He had sense enough to cease struggling as he
was dropped, so that his bonds did not tighten. Luckily none had
crossed his face or throat. But his captors were so sure of him
they walked away, leaving the two of us to the X-Tee. He surveyed
the Patrolman, no expression on his face. Then he returned to his
stool.
The Patrolman’s eyes were open and, I judged, he was busy
examining his prison and its occupants. He stared a long time at
me. The ordeal of questioning under the probe, though sleep had
followed, had left me weak. And not only weak, but caught in a
curious lethargy, disinclined to action. I could foresee that at
any moment the X-Tee might turn a laser on me. But I was no longer
afraid.
After a while one of the human crewmen came in, pitched in my
general direction another tube of E-ration. Though I felt hunger
stir in me when I saw it, a strong effort of will was required to
put out my hand, shift my body to reach it. And I held it in my
shaking fingers for some time before I could summon the energy to
suck at its contents.
With the flow of food into my mouth, that dreamy, half-awake
state broke, and I aroused enough to know that this was no
nightmare but grim and threatening reality. The entangled Patrolman
lay where they had dropped him, watching me. I had sucked about
half the tube before I realized they had left nothing for him. Nor
could he feed himself. I started to crawl to where he lay.
“Naw—” It was not good Basic, no more than a
guttural bark. A laser appeared in our guard’s hand, his
intent of using it plain. I halted. He waved me back.
“Staaay—tharrr—”
I stayed. But I did not finish the tube. It would appear that
our guard was determined to keep his two charges well apart.
Now I returned the Patrolman’s stare. He was immobile in
the net casing. Had he landed here alone, as a scout? Or did he
have companions who would come seeking him? I would have given a
great deal at that moment to be able to communicate with him as I
had with Eet.
It could well be that I was a latent esper, and my talent—though limited—had been so aroused by Eet that I could at least
make my fellow prisoner aware I was striving to contact him. So I
put most of my energy into a beamed call.
What followed was so great a surprise that I betrayed my
astonishment and had to dissemble quickly by throwing both hands to
my head as if struck by a sudden pain—though how good a cover
that could be I did not know. The X-Tee was on his feet, his
feather fronds sweeping swiftly back and forth.
I had been answered. Not by the man who lay across the cavern—but by Eet! And as quickly as that touch of recognition had come,
it was gone—a single flash of light across the dark of a moonless
night.
The X-Tee advanced to the center of the working, his fronds
still swinging, as if those antennae could pick up our
communication. And the Patrolman looked from one of us to the
other, inquiry plain on his face.
There was nothing more, and I could guess the reason for
Eet’s caution. If the X-Tee had been able to sense that
touch, then mind speech was to be avoided. But the very fact the
mutant was alive was almost as good as if someone had dropped a
laser into my reach.
I continued to play a part, huddling together, my hands to my
head. The guard halted by me and kicked out, the metal-reinforced tip
of his boot landing painfully against my shin.
“Whaaat—do—you—?” His guttural mouthing of Basic was
hard to understand.
“Pain—in my head—hurts—”
“Mind—talk—you—” He did not make that a
question.
I felt then a kind of clumsy, fumbling thought approach which
was only a feeble pushing, bearing no relation to Eet’s. It
was easy to withstand such a probe. The X-Tee must have esper
powers to a degree, but perhaps they worked better among his own
kind. At any rate he got nothing from me.
Now he begin a crisscross search of the cavern, his fronds ever
in motion. That they were highly astute sense organs, I did not
doubt. But whether they could nose out Eet I did not know.
My confidence arose as I saw that the uneasiness of the X-Tee
did not abate, but rather grew. Had he been able to get a quick
line on Eet, he would not have continued to prowl but would have
gone into action.
Where was Eet? I had no idea from which direction that flash of
recognition had come. But that he was alive—! Now I hoped furiously
that they would not question me again. But if the guard continued
to be suspicious perhaps they would.
He stood close to the Patrolman now, his fronds still seeking.
Slowly he turned, then put his head back and looked up at the dim
expanse overhead. Eet—was Eet up there somewhere?
Clearly the X-Tee’s attention was now riveted and I could
only believe that he had a line on the esper tie. But how could he?
Eet had been quiet.
The laser swung up, pointed at a spot almost directly above the
guard. There were hollows in plenty there, and they might hide
anything. A mass of crystals larger than my head was visible. He
fired—
A flash of light blinded me. I had reason enough to cry out and
cover my eyes now. I heard a gasping which could have come from
either the Patrolman or the guard. A thud—and a rattling—
To be blind was horror at that moment. I feared to move, sure
that ray was bringing down the rocks over us, to bury us alive.
