single Loper lay alongside the pool in the rocks and stared back at Jachal out of hugely pupiled eyes. It was impossibly thin and would stand about twelve feet tall when on its feet. That made him about average, Jachal knew. Though he was not interested in Dakokrainian ecology, it had been impossible for him to miss hearing about the Lopers. They were a principal topic of conver­sation among the settlers.

  The humanoid head was oval‑shaped except where the chin drew up in a dramatic point. Two wide, membranous ears projected out from the sides of the head. Air gills pulsed on the long, elegant neck. The lean, mus­cular body was covered with a stubby, yellow‑gold fuzz.

  The Loper wore a beige loincloth and a small, elongated sack slung over one shoulder. Its spear lay out of easy reach, carefully stowed to one side next to the lethal bone boomerang men had dubbed a flying flense. Jachal knew it could snip his head off as easily as he could prune a rose.

  One long leg lay in the pool, bent back at an unnatural angle. Man and Loper regarded each other across the shallow water. Jachal carried only a small knife, but it hung from his belt. Unlike spear and flense, it was not out of reach.

  The Loper's gaze traveled from the human to its own weapons. It tried to shift toward them, but the attempt was aborted by the pain that promptly shot through the thin body. Jachal studied the injured leg. Possibly a bad sprain, more likely a break, he decided.

  He hesitated, his thoughts churning. His odds for sur­viving the necessary weeks alone in the Veldt were very poor. He knew that as surely as did the locals who'd permitted him to flee into it. Here might be a chance, just a chance, to improve those odds markedly. If he was gambling wrong, well, at least he wouldn't have to worry anymore.

  It took time for him to gain the Loper's trust. He began by feeding it, pushing food within reach of those gangly arms and then backing off to watch. It took more time before the native would let him touch the damaged leg. The angle of the break had prevented the Loper from trying to make repairs of its own.

  Eventually Jachal managed to get it splinted, using parasitic vines to tie the dead grass stalks to the leg. With his aid, the Loper succeeded m standing up. Despite its height, its weight was not great. Throughout the entire process it had not uttered a sound.

  As the leg healed, man and Loper had time to examine each other. Lopers healed fast. They had to, living no­madic lives on the ever‑dangerous Veldt.

  Fighting between settlers and Lopers had been nearly continuous since the first farm had been established on Dakokraine some fifty years before. Despite the fact that they were armed only with the most primitive weapons, the Lopers fought hard and had become a real menace. Built like hyperactive giraffes, they could run at speeds close to seventy miles per hour in short bursts and could maintain a steady pace of thirty to forty for an unknown length of time. Their natural coloring permitted them to become part of the landscape, and they were damned clever. A man caught out in a field, no matter how heav­ily armed, was as good as dead if the Lopers found him.

  Only the expensive electric fences could keep them out of populated areas. Even so, they occasionally penetrated a field or two. Harvesting had to be carried out under guard, in armored reapers with air cars riding overhead. The expansion of the great farms was slowed but not stopped. Attempts to forge a truce were few and ineffective. The fighting continued. The Lopers absolutely refused to al­low a new farm to be established without contesting it strongly. Such battles inevitably resulted in a number of dead Lopers and a dead settler or two. But once a fence had been set in place and charged up, the Lopers were forced to retreat.

  The deaths of the Lopers did not trouble the settlers. Not one whit. Only a few bleeding‑heart xenologists grieved over the casualties.

  What the farmers couldn't understand was the Lopers' persistence. Dakokraine was still ninety‑nine percent theirs. There was plenty of room for settler and Loper slake. Then why did they oppose the occasional new farm so strenuously?

  Just ornery, the settlers thought. They just like to fight. Well, we know how to fight, too.

  And, of course, the fighting continued.

  Eventually the injured Loper's tribe found him. Jackal was not upset by the appearance of the three dozen or so warriors and their families. He'd been counting on it. Pulling his knife, he made a show of laying it down and moving back from it. Then he calmly waited for whatever might follow.

  The Loper whose leg he'd set ignored him, delighted to be among his own people again. When the greetings had concluded, a few warriors came over to stare down at Jackal. No one made a sign of thanks; no one offered him back his knife.

  But‑they did not kill him. Not yet.

  They settled down on the rocks, the children playing solemn games of hide‑and‑seek among the surrounding grasses, the females preparing food, the males engaging in an energetic discussion that seemed to have Jackal as its focal point. For his part, Jackal contributed an occa­sional imploring look whenever he could catch a vast, golden eye looking over at him. It had no effect on the argument.

