Unbelievingly Barra stared at the pseudoman. He was actually persisting in his effort to lie away his failure. Or was he attempting some sort
of defiance? Had his father and brother tolerated such things as this, or was this something new, stemming from the man’s age? Or, perhaps, he was trying the temper of the Master Protector, to see how far he could go in encroaching on authority.
He would deal with this—and now!
Abruptly, he turned away, to direct his attention to the central surrogate. It was equipped with a projector crystal.
The air in the clearing glowed and a scene formed in the open space. Unmistakably, it was the northern part of Kira Barra. The lake was shown, and sufficient landmarks to make the location obvious, even to a pseudoman. Carefully, Barra prevented any trace of the blank, swirling null from intruding on the scene. Perhaps the subhuman creature before him knew something of its properties, but there was no point in making these things too obvious.
He focused the scene on the stream and brought the approaching herd into the picture, then he flashed in his own face, watching. And he brought the view down closely enough to indicate that no human creature was near the herd. Finally, he turned his attention to the headman again.
“There was the herd. Where were your people?”
The old man shook his head incredulously, then turned toward one of the few men who still remained in the clearing.
He made a series of noises and the [p 23] other nodded. There were more of the growls and hisses, then the headman waved a hand southward and the other nodded again and turned away, to run into the trees and disappear.
The headman faced Barra again.