Part 18 (1/2)
Her hurt tone irritated him. ”You leaned on me, dammit, made--”
He slammed into Quath in his hurry. As he picked himself up she sent one of her keen-edged staccato bursts that was as close as she got to sounding like human laughter.
222.
flatness of the events there, each coming toward him as the layers peeled off into filmy fog.Abruptly a stalk-thing poked out of the mist. It wriggled. Shards of silvery ice flaked off it. The rubbery stalk extruded from the timestone, thicker than his arm and longer With a pop it wriggled free and fell at his feet. It hooted, low and clear. A plaintive call.And more followed it. They floundered from the timestone as if spat out--moist, s.h.i.+ning, making what had been comfortably distant images suddenly smelly and real. A fountain of liquid obsidian spouted to his left.
It crystallized in air and fell tinkling. Panels of dusky mist marched above his head. One of the blobs grew out of the timestone and attached itself to a floating lump of water The stalk farted a core of hard blue gas and the blob answered with a whorl of velvety fire.Eerie, unreal. s.h.i.+bo said, Remember that all this comes out of laws, physical laws. These are trapped events from somewhere else in the esty. We should explore it.
”Uh...” Head foggy. ”How come?”
This is a way tofind what else lurks in the esty. We cannotgo to these places ourselves.
”Can't see how I'd want to anyway.” Whispering.
Do not be timid!
”Looks funny.., risky.”
Go forward. When I was in flesh I never felt cowardice.
”No, you got me wrong, I'm just saying--”
I wanted to know more about the world. That's the only smart way to stay alive. Believe me, I know how dead you can be inside if something stops you from--if you stop trying, learning, changing.
”s.h.i.+bo ... I don't ...”
Coward. Open yourself to it!
He stepped closer.Blue-black flames danced up and licked at Toby before he could 223.
move. They were warm and soft and made him want more of their obliging comfort. He felt uneasy but within himself there was a push-pull of diverging impulses. s.h.i.+bo's Personality moved ma.s.sively, blotting out his caution with a silky, calming curiosity.
We must explore this place. It is wonderful, I think. You were so right to come here.
”I didn't, really, I just...”His words trailed away. s.h.i.+bo wanted to explore this strangely swarthy flame and so he stooped and put his hands and forearms into the purpling ma.s.s.Cool, slick. Not a fire at all. It felt even better now. So pleasant to thrust up to the shoulders, his face full in it. Fragrances swarmed through him--sweet, pliant.So comfortable. Beckoning.Then he remembered the addictive amus.e.m.e.nts.., back there.., in the gray city.., the one he had left. Something important about that.The stuff wriggled all over his face. He wrenched away. Sc.r.a.ped at it with leaden hands. Gluey ropes stuck to him. Licking strands inched across his mouth, nose, eyes. He slapped at them, stripped them away. A vile reek leapt up into his nostrils: flavors like emotions--angry, vindictive, spiteful, wronged love.He wadded up the cloying filament, struggling against waves of fleeting but sharp emotions. He dropped the fluffy, welcoming resilience and instantly regretted doing it. The pang of remorse was keen and oddly bitter. s.h.i.+bo punched through to him with Get away! Quick!
--and he was off, scrambling fast, part of him flooded with remorse, another scared.”What was that?”
Some form of parasite. Rather sophisticated.
”You told me to do it.”
I only suggest. I cannot act.
Her hurt tone irritated him. ”You leaned on me, dammit, made--”
He slammed into Quath in his hurry. As he picked himself up she sent one of her keen-edged staccato bursts that was as close as she got to sounding like human laughter.
224.
”Those're trouble,” Toby said lamely.It had all been internal, he saw. Fever-ripples of contrary emotions danced across his skin where the velvet had grasped. His fresh epidermis on the back of his injured hand sent him a puckering sense of pleasure, as if the flesh was being kissed by a wide, welcoming mouth.verything here=”” is.=””> 4.
Unsettled MovementThey had run themselves out and still the seeping light did not ebb.
