Terry Gene Carr - Warlord of Kor

T >> Terry Gene Carr >> Warlord of Kor

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"It's a measure of man's eternal mercy," said Malhomme acidly, "that at
least we bury each other." He stared at the men in the mob, and the fury
in his eyes broke them at last. Muttering, shrugging, shaking their
heads, they dispersed, going off in two and threes to take cover from
the wind-driven sand.

Malhomme turned to Rynason and Mara, his face relaxing at last. The hard
lines around his mouth softened into a rueful smile as he put his arm
around Rynason's shoulder. "We can all take shelter in the buildings
here for the night. You could use some rest, Lee Rynason--you look like
hell. And maybe I can put a temporary splint on your arm, woman."

They found a nearby building where the roof had long ago fallen in, but
the walls were still standing. While Malhomme ministered to Mara he did
not stop talking for a moment; Rynason couldn't tell whether he was
trying to keep the girl's mind off the pain or whether he was simply
unwinding his emotions.

"You know, I've preached at these men for so many years I've got
callouses in my throat. And one of these days maybe they'll know what
I'm talking about, so that I won't have to shout." He shrugged. "Well,
it would be a dull world, where I didn't have a good excuse to shout.
Sometimes you might ask your alien friends up there, Lee ... what did
they get out of choosing peace?"

"They didn't choose it," said Rynason.

Malhomme grimaced. "I wonder if anybody, anywhere, ever will. Maybe the
Outsiders did, but they're not around to tell us about it. It's an
intriguing question to think about, if you don't have anything to drink
... what do you do, when there's nothing more to fight against, or even
for?"

He straightened up; the splint on Mara's arm was set now. He settled her
back in a drift of sand as comfortably as possible.

"I've got another question," Rynason said. "What were you doing among
those men who came at me on the steps earlier?"

Malhomme's face broke into a wide grin. "That was a suicidal rush on
you, Lee. A damned stupid tactic ... a rush like that is only as strong
as the weakest coward in it. All it takes is one man to break and run,
and everybody else will run too. So it was easy for me to break it up."

Rynason couldn't help chuckling at that; and once he had started, the
tension that had gripped him for the past several hours found release in
a full, stomach-shaking laugh.

"Rene Malhomme," he gasped, "that's the kind of leadership this planet
needs!"

Mara smiled up from where she lay. "You know," she said, "now that
Manning is dead they'll have to find someone else to be governor...."

"Don't be ridiculous," said Malhomme.

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* * * * *

Transcriber's Note: Typographical errors have been repaired in this text.

Spelling

Old: cemetaries
New: cemeteries

Old: hefting his repentence sign
New: hefting his repentance sign

Old: what happenedt here, old leather
New: what happened here, old leather

Old: I suppose, thought I've never even been
New: I suppose, though I've never even been

Old: casing aound the powerpacks
New: casing around the powerpacks

Old: as staticly blunt as anvils
New: as statically blunt as anvils

Old: Rynason knelt beside the set and took the Mike
New: Rynason knelt beside the set and took the mike

Old: can repell any further touchdowns
New: can repel any further touchdowns

Old: over-hanging shadows of the mounains
New: over-hanging shadows of the mountains

Old: collonade
New: colonnade

Old: The brain must be eslf-perpetuating
New: The brain must be self-perpetuating

Old: their hoplessness,
New: their hopelessness,

Old: millenia
New: millennia

Punctuation

Old: Manning's quarters, He met Marc Stoworth
New: Manning's quarters. He met Marc Stoworth

Old: daring the man to take offense. He didn't."
New: daring the man to take offense. He didn't.

Old: "Where's Mara? Rynason asked.
New: "Where's Mara?" Rynason asked.

Old: echo of Horng's screams in his mind
New: echo of Horng's screams in his mind.

Old: Manning said. I'm going to throw out
New: Manning said. "I'm going to throw out

Old: he said. Tonight I'm busy.
New: he said. "Tonight I'm busy.

Missing word

Old: Rynason that that it was Rene Malhomme
New: Rynason saw that it was Rene Malhomme

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