I stumbled to the entrance port, dragging a blaster with me. "Where are
you?" I projected. I couldn't see her, but I could sense her presence.
"Here, Eu. Just below you. Help me. I can't make it any farther!"
Somehow I managed it. I don't know from where the strength came, but
I was on the ground lifting her, pushing her onto the flat surface of
the airlock--clambering up--dragging her in and closing the lock behind
us. I looked down at her with pride. Who would have thought that I,
a male, could lift a mature female into a ship's airlock even against
normal gravity? I chuckled shakily. Strange things happen to a body
when its owner is stressed and its suprarenals are stimulated.
She looked up at me. "Thank you," she said simply. But there was more
behind the words than the bare bones of customary gratitude.
* * * * *
I helped her into the refresher and as she restored her tired body I
pelted her with numerous questions.
"Did you succeed?" I asked.
"Better than I expected."
"Did you find a native?"
"Two of them." The cubicle glowed a pale green as her strength came
back.
"Where?"
"Two vursts from here--down the hill. They're camped near a road. They
have a big ground car with them."
"Did you see them?"
"Yes."
"What did they look like?"
The radiance in the cubicle flicked out. "They're horrible!" Ven said.
"Monstrous! Four or five times our size! I never saw anything so
hideous!"
"Did they see you?"
"No, I don't think so. They weren't looking in my direction at first.
And I don't think they can sense, because I was frightened and they
didn't respond to my projection." She was beginning to recover.
"You couldn't have been too frightened," I said. "I didn't hear
you--and you can reach farther than two vursts."
"Mostly I was repelled," Ven admitted.
"Why?"
"I don't know. They smelled bad, but it was more than that. There was
something about them that made my antennae lie flat against my ears.
Anyway--I did a foolish thing." The cubicle turned a pale embarrassed
lavender.
"What did you do?" I demanded.
"I ran away," Ven said. "And I made a lot of noise."
"All right--all right," I said impatiently. "Go ahead and tell the rest
of it."
"By the time I stopped running I was down at the bottom of the hill,"
Ven said. "I was dead tired--and with all that rock to climb to get
back to the ship. I didn't really think I'd make it."
"But you did," I said proudly. "You're a real Thalassan--pure green."
The cubicle slowly brightened again.
"Can you find them again?" I asked.
"Of course. I wasn't lost at any time. If I hadn't panicked, I'd have
been back a whole lot sooner."
"Can you go now?"
* * * * *