The Sensitive Man

by Poul Anderson

goodnight. Coolness stole over him like veils dropping oneby one inside his head. There was winter outside and his bed was snug.

  When Dalgetty heard the nearing rattle of boots--just barely throughthe ocean and his own drowsiness--he almost forgot what he had to do.No, yes, now he knew. Take several long, deep breaths, oxygenate thebloodstream, then fill the lungs once and slide down under thesurface.

  He lay there in darkness hardly conscious of the voices, dimlyperceived.

  "A cave here--a place for him to hide."

  "Nah, I don't see nothing."

  Scrunch of feet on stone. "Ouch! Stubbed my damn toe. Nah, it's aclosed cave. He ain't in here."

  "Hm? Look at this, then. Bloodstains on this rock, right? He's _been_here, at least."

  "Under water?" Rifle butts probed but could not sound the inlet.

  The woman's voice. "If he is hiding down below he'll have to come upfor air."

  "When? We gotta search this whole damn beach. Here, I'll just give thewater a burst."

  Casimir, sharply--"Don't be a fool. You won't even know if you hithim. Nobody can hold his breath more than three minutes."

  "Yeah, that's right, Joe. How long we been in here?"

  "One minute, I guess. Give him a couple more. Cripes! D'ja see how heran? He ain't human!"

  "He's killable, though. Me, I think he's just rolling around in thesurf out there. This could be fish blood. A 'cuda chased another fishin here and bit it."

  Casimir: "Or if his body drifted in, it's safely under. Got acigarette?"

  "Here y'are, Miss. But say, I never thought to ask. How come you comewith us?"

  Casimir: "I'm as good a shot as you are, buster, and I want to be surethis job's done right."

  Pause.

  Casimir: "Almost five minutes. If he can come up now he's a seal.Especially with his body oxygen-starved after all that running."

  In the slowness of Dalgetty's brain there was a chill wonder about thewoman. He had read her thought, she was FBI, but she seemed strangelyeager to hunt him down.

  "Okay, le's get outta here."

  Casimir: "You go on. I'll wait here just in case and come up to thehouse pretty soon. I'm tired of following you around."

  "Okay. Le's go, Joe."

  It was another four minutes or so before the pain and tension in hislungs became unendurable. Dalgetty knew he would be helpless as herose, still in his semi-hibernating state, but his body was shriekingfor air. Slowly he broke the surface.

  The woman gasped. Then the automatic jumped into her hand and leveledbetween his eyes. "All right, friend. Come on out." Her voice was verylow and shook a trifle but there was grimness in it.

  Dalgetty climbed onto the ledge beside her and sat with his legsdangling, hunched in the misery of returning strength. When fullwakefulness was achieved he looked at her and found she had moved tothe farther end of the cave.

  "Don't try to jump," she said. Her eyes caught the vague light in awide glimmer, half frightened. "I don't know what to make of you."

  Dalgetty drew a long breath and sat upright, bracing himself on thecold slippery stone. "I know who you are," he said.

  "Who, then?" she challenged.

  "You're an FBI agent planted on Bancroft."

  Her gaze narrowed, her lips compressed. "What makes you think so?"

  "Never mind--you are. That gives me a certain hold on you, whateveryour purposes."

  The blond head nodded. "I wondered about that. That remark you made tome down in the cell suggested--well, I couldn't take chances.Especially when you showed you were something extraordinary bysnapping those straps and bursting the door open. I came along withthe search party in hope of finding you."

  He had to admire the quick mind behind the wide smooth brow. "You damnnear did--for them," he accused her.

  "I couldn't do anything suspicious," she answered. "But I figured youhadn't leaped off the cliff in sheer desperation. You must have hadsome hiding place in mind and under water seemed the most probable.In view of what you'd already done I was pretty sure you could holdyour breath abnormally long." Her smile was a little shaky. "Though Ididn't think it would be _inhumanly_ long."

