Castle Dreams Read Online Free PDF

her with the first-aid stuff in the backpack. When he was sure she would last, he'd make a run to the castle.
    He struggled out of the cabin, got the backpack, and went back inside, batting the same dangling wires out of the way. He went to her, knelt, and began unpacking.
    Presently, he found the first-aid kit. He looked up and froze. He was staring into the business-end of a formidable-looking handgun.
    Gene tilted his head to read her face. She was wide-eyed but not fearful. She looked angry. She said something in a language that sounded a cross between German and Latin, with a bit of Spanish thrown in for spice. When he didn't answer she spoke again, barking some kind of order.
    â€œSorry,” he said finally. “I can't understand a word you're saying."
    She scowled. Then her eyelids fluttered. The barrel of the gun dropped, as did her head to the deck. She relapsed into semiconsciousness.
    Slowly, he reached for the weapon. She let go of it easily, and he exhaled and put the thing aside after giving it a glance and marveling. It looked like what a laser gun should look like.
    He drew his knife and set himself to the task of untangling her. It was a rough job. He resorted to sawing at the hoses with his hunting knife. The straps were made of even tougher material, but he finally managed to clear her of those and had to react quickly when her legs dropped.
    He eased her to the deck and straightened up, took a breath. It was hot inside and getter hotter. He worried about spilling fuel and the possibility of a sudden fire, and had a sudden flash of imagining what it would be like to be trapped inside.
    He would have to risk moving her. She could move, and that meant her spinal cord was intact; he'd have to gamble that the spine itself wasn't broken.
    He realized that her air supply had been interrupted and bent to the chore of getting her helmet off. There were fairly straightforward lugs on either side of the collar, and he undid these. He tried rotating the helmet clockwise, and when it wouldn't budge, tried the other way. It came of easily.
    The fresh air seemed to bring her around.
    She tried to get up, mumbling something.
    â€œCan you walk?"
    She grumbled something in reply.
    â€œLet me help you."
    He got her up. With difficulty, they struggled out of the craft. Outside, she collapsed to her knees, then sat with her head hung low.
    He wanted to try something. He was no magician, like Linda and some few other castle Guests, but he could work a spell with a little luck. After you'd lived in the castle for a while, some of the magic rubbed off and stayed with you, even when you left the castle. Linda had taught him a trick that took advantage of this effect. It was a short incantation that invoked the castle's pervasive language-translation spell. Gene often used it when exploring inhabited aspects. Sometimes it worked for him, sometimes not. It was always worth a try.
    He traced a circle in the air with his right index finger, made a cross over the circle, then uttered a one-syllable word.
    He turned to her. “Are you all right?"
    She looked up, surprised and suspicious. “You speak Universal. But you're an Outworlder."
    â€œNo. I'm using a ... device."
    â€œImplant?” He nodded. “You don't really look like an Outworlder. You look strange. What line are you of?"
    â€œI come from a world you're probably not familiar with."
    â€œWhat are you doing here? This planet is on the Preserve List. I must warn you that the Irregulars are on my trail. They may have guessed where I shunted off the Thread. I tried to randomize but they have ways of following a phased-photon trail. Something new they've come up with. If they find you with me, they'll kill you."
    â€œWhat will they do to you?” he asked.
    â€œTorture me. They'd do that no matter what.” She took a deep breath, broke into a coughing fit, but eventually recovered. She looked Gene up and down. “Who are you?"
    â€œName's