Guns of Mars 49
A Martian action-adventure by The Legend Chuck Dixon
CHAPTER 13.1
Kal Keddaq leapt back from the edge of the outcropping as a shot exploded near his feet. It threw a spray of rock splinters across his legs drawing blood from multiple grazes.
He stepped back more as a second shot hit near the first.
The hooded stranger was sending a message. He wanted Kal alive.
The thark approached the edge again. The hooded stranger stood out on the canal floor at a half haad distance with rifle lowered. It was impressive shooting. The stranger shifted the long rifle to rest the butt on the ground before touching one of his holstered sidearms with an exaggerated pat.
Kal understood and tossed his own pistol away to fall to the rocks below. It broke apart near where his ruined rifle lay. He stood watching the stranger for further directions, but the man was ignoring him now, walking toward a ground-reined thoat grazing in the long shadows. The man squatted over a patch of lichen and began cutting at the dried turf. Kal watched long enough to reason that the man was preparing to build a fire. Night was coming and with it the cold. He could remain up here exposed to the elements or find a way down to join the stranger at his fire.
Kal didn’t know the man’s business nor his interest in him. He’d spared Kal’s life and made it clear he didn’t mean to take it himself. That didn’t mean he wished Kal well. More probably, he was just another bounty hunter intent on returning the renegade thark to the mercies of his clan.
The night would be long and cold and especially dark at the bottom of the great ditch. If he could find his way down unseen, he might be able to turn the tables on this newcomer. The man would be blinded by the glare of the fire he was building. Kal still had his sword and all the skills that made his race the fearsome lords of the sand sea. He’d have this man’s life, his water and his ride in that order.
But first, to get down from this precipice. Climbing down was out of the question. The convex face of the outcropping made that an impossibility. The same curved, sheer surface that prevented the orluk from reaching him would also be too precarious to descend by hand. Once again, he thought of the stout coil of braided rope that hung from the saddle of his dead mount.
Special Note: GUNS OF MARS is now available in a hardcover edition. It is available at Amazon and at NDM Express.
