The Forever Hero Read Online Free Page A

of steps remained to the gully.
    Thrummm!
    He tried to duck and twist, but the blackness rolled up around him, and he could feel himself falling even as it did.

VII
    Corson paused outside the portal. As the chief engineering officer, he had the absolute right to enter any duty space on the ship, but he still hesitated. Marso had the kind of tongue that could strip flesh from bone.
    He frowned, then squared his shoulders and keyed the portal with his own code, the one that overrode all but the captain’s locks.
    â€œNooo!”
    Corson saw the streak of blond, bent, and spread his arms.
    Thud .
    Even at nearly two hundred centimeters and one hundred ten kilos, he was staggered by the impact and set back on his heels. But he refused to let go of the snarling figure that pounded at his mid-section and sent kneecaps toward his stomach.
    Corson shifted his grip into the patterns he had learned toomany years before at the Academy and finally fumbled until he had immobilized the smaller figure.
    It had to be the boy that Marso’s tractor had stunned down on the surface.
    He carried the still-squirming youngster back into the combination sick bay/laboratory.
    Marso stood there, leaning on the console with her right hand. The scratches on her left cheek still glistened with the dampness of just-applied quick heal.
    Corson did not miss the dark smudge beneath her left eye that would likely become a black eye.
    His own eyes widened as he took in the snapped straps on the stretcher that had brought the youngster up from the surface with the shuttle.
    â€œHow did…?”
    â€œDamned if I know!” snapped the ecologist. “I came in to check him again, and he jumped me. Then you came blundering along and almost let him get away.”
    â€œI…” Corson closed his mouth and tightened his grip on the boy, who seemed stronger than most men he had ever dealt with.
    â€œWhat do you want me to do with him? Your young man here?”
    â€œHe’s not that far along yet. No sign of puberty, not overtly, and the initial readouts support that.”
    Marso replaced the quick heal back in the cabinet and reached for a pressure syringe.
    â€œWhat’s that for?”
    â€œPut him under for linguistics. I’d like to be able to talk to him. Then maybe so much force wouldn’t be necessary.”
    â€œTalk you now,” muttered the boy. His accent was odd, but clear and understandable.
    â€œHow did he learn Panglais?”
    â€œHe didn’t. Panglais is a derivative from simplified Anglish. The maps indicate his ancestors spoke Anglish.”
    â€œWhy ship take me?” asked the boy, still twisting to see if he could escape.
    â€œTo see if we could help you.”
    â€œHelp devulkid? Snort fog!”
    Corson raised his eyebrows.
    â€œWhat does he mean?”
    Marso pushed a stray strand of hair back off her forehead. “I suspect it’s a rather direct way of saying he doesn’t believe us.”
    â€œDevulkid believe none.”
    â€œHe thinks he’s a devilkid. What does that mean?”
    Marso frowned, but did not look directly at the chief engineer.
    â€œThere may be some veracity in that assumption, particularly if the metabolic analyses taken while he was unconscious are fully accurate.”
    Corson shook his head. Marso had never engaged in scientific doubletalk. Then he nearly smiled. She was trying to clue him without alerting the young savage.
    â€œThat much capability for physiological prowess?”
    Marso nodded.
    â€œWhat want devulkid?” interrupted the youth with another squirm that nearly broke Corson’s grasp.
    â€œDevilkid needs better talk,” offered the engineer.
    â€œDevulkid talk good.”
    Marso edged nearer the squirming figure, pressure syringe ready.
    Corson turned slightly to his right to make Marso’s effort easier, carrying the boy with him.
    â€œ Ouggh ,” he muttered with a wince as the