"No," it whispered. "It is my mind, yes, but it is not my body." His
hands went to his face. "Gene! I cannot see!"
* * * * *
"Easy!" Gene hissed. "You'll cause a panic." He realized that although
the Wronged Ones could, with effort, talk with the strange vocal cords,
it would take them some time to master the high-pitched shrill.
"Listen, Kac," he said. "Call out and tell your people to banish fear
from their minds, or many will die by the spears of the crazed Beast
People. Tell them to fall on the ground and not to rise until you so
instruct them. Hurry now, there is no time to lose!"
Dazedly, Kac obeyed. Though his voice was cracked and unrecognizable,
it boomed with authority. Suppressing their fright, the transposed
Wronged Ones dropped to the ground and lay unmoving.
Then Gene crouched beside his fearful companion and looked upon the
debacle. The transported Beast People were groping about uncertainly.
They were in the same boat as their hated enemies. Sight was a thing
unknown to their brutish minds, thus the eyes they now possessed were
utterly useless; and try as they would, they could not produce the
inaudible squeal which gave them knowledge of their surroundings with
the vocal cords of their new bodies.
Two of them collided, and immediately struck out with their stone
knives. To each, the flesh they felt was the flesh of a Wronged One--a
feared foe who must be destroyed. Both toppled, screaming defiance even
in their final death throes.
The scene was repeated time and again, till the valley floor was but a
mass of shrieking, struggling, mangled bodies.
The carnage all but over, Gene grabbed up a spear and went forth to mop
up. Some of the transposed Wronged Ones had not dropped as Kac, now
their chief, had commanded, but stood about with vacuous expressions on
their faces. He suddenly realized that there were no guiding minds in
these husks. The Beast People had outnumbered the tribe; consequently
many of the monstrosities had been left mindless when the change took
place.
Finishing his grisly task, he flung the spear from him in disgust and
hurried back to the cave, shouting as he went: "Victory is ours, Kac!
The Beast People are defeated! Now your tribe can rejoice!"
But there was no joy in Kac, he found. Now, there was a greater sadness
on the new chief's face than was there at any time previous. Strange
people! What could be the grievance now?
Kac must have sensed the question in his mind. He gestured disdainfully
at his squat, hairy body. "Look you, Gene. You have made our plight
far worse. Now we cannot see to hunt or to harvest the puny crops that
we wrest from this woe-begone world. This had to be, that is to my
knowing. But I fear the tribe will not understand. I can sense their
rage even now, my brother."
Gene whirled and stared sickly at the warriors rising from the ground.
It was true. Wrath was on their features as they fumbled toward the
cave, guided by the very sound of his breathing impinging against their
sensitive ears.
The blood-spattered biologist was stunned. "Wait, my brothers!" he
cried, throwing up his arms. "You have not been betrayed! Today, you
have won a great victory over your enemies; on this same day you shall
begin a new life--a life of plenty, of happiness."
But his words were lost in the roar of a people aroused. Nearer they
groped. Kac added his appeal, to no avail. They would have the blood of
this false-tongued specimen of a race that revelled on a world that was
not his own.
If only they would listen to his plan! But argument would only bring
about his death--and the end of all hope for a once-mighty people. He
turned despairingly to his one remaining friend.
"Hear this now, Kac," he said urgently. "I am going into the cave
to--to appeal to the all-powerful Talkers. It is your task to remain
here and hold off your warriors as long as possible. In a few moments
wondrous magic will be worked on you and all your people, but fear not.
Know I am your friend, no matter what strange, new vista your eyes next
look upon, and never would I do you harm. When next we meet, it will be
in a paradise far more glorious than that for which you mourn. Will you
do this your brother asks?"