Blade crouched in the darkness, realizing that he'd just seen a breathtaking display of advanced technology and skilled surgery. He also realized that the Menel would have to be treated as enemies. They were using their knowledge to implant in the sea reptiles-and no doubt the bat-birds-the control devices that made it possible to drive them against the Kargoi. Exactly why they were doing this Blade didn't know, but he did know one thing-tonight's operations should be stopped. He would be as careful as he could be to avoid killing any of the Menel. He would be just as careful to leave not one bit of their equipment intact or one of their implanted monsters alive.
There was only one weapon in sight, the tube held by the Menel commander. If he could disable or capture it, that should be a good enough start. After that he couldn't plan in too much detail. He didn't know his enemy that well.
Blade waited as two more of the herders drove one of the wild reptiles toward the waiting surgical team. He waited long enough after that for the operation to begin, and draw the attention of all the Menel.
Then he sprang to his feet and charged down the slope to the attack.
Chapter 15
The Menel were so intent on what was happening in the water that Blade probably could have charged down on a horse without alerting them. He had seldom been able to take an opponent so completely by surprise.
He threw one spear with all his strength at the control box. He aimed between the two Menel, and the spear sank a foot deep into the box. The humming died instantly and most of the lights went out. The two signalers turned to face Blade, but since neither of them was armed he ignored them.
He charged the Menel commander, letting out his breath in a roaring battle cry as he went, hoping to startle or distract the being. The Menel was just beginning to turn on its base, the arms that held the weapon swinging upward, when Blade came in with a leaping side kick. Both feet drove into the Menel with all of Blade's speed and all of his two hundred and ten pounds behind them. The Menel weighed half again as much, but it was caught too far off balance. It tottered, the two free arms flailing the air wildly, claws snapping within inches of Blade. Then it went over on its side with a thud and a peculiar warbling cry.
Blade recovered while the Menel was going over. As it landed he was on top of it, striking with the flat of his longsword at the two arms holding the weapon. He not only didn't want to hurt the Menel, he didn't want to damage the weapon if he could avoid it.
The Menel shivered all over at the impact of Blade's sword. One of the claws gripping the weapon opened feebly, the other clicked convulsively, trying to tighten its grip. Blade grabbed the free end of the weapon and jerked it loose. He sprang away from the fallen Menel, just as the two signalers made up their minds to charge him.
They lurched across the ground at him faster than he'd thought they could move, so fast that he had no time to find out how to activate the weapon. He sprang aside from their charge, dropping his longsword and gripping the Menel weapon in both hands like a quarterstaff. He held it crosswise in front of him as the claws reached out.
One of the lunging claws struck the firing control. A beam of eye-searing crimson light darted from the lens at the muzzle. Air crackled and boomed as the crimson beam tore through it.
In the path of the beam lay three full grown trees. Without smoke or flame, sparks or even very much noise, the beam sliced through all three of them as if they'd been straws. Broken branches and solid pieces of wood fell to the ground with cracklings and thuds.
Blade hastily backed away, slapping the square plate that seemed to be the trigger for the beamer. The beam cut off. The two Menel signalers backed away almost as fast as they'd charged, separating as they went. Blade swung the beamer down and aimed it at the control box. The weapon was awkward to handle, being designed for beings nine feet tall, but it weighed no more than twenty pounds.
As they saw Blade taking aim, the two Menel seemed to panic. They slammed all four claws down on the ground and heaved themselves wildly along. In their fear they were so grotesque and ludicrous that Blade burst out laughing.
He fired again. The crimson beam sliced into the control box, and it fell into two pieces as neatly as any piece of meat divided by a hutcher's cleaver. Blade fired again, running the beam along the wires leading into the water, watching them jump and twist and dissolve like sugar lumps dropped into hot coffee.
By this time the Menel commander was heaving itself erect again. One claw clumsily gripped Blade's longsword. Two other claws reached out for the remaining laser. Blade ducked under a wild swing of the sword and fired the beamer with the lens held almost against the laser. The laser fell into half a dozen pieces and something inside it blazed up fiercely with an angry hiss and a cloud of stinking green smoke. The Menel dropped the last piece as if it had suddenly turned red hot and backed away, swaying from side to side like a tree in a high wind. It stood there for a moment. Blade had the sense of being stared at intently and judged by nonhuman senses and a still more nonhuman but keen intelligence. Then the last Menel turned and followed the two signalers toward the water. Blade went to work with the beamer, systematically wrecking every container and piece of equipment in sight.
Meanwhile, the five swimmers had broken off the implant operation. Blade saw the circle around the drugged reptile break up and saw the half-opened skull sink out of sight. That reptile at least wouldn't be troubling anyone again.
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 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.