"I think they"re making allowances because I"m human."

He shook his head. "They make things easy for themselves. They cull the herds, but they kill the most difficult ones too. Anything that injures a Folk, dies. So okay, they"ve made things easy for us too. I doubt they"re out to humiliate us. They didn"t leave extra gear for your companion?"

. "No."

An instructor led us in stretching exercises, isometrics, duck waddles, sprints, and an hour of just running, for two hours each day. There was a spa and a ma.s.seur, and I needed them. I was blind with exhaustion after every session ... yet I sensed that they were being careful of me. The game was over if I injured myself.

B-beam put us on a starvation diet. "I want us thinking hungry, thinking like Folk. Besides, we can both stand to lose a few pounds."

I studied Folk physiology more closely than I would have stared at a customer. The pointed mouths show two down-pointing daggers in front, then a gap, then teeth that look like two conical canines fused together. They look vicious. The eyes face forward in deep sockets below the hinges of the jaw: white with brown irises, oddly human. Their fingers are short and thick, tipped with thick claws, three to a forefoot, with the forward edge of the pad to serve as a thumb. Human hands are better, I think. But if the eyes had been placed like a wolf"s, they couldn"t have seen seen their hands while standing up, and they wouldn"t be tool users. their hands while standing up, and they wouldn"t be tool users.

My gear was delivered. I strung the canteen and the beamer and the sheath knife on a loop of line. I filled the canteen with water, changed my mind and replaced it with Gatorade, and left it all in a refrigerator.

I watched three more hunts. Once they hunted melk again. Once it was pigs. That wasn"t very interesting. B-beam said, "Those were a gift. We mated pigs to wild boars, raised them in bottles and turned them loose. The Folk were polite, but I don"t think they like them much. They"re too easy."

The last film must have been taken at night, light-amplified, for the moon was blazing like the sun. The prey had two enormous legs with too many joints, a smallish torso slung horizontally between the shoulders, and tiny fingers around a strange mouth. Again, it looked well fed. It was in the forest, eating into a hanging melon-sized fruit without bothering to pick it. I said, "That doesn"t look right."

B-beam said, "No, it didn"t evolve alongside the Folk. Different planet. Gligst.i.th(click)tcharf, maybe. We call them stilts." stilts."

It was faster than h.e.l.l and could jump too, but the Folk were spread out and they were always in front of it. They kept it running in a circle until it stepped wrong and lost its balance.

One Folk zipped toward it. The stilt tumbled with its legs folded and stood up immediately, but it still took too long. The designated killer wrapped itself around one leg; its jaws closed on the ankle. The stilt kicked at its a.s.sailant, a dozen kicks in a dozen seconds. Then the bone snapped and the rest of the Folk moved in.

"Do you suppose they"ll wear translators when they hunt with us?"

"I"d guess they won"t. I know some Folk words and I"ve been boning up. And I"ve got a horde of students looking for anything on Folk eating habits. I"ve got a suspicion.... Rick, why are we doing this?"

"We ought to get to know them."

"Why? What have we seen that makes them worth knowing?"

I was hungry and I ached everywhere. I had to think before I answered. "Oh ... enough. Eating habits aside, the Folk aren"t totally asocial. They"re here, here, and they aren"t xenophobes.... B-beam, suppose they don"t have anything to teach us? They"re still part of a galactic civilization, and we want to be out there with them. I just want humanity to look good." and they aren"t xenophobes.... B-beam, suppose they don"t have anything to teach us? They"re still part of a galactic civilization, and we want to be out there with them. I just want humanity to look good."

"Look good ... yeah. I did wonder why you didn"t even hesitate. hesitate. Have you ever been hunting?" Have you ever been hunting?"

"No. You?" "Yeah, my uncles used to take me deer hunting. Have you ever killed anything? Hired out as a butcher, for instance?"

"... No."

And I waited to say, Sure, I can kill an animal, no sweat. h.e.l.l, I promised Sure, I can kill an animal, no sweat. h.e.l.l, I promised! But he didn"t ask; he only looked. But he didn"t ask; he only looked.

I never did mention my other fear. For all I know, it never occurred to anyone else that B-beam and I might be the prey.

Intelligent beings, if gullible. Armed, but with inadequate weapons. Betrayed, and thus enraged, likely to fight back. The Folk eat Earthbom meat. Surely we would make more interesting prey than the boar-pigs!

But it was plain crazy. The Chirpsithra enforced laws against murder. If humans were to disappear within the Mojave hunting park, the Folk might be barred from the Chirp liners! They wouldn"t dare.

The Folk came for us at dawn. We rode in the Xen.o.biology lifter. We left the air ducts wide open. The smell of five Folk behind us was rich and strange: not quite an animal smell, but something else, and not entirely pleasant. If the Folk noticed our scent, they didn"t seem to mind.

B-beam seemed amazingly relaxed. At one point he told me, casually, "We"re in danger of missing a point. We"re here to have fun. The Folk don"t know we"ve been sweating and moaning, and they won"t. You"re being honored, Rick. Have fun."

