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1、【国外文学】Plague ShipChapter I PERFUMED PLANET Dane Thorson, Cargo-master-apprentice of the Solar Queen, Galactic Free Trader spacer, Terra registry, stood in the middle of the ships cramped bather while Rip Shannon, assistant Astrogator and his senior in the Service of Trade by some four years, applied
2、 gobs of highly scented paste to the skin between Danes rather prominent shoulder blades. The small cabin was thickly redolent with spicy odors and Rip sniffed appreciatively. Youre sure going to be about the best smelling Terran who ever set boot on Sargols soil, his soft slur of speech ended in a
3、rich chuckle. Dane snorted and tried to estimate progress over one shoulder. The things we have to do for Trade! his comment carried a hint of present embarrassment. Get it well inthis stuffs supposed to hold for hours. Itd better. According to Van those Salariki can talk your ears right off your he
4、ad and say nothing worth hearing. And we have to sit and listen until we get a straight answer out of them. Phew! He shook his head. In such close quarters the scent, pleasing as it was, was also overpowering. We would have to pick a world such as this Rips dark fingers halted their circular motion.
5、 Dane, he warned, dont you go talking against this venture. We got it soft and were going to be credit-happyif it works out But, perversely, Dane held to a gloomier view of the immediate future. If, he repeated. Theres a galaxy of ifs in this Sargol proposition. All very well for you to rest easy on
6、 your finsyou dont have to run about smelling like a spice works before you can get the time of day from one of the natives! Rip put down the jar of cream. Different worlds, different customs, he iterated the old tag of the Service. Be glad this one is so easy to conform to. There are some I can thi
7、nk ofThere, he ended his massage with a stinging slap. Youre all evenly greased. Good thing you dont have Vans bulk to cover. It takes him a good hour to get his cream oneven with Frank helping to spread. Your clothes ought to be steamed up and ready, too, by now He opened a tight wall cabinet, orig
8、inally intended to sterilize clothing which might be contaminated by contact with organisms inimical to Terrans. A cloud of steam fragrant with the same spicy scent poured out. Dane gingerly tugged loose his Trade uniform, its brown silky fabric damp on his skin as he dressed. Luckily Sargol was war
9、m. When he stepped out on its ruby tinted soil this morning no lingering taint of his off-world origin must remain to disgust the sensitive nostrils of the Salariki. He supposed he would get used to this process. After all this was the first time he had undergone the ritual. But he couldnt lose the
10、secret conviction that it was all very silly. Only what Rip had pointed out was the truthone adjusted to the customs of aliens or one didnt trade and there were other things he might have had to do on other worlds which would have been far more upsetting to that core of private fastidiousness which
11、few would have suspected existed in his tall, lanky frame. Whewout in the open with you! Ali Kamil apprentice Engineer, screwed his too regular features into an expression of extreme distaste and waved Dane by him in the corridor. For the sake of his shipmates olfactory nerves, Dane hurried on to th
12、e port which gave on the ramp now tying the Queen to Sargols crust. But there he lingered, waiting for Van Rycke, the Cargo-master of the spacer and his immediate superior. It was early morning and now that he was out of the confinement of the ship the fresh morning winds cut about him, rippling thr
13、ough the blue-green grass forest beyond, to take much of his momentary irritation with them. There were no mountains in this section of Sargolthe highest elevations being rounded hills tightly clothed with the same ten-foot grass which covered the plains. From the Queens observation ports, one could
14、 watch the constant ripple of the grass so that the planet appeared to be largely clothed in a shimmering, flowing carpet. To the west were the seasstretches of shallow water so cut up by strings of islands that they more resembled a series of salty lakes. And it was what was to be found in those se
15、as which had lured the Solar Queen to Sargol. Though, by rights, the discovery was that of another TraderTraxt Camwho had bid for trading rights to Sargol, hoping to make a comfortable fortuneor at least expenses with a slight profitin the perfume trade, exporting from the scented planet some of its
16、 most fragrant products. But once on Sargol he had discovered the Koros stonesgems of a new typea handful of which offered across the board in one of the inner planet trading marts had nearly caused a riot among bidding gem merchants. And Cam had been well on the way to becoming one of the princes o
