Africa Zero Read Online Free PDF Page A

she was grinning.
    Halfway
into the city and with no more shots fired, the natives began to show
themselves. In a doorway we saw a naked child of about four with a huge preying
mantis crouching on his shoulder. He was petting it. Jethro Susan shuddered.
    “You
were right about the unusual pets. I never saw them before. I was moving fairly
quickly though.”
    I
considered that.
    “It
might be an idea if we did that now. You never know what they might be
planning. Your monofilament gear might stop darts but it won’t stop an arrow or
a spear.”
    We
broke into a trot, turned down a side street leading in the direction we wanted
to go. Behind us there was more movement as people began to come out of their
ancient homes.
    “Faster,”
I said, and we began to run. Ahead of us I could smell wood smoke and wondered
if it was something they were preparing for us. Soon we rounded a corner and
came face to face with about twenty Zag tribesmen, women, and children. It
seemed we had stumbled in one some kind of celebratory feast. On spits, over
the fire, were the gutted corpses of four men. The air smelt of roast pork.
    “Jesu!”
said my companion at the sight.
    We
came to a halt. Those in front of us did not look as if they had any intention
of moving. Others were gathering behind. The situation was beginning to look
decidedly sticky. I would have survived it. I am not so sure Jethro Susan would
have.
    “Look!”
I shouted, and held up my arms.
    Jethro
Susan looked at me as if she thought me mad. I guess she wanted to start
shooting about then. I shook my head at her.
    The
Zags were watching me closely now. I lowered my hands to my neck and pressed my
fingers to a sequence of soft spots, then I sent an internal signal to a number
of superconductor nerve nexuses. My face went numb as seals broke and fibres
and synthetic muscle auto-detached.
    “Look!”
I shouted again, and when I was absolutely sure I had their attention I pulled
my face off.
    To
say that the effect was electric would be an understatement. Just about all of
them screamed. Jethro Susan only just managed to stifle hers. About half of
them ran for it. A lot went face down on the concrete. The remainder stood
there with their mouths open and just stared. I looked behind and got a similar
reaction there. By this time Jethro Susan was getting the idea. She held her
hand of ceramal high and pulled back her sleeve to show the rest of her arm.
Like showmen we advanced then and none barred our way. One gawper reached out to
try and touch my head as I passed but I slapped his hand away and grinned at
him, which at that moment was all I was capable of doing.
    Soon
we reached a clear street, broke into a run, and in a matter of minutes were
out on the plain of the landing field. There we stopped while I put my face
back on.
    “You
ever pull a stunt like that again ...”
    I
looked at Jethro Susan and noticed how white her complexion was. She did not
look very well.
    As
the seals pulled down and the fibres reattached, feeling returned to my face,
and I managed a normal-looking smile.
    “I’ll
try my best, but it was all I could think of at the time. It worked well,
didn’t it?”
    Angrily
she pulled her hood back, took off her remaining glove, and went stomping off
to the south. I shrugged and followed on. That night we continued walking and
did not make camp until we were well away from Z’gora. Jethro Susan was not
very talkative. I guess it must be unnerving to see the true nature of things.
But as she was settling down for the night her curiosity got the better of her.
    “Doesn’t
it bother you being ... what you are?” she asked me from her blankets.
    “You
mean, does it bother me that I have a wider sensorium that any man,
hyperstrength, and am virtually immortal, then no, it doesn’t bother me.”
    “That’s
not what I mean, and you know it.”
    I
grinned, but in the darkness I doubted if she could see me.
    I
said, “Tell me, why do you not have a