At midmorning we landed and walked toward a fence.

It was human-built, posted with signs in half a dozen languages. NO ENTRY. DANGER! B-beam took us through the gate. Then the Folk waited. B-beam exchanged yelps with them, then told me, "You"re expected to lead."

"Me? Why?"

"Surprise. You"re the designated killer."

"Me?" It seemed silly ... but it was their hunt. I led off. "What are we hunting?"

"You make that decision too."

Well inside the fence, we crossed what seemed a meandering dune, varying from five to eight meters high, curving out of sight to left and right. Outside the dune was desert. Inside, meadow.

A stream poured out of the dune. Farther away and much lower, its returning loop flowed back into the dune. The dune hid pumps. It might hide defenses.

The green-black gra.s.s wasn"t thin like gra.s.s; it was a succulent, like three-foot-tall fingers of spineless cactus, nice to the touch. Fat gra.s.s. Fat gra.s.s. Sawgra.s.s would have been a real problem. We wore nothing but swim suits (we"d argued about even that) and the items strung on a line across my shoulders. Sawgra.s.s would have been a real problem. We wore nothing but swim suits (we"d argued about even that) and the items strung on a line across my shoulders.

Any of the Folk, or B-beam himself, would have made a better killer than one middle-aged bartender.

Of course I had the beamer, and it would kill; but it wouldn"t kill fast. Anything large would be hurt and angry long before it fell over.

All five Folk dropped silently to their bellies. I hadn"t seen anything, so I stayed upright, but I was walking carefully. Naked humans might not spook the prey anyway. They"d be alert for Folk.

B-beam"s eyes tried to see everywhere at once. He whispered, "I got my report on Folk eating habits."

"Well?"

"They drink water and milk. They"ve never been seen eating. They don"t buy buy food-" food-"

"Pets?"

"-Or pets, or livestock. I thought of that-"

"Missing Persons reports?"

"Oh, for Christ"s sake, Rick! No, this is the only only way they eat. It"s not a hunt so much as a formal dinner party. The rules of etiquette are likely to be rigid." way they eat. It"s not a hunt so much as a formal dinner party. The rules of etiquette are likely to be rigid."

Rigid, h.e.l.l. I"d watched them tearing live animals apart.

Water gurgled ahead. The artificial stream ran everywhere. "I never wondered about the canteen," I said. "Why a canteen?"

B-beam yelped softly. A Folk squeaked back. Yelp, and squeak, and B-beam tried to suppress a laugh. "You must have talked about drinking wine with meals."

"I did. Is there supposed to be wine wine in this thing?" in this thing?"

B-beam grinned. Then lost the grin. "The canteen isn"t for the hunt, it"s for afterward. What about the knife and beamer?"

"Oh, come on, the Folk gave gave me ... uh." b.u.t.terflies began breeding in my stomach. Humans cook their food. Sushi and sashimi and beef tartare are exceptions. I"d said so, that night. "The beamer"s for cooking. If I use it to kill the prey ... we"ll be disgraced?" me ... uh." b.u.t.terflies began breeding in my stomach. Humans cook their food. Sushi and sashimi and beef tartare are exceptions. I"d said so, that night. "The beamer"s for cooking. If I use it to kill the prey ... we"ll be disgraced?"

"I"m not sure I want to come right out and ask. Let"s see ..."

The high-pitched squeaking went on for some time. B-beam was trying to skirt the edges of the subject. The b.u.t.terflies in my belly were turning carnivorous. Presently he whispered, "Yup. Knife too. Your teeth and nails are visibly inadequate for carving."

"Oh, Lord."

"The later you back out, the worse it"ll be. Do it now if-"

Two melks were grazing beyond a rise of ground. I touched B-beam"s shoulder and we sank to our bellies.

The melks were really too big. They"d weigh about what I did: a hundred and eighty pounds. I"d be better off chasing a bird. Better yet, a boar-pig.

Then again, these were were meat animals, born to lose. And we"d need four or five birds for this crowd. I"d be totally winded long before we finished. B-beam"s exercise program had given me a good grasp of my limits ... not to mention a raging hunger. meat animals, born to lose. And we"d need four or five birds for this crowd. I"d be totally winded long before we finished. B-beam"s exercise program had given me a good grasp of my limits ... not to mention a raging hunger.

The purpose of this game was to make humans-me-look good. Wasn"t it? Anyway, there wasn"t a bird or a pig in sight.

We crept through the fat gra.s.s until we had a clear view. That top-heavy array of horns would make a handle. If I could get hold of the horns, I could break the melk"s long, slender neck.

The thought made me queasy.

"The smaller one," I whispered. B-beam nodded. He yelped softly, and got answers. The Folk flowed away through the fat gra.s.s. I crept toward the melks on hands and toes.

Three Folk stood up and shrieked.

The melks shrieked too, and tried to escape. Two more Folk stood up in front of the smaller one. I stayed down, scrambling through the gra.s.s stalks, trying to get ahead of it.

It came straight at me. And now I must murder you. And now I must murder you.

