It is significant that Billie, because of her connection with the bee,
Supreme, was spared the sight that the doctor saw from Rolla's point of
view. Otherwise, the geologist's wife might have had a different opinion
of the matter. As it was--
"Corrus and Dulnop," said she as cooly as Supreme herself might have
spoken, "are not the first to suffer because they have discovered
something big."
Whereupon her husband's wrath got beyond his grip. "Not the first! Is
that all you can say?" he demanded hotly. "Why, of all the damnably
cruel, cold-blooded creatures I ever heard of, those infernal bees--"
Van Emmon stopped, unable to go on without blasphemy.
The doctor had got over the horror of what he had seen. "We want to be
fair, Van. Look at this matter from the bees' view-point for awhile.
What were they to do? They had to make sure, as far as possible, that
their supremacy would never be threatened again. Didn't they?"
"Oh, but--damn it all!" cried Van Emmon. "There's a limit somewhere!
Such cruelty as that--no one could conceive of it!"
"As for the bees," flared Billie, "I don't blame 'em! And unless I'm
very much mistaken, the ruling class ANYWHERE, here on the earth or
wherever you investigate, will go the limit to hold the reins, once they
get them!"
The expression on Van Emmon's face was curious to see. There was no fear
there, only a puzzled astonishment. Strange as it may seem, Billie had
told him something that had never occurred to him before. And he
recognized it as truth, as soon as she had said it.
"Just a minute," remarked Smith in his ordinary voice; "just a minute.
You're forgetting that we don't really know whether Rolla and Cunora are
safe. Everything depends upon them now, you know."
In silence the four went back into telepathic connection. Now, of
course, Smith and Van Emmon were practically without agents. The
prisoners could tell them nothing whatever except the tale of increasing
agony as their torture went on. All that Van Emmon and Smith could do
was lend the aid of their mentality to the efforts of the other two, and
for a while had to be content with what Billie, through Supreme, and the
doctor, through Rolla, were able to learn. However, Kinney did suggest
that one of the other two men get in touch with Cunora.
"Good idea," said Smith. "Go to it, Van Emmon."
The geologist stirred uneasily, and avoided his wife's eyes. "I--I'm
afraid not, Smith. Rather think I'd prefer to rest a while. You do it!"
Smith laughed and reddened. "Nothing doing for an old bach like me.
Cunora might--well, you know--go in bathing, for instance. It's all
right for the doctor, of course; but--let me out!"
Meanwhile the two women on Sanus, taking the utmost care, managed to
retreat from the river bank without being discovered. Keeping their eyes
very wide open and their ears strained for the slightest buzz, the two
contrived to pass through the village, out into the fields, and thence,
from cover to cover, into the foothills on that side of the valley where
their lovers had found the pyrites.
"If only we knew which stream they ascended!" lamented Cunora, as they
stood in indecision before a fork in the river.
"But we don't!" Rolla pointed out philosophically. "We must trust to
luck and Mownoth, ye and I."
And despite all the effort the doctor could put forth to the contrary,
the two women picked out the wrong branch. They searched as diligently
as two people possibly could; but somehow the doctor knew, just because
of the wrong choice that had been made, that their search would be
unsuccessful. He thought the matter over for a few moments, and finally
admitted to his three friends:
"I wonder if I haven't been a little silly? Why should I have been so
precious specific in impressing Rolla about the pyrites? Pshaw! Almost
any hard rock will strike sparks from flint!"
"Why, of course!" exploded Van Emmon. "Here--let's get busy and tell
Rolla!"
But it proved astonishingly difficult. The two women were in an
extraordinary condition now. They were continually on the alert. In
fact, the word "alert" scarcely described the state of mind, the keen,
desperate watchfulness which filled every one of their waking hours, and
caused each to remain awake as long as possible; so that they invariably
fell to sleep without warning. They could not be caught in the drowsy
state!
For they knew something about the bees which the four on the earth did
not learn until Billie had overheard Supreme giving some orders.
"Set a guard on that river bank," she told her subordinate, "and
maintain it night and day. If any inferior attempts to recover the magic
stone, deal with him or her in the same manner in which we punished the
finders of the deadly flower."
"It shall be done, Supreme. Is there anything further?"
"Yes. Make quite sure that none of the inferiors are missing."
Shortly afterward the lieutenant reported that one of the huts was
empty.
"Rolla, the soil-tester, and Cunora, the vineyardist, are gone."
