West of Eden

listening. No packs had been found, she agreed with that. But nothing still meant nothing. There was something wrong in all this. She had that feeling, a hunter's feeling, but did not know what was causing it. Malsas<, though not a hunter, all unknowingly shared her sense of unease.
    "I don't understand it. Why did the beasts make that long march to the shore—then leave almost at once?"
    Vaintè moved with uncertainty. "They hunt for food that they must have for the winter. They fish in the sea."
    West of Eden - Harry Harrison
    "They had time for little hunting," Stallan said.
    "Exactly," Malsas< said. "Then what was their motive in doing this thing? Do they have motives—or do they simply run about like animals? You kept one for a long time, Vaintè, you must know."
    "They think. They reason. They have an animal cunning that can be very dangerous. We must never forget the way they killed the fargi on the beaches."
    "Your ustuzou escaped, didn't he?" Malsas< asked. "Was it with that pack on the beach?"
    Vaintè spoke as calmly as she could. "I believe so. That one is dangerous for it not only has the animal cunning of an ustuzou but some of the learning of Yilanè as well." So Malsas< was spying on her, knew of her interest in the enlarged pictures. That was only to be expected: she would have done the same herself.
    "The creature must be destroyed, its skin hung from the thorns."
    "My wish as well, Eistaa."
    "Then what do you plan to do?"
    "As much as I would like to see that one ustuzou destroyed, I think it is of greater importance to kill all the ustuzou. In the end it will accomplish the same thing. All dead, he is dead."
    "That is a wise plan. How will you go about implementing it?"
    "With the Eistaa's permission I wish to launch a trumal that will end this menace completely."
    Malsas< registered appreciation and doubt in equal parts. She had taken part, as they all had, in trumal in the ocean of their youth—when different efenburu joined together, worked together in harmony against a single object. Many times a school of squid would be too large for one efenburu to handle.
    When they attacked like this the trumal would always end in complete destruction. There would be no survivors.
    "I understand your doubt, Eistaa, but it must be done. More fargi must be obtained from the cities of Entoban*. More uruketo, more weapons. Then we will go north as spring ends, land, move west. Killing them all. By the end of summer we will have reached the mountains and will turn south then to the warm southern sea. Supplies will be brought to us during the winter. When the next spring comes we shall strike west of the mountains. By the following winter this species of ustuzou will be extinct. Not a single pair will be left to breed in some dark and noisome place. That is what I feel must be done."
    West of Eden - Harry Harrison
    Malsas< heard this, accepted it. But she was still concerned about the possibility of such an ambitious plan. Could it be done? She looked at the model, thought of the vast distances, of the ustuzou teeming there. Could they really all be exterminated?
    "They all must be killed," she said, answering her own question aloud. "That is what must be done, this fact cannot be escaped. But can it be done this next summer? Would it not be better to send smaller parties, seek out and destroy these packs that we have found?"
    "They will hide, they will go north into the frozen lands where we cannot follow. I wish it could be done in that way. But I am afraid that it cannot. An army of fargi, a sweep across the country. An end to this menace."
    "What do you say, Stallan?" Malsas< said, turning to the stolid, silent hunter. "You are our killer of ustuzou. Will this plan do what Vaintè says it will do? Shall we attempt it?"
    Stallan looked at the immense model, ordering her thoughts so that she could speak them clearly.
    "If there is a trumal the ustuzou will die. I do not know if enough force can be gathered together to do it. I do not rule so I cannot say. What I can say is that if the force is strong enough then the trumal will succeed."
    There was silence then as Malsas< weighed everything that had been said while the others waited. When she finally spoke it was a command.
    "Trumal, sarn'enoto. Destroy the ustuzou."
    CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
    "Excuse the interruption of one so hard-working and important by one of little consequence," Krunat said, hesitating as she approached Vaintè. Vaintè was standing before