When that did not follow, I tried vainly to see through a blood-red
fog.
“Are you dead?” That demand which penetrated my dark
was no call from Eet, nor was it the bark of our guard. Basic in
human voice—it could only come from the Patrolman.
“Where are you?” I asked, groping out with one
hand.
“Ahead, a little to your right!” he answered
swiftly. “You must have been looking up as he fired—”
“What happened?” I did not try to get to my feet,
but crawled forward on hands and knees, sweeping now and then a
hand before me.
“He beamed straight up. Brought down a hunk of crystal on
his head. Look out, he is right before you now—”
But my hands had already encountered the body. I made myself
examine it by touch, locate one of the lasers. And all the time I
feared I was blind.
I edged around the body and crawled on until one of my hands
touched the Patrolman. To burn off his bonds was a job demanding
good sight, and I could not do it blind.
“Wait!”
I settled back on my heels, a surge of relief breaking like a
high tide in me. “Eet!”
He came out of nowhere as far as I was concerned. I felt the pat
of his hand-paws on mine and I released the laser into his hold. I
guessed that he was quick and efficient about freeing the
Patrolman. For it was only moments later that a human hand fell on
my shoulder, drawing me up to my feet. I wavered there, almost as I
had when I had played the role of plague wanderer for the Captain.
Eet climbed me as if I were a tree and his weight once again ringed
my shoulders. I felt the tickle of his whiskers against my
cheek.
“Hold still! Let me see your eyes—” That was the
Patrolman. I flinched involuntarily from his touch and then obeyed.
I could feel him spread the lids, the sting of moisture against the
balls.
“Close and hold!” he ordered. “From my aid kit—that ought to help.”
“They will have heard—” I put up my hand to touch
Eet’s wiry fur. “They will come—”
“Not for a while,” Eet answered quickly. “It
is night and they have posted an outer guard, but there are none in
any of the tunnels. We have a good chance of getting free. This
guard was the only sensitive among them.”
My hand was caught in a firm grip which pulled me on. Eet
meanwhile directed my steps around piles of debris. We must have
re-entered the tunnel, heading for the outside.
“Who are you?” the Patrolman asked. “A
hostage?”
I gave him the version I had edited for the Guild men. “I
caught an unknown disease, was spaced from a ship in an LB. It made
tape landing here and I was hunted by natives. I took refuge in a
wrecked ship. Then these landed. They made me prisoner after their
medico pronounced me clean.”
“You are lucky they did not just beam you down, he
returned. “I wonder why they did not.”
I had to supply him with a plausible answer. “They thought
I knew about what they hunt here. I am an apprentice
gemologist.”
“Gems!” He paused and then added, “They are
conducting mining operations—that is true.”
“Were you tailing them? And where is your ship?” I
counterquestioned.
“I am a scout.” He gave me the most disheartening
answer for one hoping for a quick way out of trouble. “They
took me when I came out after landing. But my ship is on time lock—they cannot break into her. If we can reach her—But what—or
who—is your friend?”
“I am Eet,” Eet answered for himself. “This
human and I are in defensive alliance—which was good for you,
Patrolman. To get him free I had also to extend aid to
you.”
“Then you did engineer that fall of rock,” I
observed.
Eet corrected me. “No, the creature brought it on himself. I only
gave him mind direction, confused him to make him think he saw
something threatening above. He was esper, but to a limited degree
save with his own kind. He lost his head and shot at a shadow which
was not there, bringing down the rock.”
My hand slipped along Eet’s body and he suffered that
examination by touch. I did not feel the twined roots about his
long neck, or any indication that he still carried the ring. Nor in
that company could I ask questions. For the less the Patrolman knew
the better. The Patrol ever takes the view that the good of many is
superior to the good of the individual.
I sensed that Eet was in complete agreement with me on that
point, and that the ring was in a safe place. But I fretted a
little—no place save my own custody really satisfied me.
“Try to use your eyes,” said the Patrolman.
The sensation of being closed in was gone, and a cool wind laden
with outdoor scents blew about us. I lifted my lids and blinked
rapidly. That sweep of violent red had faded, and though there were
some shadowy blotches, I could see blearily.
Not too far away a rude sentry post had been erected from debris
of the mine tunnels and blocks of the ruins. There was a beamer
mounted on its uneven wall, and at intervals that swept, not toward
the tunnel mouths, but across the jumble of ruins, touching the
broken walls which had once dammed the river.
“They fear an attack from the natives,” Eet
explained.
