Balook

by Piers Anthony

  "He's slowed down," Thor said. "He passed this section in sunlight, so it can't have been too long ago."

  "How do you know that?"

  Thor explained about the tree-to-tree pattern of the trail. Skip whistled. "You're a regular Sherlock Holmes, lad! Smart thinking. But the sun's well up now; he could still be an hour ahead of you, which means several hours to catch up. Sorry, lad; I misjudged it."

  Thor sighed. That action reminded him of Scale's sigh, and the movement of the lie detector's needle. Had something happened to Balook, and this was a false trail, complete with false sightings? Ridiculous, yet... "Well, at least I'm sixty kilos closer than I was."

  "I wonder where he's going?" Skip mused.

  "If we knew that, I wouldn't have to chase him!" Thor snapped. The idea of Balook going without him still hurt—if Balook had gone of his own accord. Yet who could have forced the animal?

  "Sure, lad." Skip paused. "Okay: suppose we give you another lift, since that's the way he's going."

  Thor's legs were tiring again from the rough pedaling. "Might as well," he agreed, as if it were an incidental decision.

  The car took him west ten kilometers, and he found the trail. Then it took him twenty more, and he lost the trail. He had to backtrack, cursing. The reason became plain: Balook had changed course. He was now bearing northwest. So Thor hopped in that direction—and lost the trail again.

  Balook was wandering, going now north and now south, but averaging west. He still wasn't eating. The oddity of this travel was increasing.

  Then another eyewitness report came in, and the car took Thor to that spot. This sighting was recent; Thor knew he was only fifteen minutes behind Balook now. It was late in the day, two hundred fifty kilometers west of the Project grounds. Balook had to be tired, hungry, and hot; now was the time to catch him!

  Thor pedaled furiously, aided by another bike path parallel to the trail. There was a large river a few kilos north, so he knew Balook would not drift far that way. The animal had never been exposed to deep water.

  This time he was in luck. He heard the thud of great hooves ahead, for Balook shook the ground when he walked swiftly. Thor doubled his effort, heedless of the pain in his thighs and calves, racing along the path. The noise of Balook's progress grew louder. But it was hard to gain on him, because the beast's pace was almost as swift as the bike's. Thor raced a good two kilometers without actually catching sight of his quarry.

  Things could have been worse, he thought breathlessly. Now there was a lot of parkland and cultured wilderness, thanks to the current land administration policies. So Balook had been able to survive, so far. But sooner or later the huge rhino would blunder into a major highway or residential development, and then it would be disaster.

  Thor topped a small rise and came into the clear section beside the river. The pretty water spread ahead. And there, at the edge, just rising from a drink, stood Balook.

  He was like a heavyset, powerful, huge-footed horse—twice the height of any equine that ever lived. His massive shoulders towered over five meters above the ground. His head, a meter and a half long, looked tiny compared to the huge body and massive neck. The great humped nose was lifting to sniff the air, and the fleshy, almost prehensile upper lip was extended to help. The little ears were cocked, listening.

  The rays of the declining sun reflected off the surface of the water and silhouetted the magnificent figure, making the brown hide glow. Balook was no ugly duckling now. He was the largest and most beautiful creature ever to walk the earth!

  "Balook!" Thor cried gladly. He really was crying, for there were tears on his cheeks, tears of admiration and relief. He had found Balook, and Balook was all right. They were together again!

  Balook heard him. The high head swung around, the thick skin of the neck creasing. The little tail swished, in that way it had. The tails of horses were formidable fly-swatters, always in motion in summer, but Balook's hide was too tough for most flies, and at this time of day too hot for them too. Thus the tail was used more for expression than for business, though it could strike hard if motivated.

  The animal took a step toward Thor, then halted, lip quivering, nose elevated. Then Balook turned and plunged into the river.

  Amazed, Thor pulled up and watched. "But you can't swim!" he protested. But he quickly saw that this was irrelevant. Balook splashed across, his legs so long that the water never touched his belly. Was he trying to use it to cool himself? No, for then he should have ducked down into it. The river was a good twenty meters across, but soon Balook was stepping into the forest on the other side.

