Perry was finally getting through to the councilor. Graves stood, bald head bowed, and sighed in agreement. “All right. We don’t have time to argue. Let’s look for the twins.”
“What about these two?” Perry gestured at Kallik and J’merlia.
“They come with us. Naturally. Atvar H’sial and Louis Nenda may never come back, or they may be too late, or they may not be able to track that beacon — you said it was running low on power.”
“It is. I agree, we can’t just leave the aliens. There’s enough room in the car for all of us.” Perry turned to J’merlia and Kallik. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
When the others did not move, he reached out for one of J’merlia’s slender black forelimbs and started toward the tunnel entrance. Surprisingly, the Lo’tfian resisted.
“With respect, Commander Perry.” J’merlia dug in six of his feet and cowered down until his slender abdomen was touching the rocky floor. “Humans are much greater beings than me or Kallik, we know that, and we will seek to do whatever you tell us. But Atvar H’sial and Louis Nenda gave us orders to stay in this area. We must wait until they return.”
Perry turned in frustration to Graves. “Well? They won’t do what I tell them. Do you think they’ll obey a direct order from you?”
“Probably not.” The councilor looked calmly at J’merlia. “Would you?”
The Lo’tfian shivered and groveled lower on the powdery floor.
Graves nodded. “That’s answer enough. You see, Commander, we are placing them in an impossible position. Although they are trained to obey us, they cannot disobey the orders of their owners. They also have strong instincts to save their own lives, but they do not see the danger here. However, I have an alternative proposal — one that may be acceptable to them. We can leave them here—”
“We can’t leave them. They’ll die.”
“We don’t leave them indefinitely. But we are close to the Pentacline Depression. We can explore that for the twins. And if we provide a new power source for this beacon we can come back here afterward, whether we succeed or fail. By that time, perhaps Nenda and Atvar H’sial will also have returned. If not, the surface of Quake will surely be more obviously dangerous, and we can try again to persuade the aliens to leave.”
Perry was still hesitating. At last he shook his head. “I think we can do better.” He turned to J’merlia. “Were you told not to leave the place where Atvar H’sial and Louis Nenda dropped you off?”
“That is correct.”
“But you already left that place — to come down into this tunnel. So you must have some freedom of movement. How far are you and Kallik willing to roam?”
“One moment, please.” J’merlia turned away from Perry and held a whistling dialog with the Hymenopt, who had been squatting on the floor completely immobile. Finally he nodded.
“It is not so much a question of distance, as of time. A few kilometers would be all right; Kallik and I are agreed that we could go so far on foot. But if you are sure we can return here in three or four hours, we would be willing to travel a longer distance by aircar.”
Graves was shaking his head. “Four hours is not long enough. How big is the Pentacline Depression, Commander?”
“Roughly a hundred and fifty kilometers across.”
“And the twins may be in there, but they could be way over on the other side. I’m sure we can find them, given enough time, but we can’t make an adequate scan for a starship in a few hours. We’ll have to do it my way; leave these two here, and then come back.”
Kallik interjected a whistle and a series of agitated clicks.
“But coming back will cut further into the search time.” Perry ignored the Hymenopt. “If the two aliens would—”
“With great respect, Captain,” J’merlia cut in — the first time he had ever interrupted a human. “But in all the time since Kallik and I met on Opal, I have been teaching her human talk. Already she understands some, though she cannot yet speak. Now she asks me, did she hear what she thought she heard? Are you searching for other human presence, here on the surface of Quake?”
“We sure are — if we can ever get out of here! So no more talk, we have to—”
This time it was Kallik herself who interrupted. The Hymenopt ran up close to Perry, raised herself onto the points of her toes, and produced a rapid series of whistling screams.
“With great respect,” J’merlia gabbled before Perry could speak again, “she wants you to know that there is a starship on the surface of Quake.”
“We know. The one that Kallik and Louis Nenda used to come over from Opal.”
“Not that one. Before they landed, Master Nenda did a precautionary scan, because he was worried that there might be a trap. He picked up the trace of a ship’s Bose Drive. Kallik says it was an Alliance design, able to do Bose Network transfers. She thinks, maybe it brought the humans you seek.”
Kallik grunted and whistled again. J’merlia nodded.
“She says it is only a hundred kilometers from here — a few minutes’ flight time. Kallik asks, Would you have any interest in knowing where it is?”
CHAPTER 17
“What sins must a man commit, in how many past lives, to be born on Teufel?”
The water-duty for seven-year-olds was precise and unforgiving.
Suit on, check air tank, seal respirator, walk to the lock. Warning: Opening takes place as the surface wind drops, five and a half minutes before first light, after the night predators retreat to their caves. Be there in time, or forfeit one day’s food.
Outside. Empty yesterday’s wastes (time allocation, 24 seconds); climb the twenty-four stone steps to the pure-water stream that gushes halfway up the cliffside (33 seconds); wash out plastic containers (44 seconds); rinse filters (90 seconds); fill water cans (75 seconds); descend (32 seconds); reenter lock and perform closing sequence (25 seconds).
Margin for error: seven seconds. If you are caught on the steps or with the lock wide open you are hit by the Remouleur — the Grinder, the dreaded dawn wind of Teufel. And you are dead.
Rebka knew that. And suddenly he knew that he was late. He could hardly believe it. Usually when his turn came for the water-duty he was the one who hurried down the cliff ahead of schedule, the only one with the time and confidence to stand in the open lock and look out on Teufel’s stark scenery and spiky, eccentric vegetation for a few seconds as lock closure began. The strata of the cliff face were still too dark to be seen, but he knew they were a muted purple interleaved with gray and faded reds. The strip of sky above the canyon already showed the signs of coming dawn. He could watch as the stars began to fade and streaks of high cloud turned from black to rosy gray. The sight had an indescribable beauty. It excited him.
But not today. The trickle of spring water was weaker, and the cans refused to fill at their usual speed. Nearly five minutes were already gone. He was still on the top step, and his face mask was fogging over. He had to leave, with half-filled containers. Right now.
Descent time allocation is 32 seconds; reenter lock and perform closing sequence, 25 seconds.
He headed down the steps blind and fast, risking a fall. He knew from experience the possible fates. If the Remouleur hit when he was on the top few steps, he would be carried out of the canyon like a dry leaf and no one would ever see him again. That had happened to Rosamunde. Halfway down, the dawn wind was less strong, but it blew its victims right down the canyon and dashed them against the rock chimneys. They had retrieved Joshua’s body from there, what was left of it after the day predators were finished. If he almost made it, say to the bottom three or four steps, the wind could not carry him away completely. But it still would rip away his respirator, break his grip no matter how he clung to the rocks or the support rail, and roll him into the poisonous, boiling-water cauldron that seethed and churned below the spring. Lee had floated there for nine hours before she could be retrieved. Some of her had been lost forever. The cooked flesh had flaked from her bones and escaped the nets.