“Clubs against lasers?” I scoffed.
“Clubs in the night, when one cannot see well—the odds
are not as uneven as you think.”
“Why do they not just hole up in their ship?” was my
second question.
“They have equipment in the tunnels. Once before they
tried retreating into the ship at night. The natives smashed things
that could not he repaired—they had to go off-world for
more.”
“You seem to know a lot about them!” flashed the
Patrolman.
“You,” returned Eet in his most insufferable voice,
“are one Celph Hory, ten years with the force. You are a
native of Loki, one of four sons, two of whom are dead. You were
sent here, not on a routine scout, but to search out the source of
a well-sustained rumor that the Guild has made a discovery which
will give them superiority in space. You have orders to keep under
cover (which you did not carry out well, mainly because your ship
had been skillfully sabotaged, something you did not discover until
you were in orbit here) and to report back, not revealing your
presence to the Guild. Is this not true?”
I heard a breath drawn in sharply. “You read minds.”
Hory made it close to an accusation.
“I merely follow the instinct bred into me, as you follow
yours, Hory. Be glad that I do, or you would have been prisoner
until Captain Nactitl gave the order for your burning. He was
debating the folly of keeping you any longer an hour ago. I would
suggest as speedy a withdrawal as possible. These miners have not
come upon what they are seeking, but they are close—”
“You found it!” I broke in. By this time I could
pick up not only Eet’s mental speech but some of his
emotions. He was at his smuggest now, suggesting that once again he
had bested those physically stronger and bigger.
“So far they look in the wrong place. However, sooner or
later that will occur to them. Nactitl is not in the least stupid,
and certainly not to be underrated. He has only failed so far
because he did not have the right guide.”
The right guide! The ring which Eet had taken, which—which
might have drawn him to the source. I wanted to ask questions so
badly they choked my throat, buzzed in my head. But if he answered
them, then Hory, too, would have that information.
“What have they to find here?” broke in the
Patrolman, and I knew he would continue to seek an answer. It all
depended now on how much he knew of gems. If I guessed wrongly and
he had any training in that field, then my secret was threatened.
But again Eet took the lead, giving me a briefing in his reply.
“A source of revenue, which also means power.” It
was very easy to forget at such times he was only a small furred
creature. His communication was not that of an equal, but soared
only too often into patronizing explanations. “This was a
mine of—how many years ago we cannot guess. But I would say the
diggings of one of the Forerunner civilizations. Unfortunately for
the present-day seekers, they have been picked clean.”
“But you said Nactitl was just not looking in the right
place—”
“He searches the old diggings. If he looked among the
ruins he might find other clues. Unfortunately we cannot linger to
investigate on our own. I would suggest that we find your
ship,” he said to Hory, “and lift as soon as possible.
To hide out in this area is unwise. The sniffers are
out—”
“Sniffers?”
“The natives; they hunt largely by scent. At any rate the
Guild activity here is drawing more and more of them and they have
established a ring about the landing field. As yet they are not
ready to attack, but they very efficiently serve as a means of
confining offworlder activity to this general vicinity. Even to
reach your ship will be something of a problem which will increase
materially with every passing moment. But one man alone is not
going to change Captain Nactitl’s mind and—”
I felt Eet’s body stiffen, his head go up and forward.
“What is it?”
“We have less time than I had hoped!” His message
flashed to us. “They endeavored to reach your late guard by
hand com. When he did not answer they ordered a general
alert.”
We had only those few instants of warning. The beamer mounted on
the sentry post went into stepped-up action, sweeping its light
wider and farther. But bright as it was in the open, it still could
not penetrate the hollow pools of shadow which were to be found
among the ruins. And we had luckily dropped into one of those.
“To the right—” Eet took over direction. “Move
out at the next sweep.”
“To the left.” Hory was equally insistent. “My
ship—”
“It will not be that easy,” Eet snapped. “We
must go right to eventually win left. And we shall have to go
deeper into the fringe of the ruins, maybe even out into the
open—”
“Do we cross the river?” To my mind that would be
the point of greatest vulnerability. I did not see how we could
pass that under the fire of an alerted camp.
“For so much favor we may thank whatever gods or powers
your species recognizes,” Eet returned. “Luckily this
representative of your law chose to set down on this bank. But it
is necessary to flank their post and to avoid any party coming from
their ship to reinforce the guard there. Now—right—”
I had been watching the sweep of the beam and it now touched the
point farthest from us. So no prompting from Eet was needed to send
me scuttling to the next patch of dark I had already marked as a
good hiding place. Hory did not leap with me, but my move must have
spurred him to action, for he was little behind me in reaching that
new lurking place.
