（外文电子版资料）Robert Chilson - Per Strategem.pdf

Per Stratagem By Robert Chilson To the true barbarians, Truth and Justice mean supporting a strong, victorious leader. It’s not that they lack loyalty-they are loyal to Truth and Justice. The sound burst on Rahjikah at the speed of light, swelling from an infinitesimal whisper he had not consciously heard, to an ear-straining, wide-ranging yell in mere seconds-as if the others were hurtling toward him at appalling speeds. Which might, he thought grimly, be the case. However, once the sound reached that incredible volume, it grew no louder. It was coming from somewhere above him-ahead of him on his line of flight-and from south of the ecliptic. About thirty degrees off, in both directions, he thought, scanning space swiftly. The sound was not as loud as it seemed; much of the volume was illusion: it had to be very loud to be heard at this distance. There were no ships near. For it had to be a ship. It had to be more than that-it had to be one of the ships from Outside. The output from it was all amplitude modulated, sounding like an agonized cry, or a roar of anger, or a bellowing matting call-some intense emotion of some titanic beast. There was no intelligence in it, and though it varied second by second, it remained curiously the same. Rahjikah cut his exhaust, then his acceleration. His cone-shaped head eased in its circular collar, but he held it rigid, not to lose his bearings. His body elongated from the spherical high-acceleration shape into its normal egg shape. At his posterior end, his exhaust jet, a conical bone and horn organ, turned sideways at right angles to his line of flight. A short, sharp spurt of exhaust caused him to tumble slowly, anterior and posterior tentacles extending, their receptors listening to space. Another spurt of exhaust stopped his rotation, a cloud of steam expanding, instantly shot through with crystals of ice and carbon dioxide, which latter as quickly evaporated. He applied a tiny fraction of his normal