“Say, Tanegli broke your shoulder . . .” Lunzie’s strong fingers found the break point in Varian’s shoulder. Her expression was inscrutable. “Reabsorbed! How long ago did Kai leave?” she added in a quick shift of topic.
“Early morning. Before the net giffs left for fishing.” Varian swung a vine beyond the lip of the cave and, squinting against the sun which was burning through the heat haze, decided it must be midafternoon. “He could be back any time now.”
“We’ll hope so. D’you have anything more than fruit? Any protein? I feel an urgent need for something substantial.”
“Well,” Varian began brightly, “we were lucky enough to find hadrasaur nuts . . .”
“Were you now?” Lunzie’s dry humor had survived cold sleep.
While Varian tried to sell the two on the merits of the pithy nuts, she tried to hide her growing apprehension over Kai’s delay. Kai might ascribe some loyalty to Tor but she couldn’t. It would be just like the creature to find the bloody core and bounce off with its treasure, ignoring Kai’s welfare. Still, Kai would have had to disinter the sleds and check over the console. It could have taken a long time to find the sleds. Her anxiety sharpened her hearing and the giffs’ cries were audible. Without explanation to Triv and Lunzie, she made a sudden running leap to a vine, swinging out to see what alarmed them. The haze had thickened, but the muffled whine of a sled was music to her ears.
“He’s back. He’s back,” she cried as she ran to the vines anchored to the shuttle and began shinnying up. She was just pulling herself onto the cliff when the blunt snout of the two-man vehicle emerged from the obscuring haze and wobbled erratically in her direction.
Krims! Was the thing damaged? “Lunzie! Triv! Get up here!”
What was Kai attempting? The sled angled down, not as if he was attempting to circle and land in the cave. The flight angle was wrong. What was he doing? Reminding the giffs of the first peaceful visit they’d had from humans? No, not with the sled swinging like that. Glare kept her from making out the pilot behind the canopy. The giffs were alarmed, too, taking to the air in flocks. Some began to circle to investigate. The bow of the sled dipped again and, as Varian watched from the cliff edge, her heart in her throat, its forward motion was braked so fast that the vehicle fell rather than descended, bumping along the vines until she was afraid that momentum would carry it over the cliff. She even put out her hand in an unconscious gesture. With a final grind, the nose of the sled caught on the vines and it slowed to a halt. Then she could see that Kai was slumped over the console.
Forgetting any caution for the circling giffs, she clambered over the edge and reached the sled just as the first of the giffs landed. She eyed the creature over the stained and scratched canopy. The giff reared back, its wings half extended, the wing talons spread but, as she caught her breath and braced herself for an assault, a long warbling note restrained the giff. The creature’s talons closed and its wings relaxed slightly.
She had time, then, Varian thought, to get to Kai. She pressed the canopy release and, once the plasglas had cracked open, she pushed to speed the retraction.
“Kai! Kai!”
“Kaaaiiiii! Kaaaaiiiii!” The giffs mimicked her as more landed and ranged themselves on either side of the first one.
At that moment, Kai moaned. Ignoring the giffs, Varian bent into the sled to tend to his body slumped over the console. A putrid stench now rose from the opened cockpit. Shuddering in revulsion, she hauled Kai upright. And shuddered again, mastering the wave of nausea that swept her. Kai’s face was a mass of blood. What was left of his overall was matted against his bloodied flesh. The whole front of him was a bloody mess.
“LUNZIE! TRIV! HELP!” She screeched over her shoulder.
“UNNNNZZZZI IVVVVELLLLL.” The giffs picked up the sounds.
“Shut up! I don’t need a chorus!” Varian yelled at them to relieve the horror that she experienced looking down at her coleader. He moaned again.
Her fingers hunted for the pulse against the carotid artery. Slow, strong and regular. Strange. No, he’d been exerting Discipline. How else could he have returned to the cliffs in his condition?
Had Lunzie heard her? She glanced warily up at the giffs and was astonished to see that every head was turned away and the bodies seemed to be withdrawing from the sled. They looked, for all the world, as if they were avoiding an unpleasant smell. And so they were, for the stench still rose from the sled, and mostly from Kai. Could she risk leaving him and going to the cliff edge to hurry help?