Unfortunately the cover seemed designed to lead us farther and
farther from our real goal. Yet we could now hear sounds from over
the river and see the flash of beamers, which marked a search party
setting out from the ship. One of those beamers was set up to
illuminate not only their bridge, but a goodly portion of land on
our side, an open field of light I saw no way to avoid.
“Not over, but under—at that next hole.”
Eet’s hind claws dug convulsively into my flesh as I gathered
my legs under me, readying for the next dash.
He must mean the next patch of deep shadow, but what his
“under, not over” meant I was not to learn until I
reached it, or rather was engulfed in it. For it was not merely a
lurking place behind a pile of stones, but indeed a hole, into
which I tumbled.
I flung out my arms and my fingers scraped rock on three sides.
Then Hory landed half on me, sending me teetering toward the
fourth. I did not strike any barrier there as I fought for my
balance, my feet in their pack coverings skidding on a smooth stone
surface. Again I felt about me. Walls not too far away on either
side—but open before. And I heard Hory scuffling behind.
“Ahead—” Eet urged.
“How do you know?” I demanded.
“I know.” He was confident. “Ahead.”
I felt my way along. I was in a passage. Whether it was indeed
some runway planned by the builders I did not know. It might have
been fashioned by the tumbling of walls. The flooring inclined and
I splashed into a pool of water. There was a dank smell which grew
thicker as we advanced.
“Where do we travel? Under the river?” I asked.
“No. Though perhaps river water does seep here. Look now
to your right”
Ahead was a faint glow which brightened as I slipped and slid
on. Through my mind shot a memory of those slime trails within the
wreck. Would we find those here also? But at least we could depend
upon Eet for a warning—
I came to the site of the glow. There was a square opening in
the wall to my right where a block had been removed or had fallen
out. And through this improvised window, I looked down into a
chamber of some size. Down its center ran a table of the same stone
as formed the walls, save that this was not so eroded. And set on
it were boxes. They had been metal; now they were pitted and worn,
and some had fallen into rusty dust, only their outlines marked on
the table. But there was one very near to our window which appeared
whole, and in it were stones which gave forth feeble sparks of
life. The glow which had drawn my attention did not come from
those, but from what lay beside the box. Eet uncurled from my
shoulders and passed in a leap through the window to the surface of
the table. He raced along it until he came to the ring, thrusting
one of his handpaws through it, using the other to draw it farther
up his shoulder like a barbaric armlet.
He made a second leap, back onto the stone ledge of the window,
then climbed to my shoulders, stuffing the ring inside my tunic,
where it lay, almost too warm for comfort, against my skin.
“What is it?” To my surprise Hory’s voice did
not come from behind me, but from some distance farther back along
the passage. “Where are you? What did you stop
for?”
“There is a wall opening here,” Eet reported
smoothly. “But it is of no service to us. The way ahead,
however, is clear.”
I was puzzled. I had believed Hory directly on my heels and I
had been sure he must have seen what lay in the room. Now it
appeared that he had not. But I asked no questions of Eet.
Once more the passage sloped—but now up. It was leading us in
the direction we had been aiming for. We took it step by careful
step. I listened intently and knew the others must be doing the
same.
“There are many loose stones ahead,” Eet informed
us. “You must move with the greatest care. But it is not too
far now before we reach the fringe of the ruins. Beyond that we
have yet to avoid the sniffers.”
We emerged into heaps of loose rubble. My sight had returned to
normal and I saw enough to guess that this material marked the
miners’ dump. We plotted a path through it with caution. But
luckily the higher heaps were between us and the sweeping beam. The
activity was now on the cliff side of the river, and at the ruins
nearest the tunnel beamers were turning the night to day.
But our luck held as we crept from the edge of the last rubble
pile into the brush. This was tangled and thick, but it made a
curtain for us.
“They will expect us to make for the Patrol ship,” I
pointed out to Eet.
“Naturally. But they will expect that to be bait in a trap
for both of you. Probably they have already taken steps
there—”
“What!” Hory stopped short. “But they could
not interfere with the ship itself—it is on persona time
lock.”
“Such trifles might not deter a determined Guild
expert,” Eet replied. “But Nactitl has not been able to
foresee my presence or some other minor mishaps. I tell you, keep
on. Once we reach the ship we need not worry about escape off
world.”
Knowing Eet, I trusted that tone of assurance. Hory probably did
not, but he followed as if he had no choice—which in truth he did
not, unless he proposed to skulk about the terrain or go into
suicidal battle with the Guild.
