Read Online Extreme Difference by D. B. Reynolds-Moreton - Free Book Online
Authors: D. B. Reynolds-Moreton
Tags: FL
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growing boxes back inside.’
‘Don’t know. We just heard a noise, an’ when we went outside half the boxes was gone, an’ three of our men was lying on the ground, injured.’ He wobbled over to a rock and sat down, thoroughly dejected, the rest of the group moving over to one side to avoid the aroma which seemed to follow him like an invisible but pungent cloud.
‘We don’t even know who they are,’ Kel said defensively, ‘and even if we did, there’s little chance we could get the boxes back without heavy casualties. Sounds like they’re the same lot who paid us a visit earlier, but we saw them coming and fought them off with our gas guns.’
‘We don’t ’ave any gas guns, perhaps we could trade for some?’ the wretched creature suggested, but with little hope in his voice.
‘We only have two, and your lot probably couldn’t look after them properly, anyway.’ Kel wasn’t going to deplete his armoury at any price.
‘Could we trade for some growing boxes an’ plants?’ the odorous heap asked, this being the main purpose of his visit.
‘What do you have to trade with?’ asked Ben, thinking this would put an end to the request.
‘Don’t know. We’s got lots of bits an’ pieces you might find useful. Stuff the Great Light gave us.’ he added brightly, as if this would increase the value of their stock.
‘I very much doubt you’ll have anything of value to us,’ Kel said, ‘anyway, we don’t have any spare growing boxes at the moment, so I don’t see how we can trade.’
Sandy felt sorry for the emissary from the raided group, he had slumped down on his rock, all hope gone from his dejected face, and a trickle of tears threatened to dislodge some of the ingrained dirt from his grimy cheeks.
Sandy casually moved closer to Kel and said very quietly,
‘It might be worth a quick look to see what they’ve got, could be there’s something we could make use of.’
Kel hesitated for a moment, deep in thought, and replied, ‘OK, we’ll have to get Nan’s approval first, and if we do, we’ll go over first thing in the morning. You might be right, I don’t think even they know what they’ve got. They’re such an inept bunch, I’m surprised they are still in existence.’
‘He’s got a funny way of talking, too,’ Sandy said, nodding his head in the general direction of the pathetic bundle of rags, ‘I can only just understand him.’
Kel grinned, ‘You should hear the rest of ’em, they’ve got a different language to us, and he acts as translator for them. We’ve dealt a little with them in the past, and that’s when I found out that when he arrived here, he didn’t speak their language at all, so had to learn it. I suppose he’s lost a little of his own in the process, or it’s just a bit different to ours.’
Nan suddenly appeared on the scene, and Kel went over to explain what had happened. Agreement was reached on a possible trade the following day, and the odorous emissary was dispatched homewards, with copious warnings about the coming cold of evening, and the nasty things which lurked below the surface of the fast cooling sand. The others of the group had already begun to retrieve the growing bins, and soon the crater was devoid of all visible life.
On the way back to the main cavern, Sandy asked Nan about the black sticky stuff which held the fabric covering over the hole in the cave they now used to condense water.
He thought it came from a cave deep below the gas generating cavern, a long time ago, but no one had been there of late that he could recall.
‘Why are you interested in it?’ asked Nan, ‘do you have a use for some sticky stuff?’
‘It’s a raw material, and there may be some other undiscovered use for it.’ replied Sandy cautiously, not wishing to go into deep discussion of what he had in mind at the moment. Somehow the black goo around the hole reminded him of something, and he felt sure if he were to see it in its native state, he
‘Don’t know. We just heard a noise, an’ when we went outside half the boxes was gone, an’ three of our men was lying on the ground, injured.’ He wobbled over to a rock and sat down, thoroughly dejected, the rest of the group moving over to one side to avoid the aroma which seemed to follow him like an invisible but pungent cloud.
‘We don’t even know who they are,’ Kel said defensively, ‘and even if we did, there’s little chance we could get the boxes back without heavy casualties. Sounds like they’re the same lot who paid us a visit earlier, but we saw them coming and fought them off with our gas guns.’
‘We don’t ’ave any gas guns, perhaps we could trade for some?’ the wretched creature suggested, but with little hope in his voice.
‘We only have two, and your lot probably couldn’t look after them properly, anyway.’ Kel wasn’t going to deplete his armoury at any price.
‘Could we trade for some growing boxes an’ plants?’ the odorous heap asked, this being the main purpose of his visit.
‘What do you have to trade with?’ asked Ben, thinking this would put an end to the request.
‘Don’t know. We’s got lots of bits an’ pieces you might find useful. Stuff the Great Light gave us.’ he added brightly, as if this would increase the value of their stock.
‘I very much doubt you’ll have anything of value to us,’ Kel said, ‘anyway, we don’t have any spare growing boxes at the moment, so I don’t see how we can trade.’
Sandy felt sorry for the emissary from the raided group, he had slumped down on his rock, all hope gone from his dejected face, and a trickle of tears threatened to dislodge some of the ingrained dirt from his grimy cheeks.
Sandy casually moved closer to Kel and said very quietly,
‘It might be worth a quick look to see what they’ve got, could be there’s something we could make use of.’
Kel hesitated for a moment, deep in thought, and replied, ‘OK, we’ll have to get Nan’s approval first, and if we do, we’ll go over first thing in the morning. You might be right, I don’t think even they know what they’ve got. They’re such an inept bunch, I’m surprised they are still in existence.’
‘He’s got a funny way of talking, too,’ Sandy said, nodding his head in the general direction of the pathetic bundle of rags, ‘I can only just understand him.’
Kel grinned, ‘You should hear the rest of ’em, they’ve got a different language to us, and he acts as translator for them. We’ve dealt a little with them in the past, and that’s when I found out that when he arrived here, he didn’t speak their language at all, so had to learn it. I suppose he’s lost a little of his own in the process, or it’s just a bit different to ours.’
Nan suddenly appeared on the scene, and Kel went over to explain what had happened. Agreement was reached on a possible trade the following day, and the odorous emissary was dispatched homewards, with copious warnings about the coming cold of evening, and the nasty things which lurked below the surface of the fast cooling sand. The others of the group had already begun to retrieve the growing bins, and soon the crater was devoid of all visible life.
On the way back to the main cavern, Sandy asked Nan about the black sticky stuff which held the fabric covering over the hole in the cave they now used to condense water.
He thought it came from a cave deep below the gas generating cavern, a long time ago, but no one had been there of late that he could recall.
‘Why are you interested in it?’ asked Nan, ‘do you have a use for some sticky stuff?’
‘It’s a raw material, and there may be some other undiscovered use for it.’ replied Sandy cautiously, not wishing to go into deep discussion of what he had in mind at the moment. Somehow the black goo around the hole reminded him of something, and he felt sure if he were to see it in its native state, he
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