  Thor stood gaping. Why had Balook run? He had heard and recognized Thor!

  Angrily Thor touched the booster setting. The jets fired and the bike rose—almost straight up. He had forgotten that he had no forward motion, no inertia to carry him across. The slant of the jets was set to maintain forward progress, not to initiate it. Quickly he adjusted the tilt of the jets.

  The bike looped about in the air and flung him off, five meters over the river.

  Thor hit the water on his back with a monstrous splash. He sank, but fortunately he had landed in deep-enough water. In a moment he stroked to the surface, gasping, his nose stinging with sucked-in fluid. His back was smarting, but he wasn't really hurt.

  The bike was bobbing along in the gentle current, its hollow tubing causing it to float. Thor swam over and recovered it, then sidestroked for shore, hauling it along. He found his footing, stood, and waded out.

  The machine was intact, since the same blind luck that had saved Thor's neck had plunged the bike into the water instead of the hard ground. The booster jets had been extinguished; there was no way to tell how much boost had been wasted before the fuel cut off. There would have to be several hours of drying before the jets worked, and then they might be unreliable. Still, it was a better outcome than he felt he really deserved.

  Bedraggled, dripping, and suddenly cold, Thor gazed across the water. He could never catch Balook now. He would have to resume the chase tomorrow. But that was not what bothered him most.

  He was Balook's friend, his only real friend, the one person the huge animal really trusted. Always before, Balook had come running at his call, eager for companionship and the interactions of the day. No power on earth should have been able to sever that years-long bond of friendship and need. Not while they both lived.

  Yet Balook had seen and recognized Thor—and fled.

  THERIA

  3

  "I THINK YOU had better give up the chase, lad," Skip said. "You're lucky you didn't kill yourself—"

  "No!" Thor cried. "I know I can catch him, now!"

  "But if, as you say, he's deliberately avoiding you—"

  Thor shook his head, more in dismay than negation. That still hurt, even after his troubled night's sleep at the hostel. "I just have to go after him, that's all."

  Skip's sigh carried through the ring radio. "That's what I told Don."

  Thor sat up straight, alarmed. "You've been talking to Mr. Scale?"

  Now Skip laughed in that easy way of his. "Sure, lad. He's my boss, you know."

  "Is he there now?"

  "No, he's out seeing about the break in the fence. Why?"

  Thor's hands were suddenly clammy. "He—I didn't want to say this, but—"

  "Sounds like something you'd better have out, lad!"

  "I guess. He—you know that lie detector? The one he uses to—"

  "I know it."

  "His hand touched it, when we were in the office, and—and the needle went straight to FALSE. I—"

  "I saw it too, lad."

  "I don't know what he—" Thor paused, doing a doubletake. "You saw it too?"

  "Listen, lad, Don Scale's an honest man. He wouldn't hurt Balook. If he's hiding something, and I would guess he is, it's because he's been ordered to hide it. Don't go getting any ideas about him letting Balook out; he cares for the rhino the same way you do, only he doesn't show it. So he cover
s up with talk of money and such. He's with us—you believe that."

  "I know that, I guess. But—"

  "But you keep your mouth shut about that meter reading. Maybe Don does know something about what happened to Balook. But we've got to work with him and trust him. I trust him, and I know that when the truth's out, he'll be all right. Now you just go on after Balook, and maybe we'll find out the whole story."

  "Okay, Skip," Thor said dubiously. But the knowledge that his friend had also seen the movement of the needle on the lie detector encouraged him; Skip was better equipped to know what to believe.

  "We'll keep the car handy, in case he's moving during the night again."

  "He's got to sleep sometime!" But they really did not know how long the huge animal could keep going, when he wanted to. Ordinarily, night would be Balook's preferred time for traveling.

  They played leapfrog again, all day, and still didn't catch up. Balook was moving rapidly ahead, into a mild west wind. Thor's muscles were sore despite the help of the car.