“We’re coming!” Triv’s shout finally encouraged her.
She bent to look more closely at Kai’s wounds. He appeared to have been attacked by something or somethings that sucked blood for as she eased a shred of his coverall from his chest, she saw the pattern of pinpoint marks on his skin, each with its own jewellike teardrop of blood. And that awful stink! Worse than anything that Ireta had inflicted on her before except, she realized now, that she remembered that frightful odor. It was not easy to forget: oily, marine, and utterly disgusting!
“Is it safe to approach?” Triv asked, poking his head over the cliff edge.
“It hardly matters, does it?” Lunzie replied, heaving herself onto the vine-covered surface.
“They’re not aggressive now,” Varian said in a well-projected voice, keeping her tone sweet. “I’d just move slowly.”
“My intention, I assure you. How bad is Kai?”
“He’s unconscious now. Must have Disciplined himself to get back. He seems to have run into a bloodsucker.”
“Faugh!” Lunzie’s face wrinkled in distaste and she pinched her nostrils. “What’s that smell?”
“Kai.”
“Your fliers don’t seem to like the smell any more than we do,” Triv remarked.
“Let’s get him out of the sled while they’re snooting the wind,” Lunzie said. “I really can’t see enough through the blood.”
Triv and Varian slipped into the sled to hoist out the unconscious geologist. Triv grimaced at muscles slow to respond to his commands as they guided the limp body out to Lunzie.
“That stink would suffocate a man,” Triv remarked, taking deep gulps of fresher air. “Oh ho, what’s wrong here?” He bent back inside the sled. “Did he drop this thing? Every malfunction light on the control panel is lit!”
“Krims! I was hoping we could fly him down to the cave in the sled,” Varian said.
“I wouldn’t advise it until I can get behind the control panel.” Triv flicked off the power and closed the canopy.
Lunzie deftly peeled away the tatters of the coverall to disclose the hundreds of tiny punctures that had pierced Kai’s skin, each one filled with blood. Varian removed the trouser legs.
“Even his boots are perforated,” she told Lunzie. “I don’t remember telltagging anything that could do this.”
“You think he’d smell it coming,” was Lunzie’s dour comment.
“Watch it, girls, we’ve got company. Hey. . . .”
At Triv’s warning, Lunzie and Varian looked up and received a giff-borne shower in the face as a flight of giffs skimmed over them and each emptied its filled throat pouch on the little group. Most of the unexpected drenching fell on Kai’s exposed body, laving it clean of blood momentarily.
“Well, what d’you make of that?” demanded Triv. “Ah, there’s more coming! No, they’ve got leaves!”
As deftly as the shower had been delivered, the thick green leaves dropped about Kai.
“What are they trying to tell us, Varian?” Lunzie wanted to know.
“They know that stink, Lunzie. They could know what attacked him. They must be trying to help us.”
“They’d attack with claw and wing,” Triv said thoughtfully, “not water and leaves.”
“But they did attack you and Kai . . .” Lunzie began.
“This time they saw us all come from the cave.” Varian seized one of the leaves and held it up to the giffs remaining beyond the sled. “What d
o I do with it?”
Lunzie picked up a leaf, crushing the pulpy tip in her fingers, sniffing and sneezing at the odor of the sap.
“One thing sure, it smells a lot better than he does. A neutralizer?”
“Varian! That big one . . .” Triv pointed and they looked at the largest of the giffs, who could have been the Middle Giff of the cave inspection, crushing a leaf in its talon and smearing it on its chest.
“What might work on giffs, might not work on us, but I’ve nothing else . . .” Lunzie muttered and tentatively squeezed sap over the oozing punctures on Kai’s shoulder. “Well, what d’you know? It’s a styptic! Quick, both of you, get to work. Even if the leaves only stop the bleeding, it’s something!” She tasted the sap then. “Oooo. Bitter, bitter. Alumlike. Good. Now if it could also neutralize—whatever bit Kai is toxic as all . . . Hell!”
As if taking due note of Kai’s condition, Ireta’s unpredictable rain started to fall in drops big enough to hurt.
“Wouldn’t you just know?” Varian cried in disgust, trying to shelter Kai’s legs with her body as Lunzie and Triv leaned across his torso.
