by Dale Olausen
Coryn arose from his chair to pace the floor. "No, Steph, no," he protested. "We'll have to do better than that. There's a galaxy, a way of life, at stake. And I have a small personal stake in this, too." He turned to look at the pilot. "You see, it just so happens that I've met the Mackenzie girl who's out there, on that planet, with the Stones. She's an intelligent, spunky kid. Maybe the Witches can stand to live with the knowledge that they stood by doing nothing while a half-Kordean girl fell into Organization hands. Me, I've talked to her mother. About the mind-screaming. About how it stopped. And I’ve read the reports our spies sent about the machine to which her mind was enslaved."
Steph Clennan watched the Agent shake his head.
"Okay," he said. "We'll do better than just give it a try. We won't let the kid sister fall to the mad dogs."
*****
During the rest of the trip they plotted strategy.
Coryn shared with the pilot all the information he had about The Organization and about the planet towards which they were headed. They fed it into the ship computer's databanks and tried to calculate what the Camin's chances were of getting to the amartos and Sarah before the Hounds could. Unfortunately, the computer insisted that their information was not complete enough for accurate results. They had to agree with the machine that it was so, and to accept the fact that the plans they made were necessarily very tentative.
"This baby's a good, versatile ship," commented Steph hopefully at one point. "Once we have the Stones and the girl we ought to be all right. If, as you say, The Organization doesn't have much of a War Fleet we should be able to keep out of the way of their battleships through speed and manoeuvres."
"Once we get that far I'll be glad to depend on you and the Camin," growled Coryn in response. "In the meantime I say our best bet is to find and contact that Explorer ship, the Beth 117. There must be somebody on board who knows where we have to go."
Chapter Twelve
When Sarah awakened, she had no idea of how long she had slept. However, she did feel rested and refreshed, although aching to be free of the ropes that still bound her ankles and wrists. Since there was nothing at all that she could do about them she determined to endure, and merely used her fresh energy to twist herself into a position which, if it was not much more comfortable than the old one, at least allowed her to better observe her surroundings.
Apparently, the fire at the centre of the platform had been built up while she had slept. Wood had been piled up next to it, ready to feed it. There was more activity around it than there had been earlier.
The caped humanoids hoisted heavy kegs up to the edge of the platform and rolled them near the wood piles, standing them on end there. They carried large, leaf-wrapped bundles next to them and Sarah supposed that she was watching the arrival of plentiful food and drink. Was there going to be a feast? Hadn't her unknown helper said something about a feast? That the sightless ones always had a feast and - what? - a voice-sleep, whatever that was, before they sacrificed their victims. It looked like the party was about to begin.
Beyond the platform, at the other bonfires, a similar scene, multiplied many times, was unfolding. Every fire had been built high, and from somewhere the eyeless humanoids had brought in enough dry wood that each blaze had some extra stacked up beside it. Near these were the drink kegs and the food bundles; the piles of these were not as generous as the ones on the platform but, nevertheless, Sarah judged that none of the aliens would go hungry or thirsty at the feast.
Her eyes were attracted to further commotion around the central fire. Half a dozen of the robed ones arrived from somewhere, carrying in their arms huge piles of dried stalks of some sort. Others of the priesthood came to their aid, carefully unloading the stalks onto a stretch of empty floor. When they were all on the floor the tallest of the caped ones walked over, stooped down and began to finger the stalks, one by one, so quickly that Sarah's eyes could hardly follow the motions. With a shudder she remembered the occasions on which she herself had been fingered thus. The high priest was inspecting the dried plants; what he was looking for she did not know.
When the inspection was over the other priests returned and reloaded their arms. Only a small pile of the stalks was left on the platform floor, lying next to Sarah and the scattered amartos. The others were taken down to the various fires burning in the distance. As Sarah watched, the carriers hurried from bonfire to bonfire, allowing the naked humanoids to pick out a few stalks at each, and to carefully place them atop their kegs or food bundles.
