"Yes," Sloosh said. "But I can't see any farther than I can with my eyes in full light."
"It can't be more than a mile through this mountain," she said. "Do you think you could endure that distance?"
"I don't know. The question is, is it worth it to me to attempt that distance? Another question, even more pertinent, is, will it be only a mile? If the trail leads into branchings, and it could, what then?"
"We'll go over the mountain instead of through it," Deyv said. "If Sloosh doesn't see the tracks from there, then we can backtrack and see if they come out this side."
"But," Vana said, "they might not come out on the other side. What if the pipe has a branch that comes out where Sloosh can't see? And what if it doesn't come out of the mountain at all?"
This was a valid suggestion. But Deyv felt that they must come to a quick decision. The possibilities were so many that they could argue for a long time. Meanwhile, the Yawtl was traveling through the pipe. More likely, he had already done so.
Sloosh said, "In any group, there should be one leader. So far, we've not been able to determine that. I would assume the position, since I'm more intelligent, that is, in my definition, more knowledgeable than you two. But you humans have something which we Archkerri don't have. That is, a fierce drive toward leadership. That is, some of you have it and some don't. But there is among you always the feeling in a group that one person should be the leader. The idea of committeeship—"
"I don't want to discuss that idea now," Deyv said. "One of us should be the chief. We need quick decisions, not one arrived at after many long discussions, sometimes so late that the problem has been succeeded by another and the first is dead."
"All right," Vana said, looking angry. "You can be the leader. Now. But if you don't make the right decision, then you're out. And I'm in. I think I'm as quick and accurate as you are. But—"
"That is good thinking, Vana," Sloosh said. "So, we'll go over the mountain. And we'll see what we'll see."
"Good," Deyv said. "Only I'm sending Jum through the pipe. This is a situation where his sense of smell should be right on the nose—if you'll pardon my pun."
"Ah," the Archkerri said. "I forgot about that. In certain circumstances, the dog's abilities in tracking can be as good or even better than mine."
Jum didn't like Deyv's commands, but he entered the pipe. The others started climbing the slopes.
It took two and a half sleep-times. Deyv worried about the dog. What if Jum got lost and couldn't find his way out? It was possible that the Yawtl would pass through water, in which case Jum would lose his scent. Moreover, there might be predators in the pipe which could quickly dispose of Jum.
They came around the shoulder of the peak, half of which towered almost vertically above them. Below, at the foot, was an immense valley. It was covered with forest except in the middle, where a river ran.
Far to their left, the valley was blocked by something gigantic and shiny green. From this distance it was impossible to tell what it was. Water flowed around its sides, forming two cataracts.
Directly opposite them was a mountain even more precipitous. Beyond that, more peaks.
"If the pipe has one or more terminations on this side," Sloosh said, "we're too far away to see them.
Even if they weren't covered by the jungle."
Deyv wondered if he'd ever see Jum again. He felt pangs of guilt about having sent the dog into the pipe alone. Sighing, he started the descent
Within a sleep-time and a half, they were by the river. This was about half a mile across and, judging by its smooth green surface, at least as deep.
The Archkerri studied the river for a moment and said, "We're in luck. I can see the impressions of the
Yawti out there. He went that way."
He pointed through the thick brush and giant trees along the bank. Aejip disappeared to hunt. There was plenty of fruit here, so the three had no trouble stuffing themselves. Just as they were about to look for a good sleeping place, they made a discovery. It was the site where the Yawtl had recently fashioned a dugout. Chips of wood, the trunk of a small tree, branches, and severed liana made this obvious.
"He used an iyvrat tree," Deyv said. "Its wood is very soft; he could hack the tree down and chop out its interior in half a sleep-time if he worked hard. There are plenty of iyvrat here. We can make our own dugout."
He looked at the Archkerri's great bulk.
"Dugouts, I mean. Do you think you could paddle, Sloosh?"
