I strained my perception to its limits, pushing it through the gelid
darkness, searching until I found the natives. "They're asleep," I said.
"What's that?"
"Suspension of consciousness. Something like estivation."
"Oh. Then we can approach safely?"
"If we are quiet," I replied. "Sleep is broken easily and consciousness
returns quickly."
The trail deepened beyond the rocks--two rutted tracks about three
vards apart. We moved forward cautiously, our senses keyed to their
highest pitch. The night was oppressively still and every movement
rasped loudly. My breath came fast and shallow. My heart pounded and my
musk glands were actively secreting as I parted the opening to their
cloth shelter, and sensed the dim forms within.
"Stat," I projected and Ven handed me the weapon. It was almost more
than I could manage in my weakened condition, but I aimed it and fired
a full intensity blast at the nearest lumpy figure. It jerked and
flopped inside its coverings, and the second form sat up with horrid
speed!
* * * * *
A roar of sound came from it as the air was filled with its fetid odor.
In panic I triggered a blast at the menacing figure, and it, too,
flopped and laid still.
I ran my tongue over the roof of my dry mouth and called to Ven.
"They're quiet now. Come in and see what we've got."
"Ugh!" Ven snorted as she entered the tent at my heels. "It stinks!"
"They're not the sweetest life form in the universe," I said as I
prodded the huge mound beside me, looking for reflexes that would
indicate returning consciousness.
"What are they?" Ven asked.
"Mammals," I said.
"No wonder I thought of a zoo," Ven said. "But they're so big!"
"Not on all planets," I said.
"Obviously," Ven commented. "Well--what's next? Let's get this done.
I'm suffocating!"
"Hand me the probe kit," I said.
I selected two of the longest probes and made my way up to the head of
the nearest monster. I scanned its braincase until I found the area I
wanted and inserted the probes, driving them through the heavy bone
and into the brain beneath. I clipped on the short antennae and stepped
back. "Turn the control to low," I said. "Place the clips on your
antennae. Now think of rising." The bulk beside me stirred and Ven gave
a squeak of terror. "It's all right," I assured her. "Turn the control
back to zero. This one's secure."
I went to the second and treated it like the first, and felt
a justifiable pride as it reacted. Not many men could implant
neuro-probes correctly on the first attempt. "All right, Ven. You can
go out now. Take the controls with you. I'll see what I can do to get
these brutes out of their coverings."
The tent opening swayed as Ven passed through and I bent over the
nearest form. The covering was a heavy sack closed with a slide
fastener much like the ones we used. I pulled and it opened, sending a
flood of rank scent into the fetid air. I coughed, my eyes smarting,
and found the fastener of the other sack. Retching with nausea I
staggered out of the tent.
Ven sprang forward, caught me as I was about to fall, and lowered me
gently to the ground.
"What are we going to do?" Ven asked as I lay panting at her feet.
"We're going to get them out of there," I said, "and take them back
to the ship. I didn't come all this way for nothing." I drew one of
the controls toward me, fastened the clips to my antennae, advanced
the gain and thought into it. There was a stir of movement inside and
a huge form came stumbling out. It stood there clad in loose cloth
coverings, reeking with halogen. I looked up at the dark bulk and
shivered.
"That smell!" Ven said.
* * * * *
"We can help it a bit," I replied and turned to the control. With its
massive fore-limbs the brute ripped the cloth from its body as it moved
down-wind. I made it stand and took the other control.
"Let me do it," Ven said. "You can't handle both of them in your
condition."
"All right," I said, "but be careful."
"I will. Now what do I do?"
"Advance the intensity knob and think what you want it to do."
There was a flurry of movement inside the tent, the thrashing of a huge
body, and the second mammal burst through the opening and staggered
clumsily to a stop.
"Reduce the intensity," I said. "You're projecting too strong a
stimulus. Now uncover it and send it over with the other one to cool
off. They're more bearable when they're cold. They exude the scent from
their skin glands to compensate for temperature."
"I know," Ven said. "I studied biology." She did as I instructed and
then dropped beside me. We relaxed, gathering our strength for the
climb ahead. But I didn't recover rapidly. I could move, but the
exertion made me dizzy. The excitement was over and reaction had set
in. "I'll never make it," I said dully.
"I can help," Ven said--"a little."
"It won't be enough. You don't have the strength to carry me." I looked
at the huge bodies of the mammals gleaming pallidly in the darkness,
and suddenly I had an idea. The Slaads on Valga domesticated mammals.
They were quadrupedal, true enough, but they were still mammals. Why
couldn't I ride one of these as they did? Those great masses of muscle
should carry me easily. "I think I have a solution," I said.
"What?"
"I'll have one of them carry me."
"You can't!"
"Why not? They're controlled. And they're the only way I'll be able to
get back to the ship." I picked up the nearest controller. "Let's see
what happens."
Ven squeaked as the monster lifted me in the air and set me across its
neck. I crossed my pads and hung on. The ground seemed terribly far
away.
"How is it up there?" Ven asked.
"A little unstable," I said, "but I'll manage. Shall we go?"
We moved up the trail to the rocky abutment and turned up the hill. The
brute beneath me climbed strongly and easily.
"Wait a minute," Ven said as she turned the corner behind me, "you're
going too fast."
"Why don't you ride?" I called down to her. "This one moves easily
enough. It's much better than walking."
"I think I will," Ven replied.
* * * * *
"This is all right," Ven said as we moved side by side up the hill.
"The fibrils on top of its head--"
"Hair," I corrected.
"The hair of this one is longer than yours. I can hold on nicely."
The big bodies of the natives moved smoothly and powerfully, their
giant strides eating up the distance we had so painfully covered some
time before. Presently we came out onto the lower edge of the meadow
below our ship.
Ven looked at me, her aura glowing pink with excitement. "I'll race you
to the ship," she cried, and dashed off with a burst of speed.
Somehow I couldn't resist the challenge in her voice. I advanced the
control knob and thought strongly. The brute jumped as though it had
been whipped and leaped into a plunging run. I clung desperately
for a moment and then relaxed as I caught the rhythm of the driving
strides. My heart pounded, but not with fear. I had never known such
exhilaration! Machines were pale compared to it. The mammal could run
like a frightened skent--and it was faster than Ven's!
I caught her halfway up the meadow, and pulled away, exulting in the
powerful muscles moving underneath me. I charged up to the grove of
trees that concealed our camouflaged ship, and brought the mammal to a
halt. It was panting, trembling, drenched with stinking sweat, but I
didn't mind. I was part of it. There was a certain amount of feedback
in a bipolar control circuit and I could feel the heat of its body,
the beat of the great heart, the rise and fall of the broad chest, the
pulse of the blood vessels in the thick neck. It was magnificent! I
laughed. I had never before felt the ecstasy of physical strength!
I turned and looked back, still tasting the pleasure of the great body
connected to my mind.