Harry Turtledove - A World of Difference

“What I will do,” Fralk decided, “is stay here and use the rifle to help our warriors on the flanks. I can reach the whole field from this place, and the pistol cannot. That still leaves us with the advantage.”

“Khorosho, Fralk, ochen khorosho,” Oleg said. “You are beginning to understand how to use your firepower. If you have more range than your enemy, you set up where you can hurt him and he cannot hurt you.”

That made sense to Fralk, but he still felt peculiar standing off in the distance while his males and the Omalo first flung spears at each other and then began using those spears-and every other weapon on which they could lay their hands-at close quarters as the Skarmer tried to force their foes back from the barricade.

Several Omalo warriors stood very tall to thrust at Fralk’s warriors. He fired a short burst. One of the enemy males tumbled away from the barrier, the upper part of his body a chewed, bloody ruin. The other Omalo warriors flinched away. A couple of Skarmer started to climb over the frozen wall.

Fralk shifted his aim from one end of the line to the other, squeezed the trigger again. He was not sure he hit anyone this time, but the Omalo flinched anyhow. Skarmer males started trying to get over the barrier there, too.

“If they can make it to the far side in any numbers, we have them,” Fralk declared.

“Da,” Lopatin agreed. After the fighting was done, Fralk knew he would have to figure out what to do with the human, but now he valued his thoughts. Fralk felt pleased at regaining his equanimity: this was the first time since that other human had shot at him that he found himself able to plan for what would happen after the fighting was done.

Reatur flung a spear at one of the Skarmer scrambling over the rampart. It missed his target, but might have hit a warrior further on-the enemy was tightly packed at that part of the barrier. The domain master shouted and waved his arms when one of his males killed the Skarmer with an ax.

But for every Skarmer who died, another-often more than one-did his best to climb over. “If they make it to this side in any numbers, we’re done for,” Reatur said.

“I know.” Emmett dodged a spear. His long legs made him extraordinarily nimble, Reatur thought.

Off in the distance, too far away for Emmett to strike back, Fralk’s noiseweapon began its deadly chatter once more. One Omalo male shrieked, then another, then another.

“They fight good,” Emmett said. “Sometimes-often- human warriors run away from noiseweapons, first time see, hear them. Your males brave, Reatur.”

The praise pleased the domain master. “Where would they run?” he asked. “If they lose here, they lose everything. They know it. But”-he let his deepest fear come out-“I doubt even they can hold against terror forever.”

“You right, I think.” Emmett took out his talkingbox, spoke urgently into it in his own language. He put it away, dipped his head to Reatur. “We do what we can.”

Irv stuffed the radio back into his pocket. “You heard the man,” he said. Louise Bragg nodded. So did Sarah. She had been limbering up every few minutes, ever since the battle started a few miles northwest. Now she started stretching in earnest.

“Let’s give it one last check,” Louise said to Irv.

“Good plan.” They walked over to Damselfly together and went over it strut by strut, wire by wire, joining by joining. They checked the thin plastic skin of wings, tail, and cabin to make sure it hadn’t developed any holes that could rip wide open in the air. They didn’t find anything. Irv started checking again.

“Are we good?” Sarah demanded. She was peeling off parka and long pants, hopping up and down to stay warm in the Minervan summer sun. “If we are, we don’t have time to waste.”

“We’re good,” Irv said reluctantly. He gave his wife a fierce hug. “Be careful. I love you.” Ending up in bed-or rather, on the floor-with Pat hadn’t done anything to change that. It just made him feel like a hypocritical bastard when he said that to Sarah.

“Love you, too,” she answered now. He wondered what she would say if she ever found out. He was full of scientific curiosity, but that was one thing he did not want to know.

He set the wide stepladder by Damselfly, helped Sarah climb in, then lowered the canopy. The sound of the hooks-and-eyes snapping it closed, shutting Sarah away from him, seemed dreadfully final. Shaking his head, he got down from the stepladder and carried it out of the way. Then he went over and took hold of a wingtip.

Louise had the other one. She also had her radio out. Irv took his out, too. “Testing,” he heard Louise say. “One, two, three, four…, how do you read Damselfly?”

“Read you five by five,” Sarah answered. Irv heard her both in the speaker and directly. “How do you read me?”

“Loud and clear. Break a leg, kiddo,” Louise said.

“Don’t tempt me,” Sarah started to pedal. “Let’s get the batteries good and charged.” A few minutes later, she said, “Okay-here we go.” She let the prop spin. Damselfly rolled forward. Irv and Louise ran with it, keeping the wing level.

“Airborne!” Irv shouted. Sarah took one hand off the control stick to wave, then gave all her concentration back to flying. Irv watched Damselfly slowly climb. “There goes the funniest looking warplane in the history of-two worlds,” he said.

“No arguments.” Louise was on the radio again, on a different frequency. “Emmett, are you there?” she called worriedly. “Come in.”

“I’m here,” he answered. “Busy, but still here.”

“Damselfly’s on its way now,” she told him.

“Not a minute too soon. Out.”

“Out.” Louise turned to Irv. “Now we can only wait.”

“The fun part,” he agreed. “I’d rather be doing something, doing anything, than just standing around here.”

“Me, too,” Louise said. “I hate it when something that’s important to me is out of my hands.”

“Sarah said the same thing when Emmett was landing Athena. It’s all in her hands now, though.” Irv made sure his radio was on Damselfly’s frequency. “How you doing there, honey? How does the plane handle with the changes we made in it?”

“Doing all right,” Sarah answered. “The extra weight isn’t bad, about what I’d have if I were pedaling in my parka. And I’m not getting enough extra drag even to notice-gaining altitude shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Good,” Irv said. “Out.” He wanted Sarah as high as possible above the slings and arrows, to say nothing of axes and spears-of outrageous fortune. To Louise, he said, “Now what? Head over toward Athena?”

She was gathering up Sarah’s discarded outer layers of clothing. “I think we’d better,” she said. “We’ve never all been away at once before, and we sure as hell don’t want to have to try to talk or fight our way through to the ship if-if Reatur loses.”

“No,” Irv said, although the odds of Emmett’s getting free if Reatur lost were slim, and without Emmett, getting back to the ship didn’t matter in the long run anyhow. Louise, of course, could figure that out for herself as well as he could and doubtless had.

They had only gone a couple of hundred yards when their radios crackled to life again. Ice that had nothing to do with the weather formed in Irv’s midsection as he lifted his set to his ear-only bad news would make Emmett call back so soon.

But Pat was on the radio, not Emmett. She was in Reatur’s castle, checking on Lamra. “Has Sarah taken off yet?” she asked.

“A few minutes ago,” Irv said. “Why?” He had a bad feeling he knew the answer before he asked the question.

He did. Pat said, “Because Lamra’s getting ready to drop those budlings now, and I don’t think she’s going to wait around.”