"Seek them!" Supreme almost became excited. "They are the lovers of the
men we punished! They would not absent themselves unless they knew
something! Find them, and torture them into revealing the secret! We
must weed out this flowing blossom forever!"
"It shall be done!"
Such methods were well known to Rolla and Cunora. Had not their fellow
villagers, many of them, tried time after time to escape from bondage?
And had they not inevitably been apprehended and driven back, to be
tortured as an example to the rest? It would never do to be caught!
So they made it a practice to travel only during twilight and dawn,
remaining hidden through the day. Invariably one stood watch while the
other slept. The bees were--everywhere!
Upon crossing the range of mountains going down the other side, Cunora
and Rolla began to feel hopeful of two things--first, that their luck
would change, and the wonderful stone be found; and second, that they
would be in no danger from the bees in this new country, which seemed to
be a valley much like the one they had quit. It was all quite new and
strange to them, and in their interest they almost forgot at times that
each had a terrible score to settle when her chance finally came.
Twice they had exceedingly narrow escapes. Always they kept carefully
hid, but on the third day Cunora, advancing cautiously through some
brush, came suddenly upon two bees feeding. She stopped short and held
her breath. Neither saw her, so intent were they upon their honey; yet
Cunora felt certain that each had been warned to watch out for her. This
was true; Billie learned that every bee on the planet had been told. And
so Cunora silently backed away, an inch at a time, until it was safe to
turn and run.
On another occasion Rolla surprised a big drone bee, just as she bent to
take a drink of water from a stream. The insect had been out of her
sight, on the other side of a boulder. It rose with an angry buzz as she
bent down; a few feet away from her it hung in the air, apparently
scrutinizing her to make sure that she was one of the runaways. Her
heart leaped to her mouth. Suppose they were reported!
She made a lightninglike grab at the thing, and very nearly caught it.
Straight up it shot, taken by surprise, and dashed blindly into a ledge
of rock which hung overhead. For a second it floundered, dazed; and that
second was its last. Cunora gave a single bound forward, and with a
vicious swing of a palm-leaf, which she always carried, smashed the bee
flat.
Before they had been free five days they came to an exceedingly serious
conclusion: that it was only a question of time until they were caught.
Sooner or later they must be forced to return; they could not hope to
dodge bees much longer. When Rolla fully realized this she turned
gravely to the younger girl.
"Methinks the time has come for us to make a choice, Cunora. Which shall
it be: live as we have been living for the past four days, with the
certainty of being caught in time or--face the unknown perils on the
edge of the world?"
Cunora dropped the piece of stone she had been inspecting and shivered
with fear. "A dreadful choice ye offer, Rolla! Think of the horrible
beasts we must encounter!"
"Ye mean," corrected the philosophical one--"ye mean, the beasts which
men SAY they have seen. Tell me; hast ever seen such thyself? Many times
hast thou been near the edge, I know."
The girl shook her head. "Nay; not I. Yet these beasts must be, Rolla;
else why should all men tell of them?"
"I note," remarked Rolla thoughtfully, "that each man tells of seeing a
different sort of beast. Perchance they were all but lies."
However, it was Cunora's fear of capture, rather than her faith in
Rolla's reasoning, which drove the girl to the north. For to the north
they traveled, a matter of some two weeks; and not once did they dare
relax their vigilance. Wherever they went, there was vegetation of some
sort, and wherever there was vegetation bees were likely to be found. By
the time the two weeks were over, the women were in a state of near-
hysteria, from the nervous strain of it all. Moreover, both suffered
keenly for want of cereals, to which they were accustomed; they were
heartily tired of such fruits and nuts as they were able to pick up
without exposing themselves.
One morning before daybreak they came to the upper end of a long, narrow
valley--one which paralleled their own, by the way--and as they emerged
from the plain into the foot-hills it was clear that they had reached a
new type of country. There was comparatively little brush; and with
every step the rockiness increased. By dawn they were on the edge of a
plateau; back of them stretched the inhabited country; ahead, a haze-
covered expanse. Nothing but rocks was about them.
"Ye are sure that we had best keep on?" asked Cunora uneasily.
Rolla nodded, slowly but positively. "It is best. Back of us lies
certain capture. Ahead--we know not what; but at least there is a
chance!"
Nevertheless, both hesitated before starting over the plateau. Each
gazed back longingly over the home of their kind; and for a moment
Rolla's resolution plainly faltered. She hesitated; Cunora made a move
as though to return. And at that instant their problem was decided for
them.
