Page 82 - The Perpetrations of Captain Kaga

Claiming the Vegimal Property

pattern well-suited for mutual aid. The attackers had little leverage,
and were constantly being tripped up and pushed back by the free
limbs of the defenders. Nevertheless, several of the latter were being
deracinated, one limb at a time. Those that were uprooted returned
to the fray, trying to pull invaders off the remaining rooted members
of their group.
Captain Kaga watched for a few minutes, then turned and trotted
back to the Terrall. It looked like the fight would last for hours, and
he had no time to be an idle spectator. Lugo must not have been
satisfied with the nomads’ idea of ownership, and had sought further.
Now Kaga had to backtrack and start over. He started up the vehicle
and headed back in the direction he had come.
At first he set the course of the Terrall back to the point where
Lugo had left the nomad group. Then he suddenly realized that the
second Vegimal band his old friend had joined was also on the move.
He stopped and took out the animated infrared map of Miglig he had
stored on MagCard. He ran it up to the frame where the first nomad
group, stationary during its recuperation, was clearly approached by
another moving bunch of dots. That had to be the Molgoza.
He then advanced the map slowly through time, watching the
progress of the new band of Vegimals. They moved slower than the
first group, and seemed to follow a more orderly path across the
island. After a day or so they had passed yet another group, and
continued on. Kaga noted their position on the most recent satellite
photo, extrapolated their path through the time that had elapsed
since it was taken, and turned the Terrall around once again. He had
been going in the wrong direction.
After a couple of hours of slow progress, Kaga finally saw a
Vegimal group moving in the approximate location and direction he
had anticipated. He again cut around and parked his vehicle ahead of
the advancing creatures. He climbed down and approached them, his
hand resting on the destabilizer controls.
“Greetings!” said Captain Kaga. “I’d like to talk to your leader for a
few minutes. You don’t have to stop,” he added hastily, “I’ll just tag
along.”
Several of the Vegimals eyed him—suspiciously, he thought—and
began conversing earnestly among themselves. He could only catch a

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