No Way Back Read Online Free PDF

talked in fits and starts, mostly about Earth’s latest planetary wars. From above, muffled roars and cries interrupted their conversation now and again. The sounds cast shivers across Jake’s shoulders. Fortunately, Drum’s work fascinated him. He’d never seen anyone tan a hide before. Hell, nobody on Earth did anything by hand anymore.
    He watched Drum dig a hole in the floor and mash a smelly grayish mound in it. Jake was certain whatever it was, it used to be part of the animal. “You’re not going to eat that, are you?”
    Drum’s shoulders shook with his chuckle. “No. I’m going to tan the hide with it.” He spread the gooey mixture over the flesh side of the fur pelt. By the time the light sticks dimmed, Drum had finished his work and set the hide aside to cure. He chatted while he washed his hands and came back to sit near Jake again.
    Strange how comfortable Drum made him feel. It seemed impossible they’d only met a short time ago. As a rule, he didn’t connect easily with others. People, especially females, tended to shy away from him as soon as they learned he worked with insects. Poor conversation topic, he guessed. Drum’s attachment to him gave him a warm feeling at the same time his inner stellar beacon beeped danger, danger !
    He tucked his hands behind his head and relaxed against the wall. Unless Drum gave him a reason to mistrust him, he’d enjoy this new friendship.
    “Tell me more about your people’s connection to Earthlings.”
    A warm smile spread across Drum’s face. “We lived together a long time ago…”
    The account Drum shared sounded like a fairy tale. Two distinct races merging into a new race without warfare, learning from each other, loving one another. Over time, he supposed, any nasty truths in the tale had been lost or embellished. Either way, the two of them shared some similar DNA.
    “So how did the Alishons end up here?”
    Drum shrugged. “No one knows for sure.” He wrapped his arms around his folded legs and rested his chin on his knees. “Do you have a family, Jake?”
    “Not of my own, if that’s what you mean.” He dropped his arms and drew a pattern in the dirt with his fingertips. “My mother died in a foreign raid. My father remarried. I have two half-sisters.” He looked up at Drum. “How about you?”
    “I am the eldest of eight. I have four living half-siblings, all much younger, and a brother who was born in the middle of the pack.” He shrugged. “My mother’s second mate has stronger genes than my father.”
    It took a moment to follow what Drum was saying. “Your mother has two mates? At the same time?”
    “It is permitted when a couple has a low fertility rate.”
    “I take it mortality rates are high on your planet?” He shuddered to think how many the carnivores had killed.
    “Yes.” Drum glanced away, a forlorn expression on his face. At a loss for words, Jake sat in silence. Was there something else that stymied the population growth --poor diet, an incurable disease? He longed to know more about the civilization on Alishontakawa, and yet he feared getting too close and staying much longer than he intended. His unprecedented attachment to Drum worried him.
    As time passed only a few strips of dim light illuminated their space. A shiver rippled across Jake’s shoulders as a light stick faded to black. Once all the lights went out it would feel like a coffin in here. A picture of the quarters assigned to him during his first flight to Jupiter came to mind. Although he could stand up on that particular space cruiser, the room had been as narrow as this place with less air circulation and a couple of shipmates rutting in the bunk above his. Now those were some sleepless nights!
    “I’m going to get some shuteye,” he said, lying on the hard-packed dirt floor and folding his arms beneath his head for a pillow.
    “Rest will help you heal.”
    “Yeah, well, there’s nothing else to do.” He closed his eyes and thought about