  "You've got brains," he said, "but how much heart?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean, are you going to throw Dr. Tighe and me to the wolves now? Orwill you help us?"

  "That depends," she answered slowly. "What are you here for?"

  His mouth twisted ruefully. "I'm not here on purpose at all," Dalgettyconfessed. "I was just trying to get a clue to Dr. Tighe'swhereabouts. They outsmarted me and brought me here. Now I _have_ torescue him." His eyes held hers. "Kidnapping is a Federal offense.It's your duty to help me."

  "I may have higher duties," she countered. Leaning forward, tautly,"But how do you expect to do this?"

  "I'm damned if I know." Dalgetty locked moodily out at the beach andthe waves and the smoking spindrift. "But that gun of yours would be abig help."

  She stood for a moment, scowling with thought. "If I don't come backsoon they'll be out hunting for me."

  "We've got to find another hiding place," he agreed. "Then they willassume I survived after all and grabbed you. They'll be scouring thewhole island for us. If we haven't been located before dark they'll bespread thin enough to give us a chance."

  "It makes more sense for me to go back now," she said. "Then I can beon the inside to help you."

  He shook his head. "Uh-uh. Quit making like a stereoshow detective. Ifyou leave me your gun, claiming you lost it, that's sure to bringsuspicion on you the way they're excited right now. If you don't I'llstill be on the outside and unarmed--and what could you do, one womanalone in that nest? Now we're two with a shooting iron between us. Ithink that's a better bet."

  After a while, she nodded. "Okay, you win. Assuming"--the half-loweredgun was raised again with a jerking motion--"that I will aid you. Whoare you? _What_ are you, Dalgetty?"

  He shrugged. "Let's say I'm Dr. Tighe's assistant and have someunusual powers. You know the Institute well enough to realize thisisn't just a feud between two gangster groups."

  "I wonder...." Suddenly she clanked the automatic back into itsholster. "All right. For the time being only though!"

  Relief was a wave rushing through him. "Thank you," he whispered.Then, "Where can we go?"

  "I've been swimming around here in the quieter spots," she said. "Iknow a place. Wait here."

  She stepped across the cave and peered out its mouth. Someone musthave hailed her, for she waved back. She stood leaning against therock and Dalgetty saw how the sea-spray gleamed in her hair. After along five minutes she turned to him again.

  "All right," she said. "The last one just went up the path. Let's go."They walked along the beach. It trembled underfoot with the rage ofthe sea. There was a grinding under the snort and roar of surf as ifthe world's teeth ate rock.

  The beach curved inward, forming a small bay sheltered by outlyingskerries. A narrow path ran upward from it but it was toward the seathat the woman gestured. "Out there," she said. "Follow me." She tookoff her shoes as he had done and checked her holster: the gun waswaterproof, but it wouldn't do to have it fall out. She waded into thesea and struck out with a powerful crawl.

  VI

  They climbed up on one of the hogback rocks some ten yards from shore.This one rose a good dozen feet above the surface. It was cleft in themiddle, forming a little hollow hidden from land and water alike. Theycrawled into this and sat down, breathing hard. The sea was loud attheir backs and the air felt cold on their wet skins.

  Dalgetty leaned back against the smooth stone, looking at the woman,who was unemotionally counting how many clips she had in her pouch.The thin drenched tunic and slacks showed a very nice figure. "What'syour name?" he asked.

  "Casimir," she answered, without looking up.

  "First name, I mean. Mine is Simon."

  "Elena, if you must know. Four packs, a hundred rounds plus ten in thechamber now. If we have to shoot them all, we'd b
etter be good. Thesearen't magnums, so you have to hit a man just right to put him out ofaction."

  "Well," shrugged Dalgetty, "we'll just have to lumber along as best wecan. I oak we don't make ashes of ourselves."

  "Oh, _no_!" He couldn't tell whether it was appreciation or dismay."At a time like this