The Space Guardian Read Online Free PDF Page A

another similar valley, but none of us has ever been tempted to look. What for? This is a world man made a mistake on. It should have been left alone to die. Are you sure you do not want to change your mind and go on with us?”
    Lahks laughed. “No. I think I might like Wumeera if I ever get to see any more of it. But someone must come for the cargo. Will they take my luggage, too?”
    “Likely. Likely they will. But this is a hard world. They might take it more thoroughly than you mean or want.”
    “If they will find a way to get my things into town, I will find a way to keep possession of them,” Lahks said calmly.
    The Cargomaster shrugged. A sense of mild obligation to a passenger and ordinary kindliness had impelled him to warn Lahks. He had done his duty. If she would not listen, on her head be it. Groundworms were altogether unaccountable creatures, anyway. He was relieved of further responsibility for this one by a straggling line of men and beasts appearing, as if by magic, out of a hillside not far away.
    “Camels!” Lahks exclaimed with delighted disbelief. “No, there are two humps—dromedaries. I didn’t know any survived, except in zoos. But here. . .”
    “They are indigenous,” the Cargomaster said, his normally austere face breaking into a broad grin. “They are the only good thing on this planet. Nice beasts, very nice. Unfortunately, the adults are too big to ship off-world, except as a curiosity, and no one has ever seen a young one. Apparently no one has any idea of how they breed, either.”
    By this time Lahks could see the creatures clearly and realized that, except for the size, the two humps on the back, and the spreading feet, they did not resemble dromedaries at all. They must be reptiles, she judged from the lizard-like face, the claws on the feet, and the scale-armor hide. But whoever heard of a reptile wearing bifocals and a silly smile? As the lead beast approached, it turned its head and observed Lahks and the Cargomaster, staring at them first from the upper lens and then from the lower lens of its large eyes. Then it stopped, sat down like a dog on its rear haunches, and grinned, if anything, more widely.
    It was impossible to refrain from grinning back, and the beast bobbed its head as if in agreement, its eyes swinging dizzily from upper to lower lenses. Others came and sat alongside, also bobbing and grinning, and still others formed up behind. Lahks began to giggle. She sobered as the men who had accompanied the animals (for they certainly did not lead them) arrived and made their way through the squatting, bobbing pack. They were interesting, if not as charming as the beasts. They wore one-piece suits of something that looked disturbingly like the hide of their animals. Knee-boots of the same material shod them, and gloves, also of the same hide, were tucked into their belts. Each suit extended upward into a hood that was drawn down over the forehead and tight under the chin. Only the central portion of the face was exposed, and this was covered by a rigid. transparent shield clamped tightly at the temples and fitted under the chin so that it overlapped the hide suit. What Lahks could see of the faces was uniformly Mongolian in type.
    The foremost of the men swung the shield up, and Lahks saw that it was hinged to the tight band that held it. “You have cargo for Landlord Vogil, Cargomaster? I am Hetman Vurn.”
    The galactic basic was as accentless as Lahks’ own, but somewhat stilted, as if its pattern had been set at an earlier period and remained unchanged.
    The Cargomaster nodded toward the shed. “It’s all yours. No other shipment this trip. Do you want to check it?”
    Hetman Vurn shook his head. “We have dealt with you often enough to know you, Cargomaster. If something lacks, we will report it on your next trip.” He slapped his hip and the suit gaped open at the thigh, displaying a capacious pocket from which he extracted a sheaf of papers. “Further