Negative thrust of head.
"You were sad. Now you"re happy."
"I"ll make more babies." And an expression, a sucking, which indicated eating goodness.
"What will happen to the babies at the river?"
"They will grow, eat well, live joylife, build joyhouse to Great Ones." Interesting. "Who Great Ones?"
"Ones who come from far away and make magic."
"The magic that makes the ships fly?"
"That magic and other magic. For they are truly Great Ones."
Theresita was getting an idea. She felt that she was beginning to get some answers to questions that had been haunting her.
"Whorsk admire Great Ones?"
"We have no choice. We must admire-" the word could also mean obey"-or they will kill."
"Babies blessed by Great Ones?" Theresita asked.
"Yes."
The vague memories of the dream returned unbidden. It would not be unusual, judging by Earth"s history, for a backward race to be ruled by a caste of priests. So they were trading their babies to a d.a.m.ned bunch of priests in exchange for helium and security. Probably the babies would be enslaved by the Great Ones of the Great Misty River.
"Trade babies for magic, then," she said, and got a yes. Theresita was satisfied she had the answer.
They had reached the village. The females were still singing and dancing, and one by one, pair by pair, they entered the hut where the sacs had hung. Theresita went with them. A female lay on her stomach, singing, making crawling motions without moving, and from her distended posterior there issued a quick stream of pulsating, golf-ball-sized eggs, a dozen, then more until the steaming pile held perhaps fifty eggs. The wife of the chief, ClickClick-Swallow, stirred the pulsating eggs with her hand, selected two, consulted with other females, tossed one of the eggs back onto the pile, and with her teeth nipped the other egg sac to form a hole. She carefully hung the egg on a peg on the wall and, with a cry, leaped back toward the pile of eggs and seized one in each hand. The other" females, whistling and clicking gaily, fought good-naturedly over the others and popped the pulsating eggs into their mouths and chewed with m.u.f.fled whistles of pleasure.
Theresita felt her stomach turn.
Another female went into the crawling, singing ecstasy of egg laying, and another egg was selected for life by the chiefs mate. This time there was a surplus, so Theresita was offered an egg, which she politely declined. Then she got the h.e.l.l out of there; other females started laying, and the sound of joyous chewing and feasting was too much for her.
She walked to the beach and was wading in the edge of the sea, fur open, firm b.r.e.a.s.t.s thrusting out, when she heard the sound of jets and looked up to see a scout coming low from the east. She waved her hand, screamed with a joy that strained her throat.
Oh, d.a.m.n, d.a.m.n, d.a.m.n, he was moving too fast. He was only five hundred feet up, but he was moving too fast and wasn"t going to see her. She ripped off her fur and waved it, and the scout did a cute littlemaneuver; in the s.p.a.ce of seconds it went from traveling at three hundred miles per hour forward to hovering. Then it was lowering, hydrogen jets hissing, and she was shouting in Russian and dancing out of the surf with joy, waving the fur crazily and then threw it on the sh.o.r.e. Oh, no more bug orgies and leaf beds! Maybe a good, oh, yum, synthasteak and baked bread and- The scout landed. She ran to it, and the hatch opened, and a man, a real, live man, stepped out, and she threw herself into his arms and cried tears of joy. The dark-skinned man was saying in English, "Hey, hey, take it easy, honey. Take it easy."
She gained control, sobbing happily, and pulled herself up to attention. "I am Marshal Theresita Pulaski, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
Jacob West"s eyes were on the verge of popping. She was almost as tall as he, and during the past months, her healthful diet had honed her down to perfect physique of rounded hips, taut, thrusting b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and powerful but shapely thighs and legs.
Renato, hovering overhead, was getting an eyeful, too, using the optics to enlarge the scene.
"Lieutenant Commander Jacob West, U.S. s.p.a.ce Service," Jacob said, extending his hand. She took it in a grip that won his respect. "I have a million questions, but they"ll have to wait. First, are you alone?"
"There is only me," she said, and thought about all of the dead for the first time in a long time.
"Are there Whorsk about? We don"t want trouble."
"The males are gone. The females are otherwise engaged, but if you"re ready to leave, Commander, don"t let me hold you up."
"Marshal," Jacob said with a grin, as he let his eyes feast on that tall, powerfully slender figure just once more, "may I suggest that you might want to put on your, ah, garment?"
