the blackness.

"_K'e vi stas el...?_" the creature said, and for the first time Jason
realized it was human. The meaning of the question picked at the edge
of his exhausted brain, he felt he could almost understand it, though
he had never heard the language before. He tried to answer but there
was only a hoarse gargle from his throat.

"_Ven k'n torcoy--r'pidu!_"

More lights sprang from the darkness inland and with them the sound of
running feet. As they came closer Jason had a clearer look at the man
above him and could understand why he had mistaken him for some
inhuman creature. His limbs were completely wrapped in lengths of
stained leather, his chest and body protected by thick and overlapping
leather plates covered with blood-red designs. Over his head was
fitted the cochlea shaped shell of some animal, spiraling to a point
in front: two small openings had been drilled in it for eye holes.
Great, finger-long teeth had been set in the lower edge of the shell
to heighten the already fearsome appearance. The only thing at all
human about the creature was the matted and filthy beard that trickled
out of the shell below the teeth. There were too many other details
for Jason to absorb so suddenly; something bulky slung behind one
shoulder, dark objects at the waist, a heavy club reached and prodded
Jason in the ribs, but he was too close to unconsciousness to resist.

A guttural command halted the torch-bearers a full five meters from
the spot where Jason lay. He wondered vaguely why the armored man had
not let them approach closer since the light from their torches barely
reached this far: everything on this planet seemed inexplicable. For a
few moments Jason must have lost consciousness because when he looked
again the torch was stuck in the sand at his side and the armored man
had one of Jason's boots off and was pulling at the other. Jason could
only writhe feebly but not prevent the theft, for some reason he could
not force his body to follow his will. His sense of time seemed to
have altered as well and though every second dragged heavily by events
occurred with startling rapidity.

The boots were gone now and the man fumbled at Jason's clothes,
stopping every few seconds to glance up at the row of torch-bearers.
The magnetic seals were alien to him, the sharp teeth sewn into the
leather over his knuckles dug into Jason's flesh as he struggled to
open the seals or to tear the resistant metalcloth. He was gr