Sloosh buzzed, "Yes. Your dog has been here, too."
"I know," Vana said. "I just stepped in his mess."
She went to the river to wash her foot. A little later, Jum bounced from the jungle and leaped all over
Deyv, his tail wagging, his rear wiggling, his tongue licking. Deyv grabbed him and hugged him and scratched him behind the ears.
"It's evident now that we should have gone through the pipe," Sloosh said. "We might have caught up with the thief while he was making the boat. I'm surprised that Jum didn't—"
"He may have lost his trail for a while in the jungle. The Yawtl could have taken to the trees, you know.
Besides, the Yawtl was far ahead of us. Maybe he had time to build the boat and get away before Jum caught up with him. Anyway, I'm happy that he's still well and alive."
"More probably Jum went hunting and so wasted time," Sloosh said. "He can't be blamed for that, though."
They set to work chopping down two trees. Sloosh had no weapons or tools, so he was of no help. He did watch the humans' techniques carefully, though. By the time Deyv and Vana were into the hollowingout of the trunks, the cat showed up. She was panting and worn out, having dragged a large bird some distance by the neck. When alive it must have stood about six feet high. Its wings were rudimentary; its head was huge and armed with a sharp curving beak. Its three toes bore large sharp talons. Evidently,
Aejip had managed to surprise it from above and killed it almost at once. Given a chance, it would have been dangerous prey for Aejip.
Vana and Deyv peeled the skin off with the feathers still on, cut the bird up, and cooked it All five ate until their bellies bulged, and then they went off to find a good sleeping place. By then carrion birds, insects, and several crocodilian mammals, the athaksum, had gathered nearby to clean up. The travelers could hear the furious squabble as they went through the bush.
After the party had slept awhile, though not nearly long enough, they returned to the half-made boats.
Aejip went off hunting again. By the time she'd returned, empty-jawed this time, the craft were done.
Paddles were fashioned then, during which time Sloosh fished, with a pole, line, and hook Deyv had made. The Archkerri didn't catch anything.
The smaller boat was for Vana and Aejip. The larger was an outrigger, since Deyv figured that Sloosh would tip the boat over easily unless provisions were made to prevent this. They launched the craft, and soon they were heading upriver along the bank, where the current was weakest. Sloosh sat in the rear on his haunches, his front legs folded, an enormous paddle in his hands. Deyv was in the middle, the dog in front of him.
Shortly before it was time to sleep again, Sloosh said, "The Yawtl went over to the other bank. He didn't go ashore there, though. His impressions continue upriver."
They were very tired by then, even though they'd rested often, beaching the boats. Deyv insisted that they might as well make an effort to cross the river. They did so, and they slept ashore. When they awakened, Deyv started to fish, but Sloosh demanded that he be allowed to try it. His failure had disturbed him; he regarded it as a challenge. Deyv went out with Jum, and Aejip went by herself to hunt.
Vana looked around for fruit and berries. All got what they wanted, so they set out with stuffed bellies.
Most of Vana's pickings were in woven baskets in the boats. They ate these during the rests.
The strange gleaming green object at the end of the valley grew larger. By now they could make out its
details. It seemed to be about half a mile wide and almost as high. It was set where the valley walls suddenly narrowed, forming a natural dam. However, when they saw that its surface was cut into facets,
Sloosh said that it couldn't be natural.
"What it is," he said, "believe it or not, is a trishmaging."
Deyv called to Vana, whose boat was alongside his. "What's a trishmaging?"
"It's a beautiful, very rare semitransparent hard stone.
The ancients cut facets into it. My shaman has one like this, though it's very small. Small enough to be worn on a finger if if s set in a wooden ring. The shaman got it during the Trading Season. The warrior who traded it had found five of these stones, each different from the others. They were in the dirt of a hillside washed down by rains along with a few other things made by the ancients. One stone was set in a ring made of a yellow metal. Evidently, the ancients wore the beautiful cut stones in rings."