In moments Kai’s hair was afloat in a puddle and the sap was being washed from those portions of his body which the concerted efforts of his friends could not shield.
“We’ve got to get him out of this. Are you sure we can’t risk the sled?” Lunzie asked urgently.
Triv splashed to the vehicle and the women could hear him cursing, heard him slamming the plasglas canopy shut.
“Every damned red light is on. Those sleds are supposed to be impervious . . . We got company again. . . .”
“What we don’t need are spectators. C’mon, Varian, Triv. We’ve got to get him down to the cave before he drowns.”
“I’ll just hoist him . . .” Triv said, grabbing Kai by the arm and staggering as he attempted to haul the unconscious man to his shoulder. “What . . .”
Varian grabbed to support the staggering Triv while Lunzie caught Kai.
“You’re both just out of cold sleep,” Varian said with some disgust. “Neither of you has regained any useful strength yet.”
In a joint effort they carried Kai to the edge of the cliff.
“I don’t like this,” Lunzie muttered to herself as Varian located an untethered vine and hauled it up. “None of us is up to this sort of effort.” She bent to protect Kai from the rain.
“Varian,” Triv’s voice was taut with alarm. “The giffs are surrounding us. Are they trying to push us off the cliff?” His voice rose as he planted himself in front of Lunzie and Kai.
Varian turned, rising from her crouch. With a sense of relief she thought she recognized Middle Giff as it took a forward step. Then it inclined its head to her and gestured one wing in as courtly a motion as any she’d ever seen from the mincing Ryxi. The wing tip pointed over the edge of the cliff. It moved to indicate Kai. Then both wings were spread, undulating to suggest flight. The huge raindrops beat against the wing surface, beading as the oil of the fur kept the water from penetrating.
“Does the giff mean what I think it means?” Triv asked Varian.
“If it does, it’s a miracle.”
“Now, wait a minute, Varian,” Lunzie interposed. “I’m not about to surrender Kai to them.”
“What choice have we? Dropping him into the sea because we haven’t the strength to lower him into the cave? They’ve already helped us with the water and the leaves. They are used to flying burdens with the fish nets, working as a team. If they’re smart enough to see we’ve got a problem in getting Kai into shelter, they’ve also got a solution. The rain’s getting heavier and the wind’s picking up.” Varian had to brace herself. “We’ve no other option.”
Lunzie brushed her soaking hair from her face, staring up at Varian. Then a gust of wind buffeted the trio of humans. Lunzie capitulated, throwing up one hand in acceptance of their desperate situation. “You and Triv go on down. Part the vines and guide the giffs in.”
With a final fierce look at the xenobiologist, Lunzie surrendered Kai’s limp body to Varian. She took the vine that Triv indicated and slid out of sight over the cliff edge. Triv followed her. Suddenly the wind ceased its assault on her body and Varian realized that she was surrounded by wet giff legs and water-beaded feathers. Giff claws wrapped gently about Kai’s ankles and picked up his limp arms by the wrists. Varian stepped back, heart in her mouth.
Then Kai was hanging in the air and more giffs found holds on him. For one horrified moment, Varian wondered if they were going to fly him up to one of their caves. But they lifted him well above the cliff, then maneuvered slowly out over the water and slowly began to descend. Could she be hearing the creak of overloaded bones in the storm winds? She could certainly see the effort in the straining pinions. Varian shook herself out of her paralysis and, finding the vine which Lunzie had used, began to slide down it. She slipped a bit on the rain-slick vine and was forced to abandon her scrutiny of Kai’s descent to insure her own. Then she saw Lunzie and Triv holding back the thick vines so that the giffs could enter. Before her feet touched the cave’s floor, Kai was safely deposited. Having delivered their burden, the giffs awkwardly backed away. Lunzie and Triv busily anointed the myriad punctures on his body, which were once again oozing droplets of blood.
“He’s all right?” Varian asked Lunzie.
“Took no harm at all. I don’t think they so much as bruised him. And this sap is definitely styptic.”
Reassured, Varian turned to the giffs. The two species regarded each other over the injured man. It wasn’t as if she could flap her hand at them, like a flock of ordinary birds, and shoo them away, nor did Varian wish to treat them so peremptorily for they had saved Kai twice already. In working with alien species, Varian had discovered that the sincerity of her intentions could be communicated by voice, even if the words were unintelligible to the hearer. She spread her arms wide, palms up, and imitated the wing gesture of Middle Giff.
