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had been rigged up as makeshift street lighting some days before.
Again Absu and his pathfinder marvelled at the skills that enabled the magicians to produce light
without flame. Night insects made dancing haloes round the lamps, and the strip of roadway with the empty
supermarket and the two useless cars, and with wisps of grass and dry leaves drifting along the deserted
pavement, looked more than ever like a discarded film set.
While the rest of the terrestrials remained in the hotel, considering the pathfinder's map, the way
Tore Norstedt had died, and the discussion that had recently taken place, Russell, John Howard, Absu and
Farn zem Marur inspected the light, flat-bottomed craft that Tore had put together so carefully. It stood in
one of the small workshops under the bright glare of a naked light bulb, with tools and strips of wood lying
as Tore had left them. Looking at these signs of recent industry, Russell found it hard to believe that the
young Swede would never come back to complete his task.
"The craft seems sturdy enough," conceded Absu. "We of sept Marur have little knowledge of the
ways of travelling upon water, since our journeys are made upon land. But I do not doubt that your boat will
be strong enough to pass down the river if you are strong enough to pass through the mist ... What say
you, pathfinder?"
"Lord Absu, the craft is strong, but the mist is cold. It may be that the price of passing through the
mist is death."
Absu smiled thinly. "No doubt the magicians will know how to keep a man warm as he passes
through the icy air of unbeing." He turned to Russell. "You spoke of fearful weapons, my friend. If, indeed,
our prison is surrounded by wolves such weapons may be needed. Show them to me."
John Howard brought one of his grenades the gun-powder packed tight into a small bottle that
had been bound with wire.
Absu held it in his hand. "Such as this does not look as if it will bring discouragement to either man
or beast."
"Step outside, Absu," said Russell, "and do not be discountenanced by what you will see and hear.
But when I ask you to fall down, do so with great speed."
When all four were clear of the buildings, John Howard lit the short fuse and hurled his grenade
into the now dark savannah.
"Down!" shouted Russell. The four men fell flat on their faces.
Nothing happened for a moment or two, and Absu was just beginning to get up when there was a
flash of light and the earth shook. The sound of the explosion was, to Russell, satisfyingly loud.
A look of awe came over Absu's face. He was speechless. Farn zem Marur still lay on the ground,
covering his head with his hands and muttering incantations to ward off evil. It was, thought Russell, an
historic moment two medieval warriors getting their first experience of explosives.
"Truly," said Absu, when at last he was able to speak, "this is a weapon of much terror and
destruction. By the robe, Russell, I am glad indeed that we entered the bond, you and I. A man may face
metal with joy and courage; but from such a thunderbolt may he not turn away without great loss of
honour."
"If he does not turn away," observed Russell grimly, "both he and his honour will rapidly perish...
Now, it is late, Absu. You and your pathfinder shall rest with us this night. And I will explain why, though it
would be easy to destroy the People of the River, we must ride against them not to kill but to take prisoners
if we can."
CHAPTER NINETEEN
the expedition against the People of the River, which took place some ten or twelve days after
Absu mes Marur and his pathfinder had brought back the body of Tore Norstedt and had witnessed for the
first time the tremendous power of explosives, was an unqualified success. No blood was spilled; and the
People of the River were, in a sense, hoist with their own petard. Or, at least, two of them were.
Before the attack took place, a three-day reconnaissance was carried out by John Howard and
Farn zem Marur. John showed the pathfinder how to use the binoculars; and between the two of them they
managed to keep a more or less continuous watch. They verified the impression previously received by
Paul Redman and his party that the primitive group were largely nocturnal in their habits. They also
discovered that, whenever any of them left the bridge of huts to go into the forest on either side of the river,
they always took the same routes. This enabled the attack to be carried out with an obvious and simple
strategy.
It was timed to begin near to mid-day, when the People of the River would be most relaxed
and hopefully most somnolent. It was to be carried out by six men only, divided into two forces. Russell
and Andrew Payne were to be the 'trigger-mechanism'; and the force entrusted with the task of taking
prisoners was to consist of John Howard, Farn zem Marur and another Gren Li warrior, all under the
command of Absu.
Tore's boat had been completed and had passed its fresh water trials very well indeed. The boat
was a necessary part of the operation. It was to be used for carrying the long and bulky nets that it had
taken the women of Keep Marur several days to make, and it was also to be used for ferrying Russell and
Andrew with their two grenades across a broad stretch of river about two kilometres upstream from the
bridge of huts.
On the day chosen for the operation, Russell and John synchronized their watches. Then both
parties set out shortly after dawn. Russell and Andrew began to paddle the boat, loaded with nets,
downstream to the rendezvous point while Absu, fully armed and armoured and looking more than ever like
a sun-burned Mongolian St. George, led his small troop on pulpuls from the Erewhon Hilton, out across the
savannah towards the southern forest.
Because the currents were a little faster than had been anticipated, Russell and Andrew arrived at
the rendezvous shortly before Absu and his small party. But, soon after the nets had been unloaded, the
grenades checked and their fuses fixed, Absu and his group arrived.
The plan was simply that Russell and Andrew, having got themselves to the other side of the river,
would make their way unobserved to within fifty or sixty metres of the bridge of huts. By which time, the
reception party should be in position on the opposite bank.
When all was ready, Russell and Andrew, making as much noise as possible, would hurl their
grenades near enough to the bridge of huts to create a spectacular explosion without if possible causing
any actual damage. In theory, the People of the River ought to be so shaken by what, presum-ably, to them,
would seem like a manifestation of super-natural force that they would retreat at speed, it was hoped to
the far side of the river, where Absu and his small company would be waiting for them.
Fortunately, practice and theory coincided.
The grenades not only made a very satisfactory double bang as if the heavens were falling but
also flung large quantities of loose earth and stones into the air and, since the weather had been very dry,
created a dust cloud that must have seemed to the occupants of the bridge of huts like the onset of
darkness at noon.
It had been a warm, sunny morning, peaceful and relaxing. Then suddenly, there were two terrible
cracks of doom, followed by a hail of small stones and fragments of earth and a tremendous yelling. Under
such circumstances, civilized people might well have panicked. As it was, the People of the River were
terrified.
Instinctively, they ran away from the huts, away from the noise and the apparent source of
destruction and straight into the line of nets that Absu and his three companions had suspended between
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