“I don’t understand it. Why did the beasts make that long march to the shore — then leave almost at once?”

Vaintè moved with uncertainty. “They hunt for food that they must have for the winter. They fish in the sea.”

“They had time for little hunting,” Stallan said.

“Exactly,” Malsas‹ said. “Then what was their motive in doing this thing? Do they have motives — or do they simply run about like animals? You kept one for a long time, Vaintè, you must know.”

“They think. They reason. They have an animal cunning that can be very dangerous. We must never forget the way they killed the fargi on the beaches.”

“Your ustuzou escaped, didn’t he?” Malsas‹ asked. “Was it with that pack on the beach?”

Vaintè spoke as calmly as she could. “I believe so. That one is dangerous for it not only has the animal cunning of an ustuzou but some of the learning of Yilanè as well.” So Malsas‹ was spying on her, knew of her interest in the enlarged pictures. That was only to be expected: she would have done the same herself.

“The creature must be destroyed, its skin hung from the thorns.”

“My wish as well, Eistaa.”

“Then what do you plan to do?”

“As much as I would like to see that one ustuzou destroyed, I think it is of greater importance to kill all the ustuzou. In the end it will accomplish the same thing. All dead, he is dead.”

“That is a wise plan. How will you go about implementing it?”

“With the Eistaa’s permission I wish to launch a trumal that will end this menace completely.”

Malsas‹ registered appreciation and doubt in equal parts. She had taken part, as they all had, in trumal in the ocean of their youth — when different efenburu joined together, worked together in harmony against a single object. Many times a school of squid would be too large for one efenburu to handle.

When they attacked like this the trumal would always end in complete destruction. There would be no survivors.

“I understand your doubt, Eistaa, but it must be done. More fargi must be obtained from the cities of Entoban*. More uruketo, more weapons. Then we will go north as spring ends, land, move west. Killing them all. By the end of summer we will have reached the mountains and will turn south then to the warm southern sea. Supplies will be brought to us during the winter. When the next spring comes we shall strike west of the mountains. By the following winter this species of ustuzou will be extinct. Not a single pair will be left to breed in some dark and noisome place. That is what I feel must be done.”

Malsas‹ heard this, accepted it. But she was still concerned about the possibility of such an ambitious plan. Could it be done? She looked at the model, thought of the vast distances, of the ustuzou teeming there. Could they really all be exterminated?

“They all must be killed,” she said, answering her own question aloud. “That is what must be done, this fact cannot be escaped. But can it be done this next summer? Would it not be better to send smaller parties, seek out and destroy these packs that we have found?”

“They will hide, they will go north into the frozen lands where we cannot follow. I wish it could be done in that way. But I am afraid that it cannot. An army of fargi, a sweep across the country. An end to this menace.”

“What do you say, Stallan?” Malsas‹ said, turning to the stolid, silent hunter. “You are our killer of ustuzou. Will this plan do what Vaintè says it will do? Shall we attempt it?”

Stallan looked at the immense model, ordering her thoughts so that she could speak them clearly.

“If there is a trumal the ustuzou will die. I do not know if enough force can be gathered together to do it. I do not rule so I cannot say. What I can say is that if the force is strong enough then the trumal will succeed.”

There was silence then as Malsas‹ weighed everything that had been said while the others waited. When she finally spoke it was a command.

“Trumal, sarn’enoto. Destroy the ustuzou.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

“Excuse the interruption of one so hard-working and important by one of little consequence,” Krunat said, hesitating as she approached Vaintè. Vaintè was standing before the model of Gendasi, concentrating and preoccupied, with the coming attack filling her thoughts. Her greeting was an automatic acknowledgment and it took a moment for her to place the intruder. They had met before, yes, this was Krunat, she had taken over from Sokain in the design of the expansion of the city. It was her assistants who had built this model of Gendasi, and Krunat had helped in the planning. Now she stood before Vaintè, humble as the lowest fargi. She was an excellent designer although she had too low an opinion of her own worth. With an effort Vaintè drew her thoughts away from the campaign plan and forced warmth into her speaking, despite her annoyance at the interruption.

“It is always an honor to speak with Krunat. How may I help you?”

Krunat shuffled the pictures she had brought, humility in every movement of her body.

“First, gratitude of the greatest order, Vaintè, for your development of the bird-picture technique. It has been of the greatest importance in city planning and expansion. My gratitude is endless.”

Vaintè permitted herself only a brief sign of acceptance since she did not wish her growing impatience to show. Krunat went slowly through the pictures as she talked.

“To the north of Alpèasak there are pine forests, but the soil is poor and sandy. I have been considering extension of canals to bring water to the area, perhaps the creation of wallows for some of the larger food-beasts. So there have been many pictures made of this area, all of course of no interest to you. Except, perhaps, this one. It could be of little worth, but we are interested in the native life forms for possible exploitation, so I had this one enlarged…”

Vaintè’s irritation was so great that she dared not speak, but some of her feelings seeped through when she tore the picture roughly from Krunat’s thumbs; the designer cringed back.

A single glance changed Vaintè’s manner completely. “Good Krunat,” she said warmly, “you were right to bring this to me. Can you point out the place on this model where the picture was made?”

As Krunat turned to the model Vaintè examined the picture again. An ustuzou, there could be no doubt, carrying a stone-pointed stick in one paw. This fool had stumbled upon something of importance.

“Here, Vaintè, it is near here that the site of the picture is located.”

So close! It was just an ustuzou, an animal, but its presence so far south was annoying. Even worrying. There might be others with it. Yilanè had been murdered before by these creatures near the city. She signaled a fargi to her.

“Bring the hunter Stallari here at once. And for you, wise Krunat, my thanks and the thanks of Alpèasak. This creature is up to no good and it will be taken care of.”

Stallan was as concerned by the picture as Vaintè had been. “Is this the only picture?”

“Yes, I went through them all before Krunat took them away.”

“The picture is at least two days old,” Stallan said, then pointed to the model. “If the ustuzou is still coming south it — or they — could be at this place by now. What are your orders, sarn’enoto?”

“Double the guards around the city. Be sure the alarms are functioning as they should. Then tell me what the terrain is like here. If these creatures are coming towards Alpèasak can you get in front of them, stop them?”

Stallan pointed her joined thumbs at the model, towards the wooded scrubland beyond the city. “Thorn bushes and thick brush here, almost impossible to get through unless the game trails are followed. I know these tracks well. Let the birds fly, the owls will be best, and find where the ustuzou are. When they have been located I will take my best hunters and lay a trap.”