"Like steel," Caine said, and he jerked his holster from the branch and
snapped it around his waist. The sun was making long quivering shadows
over the hill and the liquid and there was a cooling of the air. Caine
strode into the tangled growth and began moving through the jungle.
"Nic...." He heard the sound behind him, a quick, involuntary word that
she tried to stop by shutting her teeth together.
A little weakness, he thought, somewhere in the midst of the strength.
He let his teeth show, without really smiling. "Are you coming?"
She came after him.
They moved together through the darkening entanglement of leaves and
vines. Behind them now, they could hear the cashing, erratic sound of
the boy, following them.
The light was dim as they penetrated the thick growth. There was a
sweet moist smell to the air, and around them the yellow and green and
purple leaves showed their colors vaguely in the Venus twilight.
Here and there sharp-edged plants with thick round bases and knife-like
leaves quivered in the breeze like waiting swords.
* * * * *
Once Caine tripped and as he caught himself, his hand whipped against
one of the plants, and he found his palm slit thinly. He wiped the
blood against his jacket and touched the razor-sharp plant carefully.
It was like a slim piece of honed steel.
Light disappeared, and Caine led the way through the maze of foliage.
Slippery tongues of green softness, swirled around his ankles and
slowed each step. Following direction was difficult, and the razor
leaves kept nipping at him. A chill went into the air and a thick
blanket of moisture fell around them.
Caine stopped. The girl waited behind him and Caine could hear the
movement of the boy nearing him.
The girl was a misty outline in Caine's vision, but he could see the
white of her eyes and when she breathed, he could see the fine line of
whiteness that was her teeth. Her dress was a blue veil and the tan
skin of her body blended into the darkness and the mist and the solid
growth of the jungle.
The bobbing form of the boy appeared, finally, and he crouched a few
feet away.
"We'll stay here," Caine said.
He could hear the click of the boy's teeth going together. The white
gaunt face wavered and Caine could hear the swinging motions of the
boy's arms. "You stay here," the boy yelled. "I'm not going to lie in
this muck and dung! I'm not--"
"Don't then," Caine said softly. "Go on alone."
The boy was suddenly silent, and Caine watched his shape through the
darkness. There was no more sound from him, and Caine knelt to the
thick floor of greenness. He explored the soft growth with his fingers,
and finally he stretched out, relaxing each muscle to fight the
chilling penetration of the cooling night.
The girl lay down beside him. Caine could see her, the outline of her
body, her eyes that watched him. He felt the touch of her fingers
against his bare chest. "Nic ..." she said.
Caine turned over and faced the other direction.
Sleep came swiftly. His mind dimmed and his body went limp and there
was only blackness.
The cold light of dawn was in his eyes and he woke up swearing. His
right hand swung out and caught air. He jumped up and leaped forward,
but his hands caught nothing. The boy was away from him, twisting
backwards into the undergrowth. Caine knelt, still cursing, one hand
on his empty holster. He could see the glint of the pistol in the boy's
hand.
"What are you going to do with it," he asked the boy, "now that you've
got it?"
"Kill you, Driver."
"Sure," Caine said. "And then who leads you back to your crib?"
The boy's lips worked back and forth over his teeth. He shook the gun
in his hand. "I didn't say when I'd do it, Driver. You just stand up
and start moving. I'll let you know when. Do you hear me?" The boy's
voice rose to a sudden scream. The pistol swept through the air and
smashed a vine to pulpy shreds. Then it was pointing again at Caine's
stomach. "Move!" the boy yelled.
Caine straightened and began to move through the foliage. The girl
started to follow.
"No!" the boy screamed. He jumped to the girl's side and grabbed
her arm. He motioned the gun again in the crazy leaping way he did
everything.
Caine started through the jungle.
He could feel the pistol pointing at his back and he could feel the
stare of the boy's bright darting eyes. The boy was shrewd, Caine
thought, like a crazed animal. Fear had warped the already wayward
brain, and to try to charge him or bully him or anything else would
be like striking matches in a room full of explosives. He would
have to wait, Caine decided, until he found a chance to trick the
lightning-like senses of the boy.
Somehow, he would have to find a way to sweep the pistol out of the
boy's nervous fingers. And Caine was thinking of this, working it back
and forth in his brain, when they reached another circular clearing.
Yellow and green grass lay glistening in the morning dampness. Purple
and red flowers dotted the thick carpet. A wall of vines and thick
leaves bounded the clearing and the thin razor leaves extended here and
there from the thick wall like polished rapiers.
Caine walked nearly to the center of the circle and then stopped
suddenly.
He could see them, just behind the first thickness of foliage. The pale
green skin and the globular heads and the large round eyes, lidless and
soft-looking.
He turned back to the girl and the boy.