She laughed. "How thoughtless of me," she said, retrieving the fur. "It"s just that I"ve been alone so long.
I"ve grown quite accustomed to nudity."
"I think I could learn to like it myself," Jacob said, as he took her hand and helped her into the scout.
She felt the thrust of the jets and was suddenly in contact with civilized things-merely the plastic of the seat on her thighs made her feel wonderful as the scout lifted.
Jacob asked, "Are you fit for a ballistic ride?"
"Commander, I could ride this bird through a ballistic trajector while hanging onto the rocket tubes with my teeth."
He laughed. "Hang on, then."
She felt the beautiful thrust, was driven back into the seat, yelled, "Whee," as the rockets stopped firing and the sudden weightlessness made her float. "Beautiful," she said. "And you, Commander West, you"re the most beautiful sight I"ve seen since I landed on this planet."
"I"ve seen a lot worse sights than you," Jacob said, laughing. "I think I"ll fall in love with you." She laughed, too, but the laughter turned into sobs.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
"Yes, fine. It"s pure hysterical happiness."
"You speak English very well."
"It"s mandatory for everyone above the rank of major," she said. "Are you an American Negro?"
He laughed. "No, I"m an American Indian."
"Really! As in cowboys and Indians, the Wild West?"
He laughed again. Then he said, "Whoops, I forgot to report in." He flipped on the transmitter and got Jackie, in Hamilton control. "I think the skipper will want to greet my pa.s.senger," he said. "We have here a genuine marshal of the Red Army. And, Jackie, the lady is a bit underdressed. She"s about your height.
I think she"d appreciate a stretch skirt and tunic." He was too diplomatic to say that this Russian woman was built a bit more substantially than Jackie.
There was no more time for talk. Theresita saw the beautiful city, Earthlike but alien, the deep purple bay, the spreading veld. She was weeping again.Apache One kissed the pad without the slightest jar.
Apache Two landed seconds later. Jacob opened the hatch and took a bundle of clothing from Duncan Rodrick, then hopped out to give her room. She pulled on the skirt and service tunic. The tunic was a bit tight across her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She dismounted, barefoot, stood at attention before the impressive-looking American, and saluted.
"Welcome to Hamilton," Rodrick said.
"Thank you," Theresita answered, her voice husky. "Named for your president?"
"Yes. Do you need immediate medical attention?"
"No," she said. "I have never been in more perfect health."
"Then if you"re not too tired, Marshal, I would appreciate a few minutes of your time in private."
"Of course," she said. She turned, thrust out her hand to Jacob. "Commander West, once again my heartfelt thanks. I want very much to see you again, to talk with you."
"Come to think of it, Jacob, you"d better come along also," Rodrick said. He didn"t know, after all, what they"d talked about during the flight. They had had time to compare notes. She could have already told Jacob the answer to the question that was burning inside him.
"Aye, sir," Jacob said happily. He helped Theresita into the crawler and sat beside her.
Rodrick parked at the main hatch. A curious group of people applauded as Theresita took Jacob s hand and dismounted. She, in the Russian fashion, applauded back. Then they were inside. She thought of the Karl Marx and couldn"t stop the quiet tears. Jacob took her hand. "Are you sure you"re all right?"
She squeezed his hand hard in grat.i.tude for his concern. "I"m fine," she said. "Happy. Release of tension."
She did not, however, turn loose his hand. Rodrick didn"t seem to notice. He led the way to his quarters, motioned Theresita into a comfortable chair. "I don"t know exactly where to start, Marshal," he replied.
"With a drink of vodka," she said. Jacob sprang to the bar, Rodrick nodded affirmation, and he mixed three vodkas with orange juice.
"I have dreamed of this," Theresita said, taking a deep, deep drink. That caused Jacob to laugh, but she continued drinking, then held out the gla.s.s. "Just one more, and I will nurse it slowly."
"I"m turning on the recorders," Rodrick said, pressing b.u.t.tons.
"I understand," she said. At last she was able to stop the quiet flow of tears. The vodka was warming her stomach.
"I a.s.sume you are from theKarl Marx ," Rodrick said. "Are you the sole survivor?"
"Of that I am almost certain," she said.
That was not the question he wanted to ask. Nor was it her chief concern at the moment. Each of them was thinking that, because of the early loss of the ship"s communications, the other would have more recent news from Earth, two years more recent, for the outgoing ships could have been in radio contact for the entire two-year period of sublight cruising out of the solar system.