He had sense enough to cease struggling as he
was dropped, so that his bonds did not tighten. Luckily none had
crossed his face or throat. But his captors were so sure of him
they walked away, leaving the two of us to the X-Tee. He surveyed
the Patrolman, no expression on his face. Then he returned to his
stool.
The Patrolman’s eyes were open and, I judged, he was busy
examining his prison and its occupants. He stared a long time at
me. The ordeal of questioning under the probe, though sleep had
followed, had left me weak. And not only weak, but caught in a
curious lethargy, disinclined to action. I could foresee that at
any moment the X-Tee might turn a laser on me. But I was no longer
afraid.
After a while one of the human crewmen came in, pitched in my
general direction another tube of E-ration. Though I felt hunger
stir in me when I saw it, a strong effort of will was required to
put out my hand, shift my body to reach it. And I held it in my
shaking fingers for some time before I could summon the energy to
suck at its contents.
With the flow of food into my mouth, that dreamy, half-awake
state broke, and I aroused enough to know that this was no
nightmare but grim and threatening reality. The entangled Patrolman
lay where they had dropped him, watching me. I had sucked about
half the tube before I realized they had left nothing for him. Nor
could he feed himself. I started to crawl to where he lay.
“Naw—” It was not good Basic, no more than a
guttural bark. A laser appeared in our guard’s hand, his
intent of using it plain. I halted. He waved me back.
“Staaay—tharrr—”
I stayed. But I did not finish the tube. It would appear that
our guard was determined to keep his two charges well apart.
Now I returned the Patrolman’s stare. He was immobile in
the net casing. Had he landed here alone, as a scout? Or did he
have companions who would come seeking him? I would have given a
great deal at that moment to be able to communicate with him as I
had with Eet.
It could well be that I was a latent esper, and my talent—though limited—had been so aroused by Eet that I could at least
make my fellow prisoner aware I was striving to contact him. So I
put most of my energy into a beamed call.
What followed was so great a surprise that I betrayed my
astonishment and had to dissemble quickly by throwing both hands to
my head as if struck by a sudden pain—though how good a cover
that could be I did not know. The X-Tee was on his feet, his
feather fronds sweeping swiftly back and forth.
I had been answered. Not by the man who lay across the cavern—but by Eet! And as quickly as that touch of recognition had come,
it was gone—a single flash of light across the dark of a moonless
night.
The X-Tee advanced to the center of the working, his fronds
still swinging, as if those antennae could pick up our
communication. And the Patrolman looked from one of us to the
other, inquiry plain on his face.
There was nothing more, and I could guess the reason for
Eet’s caution. If the X-Tee had been able to sense that
touch, then mind speech was to be avoided. But the very fact the
mutant was alive was almost as good as if someone had dropped a
laser into my reach.
I continued to play a part, huddling together, my hands to my
head. The guard halted by me and kicked out, the metal-reinforced tip
of his boot landing painfully against my shin.
“Whaaat—do—you—?” His guttural mouthing of Basic was
hard to understand.
“Pain—in my head—hurts—”
“Mind—talk—you—” He did not make that a
question.
I felt then a kind of clumsy, fumbling thought approach which
was only a feeble pushing, bearing no relation to Eet’s. It
was easy to withstand such a probe. The X-Tee must have esper
powers to a degree, but perhaps they worked better among his own
kind. At any rate he got nothing from me.
Now he begin a crisscross search of the cavern, his fronds ever
in motion. That they were highly astute sense organs, I did not
doubt. But whether they could nose out Eet I did not know.
My confidence arose as I saw that the uneasiness of the X-Tee
did not abate, but rather grew. Had he been able to get a quick
line on Eet, he would not have continued to prowl but would have
gone into action.
Where was Eet? I had no idea from which direction that flash of
recognition had come. But that he was alive—! Now I hoped furiously
that they would not question me again. But if the guard continued
to be suspicious perhaps they would.
He stood close to the Patrolman now, his fronds still seeking.
Slowly he turned, then put his head back and looked up at the dim
expanse overhead. Eet—was Eet up there somewhere?
Clearly the X-Tee’s attention was now riveted and I could
only believe that he had a line on the esper tie. But how could he?
Eet had been quiet.
The laser swung up, pointed at a spot almost directly above the
guard. There were hollows in plenty there, and they might hide
anything. A mass of crystals larger than my head was visible. He
fired—
A flash of light blinded me. I had reason enough to cry out and
cover my eyes now. I heard a gasping which could have come from
either the Patrolman or the guard. A thud—and a rattling—
To be blind was horror at that moment. I feared to move, sure
that ray was bringing down the rocks over us, to bury us alive.