They were not on a revolving planet, so day and night did not make their cyclic claims. A fitful glow soaked through from exposed teeth of timestone, casting shadows among the green and yellow foliage. Toby went hard until his boots dragged, so they stopped and slept. Still no sign of anyone else. Or of pursuit.
He woke up to hear s.h.i.+bo singing. Words pealed, a delicate but persistent melody, light and airy. Then he realized that his eyes were open but he saw nothing.
He blinked to restore vision. Twisted trees, big-bellied clouds, rock--his vision flickered, stabilized. He sat up, disturbed. Nothing threatening nearby. Wind sighing in the stringy brush. A sulphurous lance of light cutting a foggy glade to his left.
There was no reason for her to co-opt his senses.”What... ?”
I needed an outing. You were soundly asleep so -- ”Yeasay, and now I'm not. No thanks to you.”
After your misadventure yesterday, I expect you could use a little help.
”Misad--oh, the purple flames? You were the one wanted to give it a closer look.”You misremember. I alerted you to it when you were up to your chin in226.
”Not the way I recall. You were at my back, pus.h.i.+n' the whole time, wanting to touch it.”
You have edited out your own attraction.
”The h.e.l.l I have. I wondered what it was, sure, but--”
Let's not argue. We escaped without harm -- together. That is the important point. As long as we remain together and alert, even in such a strange and wonderful place we can stay safe.
This little lecture put his teeth on edge but he kept quiet. Directing thoughts to her would just make her say more and right now he wanted inner silence, a chance to think by himself. For himself.He went for a call of nature. While he was burying it so the smell would be hard to track, s.h.i.+bo talked to him. He b.u.t.ted her back--pressure against a stiff wall. He struggled silently, mouth twisting, and then came the shock: he could not get rid of her. She was always there now, riding behind his eyes.
Why should you not want my help?
”Why? 'Cause I got no choice anymore.”
You are too young to go forth without my aid.
”How 'bout I decide that?”
y point exactly. You can make bad decisions, you know.”At least they'd be mine.”We have such a closeness. Do not push me away.Something about her ”closeness” made him uneasy, but he could not find the words.
--a cloying sense of moist pressures, syrupy air that would not leave his heaving lungs, liquid running in through his nose and ears and unwilling mouth, snaky fog-feelers sweet, so sweet-- When his breathing was back to normal he tramped back to Quath. She had warmed up some of his own field grub, stock she was carrying for him.
He forgot about s.h.i.+bo. The greasy excellences of the hot, oily food pushed her presence clear out of his consciousness. Which was a relief. She had been hanging in him for days now, heavy as a wet boot. He only realized this when she was subdued.227.
<you kicked=”” and=”” spoke=”” in=”” your=”” sleep.=””> ”Uh huh. Dreams, I guess.”
<something more.=””> ”How would you know?”<your kind=”” conveys=”” much=”” through=”” facial=”” signals--an=”” odd=”” method,=”” one=”” we=”” do=”” not=”” employ.=””>”You read my face when I'm asleep?” ”Measurements of what?”<of angles=”” and=”” amplitudes=”” of=”” skin=”” folds,=”” color,=”” eyebrow=”” thickness,=”” curvatures=”” of=”” mouth=”” and=”” eyes.=””>”My G.o.d! You work pretty hard.”<but that=”” is=”” merely=”” what=”” you=”” do.=””>”Naysay, I just give people a squint and figure out--hey, you mean that's how I know how people feel?”<of course.=”” you=”” are=”” designed=”” so=”” that=”” none=”” of=”” this=”” work=”” is=”” conscious.=””> ”But for you it is?”
”And if you don't?”<normally i=”” delegate=”” the=”” task.=””>Toby knew that thought was a net of racing electrical impulses, the dance of atoms speaking through their fleet messengers. But was that all his thoughts meant? He looked at Quath without knowing what to say. ”It's s.h.i.+bo. Something about her.”
<she rides=”” upon=”” you=”” uneasily.=””> ”Yeah...”<maleness for=”” you=”” must=”” always=”” carry=”” some=”” anger,=”” a=”” ruthless=””></maleness>< p=””>