I lunged to the attack. It spun about. A hoof caught my thigh and I grunted in pain. The melk leapt away, then froze as B-beam dashed in front of it waving his arms. I threw myself at its neck. It wheeled, and the cage of horns slammed into me and knocked me on my a.s.s. It ran over me and away.

I was curled around my belly, trying to remember how to breathe. B-beam helped me to my feet. It was the last place I wanted to be. "Are you all right?"

I wheezed, "Hoof. Stomach."

"Can you move?"

"Nooo! Minute. Try again."

My breath came back. I walked around in a circle. The Folk were watching me. I straightened up. I jogged. Not good, but I could move. I took off the loop of line that held canteen and beamer and knife, and handed them to B-beam. "Hold these."

"I"m afraid they may be the mark of the leader."

"Bulls.h.i.t. Folk don"t carry anything. Hold "em so I can fight." I wanted to be rid of the beamer. It was too tempting.

We"d alerted the prey in this area. I took us along the edge of the forest, where the fat gra.s.s thinned out and it was easier to move. We saw nothing for almost an hour.

I saw no birds, no stilts, no boar-pigs. What I finally did see was four more melks drinking from the stream. It was a situation very like the first I"d seen on film.

I"d already proved that a melk was more than my equal. My last-second qualms had slowed me not at all. I"d been beaten because my teeth and claws were inadequate; because I was not a wolf, not a lion, not a Folk.

I crouched below the level of the fat gra.s.s, studying them. The Folk studied me. B-beam was at my side, whispering, "We"re in no hurry. We"ve got hours yet. Do you think you can handle a boar-pig?"

"If I could find one I might catch it. But how do I kill it? With my teeth?"

The Folk watched. What did they expect of me?

Suddenly I knew.

"Tell them I"ll be in the woods." I pointed. "Just in there. Pick a melk and run it toward me." I turned and moved into the woods, low to the ground. When I looked back everyone was gone.

These trees had to be from the Folk world. They bent to an invisible hurricane. They bent in various directions, because the Mojave environment wasn"t giving them the right signals. The trunks had a teardrop-shaped cross section for low wind resistance. Maybe the Folk world was tidally locked, with a wind that came always from one direction....

I dared not go too far for what I needed. The leafy tops of the trees were just in reach, and I plunged my hands in and felt around. The trunk was straight and solid; the branches were no thicker than my big toe, and all leaves. I tried to rip a branch loose anyway. It was too strong, and I didn"t have the leverage.

Through the bent trunks I watched melks scattering in panic. But one dashed back and forth, and found black death popping up wherever it looked.

There was fallen stuff on the ground, but no fallen branches. To my right, a glimpse of white- The melk was running toward the wood.

I ran deeper among the trees. White: bones in a neat pile. Melk bones. I swept a hand through to scatter them. d.a.m.n! The leg bones had all been split. What now?

The skull was split too, hanging together by the intertwined horns. I stamped on the horns. They shattered. I picked up a ma.s.sive half-skull with half a meter of broken horn for a handle.

The melk veered just short of the woods. I sprinted in pursuit. Beyond, B-beam half-stood, his eyes horrified. He shouted, "Rick! No!"

I didn"t have time for him. The melk raced away, and nothing popping up in its face was going to stop it now. I was gaining ... it was fast ... too d.a.m.n fast ... I swung the skull at the flashing hoof, and connected. Again. Throwing it off, slowing it just enough. The half-skull and part-horn made a good bludgeon. I smacked a knee, and it wheeled in rage and caught me across the face and chest with its horns.

I dropped on my back. I got in one grazing blow across the neck as it was turning away, and then it was running and I rolled to my feet and chased it again. There was a feathery feel to my run. My lungs and legs thought I was dying. But the melk shook its head as it ran, and I caught up far enough to swing at its hooves.

This time it didn"t turn to attack. Running with something whacking at its feet, it just gradually lost ground. I delivered a two-handed blow to the base of its neck. Swung again and lost my balance and tumbled, caught the roll on my shoulder, had to go back for the skull. Then I ran, floating, recovering lost ground, and suddenly realized that the gra.s.s was stirring all around me. I was surrounded by the black shadows of the Folk.

I caught up.

A swing at the head only got the horns. I hammered at the neck, just behind the head. It tumbled, and tried to get to its feet, and I beat it until it fell over. I used the skull like an ax ... murdering it ... and suddenly black bodies flowed out of the fat gra.s.s and tore at the melk. B-beam got a good grip on the horns and snapped the neck.

I sat down.

He handed me the line: knife, beamer, canteen. He was almost as winded as I was. He whispered, "d.a.m.n fool, you weren"t-"

"Wrong." I didn"t have breath for more. I drank from my canteen, paused to gasp, drank again. Then I turned the beamer on a meaty thigh. The Folk must have been waiting for me to make my choice. They now attacked the forequarters.

I crouched, panting, holding the beamer on the meat until it sizzled, until it smoked, until the smell of it told my belly it was ready.

The heaving of my chest had eased. I handed the knife to B-beam. "Carve us some of that. Eat as much as you can. Courtesy to our hosts."