  What was wrong with the animal? It was as though Balook was running faster, now that he knew Thor was on his trail. The rhino had traveled almost two hundred kilometers this day, through field and forest, across highways and rivers, going—where?

  And what was Scale's secret? If Skip said it was okay, then it was okay, but it remained as mysterious as Balook's flight. If Scale knew something...

  But his questions had no answers. As Skip said: he would just have to find Balook and get his answer.

  On the third morning that answer abruptly materialized. Balook's tracks went up to a large fenced yard and through a gaping hole. It would have been easy for the animal to circle around the fence and go on, for this farm was in a pleasantly forested region. But Balook had broken in.

  There was something here he wanted. But what?

  Thor walked his bicycle through the gap, following the trail. But soon he lost it; there were too many tracks pointing in too many directions. What had Balook been doing here? Trampling down the whole farm?

  Then he heard it: the sound of branches breaking as a huge animal browsed. Balook was eating again!

  At last he caught up. "Balook!" he cried.

  The animal turned, the folds of skin changing. The great head came into view.

  Thor stared. It wasn't Balook!

  But it was Baluchitherium. A different one, smaller, under five meters tall at the shoulders, and less heavily muscled. But definitely the same breed.

  Which was impossible. Balook was the only one of his kind.

  Suddenly the image of the lie detector returned, the needle reading FALSE. Balook—unique? Don Scale must have known there was another one!

  "Well, hello!"

  Thor looked toward the voice, startled. It was a girl of about his own age, rather pretty, with flouncing brown curls and eyes to match.

  "You're a bit off the bikeway," she said. "This is private property."

  "I was looking for Balook," Thor said, out of sorts.

  "This is a Baluchitherium," she said, gesturing to the animal. "But you can't have her, you know."

  Her? A female Baluchitherium! "So that's it!" Thor cried. "He must have smelled her from all that distance, when the wind was right!"

  The girl approached the animal, putting her arm across the tremendous nose that descended to meet her. "I take it you're associated with the one that broke in here this morning?"

  "I am. Where is he?"

  But no reply was necessary. Now Balook's head rose beyond the female.

  "Satisfied?" the girl asked.

  "I came a long way to find him!" Thor said defensively.

  "I'll bet," she agreed. "We didn't know there was another Baluchitherium. Mine's called Theria."

  "Mine's Balook. I'm Thor. Thor Nemmen."

  "I'm Barbara Hartford. Call me Barb. C'mon, you'd better come inside and clean up. You're a mess."

  "But Balook—"

  "He's not interested in you. He's not going anywhere."

  "He's my friend!" Thor said hotly.

  "Very well. Call him."

  Thor called. "Balook!" But Balook paid him no attention.

  "See?" Barb said. "Theria's the same way, now. Yesterday she was eager for my call, today she's got other concerns. She only noses me in passing. Why didn't you keep your animal penned?"

  "How?" Thor asked sourly.

  "I was being facetious. Come on."

  Thor came. There really wasn't much else to do, and he was grimy from the morning's chase.

  There followed a rush of introductions, as he met the personnel of Theria's domain. It was very like Balook's. Now he knew: this was where the second successful embryo had been taken. It had not been destroyed in laboratory experimentation, as he had supposed; it had been saved, and raised with the same care as Balook.

  But why? And why hadn't anyone been told? So much trouble and anguish could have been spared!

  "C'mon, let's walk," Barb said abruptly. Thor complied, uncertain what else there was to do. He didn't like this situation, the strangeness of two Baluchitheriums, the hurt of being ignored by his friend, of being lied to by—someone.

  She guided him out across the field and pasture and into the healthy forest of beech and oak, the intermediate foliage of the big trees pruned well back. Balook liked beechnuts and acorns; evidently Theria did too. They came to a grassy glade surrounded by young fir trees, where the sunlight slanted down in the center.

  Barb flopped on the warm grass. She was a tomboy, lanky in her jeans and plaid shirt. Her brown curls fell across her face, half hiding it as she peered up at him.