Her interest flagged, and she returned her attention to the platform. A quick glance at the Witches’ Stones told her that they were just as they had been the last time she had looked - scattered about, a tiny speck of gold fire burning in the heart of each. Only the one that she had chosen for herself burned a little more brightly - she quickly averted her eyes from it, afraid that it would respond to her attention with a leap of stone-fire.
Around her, the weird celebration began. The caped priests circled the platform fire holding aloft their long, thin arms. The whistling, which by now she had grown so used to that she paid little attention to it except when there was some major change in the sound, grew more intense. Some kind of chanting was going on; Sarah watched it with wry interest. "The Feast before the Sacrifice," she muttered to herself, mentally naming an anthropological vid that she felt herself qualified to make. Subtitled "As Told by the Sacrificial Beast". It was a pity that it really did not seem at all funny.
The whistling stopped; the circle around the fire broke. Now the real feast began: the eating, the drinking and the merrymaking. It was all an amazing parody of a human celebration as the aliens tore into the food bundles to wolf down huge chunks of them, and poured down their throats the liquid in the kegs. The whistling began anew but it no longer had the quality of chanting although it did remain loud.
As Sarah watched many of the naked creatures from the cavern floor came up to the platform and joined the merrymaking there, abandoning the parties going on around their own fires.
"Is there any white smoke yet?"
Sarah started at the question. Where had it come from? Quickly she realized that the sound was an illusion, the intrusion was into her mind. It was her unknown helper mind-speaking to her.
"White smoke?" She had formed the counter-query without stopping to think.
"If you have to ask, then I suppose not. I am quite near, little one, and I think that you will not have to wait much longer. When the tall, white ones crowd around their fires to breathe in white smoke that billows up from the flames, concentrate on your Stone and call me. The sightless ones will be falling into their voice-dreams then, and I will be able to get you away."
The mind-contact broke. Sarah gave her head a vigorous shake, and glanced over to where her amarto lay. Inside it the stone-fire burned restlessly. She bit her lip and turned away. She must remain calm for these last minutes and be content to wait.
The party was growing noisier. Sarah watched impatiently while the eating and the drinking continued, the whistling grew louder and shriller, and the humanoids appeared to lose much of the physical coordination which made their movements seem graceful.
"Truly, they look drunk," she muttered to herself at one time, glad that she was being left alone.
Unfortunately, the spectacle became less interesting as it grew rowdier. Sarah lay in her uncomfortable position and yawned, beset by boredom. Yet there was nothing to be done but to wait. She dared not fall asleep lest she miss the sign that she was waiting for: the billowing, white smoke.
Suddenly she was alerted from her stupor by the tall priest. Purposefully the humanoid staggered towards her – had her unknown helper been wrong and she was to be sacrificed now, before the white smoke began? Totally aware and very afraid, she lay tensely waiting. Was the high priest going to grab her now and toss her into the flames?
But, to her relief, the alien merely grabbed the bundle of dried stalks that lay beside Sarah. As she watched, he strode t
o the fire with them and all the revelling and whistling ceased. The naked humanoids separated from among the caped ones and skulked back to their own firesides. The tall priest crushed the stalks in his hands and tossed the pieces into the flames, whistling some strange incantation at the same time. Seconds later white smoke billowed forth from the fire and all the humanoids left on the platform crowded around it to breathe in the smoke.
On the lower floor the scene was being repeated at every bonfire. The cavern seemed like a very strange place, Sarah thought, as she watched the white-furred figures crowd around the fires. The plumes of white smoke that they were so anxious to breathe in looked to Sarah like some eerie growths rising out of the stone floor.
She turned her eyes away from the scene and sought out the Witches' Stone which she thought of as hers. The golden fire inside it began to pulse as she tried to create a mental image of some kind of the stranger who had consented to help her out of the predicament that she was in.
Ah! The other mind was easy to reach - already she could feel its presence within her own brain! Yes, the mind-touch was familiar and quite comfortable; she had indeed reached the right being!