When that did not follow, I tried vainly to see through a blood-red
fog.
“Are you dead?” That demand which penetrated my dark
was no call from Eet, nor was it the bark of our guard. Basic in
human voice—it could only come from the Patrolman.
“Where are you?” I asked, groping out with one
hand.
“Ahead, a little to your right!” he answered
swiftly. “You must have been looking up as he fired—”
“What happened?” I did not try to get to my feet,
but crawled forward on hands and knees, sweeping now and then a
hand before me.
“He beamed straight up. Brought down a hunk of crystal on
his head. Look out, he is right before you now—”
But my hands had already encountered the body. I made myself
examine it by touch, locate one of the lasers. And all the time I
feared I was blind.
I edged around the body and crawled on until one of my hands
touched the Patrolman. To burn off his bonds was a job demanding
good sight, and I could not do it blind.
“Wait!”
I settled back on my heels, a surge of relief breaking like a
high tide in me. “Eet!”
He came out of nowhere as far as I was concerned. I felt the pat
of his hand-paws on mine and I released the laser into his hold. I
guessed that he was quick and efficient about freeing the
Patrolman. For it was only moments later that a human hand fell on
my shoulder, drawing me up to my feet. I wavered there, almost as I
had when I had played the role of plague wanderer for the Captain.
Eet climbed me as if I were a tree and his weight once again ringed
my shoulders. I felt the tickle of his whiskers against my
cheek.
“Hold still! Let me see your eyes—” That was the
Patrolman. I flinched involuntarily from his touch and then obeyed.
I could feel him spread the lids, the sting of moisture against the
balls.
“Close and hold!” he ordered. “From my aid kit—that ought to help.”
“They will have heard—” I put up my hand to touch
Eet’s wiry fur. “They will come—”
“Not for a while,” Eet answered quickly. “It
is night and they have posted an outer guard, but there are none in
any of the tunnels. We have a good chance of getting free. This
guard was the only sensitive among them.”
My hand was caught in a firm grip which pulled me on. Eet
meanwhile directed my steps around piles of debris. We must have
re-entered the tunnel, heading for the outside.
“Who are you?” the Patrolman asked. “A
hostage?”
I gave him the version I had edited for the Guild men. “I
caught an unknown disease, was spaced from a ship in an LB. It made
tape landing here and I was hunted by natives. I took refuge in a
wrecked ship. Then these landed. They made me prisoner after their
medico pronounced me clean.”
“You are lucky they did not just beam you down, he
returned. “I wonder why they did not.”
I had to supply him with a plausible answer. “They thought
I knew about what they hunt here. I am an apprentice
gemologist.”
“Gems!” He paused and then added, “They are
conducting mining operations—that is true.”
“Were you tailing them? And where is your ship?” I
counterquestioned.
“I am a scout.” He gave me the most disheartening
answer for one hoping for a quick way out of trouble. “They
took me when I came out after landing. But my ship is on time lock—they cannot break into her. If we can reach her—But what—or
who—is your friend?”
“I am Eet,” Eet answered for himself. “This
human and I are in defensive alliance—which was good for you,
Patrolman. To get him free I had also to extend aid to
you.”
“Then you did engineer that fall of rock,” I
observed.
Eet corrected me. “No, the creature brought it on himself. I only
gave him mind direction, confused him to make him think he saw
something threatening above. He was esper, but to a limited degree
save with his own kind. He lost his head and shot at a shadow which
was not there, bringing down the rock.”
My hand slipped along Eet’s body and he suffered that
examination by touch. I did not feel the twined roots about his
long neck, or any indication that he still carried the ring. Nor in
that company could I ask questions. For the less the Patrolman knew
the better. The Patrol ever takes the view that the good of many is
superior to the good of the individual.
I sensed that Eet was in complete agreement with me on that
point, and that the ring was in a safe place. But I fretted a
little—no place save my own custody really satisfied me.
“Try to use your eyes,” said the Patrolman.
The sensation of being closed in was gone, and a cool wind laden
with outdoor scents blew about us. I lifted my lids and blinked
rapidly. That sweep of violent red had faded, and though there were
some shadowy blotches, I could see blearily.
Not too far away a rude sentry post had been erected from debris
of the mine tunnels and blocks of the ruins. There was a beamer
mounted on its uneven wall, and at intervals that swept, not toward
the tunnel mouths, but across the jumble of ruins, touching the
broken walls which had once dammed the river.
“They fear an attack from the natives,” Eet
explained.