  Thor stood beside her, awkwardly. "C'mon," she said. "Join the crowd. Sit down."

  "Okay." He sat down.

  "You aren't much for conversation, are you!" she exclaimed.

  "You wanted to talk, not me."

  She rolled over on her back, looking at the sky. "I figured you'd have something to say."

  "Damn it, what's there to say!" Thor cried angrily.

  She smiled. "Now that's more like it! Why are you mad?"

  "I chased all this way after Balook, and now he— Thor broke off, exasperated. "Why did I bother?"

  " 'Cause you love him," she said.

  "I didn't say that!" But he realized he should have said it. Now he was stuck on the wrong foot.

  "Why, then?"

  "Oh, forget it!"

  "I think it's sort of great," she said. "The two of them have been alone, all these years, and now they're together."

  "Balook wasn't alone!"

  "You know what I mean. Every creature needs its own kind. You wouldn't want to spend the rest of your life with only Balook for company, would you?"

  "Yes I would!"

  She rolled over again. "You're hung up, know that?"

  "Yeah? What are you doing with Theria, then? Don't you care?"

  "Sure I care! I love her. I love her more'n anything, and I'm not ashamed to say it. But I want her to be happy, too."

  "Well, I want Balook happy!"

  "He's happy now," she said.

  Thor shook his head. "Oh, damn, what's the use!"

  "You sure are great at swearing! Know any other words?"

  "No!" Thor snapped, flushing. How could he have gotten so firmly on the wrong foot, without even trying?

  They were silent for a while.

  "Oh, c'mon," she said at last. "We're in this together. We should get to know each other. That's why I asked you here, you know."

  Thor had cooled off, and was sorry for his gruffness. "I guess so."

  "I mean, we're probably the only two people who ever existed as official companions for Baluchitheria. There weren't any people around in the Miocene period."

  "Epoch."

  "What? Oh—Miocene. Epoch. Yes, if you want to be technical."

  "No, I don't care. It was a long time ago."

  She changed the subject. "How did it start, with you?"

  "I was just a nosy kid, poking
about. I found Balook, and he was lonely."

  "Like you."

  "Yes, like me!" he snapped. "What's it to you?"

  "I was lonely too," she said. "Still am."

  "Oh." He considered for a moment, his emotions fuzzed. "Well, they tried to break it up, and Balook wouldn't let them. I was the only one he cared for. Then."

  "Theria was having trouble too. I guess when they saw how it was with you—how good you were for Balook—they knew what to do. So they looked for someone for Theria, here, and they set it up. All they needed was a lonely girl."

  "You don't look lonely."

  "Why should I? It's not becoming." Her head was in her folded arms, on the ground, so that her voice was muffled.

  "It's not funny," he said, annoyed. "Lonely is not a fashion!"

  "Not always," she said, her shoulders shaking.

  "Are you teasing me?" he asked suspiciously. He was frustrated enough without getting laughed at.

  For answer, she raised her face. Her eyes were red, and strands of hair were matted across her cheeks, wet from her tears.

  Amazed, he stared.

  "She was all mine," Barb said. "And now, suddenly, this morning, out of the blue, it's over. Over."

  "I thought you knew—"

  "No, I didn't know!" she screamed. "I thought you knew."

  "Me! I thought Balook had been tortured or something, afraid of me, afraid of everyone! I chased him—"

  "Oh, hell, why fight," she said. "I'm sorry."

  "Sorry? For being lonely?"

  "For trying to make you admit you knew."

  "Admit I—"

  "Well, somebody knew! Not that it matters, now."

  "You mean all that camaraderie—just to—?"

  "Pointless, isn't it," she said wryly. "I thought you were putting on an act. I just couldn't keep mine up. I'm not the type."

  "The type?"

  "Social. With boys—you know."

  "I—" He hesitated. "Know."

  They found themselves staring at each other with suddenly intense understanding. Both flushed, and looked away, embarrassed.

  "Scale knew," Thor said after a moment.

  "Who?"

  "You said somebody knew about the two Baluchitheriums. He—"

  "Baluchitheria."