"The Earth..." Rodrick began, dreading the answer.
"My question to you!" she responded in surprise. "We lost all communication only days into the journey."
Duncan Rodrick laughed bitterly, not knowing whether to feel relief that he would not know the worst or disappointment that he would know no more than he already knew.
"When we fired our rockets the naval war was coming to a climax off the western coast of South America," he said. "Then we, too, lost our communications. You left a few weeks later?"
"Yes," she said. "The Russian fleet had been destroyed. The Red Army, in retaliation, moved armor to the French channel ports in thirty-six hours."
"And?" Rodrick asked, holding his breath.
"All Russian radio and television stations went off the air," she said. "The Americans were still broadcasting. The captain of theKarl Marx received orders to turn back, to take up positions of attack on the American s.p.a.ce stations. At that time I inst.i.tuted a mutiny against the captain and the crew, and in the fight the communications room was destroyed."
"Then you don"t know if the bombs fell," Rodrick said. "No."
"d.a.m.n," Jacob said softly.
"Sorry, Jacob, to give it to you this way," Rodrick said. "There are only a few of us, Marshal and Commander, who know that the situation had worsened. I wanted to keep it that way for a while, for reasons I"m sure you"ll understand."
"If people think that the bombs fell, they will not want to spend all their time and energy getting the ship ready to go back?" Jacob asked.
"Yes."
"I know that you left with only enough fuel to make the outward journey," she said.
"Marshal, we have a lot to talk about," Rodrick said. "Before we allow you to rest, is there any chance that there are other survivors?"
"The ship died in s.p.a.ce. Only one scout left it. The pilot was killed upon landing in the jungle. I estimate that our landing took place approximately three thousand miles north of the point where Commander West found me."
Jacob whistled. "Three thousand miles? You have quite a story to tell, lady."
"I"ll be happy to tell you," she said, with a smile that radiated warmth toward Jacob. "I"ve had no one to talk with for so many months-except the Whorsk, who are not the best of conversationalists."
"I think we can take pity on the marshal," Rodrick said. "Just one more question. We"ve had an encounter with the Whorsk. In your contact with them, have you learned anything that I should know quickly, perhaps some hidden capabilities? We were quite surprised to find that they filled their airships with helium."
"I, too," she agreed. "No, I think that is the only unexpected thing about them, other than their total alien-ness. They are of no danger to a force with modern weapons."
"Thank you," Rodrick said. "Now I think you should see our medics-or would you like some food first?"
"Captain," she said, "I ask only two things: a bottle of this excellent vodka and a real bed. Give me four hours" sleep on a mattress, with a clean sheet-oh, with a shower and soap beforehand-and I"ll talk my head off."
"It"s a deal," Rodrick replied. She"d held a fantastically high rank in the Red Army, and yet she seemed to be just another human being. "I"ll call one of our female officers. She"ll show you to, uh, well, Jackie"s quarters are vacant, Jacob."
"w.i.l.l.you show me to my bed?" Theresita asked Jacob, rising. She looked at the captain with a laugh.
"The commander is the first human face I"ve seen. And he saw me in my uniform of the past few months.
I feel as if we"re already fast friends." "Be happy to," Jacob said. He took a bottle of vodka from the captain"s bar and showed her out the door. They walked in silence side by side down the corridor. He opened the door to Jackie"s former quarters.
"Ah, sheer luxury," Theresita said. "Please. Stay and have one drink with me."
"My pleasure," Jacob answered, moving to the kitchen for gla.s.ses.
"And no orange juice, please."
She sat on the couch, looking down glumly at her stained, somewhat splayed feet. "My feet have spread two sizes bigger," she announced. "Your American people will call me Big Foot."
"You walked three thousand miles?" Jacob asked in total awe.
"Oh, no. Most of it was by raft on a river through the jungle."
"I"ve done a bit of exploration in the jungle," he said. "How in the world did you manage to survive?"
"With luck and stubbornness," she said. "Keep talking to me. It"s been so long since I"ve heard a human voice."
"Maybe you"d better get some rest," he suggested.
"No, please." She shivered. The thought of being alone frightened her for some reason. Tears formed and slid down her tanned cheeks. "Don"t mind me," she said, wiping them away. "All of a sudden I"ve become quite emotional."