"Now." She formed the word carefully. "Now is the time. They breathe in the white smoke."
"Good. It won't be long now. They will all be fast asleep when I get there."
Sarah watched impatiently as, one by one, the caped figures on the platform staggered away from the fire, then fell heavily onto the stone floor to lie senseless in whatever position each body happened to crumple. Some of the later ones fell on top of those already on the floor and the sight brought a satisfied grin to Sarah's face. At least a few of her jailers were going to be stiff and sore when they woke up!
Elsewhere in the cavern the naked humanoids were staggering and falling down, too. Soon an eerie silence fell, broken only by the crackling of the many fires. The white smoke was fast disappearing into the upper reaches of the cave, drawn up there through the vents that the Explorers had been unable to locate.
Still the bound girl waited for rescue.
*****
"So," rang a familiar voice in her head, "this is what you are, little one. A two-legged one off the ship." Sarah twisted her body in an effort to see behind her. The ropes dug into her wrists but in her rush she did not heed the pain. There - her mouth fell open at what she saw.
Beside her, looming above her, stood a large cat! Even in the dim firelight she could distinguish the green sheen of the fur and the intelligent glitter of the eyes. It was the same cat that she had met among the bushes her first afternoon on the planet! Or else another one exactly like it!
She closed her eyes for a moment to right her reeling thoughts. "Never underestimate the life-forms you meet; intelligence is not limited to the human, or near human form."
That was an oft-repeated axiom in a civilization that stretched across the galaxy; it was just that she who had lived almost all her life on Earth had not had much need of it.
The cat was still watching her when she opened her eyes again. Its eyes were beautiful, but was that a glint of amusement she recognized in them?
"Yes," the animal continued its mindspeaking, "you are that one off the ship. The only one with a mind that is not closed off."
It attacked the ropes around her wrists with its teeth. Moments of careful nibbling, a sharp tug and Sarah's arms hung free - and useless. The cat turned to the bindings around her ankles. They, too, fell off after a few moments of effort and Sarah was free. She struggled to rise, only to discover to her immense frustration that she could not. Her cramped muscles refused to obey the signals that the brain was sending.
"We will have to do something about this," the cat mindspoke. "We do not have the time to wait for natural recovery."
Unexpectedly Sarah felt the stiffness and soreness evaporating from her body. Warmth and energy flowed through it, coming from somewhere above her head and pouring down her muscles, all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes.
Delighted, she experimented by stretching one arm out. Doing it was easy, and she pressed the palm of her hand on the floor putting her weight on it. Again there was no problem and with a glad sigh the girl scrambled up. She stretched once luxuriously, then turned to the greencat. "I am ready," she mindspoke.
"Very good," it answered. "However, I imagine that they have not fed you for some time?"
Instantly Sarah became aware of hunger pains inside her stomach. She had no way of measuring the time since she had last eaten but it was easy to guess that it had, indeed, been a while. She looked around her hopefully. Had the aliens left any of their food uneaten? Would it be safe for her to eat it?
The greencat was nodding its head towards the nearest fire on the lower floor, where a half-eaten food bundle lay on top of one of the kegs.
"I wouldn't advise drinking anything out of the kegs," he mindspoke to her. "The juice in them is fermented. You are going to need all your wits about you, if you mean to get back safely to the ship."
Sarah sent back thoughts of agreement and took a step in the direction of the food. Then she stopped, feeling uneasy. Something was holding her back, making it hard for her to move. Some strange pull was tugging at her. She turned to look behind.
The amartos! But of course! She could not leave without them! Certainly not without the one that she had chosen for herself. And the others - the stones were what the whole expedition was about, after all!
She groped in her pockets for something to wrap them in and found a pair of protecto-gloves. They were the gloves to her suit - she had forgotten all about them after stuffing them into a pocket while she had been fixing Roger's soil-testing kit. "Perfect," she muttered to herself, and, stooping to gather the stones, quickly filled both gloves, tying a knot in the supple fabric to keep the gems in. Her own, personal stone went into the thumb of the left glove, right to the end, so that she would know where to find it if she wanted it.