“Clubs against lasers?” I scoffed.
“Clubs in the night, when one cannot see well—the odds
are not as uneven as you think.”
“Why do they not just hole up in their ship?” was my
second question.
“They have equipment in the tunnels. Once before they
tried retreating into the ship at night. The natives smashed things
that could not he repaired—they had to go off-world for
more.”
“You seem to know a lot about them!” flashed the
Patrolman.
“You,” returned Eet in his most insufferable voice,
“are one Celph Hory, ten years with the force. You are a
native of Loki, one of four sons, two of whom are dead. You were
sent here, not on a routine scout, but to search out the source of
a well-sustained rumor that the Guild has made a discovery which
will give them superiority in space. You have orders to keep under
cover (which you did not carry out well, mainly because your ship
had been skillfully sabotaged, something you did not discover until
you were in orbit here) and to report back, not revealing your
presence to the Guild. Is this not true?”
I heard a breath drawn in sharply. “You read minds.”
Hory made it close to an accusation.
“I merely follow the instinct bred into me, as you follow
yours, Hory. Be glad that I do, or you would have been prisoner
until Captain Nactitl gave the order for your burning. He was
debating the folly of keeping you any longer an hour ago. I would
suggest as speedy a withdrawal as possible. These miners have not
come upon what they are seeking, but they are close—”
“You found it!” I broke in. By this time I could
pick up not only Eet’s mental speech but some of his
emotions. He was at his smuggest now, suggesting that once again he
had bested those physically stronger and bigger.
“So far they look in the wrong place. However, sooner or
later that will occur to them. Nactitl is not in the least stupid,
and certainly not to be underrated. He has only failed so far
because he did not have the right guide.”
The right guide! The ring which Eet had taken, which—which
might have drawn him to the source. I wanted to ask questions so
badly they choked my throat, buzzed in my head. But if he answered
them, then Hory, too, would have that information.
“What have they to find here?” broke in the
Patrolman, and I knew he would continue to seek an answer. It all
depended now on how much he knew of gems. If I guessed wrongly and
he had any training in that field, then my secret was threatened.
But again Eet took the lead, giving me a briefing in his reply.
“A source of revenue, which also means power.” It
was very easy to forget at such times he was only a small furred
creature. His communication was not that of an equal, but soared
only too often into patronizing explanations. “This was a
mine of—how many years ago we cannot guess. But I would say the
diggings of one of the Forerunner civilizations. Unfortunately for
the present-day seekers, they have been picked clean.”
“But you said Nactitl was just not looking in the right
place—”
“He searches the old diggings. If he looked among the
ruins he might find other clues. Unfortunately we cannot linger to
investigate on our own. I would suggest that we find your
ship,” he said to Hory, “and lift as soon as possible.
To hide out in this area is unwise. The sniffers are
out—”
“Sniffers?”
“The natives; they hunt largely by scent. At any rate the
Guild activity here is drawing more and more of them and they have
established a ring about the landing field. As yet they are not
ready to attack, but they very efficiently serve as a means of
confining offworlder activity to this general vicinity. Even to
reach your ship will be something of a problem which will increase
materially with every passing moment. But one man alone is not
going to change Captain Nactitl’s mind and—”
I felt Eet’s body stiffen, his head go up and forward.
“What is it?”
“We have less time than I had hoped!” His message
flashed to us. “They endeavored to reach your late guard by
hand com. When he did not answer they ordered a general
alert.”
We had only those few instants of warning. The beamer mounted on
the sentry post went into stepped-up action, sweeping its light
wider and farther. But bright as it was in the open, it still could
not penetrate the hollow pools of shadow which were to be found
among the ruins. And we had luckily dropped into one of those.
“To the right—” Eet took over direction. “Move
out at the next sweep.”
“To the left.” Hory was equally insistent. “My
ship—”
“It will not be that easy,” Eet snapped. “We
must go right to eventually win left. And we shall have to go
deeper into the fringe of the ruins, maybe even out into the
open—”
“Do we cross the river?” To my mind that would be
the point of greatest vulnerability. I did not see how we could
pass that under the fire of an alerted camp.
“For so much favor we may thank whatever gods or powers
your species recognizes,” Eet returned. “Luckily this
representative of your law chose to set down on this bank. But it
is necessary to flank their post and to avoid any party coming from
their ship to reinforce the guard there. Now—right—”
I had been watching the sweep of the beam and it now touched the
point farthest from us. So no prompting from Eet was needed to send
me scuttling to the next patch of dark I had already marked as a
good hiding place. Hory did not leap with me, but my move must have
spurred him to action, for he was little behind me in reaching that
new lurking place.