"But this stone! What sky-high giant wore it in a ring?"
Sloosh said, "Those stones were probably natural. But this one ... it was manufactured by the ancients.
For what reason, I do not know. Perhaps as a dam which the waters would never wash away. I doubt it, though."
Deyv looked at the colossal precious stone with awe. How mighty the ancients! Yet, they had perished, and all that remained of them were a few relics.
14
THE trail left the river near the foot of the Brobdingnagian stone, where the waters fell in roaring sheets.
They followed it into the forest until they came to a very narrow, very deep canyon. This gave them rough access to the other side of the mountain. There they were confronted by another valley, but it was much wider than the one they'd left. Much of it was occupied by a large lake, the other side of which was too distant to be seen. Several miles from the shore was an island. It seemed to consist mostly of steep-sided hills centered around a peak perhaps three thousand feet high. Small black clouds circled around and over the island, settled down on it, or suddenly ascended from it.
"Flocks of birds," Sloosh said.
From the top of the peak something whitish and fluid flowed out, running down the sides in great streaks.
A tiny white object floated up from the foothills of the island and was swept with the wind from the end of the valley. It rose higher and higher, gleaming, then was lost. It was headed toward the other end of the valley, where it could exit between two peaks.
Near the travelers was the freshly cut stump of another iyvrat tree, severed branches, and chips.
"He went to that island," Sloosh said. "Whether or not he got there, I can't tell. But he did get near his goal."
Sloosh's doubt was caused by the monstrous fish that now and then surfaced or dived back into the water. They looked big enough to swallow a war canoe of twenty men without straining themselves.
"We could go around the lake and pick up his trail on the other side," Deyv said. "That would put us far, far behind him, though."
"We wouldn't find his trail there," the Archkerri said. "The crafty creature intends to get aboard a young tharakorm and sail off with it."
Deyv and Vana asked him what he meant.
"That island must be a breeding grounds for the tharakorm. 'Breeding' is not the correct term, though, since the tharakorm are not animals. You remember my description of 'the tiny invisible-to-the-eye creatures called bacteria and viri? Those white streams from the top of the peak are the overflow from a great mass of viri continually duplicating itself. The mass lies in a hollow within the top, and it draws those birds you see circling around within the peak and onto the sides. It does this by emitting a powerful perfume, clouds of molecules which entice the birds.
"As you know, I have no sense of smell, unlike you humans. That is one sense you're up on me, though of course I'm compensated by my greater intelligence, not to mention other senses.
"However, we can observe these molecular masses, which draw the birds as if they were tied to strings.
The birds eat the boiling pulsing mass of viri, and they die shortly thereafter. They continue to flock in by the thousands, though they see their fellows die. The dead are used as food by the viri to duplicate themselves. Hence, the continual ferment and flow of the viri down the mountainside."
"I don't smell anything unusual," Vana said.
"That is because the wind carries it off at right angles to us. But when we get near enough, if we get near enough and are not swallowed by a great fish, then you'll smell it"
"Will we be enticed as the birds are?" Deyv asked.
"No. In fact, human beings find the odor most disagreeable."
"Where does all the stuff go?" Deyv asked.
"To the foothills of the island, where it collects in pools and then into hardening clumps. These eventually form into the young of tharakorm, those creatures which generate a levitating gas from dead flesh and plants and which sail the winds. That object in the sky you saw a little while ago was one of the young. Ah! See! There is another!"
Sloosh was silent for a moment as they watched the white thing rise and float toward the pass. Then he said, "The Yawtl is on that one. I can just make out the thin reddish line trailing from him."
Deyv was in despair. Even if they could get on a tharakorm and take off into the air, how could they ever trail the thief? The winds would change, and the Yawtl's ship-creature would go on a different path from theirs. Their situation was hopeless.
Vana looked pale, and her features were drawn. But she said, "Well, let's get busy."
