"Yes."
Hendricks sat up a little. "You wanted to know something. You were
asking me."
"Do you remember now?"
"Yes."
"What is it?" She tensed. "What?" she repeated sharply.
"A well. A ruined well. It's in a storage locker under a well."
"A well." Tasso relaxed. "Then we'll find a well." She looked at her
watch. "We have about an hour, Major. Do you think we can find it in
an hour?"
* * * * *
"Give me a hand up," Hendricks said.
Tasso put her pistol away and helped him to his feet. "This is going
to be difficult."
"Yes it is." Hendricks set his lips tightly. "I don't think we're
going to go very far."
They began to walk. The early sun cast a little warmth down on them.
The land was flat and barren, stretching out gray and lifeless as far
as they could see. A few birds sailed silently, far above them,
circling slowly.
"See anything?" Hendricks said. "Any claws?"
"No. Not yet."
They passed through some ruins, upright concrete and bricks. A cement
foundation. Rats scuttled away. Tasso jumped back warily.
"This used to be a town," Hendricks said. "A village. Provincial
village. This was all grape country, once. Where we are now."
They came onto a ruined street, weeds and cracks criss-crossing it.
Over to the right a stone chimney stuck up.
"Be careful," he warned her.
A pit yawned, an open basement. Ragged ends of pipes jutted up,
twisted and bent. They passed part of a house, a bathtub turned on its
side. A broken chair. A few spoons and bits of china dishes. In the
center of the street the ground had sunk away. The depression was
filled with weeds and debris and bones.
"Over here," Hendricks murmured.
"This way?"
"To the right."
They passed the remains of a heavy duty tank. Hendricks' belt counter
clicked ominously. The tank had been radiation blasted. A few feet
from the tank a mummified body lay sprawled out, mouth open. Beyond
the road was a flat field. Stones and weeds, and bits of broken glass.
"There," Hendricks said.
* * * * *
A stone well jutted up, sagging and broken. A few boards lay across
it. Most of the well had sunk into rubble. Hendricks walked unsteadily
toward it, Tasso beside him.
"Are you certain about this?" Tasso said. "This doesn't look like
anything."
"I'm sure." Hendricks sat down at the edge of the well, his teeth
locked. His breath came quickly. He wiped perspiration from his face.
"This was arranged so the senior command officer could get away. If
anything happened. If the bunker fell."
"That was you?"
"Yes."
"Where is the ship? Is it here?"
"We're standing on it." Hendricks ran his hands over the surface of
the well stones. "The eye-lock responds to me, not to anybody else.
It's my ship. Or it was supposed to be."
There was a sharp click. Presently they heard a low grating sound from
below them.
"Step back," Hendricks said. He and Tasso moved away from the well.
A section of the ground slid back. A metal frame pushed slowly up
through the ash, shoving bricks and weeds out of the way. The action
ceased, as the ship nosed into view.
"There it is," Hendricks said.
The ship was small. It rested quietly, suspended in its mesh frame,
like a blunt needle. A rain of ash sifted down into the dark cavity
from which the ship had been raised. Hendricks made his way over to
it. He mounted the mesh and unscrewed the hatch, pulling it back.
Inside the ship the control banks and the pressure seat were visible.
* * * * *
Tasso came and stood beside him, gazing into the ship. "I'm not
accustomed to rocket piloting," she said, after awhile.