Unfortunately the cover seemed designed to lead us farther and
farther from our real goal. Yet we could now hear sounds from over
the river and see the flash of beamers, which marked a search party
setting out from the ship. One of those beamers was set up to
illuminate not only their bridge, but a goodly portion of land on
our side, an open field of light I saw no way to avoid.
“Not over, but under—at that next hole.”
Eet’s hind claws dug convulsively into my flesh as I gathered
my legs under me, readying for the next dash.
He must mean the next patch of deep shadow, but what his
“under, not over” meant I was not to learn until I
reached it, or rather was engulfed in it. For it was not merely a
lurking place behind a pile of stones, but indeed a hole, into
which I tumbled.
I flung out my arms and my fingers scraped rock on three sides.
Then Hory landed half on me, sending me teetering toward the
fourth. I did not strike any barrier there as I fought for my
balance, my feet in their pack coverings skidding on a smooth stone
surface. Again I felt about me. Walls not too far away on either
side—but open before. And I heard Hory scuffling behind.
“Ahead—” Eet urged.
“How do you know?” I demanded.
“I know.” He was confident. “Ahead.”
I felt my way along. I was in a passage. Whether it was indeed
some runway planned by the builders I did not know. It might have
been fashioned by the tumbling of walls. The flooring inclined and
I splashed into a pool of water. There was a dank smell which grew
thicker as we advanced.
“Where do we travel? Under the river?” I asked.
“No. Though perhaps river water does seep here. Look now
to your right”
Ahead was a faint glow which brightened as I slipped and slid
on. Through my mind shot a memory of those slime trails within the
wreck. Would we find those here also? But at least we could depend
upon Eet for a warning—
I came to the site of the glow. There was a square opening in
the wall to my right where a block had been removed or had fallen
out. And through this improvised window, I looked down into a
chamber of some size. Down its center ran a table of the same stone
as formed the walls, save that this was not so eroded. And set on
it were boxes. They had been metal; now they were pitted and worn,
and some had fallen into rusty dust, only their outlines marked on
the table. But there was one very near to our window which appeared
whole, and in it were stones which gave forth feeble sparks of
life. The glow which had drawn my attention did not come from
those, but from what lay beside the box. Eet uncurled from my
shoulders and passed in a leap through the window to the surface of
the table. He raced along it until he came to the ring, thrusting
one of his handpaws through it, using the other to draw it farther
up his shoulder like a barbaric armlet.
He made a second leap, back onto the stone ledge of the window,
then climbed to my shoulders, stuffing the ring inside my tunic,
where it lay, almost too warm for comfort, against my skin.
“What is it?” To my surprise Hory’s voice did
not come from behind me, but from some distance farther back along
the passage. “Where are you? What did you stop
for?”
“There is a wall opening here,” Eet reported
smoothly. “But it is of no service to us. The way ahead,
however, is clear.”
I was puzzled. I had believed Hory directly on my heels and I
had been sure he must have seen what lay in the room. Now it
appeared that he had not. But I asked no questions of Eet.
Once more the passage sloped—but now up. It was leading us in
the direction we had been aiming for. We took it step by careful
step. I listened intently and knew the others must be doing the
same.
“There are many loose stones ahead,” Eet informed
us. “You must move with the greatest care. But it is not too
far now before we reach the fringe of the ruins. Beyond that we
have yet to avoid the sniffers.”
We emerged into heaps of loose rubble. My sight had returned to
normal and I saw enough to guess that this material marked the
miners’ dump. We plotted a path through it with caution. But
luckily the higher heaps were between us and the sweeping beam. The
activity was now on the cliff side of the river, and at the ruins
nearest the tunnel beamers were turning the night to day.
But our luck held as we crept from the edge of the last rubble
pile into the brush. This was tangled and thick, but it made a
curtain for us.
“They will expect us to make for the Patrol ship,” I
pointed out to Eet.
“Naturally. But they will expect that to be bait in a trap
for both of you. Probably they have already taken steps
there—”
“What!” Hory stopped short. “But they could
not interfere with the ship itself—it is on persona time
lock.”
“Such trifles might not deter a determined Guild
expert,” Eet replied. “But Nactitl has not been able to
foresee my presence or some other minor mishaps. I tell you, keep
on. Once we reach the ship we need not worry about escape off
world.”
Knowing Eet, I trusted that tone of assurance. Hory probably did
not, but he followed as if he had no choice—which in truth he did
not, unless he proposed to skulk about the terrain or go into
suicidal battle with the Guild.