[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Stilgar had discovered this to his dismay when he’d sent his first assault team to investigate and destroy the enclave.Every ship in the first wave crashed, plummeting into the rugged mountains before they could manage to get off a single shot.So, Stilgar had been forced to plan another approach.Since standard flying vehicles and even ‘thopters were not reliable against the jammers, he decided to use a more conventional means of locomotion.From small tundra villages — whose men and women enthusiastically swore their loyalty to Muad’Dib as soon as they saw the overwhelming military force — they obtained ruh-yaks: sturdy, shaggy, and smelly beasts of burden.The creatures could carry men and equipment, and their plodding footsteps did not slow (or hasten) regardless of the load they carried.Invoking the name of Muad’Dib, Stilgar had commandeered the entire herd and all the necessary saddles, harnesses, straps, and goads.With the ruh-yaks, his team could pass through a green stream valley and up into the barren rock to a high pass, following trails that the rebels in Thorvald’s stronghold were not likely to suspect.Based on intelligence reports, Stilgar had no doubt that his fighters would overwhelm and crush the enemy.The only question in his mind was how many lives it would cost him.Leaving the tundra village nearly empty after the people helped Muad’Dib’s fighters, Stilgar’s men set off to find the weapons stockpile.The ruh-yaks were offensive beasts, stupid, flatulent animals whose thick, matted fur was a haven for biting insects that seemed to prefer the taste of human blood over that of the animals.Some were ornery and stubborn and often made such loud noises of complaint that Stilgar despaired of approaching his target quietly.Proceeding up steep slopes, plodding relentlessly for more than a day, they finally reached a second river valley that led even higher into the crags.Drawing tributaries from several adjacent drainages, the mountain stream itself was wide and deep, greatly swollen by spring runoff.“I am not certain we can ford this,” said Burbage, the highest-ranking man of Stilgar’s Caladan troops, a noncom.“Normally, I wouldn’t recommend a crossing for another month or two, until the waters go down.It’s the wrong season.”“Muad’Dib cannot keep track of every season on every planet in his Empire,” Stilgar said.“He sent us here to wipe out a nest of vipers.Would you like to go tell him he will have to wait?”Burbage seemed more dismayed than intimidated.He touched a long, thin mark on his cheek.“I got this scar fighting in Duke Leto’s War of Assassins, facing the charging stallions of Viscount Moritani.I have been following Atreides orders since long before Master Paul became the man you call Muad’Dib.I’ll find a way.”The Caladan man urged his beast to the edge of the river.The current looked deceptively motionless, showing only a few feathery ripples across the surface.Nevertheless, Stilgar could hear the hollow chuckling of water that stirred past rocks on the bank.“Deep and cold.” Burbage raised his voice to the Caladan troops.“But I can swim, and cold doesn’t bother me.Shall we go?” His men cheered, and Stilgar was caught up in their confidence.Burbage’s ruh-yak lurched into the water with a great splash, and the other Caladan riders charged forward, cheering as if it were a game.Within moments dozens of the beasts had plunged into the deep, wide stream, striking out into the current and pushing downstream.Quickly the water became too deep for the beasts to find footing, and they began to swim.Stilgar, Elias, and his Fremen were caught up in the charge, driven into the river, which carried them farther down the valley.When they were in the middle of the channel, algae-slick rocks just beneath the surface began to churn the current into rougher water.Some of the Caladan troops had already made it across, while several men had fallen off of their mounts and were soaked.They splashed to the bank, laughing, pulling some of their friends back into the water to engage in horseplay.These soldiers had been born and raised around water; they had learned to swim as easily as they walked.But Stilgar was awed by the swift and powerful current.Elias slipped off of his ruh-yak and flailed in the river, rushing downstream to where he was caught up against jutting boulders.He clung to them, bellowing for help and not willing to let go to swim for the far bank.Burbage shouted for ropes and swimmers to retrieve the Fremen.Stilgar tried to get close enough to help Elias, but his own thrashing ruh-yak slipped beneath the water.Stilgar went under and instead of letting out a yell, he swallowed and inhaled a mouthful of the river.He began to cough and gasp uncontrollably.The weight of his heavy pack pulled him down.The struggling ruh-yak tried to throw off its rider and the packs.The equipment fell off first, whisked along in the current.Stilgar couldn’t catch any of it, couldn’t even keep his hold on the saddle and reins.He found himself drifting free, in clothing that was soaked and heavy.The coldness of the water settled into his chest, squeezing his lungs like an icy fist.He kept going under, choking and coughing; he hadn’t been able to draw a decent breath since his accidental gulp of water.The stream seemed so deep, so cold.He saw a light above and struck out for it, but something grabbed his shoulder, sharp and powerful, like a monster’s claw under the water.A tree branch.Tangled in it, he couldn’t stroke upward.As his need for air became more and more desperate, he forgot everything Gurney Halleck had taught him about swimming.He felt something tear at his skin.The strap of his pack was snagged on the waterlogged branch.He had to breathe.His lungs were being crushed.His vision was growing dark.He had to breathe.No longer able to bear it, Stilgar stretched his arms toward the sunlight above, pulled, tried to free himself, but finally had no choice but to inhale.The only breath he could draw, though, was filled with cold, liquid blackness.HE AWOKE SPEWING bile-tasting water from his mouth and nostrils.Burbage had pressed hard on Stilgar’s upper stomach, making him retch and forcing the water out of his lungs.A battered and bedraggled Elias stood over him, looking deeply worried, as the naib drew several shuddering breaths
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]