"Bjorn, bring a pig or a sheep and I will show you
how easily and at what a distance one of these blasters can
kill."
"Do you not insult us!" Bjorn cried angrily. "Pig-soldiers!
Sheep-soldiers! Let us see you kill one of our men with one
of your blasters. Then we will know whether they are
weapons for men."
"No, no, I could not kill a living man or -- ah -- ogre for
demonstration," Roadstrum said.
"I could," said Crewman Fairfeather. Fairfeather had al-
ways been something of a blow-top, but there was some-
thing diferent about him now. He had a grin on him that
was almost like the grins of the Laestrygonians. He seemed
to grow larger. He looked like-well, he had always been the
ugliest of the crewmen, now he was nearly as ugly as the
Laestrygonians themselves -- he looked like one of the giants,
that same happy insane look in the eyes.
Fairfeather shot big Hrekkur with his blaster. He tore a
big hole in the giant and killed him.
"Now you've torn it!" said Roadstrum angrily. "We'll
probably have to kill them all. Watch for their moves."
But all the giant Laestrygonians were whooping with
laughter.
"Killed him! Killed him!" they whooped and roared.
"Man, he did look funny when you killed him so easily."
"Look at his face, the side of it that's left. He still
doesn't believe it."
"Hey, the boy-men got a real weapon going."
"Show us again."
"Kill me."
"Kill me. Hey, little fellows, kill me with one."
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