“I don’t know how to express our thanks and appreciation for your assistance, golden fliers,” she said, deepening her voice and imbuing it with the very genuine gratitude she felt. “We could not have borne him so safely nor so quickly to shelter. Thank you, too, for the leaves.” Varian pointed to Lunzie and Triv as they smeared Kai’s wounds. “Thank you for all your assistance. We hope to remain on such good terms with you. Thank you.”
“From all of us to all of you,” murmured Lunzie. Then she smiled up at the giffs nearest her, holding up the leaf she was crushing and smiling more broadly. Varian could almost forgive her her dark humor.
A hum rose from the giffs and their orange eyes blinked rapidly.
“While you’re in rapport with ’em , ask for more leaves. Unless you know where we can find ’em .”
A slightly surprised chirp and the agitation of the vine screen brought their attention to the cave entrance. A group of smaller giffs entered, their wing talons clutching bundles of the leaves.
“Ask and you shall receive, oh skeptic,” Triv muttered as the smaller giffs hovered, venturing inside the cave only far enough to drop their burdens safely to the floor. Then Middle Giff made a peremptory sound, a call more than a chirp, and all the giffs lurched to the mouth of the cave. To Varian, they appeared to fall off the edge. Then she saw them, beating strongly upwards and out of sight.
“Lunzie . . .” she began, turning to deliver a few choice words to the medic but Kai moaned, his voice rising to the feverish mumble. He thrashed about until Triv grabbed him by the arms and held him down.
“Get that thermal blanket, Varian. Whatever Discipline he was exerting has lapsed. Yes,” and Lunzie laid her hand on his forehead and then his cheeks, “fever’s rising. At least fever indicates the body is fighting the toxemia.” She rummaged in her pouch for a moment. “Muhlah! I don’t have so much as an antibiotic. He’s going to have to do it the hard way. Take off the other boot, Triv, will you? And Varian, you pull off what’s left of his clothes while I hold him up. Hmmm .
. .” Lunzie paused to inspect Kai’s chest. “The sap is closing the punctures. If only I had something . . . That Thek didn’t say anything about ARCT-10, did it?”
“Only that the beacon hadn’t been stripped yet.”
“I shouldn’t have asked. Is there any more of that succulent fruit, Varian? I’m still dehydrated and, if we could dilute some juice with fresh water, Kai might take it. He’s going to need all the liquid we can get down him to combat the toxin.”
Triv collected rainwater by holding a pail outside the vines to catch the torrential downpour. Varian squeezed juice until she had exhausted the supply. They all ate the pulp. At regular intervals, the diluted juice was dripped down Kai’s throat. It seemed to ease his restlessness. Often he would lick his lips and frown during the fever dreams, as if searching for soothing moisture.
“Not an uncommon fever pastime,” Lunzie assured them. “It’s when they won’t swallow, you’ve got problems.”
By sunset Kai’s fever had reached a new high and their supply of leaves was almost gone. Thought most of the punctures had closed, the sap seemed to ease his feverishness, and Lunzie hoped they could get more to last through the night. So Varian climbed to the cliff top, hoping there would be a giff she could signal to. She sighed with relief when she found a large pile of leaves neatly anchored to the vines by a stout twist of grass. Fruit was windlocked in an intersection of thick vine tendrils.
“Not so stupid, our fine furry friends,” she said, elated and reassured, as she proudly displayed the leaves and fruit to Lunzie and Triv.
“I’ve been on worlds where there were other interpretations to such overtures,” Lunzie replied sardonically.
“Yes, I appreciate that, Lunzie. Propitiation of unknown gods, fattening for the kill, ceremonial poisonings . . .” Varian dismissed such considerations with a wave of her hand. “To an experienced hand like you, I must seem incredibly naÏve, but then I’ve generally dealt with animals which are pretty straightforward in their reactions. I really feel sorry for you, having to cope with that devious and subtle predator—man.” She spoke in an even tone, but she held Lunzie’s gaze in a steady stare. “My experience tells me to trust the giff, for they’ve shown us no harm—”
The Mystery of Ireta Page 25