17、f Trade when he had been drawn into the vicious net of the Limbian pirates and finished off. Because they, too, had stumbled into the trap which was Limbo, and had had a very definite part in breaking up that devilish installation, the crew of the Solar Queen had claimed as their reward the trading
18、rights of Traxt Cam in default of legal heirs. And so here they were on Sargol with the notes left by Cam as their guide, and as much lore concerning the Salariki as was known crammed into their minds. Dane sat down on the end of the ramp, his feet on Sargolian soil, thin, red soil with glittering b
19、its of gold flake in it. He did not doubt that he was under observation from hidden eyes, but he tried to show no sign that he guessed it. The adult Salariki maintained at all times an attitude of aloof and complete indifference toward the Traders, but the juvenile population were as curious as thei
20、r elders were contemptuous. Perhaps there was a method of approach in that. Dane considered the idea. Van Rycke and Captain Jellico had handled the first negotiationsand the process had taken most of a daythe result totaling exactly nothing. In their contacts with the off world men the feline ancest
21、ered Salariki were ceremonious, wary, and completely detached. But Cam had gotten to them somehowor he would not have returned from his first trip with that pouch of Koros stones. Only, among his records, salvaged on Limbo, he had left absolutely no clue as to how he had beaten down native sales res
22、istance. It was baffling. But patience had to be the middle name of every Trader and Dane had complete faith in Van. Sooner or later the Cargo-master would find a key to unlock the Salariki. As if the thought of Danes chief had summoned him, Van Rycke, his scented tunic sealed to his bulls neck in u
23、naccustomed trimness, his cap on his blond head, strode down the ramp, broadcasting waves of fragrance as he moved. He sniffed vigorously as he approached his assistant and then nodded in approval. So youre all greased and ready Is the Captain coming too, sir? Van Rycke shook his head. This is our h
24、eadache. Patience, my boy, patience He led the way through a thin screen of the grass on the other side of the scorched landing field to a well-packed earth road. Again Dane felt eyes, knew that they were being watched. But no Salarik stepped out of concealment. At least they had nothing to fear in
25、the way of attack. Traders were immune, taboo, and the trading stations were set up under the white diamond shield of peace, a peace guaranteed on blood oath by every clan chieftain in the district. Even in the midst of interclan feuding deadly enemies met in amity under that shield and would not tu
26、rn claw knife against each other within a two mile radius of its protection. The grass forests rustled betrayingly, but the Terrans displayed no interest in those who spied upon them. An insect with wings of brilliant green gauze detached itself from the stalk of a grass tree and fluttered ahead of
27、the Traders as if it were an official herald. From the red soil crushed by their boots arose a pungent odor which fought with the scent they carried with them. Dane swallowed three or four times and hoped that his superior officer had not noticed that sign of discomfort. Though Van Rycke, in spite o
28、f his general air of sleepy benevolence and careless goodwill, noticed everything, no matter how trivial, which might have a bearing on the delicate negotiations of Galactic Trade. He had not climbed to his present status of expert Cargo-master by overlooking anything at all. Now he gave an order: T
29、ake an equalizer Dane reached for his belt pouch, flushing, fiercely determined inside himself, that no matter how smells warred about him that day, he was not going to let it bother him. He swallowed the tiny pellet Medic Tau had prepared for just such trials and tried to occupy his mind with the w
30、ork to come. If there would be any workor would another long day be wasted in futile speeches of mutual esteem which gave formal lip service to Trade and its manifest benefits? Houuuu The cry which was half wail, half arrogant warning, sounded along the road behind them. Van Ryckes stride did not va
31、ry. He did not turn his head, show any sign he had heard that heralding fanfare for a clan chieftain. And he continued to keep to the exact center of the road, Dane the regulation one pace to the rear and left as befitted his lower rank. Houuu that blast from the throat of a Salarik especially chose
32、n for his lung power was accompanied now by the hollow drum of many feet. The Terrans neither looked around nor withdrew from the center, nor did their pace quicken. That, too, was in order, Dane knew. To the rank conscious Salariki clansmen you did not yield precedence unless you wanted at once to
33、acknowledge your inferiorityand if you did that by some slip of admission or omission, there was no use in trying to treat face to face with their chieftains again. Houuu! The blast behind was a scream as the retinue it announced swept around the bend in the road to catch sight of the two Traders ob