She turned to go again and found herself face to face with the greencat. The animal stared at her intently, and she read appalled, sad questioning emanating from its mind. She stared back defiantly and stuffed the amarto-filled gloves into her pockets.
"So be it," mindspoke the cat and turned to leap off the platform in one graceful bound. Sarah followed, more slowly and much less gracefully.
The aliens' food was tasteless but Sarah ate her fill, and even stuffed her free pockets with it, at the greencat's suggestion. She heeded its warning not to touch the juice in the kegs although she was thirsty. The animal promised that there would be water to drink at later stops.
"We must hurry," it prodded her. "The voice-sleep does not last forever and when the robed ones discover that you are gone the hunt will begin. The eyeless ones are good trackers and can travel fast, much faster than you can. We must get as much of a head start as is possible. That way we will have a chance, especially if we arrive outside during daytime - bright light is dangerous to the eyeless ones."
The cat led Sarah through the eerie cavern. The light was growing dimmer as the fires burned low. There was no one awake to feed them. But as the animal was about to enter a tunnel leading out of the cave, Sarah suddenly came to halt.
"What is the matter, little one?" the cat queried, immediately sensing the girl's distress.
"It's completely dark in that tunnel," Sarah answered. "I won't be able to see a thing."
"Cannot see in the darkness?" The greencat seemed genuinely puzzled. "Your eyes are limited to light-based perception, you mean?"
"Yes. How can I hurry if I can't see where I'm going?"
"Hm. Yes, it is a problem. However, my eyes work just fine even in the total absence of light. Let us see if we cannot rely on them."
The cat dropped back to stand next to Sarah. "Now, relax," it commanded. "And start walking beside me. Do not worry about the darkness."
Sarah tried to obey as she best could. Her first few steps were tentative as she stared into the blackness of the tunnel. Then s
he became aware that the presence inside her mind, which she understood to be the greencat, was expanding, taking up more room, it seemed. It did not feel threatening in any way but it did feel rather peculiar and, instinctively, she found herself fighting it, pushing it back.
"Relax, little one. It's all right. Do not fight. Just accept my presence and keep on walking."
Of course. This was necessary. The greencat was her helper, her rescuer. She drew a deep breath and let her defences fall.
They were in complete darkness yet suddenly she could see, as clearly as if she had been in daylight! The polished tunnel walls, the smooth floor, and there was a turn up ahead! She blinked - then, surprised, closed her eyes completely. And went right on seeing what was around her!
"We have done it, little one." The greencat's mindspeaking had the quality of a purr to it. "You are looking through my eyes. Now we must hurry."
Chapter Thirteen
"That looks like it."
The viso-screen image was that of a brownish-green ball, half in light, half in shadow. The pilot's finger pointed to a tiny, almost indistinguishable circle which his sharp eyes had located just inside the lighted half of the ball. Coryn leaned for a closer look while Steph's fingers slipped down to the keyboard in an attempt to enlarge the picture.
Moments later he shook his head in frustration. "We're still too far away to pick up a decent image," he muttered.
"It's a circle, sure enough," said Coryn and straightened his back. "But that's about all one can say."
"Perfect circles are rare on A-type planets," Steph commented. "Mostly they erode away long before conditions congenial to the likes of us appear. Mind you, if that's what we're looking for, we're in luck. The morning light has just caught up with it so we'll be there around noon."
He pressed a button and the ball disappeared from the screen, to be replaced by an image of another ball, this one copper-coloured and suspended on a background of velvety blackness. The star's five companions were barely visible snips of reflected light and there was nothing else beyond them. Such other stars as there were in this part of the galaxy were all behind the Camin as it hurtled towards the Planet of the Amartos. Beyond the orange sun and its planets, there was only the void.