Star Ship on Saddle Mountain by Richard Ackley Read Free Book Online

desert's
flat sandy floor, some fifty feet below the ship! He had no idea
that the platform, the floor of the lower deck, had risen that high
above the ground. There was no one in sight out there anywhere. No
one he could signal to, and maybe get them to warn the authorities.
Only blank desert, with the distant mountains across the lake to
the East, far beyond his own land around the Shack. He and Navajo
were completely alone.
He was aware suddenly that he was very tired from
being up all night. He sat down on the smooth deck of the
tier.
Perhaps, when morning came, someone passing far off
there on the roadway along Lake Havasu might see the big ship. At
any rate, he'd need what rest he could get right now, to make his
get-away later. Besides, Navajo was already lying down, resting
quietly, so there couldn't be any immediate danger from the aliens.
Navajo would know. Telling himself everything was all right for the
moment, Charlie stretched: out on the deck.
He was unable to sleep because of a soreness in his
throat, so he sat up again a few minutes later. The night was
almost gone, and the first gray light of morning was lighting the
desert, over to the East on the ridges far across the lake. Rubbing
his throat and wondering why it had to get so sore at a time like
this, Charlie tried again to sleep. Then he felt it. A gentle
probing— something prying into his mind, pushing aside his sleepy
thoughts and trying to get his attention! His thoughts about sleep
and the near morning were gone in a flash. Charlie knew now just
what that probing was.
It was another mind, an alien's thoughts, reaching
into his own mind! Startled, Charlie looked quickly about the great
empty deck. Even in the semi-darkness he could see there was no one
there. And as he continued to look about, Navajo pricked up his
ears. The old horse had noticed the impulse, too.
"Who—who are you?" Charlie asked aloud, hearing the
echo of his own words roll around the deck. "I want to get out of
here—" and Charlie jumped to his feet. "Why are you keeping me in
here?"
    Charlie felt a little foolish,
since he might have only been 1 dreaming, and only answering
a thought in his own mind. He put out a hand to Navajo beside him,
as he told himself he had heard something, he was sure. It was an impulse. Just
like the ones from the aliens. Now, he got the same mild impulse
again, clearer, more definite than before.
    I am Dondee , said the tentative and somewhat uncertain thought
wave. What is your name,
Primitive?
    Charlie puzzled over this first
question, wondering which one of the three aliens was contacting
him. His first fears gone, he felt a little bit annoyed at the
mental picture of a wild man, a primitive . But he was sure that's
what the impulse meant. About to shout back and tell the alien to
let him alone, to let him go home, Charlie frowned as he
reconsidered.
As he thought about it, Charlie realized that this
particular impulse wasn't as strong or impersonal as the impulses
from the three aliens earlier. Though he wasn't used to telepathy,
he felt sure the other three aliens had a much stronger impulse, a
different tone from this last impulse. In this one he thought he
recognized a certain friendliness, a curiosity. Whoever this alien
was, he was not one of the other three who had captured him.
"Can—can you hear me?" Charlie said aloud, "when I
talk like this now?"
"No, Primitive, I cannot hear you. But I can read
your impulses clearly, since you think what you speak aloud. I am
in the central tier above you, so I must read your impulses, even
as you speak them also. But that is all right. They still register
on the mental lanes, Primitive."
    For the first time, Charlie felt
he was really talking to an alien, even though it was done by telepathic impulse,
in answer to his own spoken words.
"They do?" Charlie replied finally, "You mean, my
words, what I say, shows up on the mental lanes?"
    Charlie realized that those other
three aliens had heard his