Starquake.pdf

for the Taker to come again."
"The thought makesme tense," said Crust-Crawler. "Are we ready for her?"
"I hope so," said Avenging-Eye.
21:03:12 GMT TUESDAY 21 JUNE2050
The Taker came out of the west. She and her four warrior-guards rode their Swifts down the center of
the paved road while the porters plodded alongside on the crust, carrying their heavy loads of Slink eggs.
Even at the great distance Crust-Crawler could see the annoyed twitch in the Taker's eye-wave pattern
as she passed by the clan compounds and food Slink pens.
"The timing is nearly perfect," Crust-Crawler said as one eye looked up at the sky. A large object was
falling out of the sky directly toward them. A low groan started in the crust, rose to a piercing shriek, then
tapered off as the gravity catapult
brought the spherical scout ship to an abrupt halt in midair, then lowered it gently onto the landing
platform.
The clan cheela and the food Slinks had seen a dozen landings already and were not disturbed. The
porters accompanying the Taker, however, back-treaded and scattered, some of them pushing eggs out
of their pouches as they fled. Two of the riding Swifts bolted, and it took expert handling by the
warrior-guards to bring them under control, but not before one of the Swifts scooped up three of the
dropped eggs.
The Taker got her mount under control, glared angrily at Crust-Crawler, then with harsh commands and
flickers of her whip-sword, reformed her expedition. Three eyes were left lying in the road.
The Taker moved her Swift forward and pulled a scroll from her pouch.
"Clan Leaders! Come forward!"
The leaders of the eight clans that had come to live around the base gathered in a group in front of the
Taker. Dented-Shield moved forward from the rest. She had no weapons, but she carried her shield by
her side.
"Greetings, Taker of the Emperor," she said. "I am Dented-Shield, Leader of the Dusty Crust Clan."
"I have come to take the 132 Zebu Slinks that belong to the Emperor," said the Taker. "Why did you
leave your assigned grazing place and bring them here without permission?"
"The Emperor's Slinks are protected from wild Swifts here. If you count them you will find we have lost
none of them. The Emperor's Slinks have better grazing here. If you look at them you will find them all in
prime condition." The Taker had already counted the black and white striped Slinks in the pen when she
had ridden by earlier; in fact, except for one yellow and pink Slink missing from the herd belonging to the
White Cliff Clan, all were in excellent condition.