A large drone passed within six feet of them. Both heard the buzz, and
whirled about to see the bee darting frantically out of reach. At a safe
distance it paused, as though to make sure of its find, then disappeared
down the valley. They had been located!
"We have no choice now!" cried Rolla, speaking above a whisper for the
first time in weeks. "On, as fast as ye can, Cunora!"
The two sped over the rocks, making pretty good time considering the
loads they carried. Each had a good-sized goatskin full of various dried
fruits and nuts, also a gourd not so full. In fact, it had been some
while since they had had fresh water. Cunora was further weighed down by
some six pounds of dried rabbit meat; the animals had been caught in
snares. Both, however, discarded their palm leaves; they would be of no
further use now.
And thus they fled, knowing that they had, at most, less than a day
before the drone would return with enough soldiers to compel obedience.
For the most part, the surface was rough granite, with very little sign
of erosion. There was almost no water; both women showed intense joy
when they found a tiny pool of it standing in a crevasse. They filled
their gourds as well as their stomachs.
A few steps farther on, and the pair stepped out of the shallow gully in
which they had been walking. Immediately they were exposed to a very
strong and exceedingly cold wind, such as seemed to surprise them in no
way, but compelled both to actually lean against its force. Moreover,
although this pressure was all from the left, it proved exceedingly
difficult to go on. Their legs seemed made of lead, and their breathing
was strangely labored. This, also, appeared to be just what they had
expected.
Presently, however, they found another slight depression the rocks; and
sheltered from the wind, made a little better progress ahead. It was
bitter cold, however; only the violence of their exercise could make
them warm enough to stand it. All in all, the two were considerably over
three hours in making the last mile; they had to stop frequently to
rest. The only compensating thing was their freedom from worry; the bees
would not bother them where the wind was so strong. So long as they
could keep on the move they were safe.
But what made it worse was the steadily increasing difficulty of moving
their legs. For, although the surface continued level, they seemed to be
CLIMBING now, where before they had simply walked. It was just as though
the plateau had changed into a mountain, and they were ascending it;
only, upon looking back, nothing but comparatively flat rock met the
gaze. What made them lean forward so steeply anyhow?
Rolla seemed to think it all very ordinary. She was more concerned about
the wind, to which they had become once more exposed as they reached the
end of the rift. On they pressed, five or six steps at each attempt,
stopping to rest twice the length of time they actually traveled. It was
necessary now to cling to the rock with both hands, and once Cunora lost
her grip, so that she would have been blown to one side, or else have
slipped backward, had not Rolla grasped her heel and held her until she
could get another hand-hold.
"Courage!" gasped Rolla. Perspiration was streaming down her face,
despite the bitter cold of the wind; her hands trembled from the strain
she was undergoing. "Courage, Cunora! It be not much farther!" On they
strove. Always it seemed as though they were working upward as well as
onward, although the continued flatness of the surface argued
obstinately against this. Also, the sun remained in the same position
relative to the rocks; if they were climbing, it should have appeared
overhead. What did it mean?
Finally Rolla saw, about a hundred yards farther on, something which
caused her to shout: "Almost there, Cunora!"
The younger girl could not spare breath enough to reply. They struggled
on in silence.
Now they were down on their hands and knees. Before half the hundred
yards was covered, they were flat on their faces, literally clawing
their way upward and onward. Had the wind increased in violence in
proportion as the way grew harder, they could never have made it,
physical marvels though they were. Only the absolute knowledge that they
dared not return drove them on; that, and the possibility of finding the
precious stone, and of ultimately saving the two men they had left
behind.
The last twenty feet was the most extraordinary effort that any human
had ever been subjected to. They had to take turns in negotiating the
rock; one would creep a few inches on, get a good hold, and brace
herself against the wind, while the other, crawling alongside, used her
as a sort of a crutch. Their fingers were bleeding and their finger-
nails cracked from the rock and cold; the same is equally true of their
toes. Had it been forty feet instead of twenty--
The rocks ended there. Beyond was nothing but sky; even this was not
like what they were used to, but was very nearly black. Two more spurts,
and Rolla threw one hand ahead and caught the edge of the rock. Cunora
dragged herself alongside. The effort brought blood to her nostrils.
They rested a minute or two, then looked at one another in mute inquiry.
Cunora nodded; Rolla took great breath; and they drew themselves to the
edge and looked over.