They set to work and by sleep-time almost had their work done. This time, they were using a single large boat.
When they woke, they saw a great flock of birds flying upwind toward the island.
"More food for the pot," Sloosh said.
"I would think the valley would be cleaned out of birds in a short time," Deyv observed.
"The odor is strong and doesn't thin out entirely for hundreds of miles. And sometimes the supply of birds is low. When that happens, the viri become inactivated. There are long periods when there is no odor emitted. During that time, the birds breed and flourish. Moreover, for some reason, not all birds of each species are attracted, and those that are are usually males. There is a very complicated balance of nature in this, which I hope to study some time. Meanwhile, don't you think we should launch our craft?"
They paddled upwind along the bank for a long time. Then they set out directly toward the opposite bank. They knew that the current would be strong and that it would carry them at an angle downward.
They hoped the angle would end on the island. According to Sloosh, the Yawtl had done the same thing as they. Its trail went along the shore and when it turned, they turned too.
Despite the group's fears, the giant fish didn't attack them. Once, one fish chasing a somewhat smaller one, though still large enough to engulf their boat, came up alongside them. An eye, as large as Deyv's head, looked coldly at them. Then it dived, causing a small whirlpool to rock the boat.
As the craft got closer to the island, its occupants could hear the screaming of the birds. A short time later, they smelled the odor. Deyv thought he was going to vomit. Vana looked as if she'd like to.
Though they didn't seem sick, the animals were uneasy. Jum whined, and Aejip growled deep in her throat.
The Archkerri said, "From your reactions I'd say that lacking a sense of smell has advantages in certain situations. But then anything that has its advantages also has its disadvantages."
Some of the white stuff had failed to collect in the hollows and was running off into the lake. Birds were swarming on the rocky beaches and diving into the water. Fish made the offshore water boil as they fought with each other and the birds for the stuff.
The group beached the boat and advanced through thousands of screaming, cawing, shrieking birds.
These hopped or ran out of their way but immediately closed behind them. Carcasses lay around by the hundreds, many of th
em covered with birds tearing at their flesh. Now and then one of the feeders staggered around in circles, then fell, its wings flopping, its eyes glazing.
The stench of decaying flesh was horrible, but it wasn't as bad as the viri perfume. Feathers swirled and fell on or in front of the group. Now and then dung spattered on their hair or skin. Deyv and Vana were in terror that these droppings might infect them.
Sloosh, however, said, "As far as I know, the viri can't attack humans. Of course, I could be wrong."
"Thanks for your reassurance," Deyv said.
At last they got to the hills. Here they roamed around looking for the hollows. They saw some young tharakorm being formed in the pools, a fascinating sight. Apparently, first the keel was shaped by the uncountable number of viri. Then the hull was formed as the things lined up row upon row, each virus attached to its neighbors.
"I think the viri go into a sort of suspended animation when they're in place," Sloosh said. "It's a wonderful thing, this organization of mindless nerveless half-alive units. I believe that something that might be called a mind even forms deep in the hull. And lines of them form analogs of nerves. Of course, the brain, if it can be called such, is unconscious. But by the time the thardkorm, the shipcreature, is complete, it is ready to take on its symbionts, the khratikl."
Deyv looked around nervously. "Where are they?"
"Don't worry. Not yet anyway."
A number of the pools contained only the unformed sticky-looking liquid, in which lay many birds, dead and alive. Some pools had half-laid.—half-formed, rather —keels. Others held almost complete tharakorm, which now did not emit the stink. Not until they had gotten to the foot of the mountain, where the odor choked the two humans and brought tears to their eyes, did they find what they sought.
It stood at the bottom of a deep wide hollow supported by buttresses of the hard stuff. These, Sloosh said, would separate from the hull when it was time for flight. The creature had a long and rather wide hull. Its front was shaped like a ship's, but the back part was flared out to make a nearly square stem.
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