  Finally the group broke up. One large male, who in addition to
loincloth and pouch had several necklaces of bone dangling from his long neck, approached. Jackal tensed. The warrior was fifteen feet tall and unusually muscular for a Loper.

  It showed him an empty backpack and made gestures indicating that Jackal was to climb inside.

  He frowned but saw no good in arguing. There wasn't a thing he could do about it if they chose to stuff him into the sack by force. So he climbed in, settled himself gingerly, and waited.

  Then he was flying through the air in a short arc. He readied himself for the expected smashing against the rocks. It didn't come. Instead, he found himself settled against the Loper's furry back. Straps appeared, were used to bind him into the sack to keep him from falling out. Or from escaping.

  The Lopers muttered among themselves, and Jackal listened intently in hopes of picking up a word or two. He was bobbing about against his captor's back, twelve feet above the ground. The Loper language was smooth and sharp, like an angry Polynesian's.

  Then he was flying, or so it seemed. The tribe, having broken its brief camp, was moving out into the Veldt.

  Stiltlike legs ate up the ground with long, effortless strides, dodging taller grasses with ease; dashing over shorter ones. The wind rushed past the passenger's face as he considered his position.

  They had not slain him immediately. It was known that the Lopers were resourceful. Perhaps they were keeping him alive for tomorrow's lunch. The Lopers were omni­vores, like most humanoids. At this point nothing would surprise him, including the possibility that the male whose leg he'd repaired had been designated to do the carving.

  What did surprise him was when the tribe halted for the night next to a free‑flowing stream hidden by twenty five‑foot‑tall blue‑green stalks and his towering captor looked down at him and asked, "Why midget come alone to the Veldt?"

  In all his encounters and conversations with settlers, not once had Jachal heard them mention the possibility that the Lopers could understand human speech, much less use it. But then, Lopers and men did not sit down in conference to detail to each other their respective abil­ities. The few attempts at peacemaking had been per­formed by human xenologists utilizing the Loper tongue. Verily were the Lopers a clever folk.

  The fact that they had revealed this knowledge to him was a sure sign they had no intention of letting him go.

  "Why come midget alone to Veldt?" the giant re­peated.

  "I was compelled to," he found himself answering. "It was important to me." He forbore from giving de­tails. Most primitive tribal societies understood and did not sympathize with murder.

  "Lone midget, by self, far out from skylegs or multi­caves. Not understand compelled to. Why?"

  Jachal was very tired. He was confused, and the strain of wondering when someone's flense was going to re­move his head had begun to addle him slightly.

  "I was running," he explained, "I've run all my life, and this was Just one more time I had to run. I don't suppose you can understand that."

  Of exhaustion and confusion are fortuitous remarks sometimes born. Misinterpretation, become thy savior . . . or was it misinterpretation?

  Jachal did not have the strength to consider this at the time. All he knew was that his reply set off an extremely violent discussion among the members of the tribe. A few seemed close to coming to blows. Seven‑foot‑tall infants cowered is the grass.

  Finally the giant in charge of Jachal came back to stare down at him.

  "Midget live for a time. Elders find it interesting. Later more talk."

  "Sure, I love to talk. Listen, while we're talking, could you take me to Reshkow?" He tried to describe the lo­cation of the nearest town other than Embresca .that possessed an airport. If he could actually manage to reach Reshkow, he could easily get aboard a local transport, make it to a city, get off this . . .

  "No go near multicaves of midgets for ourselves. Surely not for midget. Stay you with us. Elders find it interesting.

  And that was that. But Jachal did not give up hope. "It," meaning he, was found interesting. Later more talk. That was far more promising than later become meal.

  "How did you learn human . . . midget . . . speech?" he asked his captor.

  The giant stared down at him, firelight flickering off great, dark eyes. "One daytime skylegs drop down among us. Midget get out, seek peace signs. Elders con­sider what usefulness can come of this. So midget stay with us for a time and teach us. Want to make peace. Finally Elders ask if midget can have killweeds‑of‑cold­stuff taken down. Midget says no. We must first come in and give up weapons. Midget informative but crazy. Wasting not, we ate it."

  "I see," murmured Jachal, endeavoring to become more interesting than ever.

  A week passed and then another. Jachal did not be­come a meal. One morning he was preparing to enter his carry sack when the giant waved him away. It slung the sack loosely over its shoulder.

  "What's wrong, Apol?" He studied the plain of seed­lings that lay west of the campsite.