34、livious of it. Dane longed to be able to turn his head, just enough to see which one of the local lordlings they blocked. Houu there was a questioning note in the cry now and the heavy thud-thud of feet was slacking. The clan party had seen them, were hesitant about the wisdom of trying to shove the
35、m aside. Van Rycke marched steadily onward and Dane matched his pace. They might not possess a leather-lunged herald to clear their road, but they gave every indication of having the right to occupy as much of it as they wished. And that unruffled poise had its affect upon those behind. The pound of
36、 feet slowed to a walk, a walk which would keep a careful distance behind the two Terrans. It had workedthe Salarikior these Salarikiwere accepting them at their own valuationa good omen for the days business. Danes spirits rose, but he schooled his features into a mask as wooden as his superiors. A
37、fter all this was a very minor victory and they had ten or twelve hours of polite, and hidden, maneuvering before them. The Solar Queen had set down as closely as possible to the trading center marked on Traxt Cams private map and the Terrans now had another five minutes march, in the middle of the
38、road, ahead of the chieftain who must be inwardly boiling at their presence, before they came out in the clearing containing the roofless, circular erection which served the Salariki of the district as a market place and a common meeting ground for truce talks and the mending of private clan allianc
39、es. Erect on a pole in the middle, towering well above the nodding fronds of the grass trees, was the pole bearing the trade shield which promised not only peace to those under it, but a three day sanctuary to any feuder or duelist who managed to win to it and lay hands upon its weathered standard.
40、They were not the first to arrive, which was also a good thing. Gathered in small groups about the walls of the council place were the personal attendants, liege warriors, and younger relatives of at least four or five clan chieftains. But, Dane noted at once, there was not a single curtained litter
41、 or riding orgel to be seen. None of the feminine part of the Salariki species had arrived. Nor would they until the final trade treaty was concluded and established by their fathers, husbands, or sons. With the assurance of one who was master in his own clan, Van Rycke, displaying no interest at al
42、l in the shifting mass of lower rank Salariki, marched straight on to the door of the enclosure. Two or three of the younger warriors got to their feet, their brilliant cloaks flicking out like spreading wings. But when Van Rycke did not even lift an eyelid in their direction, they made no move to b
43、lock his path. As fighting men, Dane thought, trying to study the specimens before him with a totally impersonal stare, the Salariki were an impressive lot. Their average height was close to six feet, their distant feline ancestry apparent only in small vestiges. A Salariks nails on both hands and f
44、eet were retractile, his skin was gray, his thick hair, close to the texture of plushy fur, extended down his backbone and along the outside of his well muscled arms and legs, and was tawny-yellow, blue-gray or white. To Terran eyes the broad faces, now all turned in their direction, lacked readable
45、 expression. The eyes were large and set slightly aslant in the skull, being startlingly orange-red or a brilliant turquoise green-blue. They wore loin cloths of brightly dyed fabrics with wide sashes forming corselets about their slender middles, from which gleamed the gem-set hilts of their claw k
46、nives, the possession of which proved their adulthood. Cloaks as flamboyant as their other garments hung in bat wing folds from their shoulders and each and every one moved in an invisible cloud of perfume. Brilliant as the assemblage of liege men without had been, the gathering of clan leaders and
47、their upper officers within the council place was a riot of colorand odor. The chieftains were installed on the wooden stools, each with a small table before him on which rested a goblet bearing his own clan sign, a folded strip of patterned clothhis trade shieldand a gemmed box containing the scent
48、ed paste he would use for refreshment during the ordeal of conference. A breeze fluttered sash ends and tugged at cloaks, otherwise the assembly was motionless and awesomely quiet. Still making no overtures Van Rycke crossed to a stool and table which stood a little apart and seated himself. Dane we
49、nt into the action required of him. Before his superior he set out a plastic pocket flask, its color as alive in the sunlight as the crudely cut gems which the Salariki sported, a fine silk handkerchief, and, last of all, a bottle of Terran smelling salts provided by Medic Tau as a necessary restorative after some hours combination of