  "No more carry midget. Elders decide. You always running, say you. No more carry. Now you‑run with us."

  Jachal at last saw how misinterpretation had kept him alive. He dared not explain that what he'd meant that night weeks ago about always running had had nothing to do with physical movement. Or did it? He was becom­ing confused himself. And hadn't he always been in ex­cellent shape? He'd had to be to stay ahead of the law.

  They'd kept him alive because he was an anomaly, a midget who talked of always running instead of skylegs air cars. Perhaps they saw something familiar, something of themselves, in him.

  His calves throbbed in expectation of the ordeal to come. But he had no choice but to try, to do the best he could. Apol was adamant. "Now you run with us." He would have to try.

  He ran until his lungs threatened to burst, until his legs felt like iron weights, until his chest heaved and his throat roared with pain. He ran until he could run no more, and no one complimented him on his gallant attempt. No human, not the finest marathoner, could hope to keep pace with a Loper.

  He gave out and collapsed in a cluster of grasses with horizontal leaves that grew at right angles to the central stalk. The sky was a sweat‑smeared blot of blue‑white. A wide‑eyed oval face peered down into his own. It was not Apol.

  It belonged to Breang, the Loper whose leg he'd mended..

  "Ja'al run well, for a midget."

  He didn't have the energy to reply, simply nodded weakly and hoped the Loper would understand the ges­ture.

  Long, thin arms of surprising strength were under his own then, helping him up, forcing him to his feet. He tottered there, feeling faint, his body having given up its reserves, his heart hammering against his ribs as if trying to break free.

  "Can‑can't run‑anymore, Breang. Can't." He smiled faintly. "Midget‑not Loper. Can't run with‑"

  Breang showed him something. It was the carry sack Apol had employed. "Rest now. Run later. Run well for midget, Ja'al. Well much."

  Jachal eyed the sack hungrily. He'd never been so tired in his life. But he hesitated, knowing other eyes were on him. "The Elders say I'm not to be carried."

  "Owe I a leg to you. Can by law lend mine to yours."

  Eye for an eye, legs for a leg, thought Jachal. By ac­cepting his offer, maybe I'm doing Breang a favor. Maybe, he's never said anything to me before this because he owed me and had no way to work off the debt.

  He climbed gratefully into the sack. As he did so, he saw a couple of the Elders staring at him. Were they watching approvingly, or was their attention simply a figment invented by his oxygen‑starved brain? He didn't know and didn't care. It was dark in the carry sack. He closed his eyes gratefully.

  In an hour he was running again.

  As the weeks became months he learned why he'd been spared. As he supposed, his declaration that he'd always been a runner had struck an important and responsive chord within the tribe. Running was not merely a means of locomotion to the Lopers. It was their reason for be­ing,
their religion, and their gestalt. They did not run to live; they lived to run. It was as important to them as eating and breathing. The feel of air rushing past the moving body, the land disappearing beneath moving feet, oxygen coursing over neck gills‑these were the crucial sensations of life, the rationale for existence.

  A body at rest was an incomplete form, any other method of transport alien and degrading. One might as well be as inanimate as a rock or dead stalk of grass. Real people defined themselves through movement, through the action of running, by showing‑their indepen­dence from the fixed earth. This separated them from the inanimate spirits that were fixed to the ground. To be demaru, to be truly alive, one had to run.

  Midgets, humans, did not run. They used machines to transport them about on the ground and skylegs to carry them through the air: Therefore, they were not properly alive.

  No wonder all efforts to make peace between settlers and Lopers had failed. The Lopers would find the very idea of sitting down at the peace table repugnant.

  The tribe hunted and slept and gave birth to an occa­sional infant who would be up and running in a few months. They killed an elemorph, a monstrous bear‑thing that charged and swung great claws at its tormentors but could never quite catch them. They ran it to death.

  They ran whenever they weren't hunting or sleeping or giving birth. To run was to be free.

  Freedom . . . Jachal had a thought, sidled close to Breang one night beneath a roof of grass thirty feet high. The broad, spatulate leaves curved together overhead, forming the nave of a green cathedral.

  "Why do the Lopers hate the midgets so?" he asked. "Beyond the fighting, beyond the fact the midgets do not run. Why so?"

  Breang considered. "Midgets new grasses make grow. No trouble. Midgets make Veldt even all over. No trou­ble. Midgets killweeds‑of‑cold‑stuff put up." His dark eyes studied the green sky. "Big trouble this."