sort of thing may present a problem," Professor Bernardicommented. "I hope that was only a pot-hole, that the water is not goingto be consistently too deep for wading."
"There might be quicksand, too," Mrs. Bernardi said somberly. "Inquicksand, one drowns slowly."
Dfar-Lll gave a start. _Surely you don't intend to lead them back tobase?_
_Precisely. The swamp is unfit for settlement._
_But to return voluntarily to captivity?_
_Who mentioned anything about captivity? Assisted by our new friends, wehave an excellent chance of taking over the ship and supplies by asurprise attack._
_But why should these aliens assist us?_
Jrann-Pttt smiled. _Oh, I think they will. Yes, I have every confidencein Plan C._
"I suggest," the professor said, ignoring his wife's pessimism, "thateach one of us pull a branch from a tree. We can test the ground beforewe step on it, to make sure that there is solid footing underneath."
"Good idea," the captain approved. He reached out the arm that was notoccupied with Miss Anspacher and tugged at a tree limb.
And then he and the lady physicist were both floundering in the ooze.
"Well, really, Captain Greenfield!" she cried, refusing his aid inextricating herself. "I always thought you were at least a gentleman inspite of your illiteracy!"
"Wha--what happened?" he asked as he struggled out of the mud."Something pushed me; I swear it."
Jrann-Pttt mentalized. "It seems the tree did not like your trying toremove a branch."
"The tree!" Greenfield's pale blue eyes bulged. "You're joking!"
"Not at all. As a matter of fact, I myself have been wondering why therewere so many thought-streams and yet so few animals around here. Itnever occurred to me that the vegetation could be sentient and have suchstrong emotive defenses. In all my experience as a botanist, I--"
"I thought you were a zoologist," Bernardi interrupted.
"My people do not believe in excessive specialization," the saurianreplied.
"Trees that think?" Mortland inquired incredulously.
"They're not very bright," Jrann-Pttt explained, "but they don't likehaving their limbs pulled off. I don't suppose you would, either, forthat matter."
"I propose," Miss Anspacher said, shaking out her wet hair, "that webreak up the camp stools and use the sticks instead of branches to helpus along."
"Good idea," the captain said, trying to get back into her good graces."I always knew women could put their brains to use if they tried."
She glared at him.
"I thought we'd use the furniture to make a fire later," Mortlandcomplained. "For tea, you know."
"The ground's much too wet," Professor Bernardi replied.
"And besides," Miss Anspacher added, "I lost the teapot in thatpot-hole."
"But you managed to save the _Proceedings of the Physical Society_,"Mortland snarled. "Serve you right if I eat it. And I warn you, ifhard-pressed, I shall."
"How will we cook our food, though?" Mrs. Bernardi demandedapprehensively. "It's a lucky thing, Mr. Pitt, that we have you with usto tell us which of the berries and things are edible, so at least weshan't starve."
The visible portion of Jrann-Pttt's well-knit form turned deeper green."But I regret to say I don't know, Mrs. Bernardi. Those 'native' foods Iserved you were all synthetics from our personal stores. I never tastednatural foods before I met you."
"And if the trees don't like our taking their branches," Miss Anspacherput in, "I don't suppose the bushes would like our taking their berries.Louisa, don't do that!"
But Mrs. Bernardi, with her usual disregard for orders, had fainted intothe mud. Pulling her out and reviving her caused so much confusion, itwasn't until then that they discovered Algol had disappeared.
* * * * *
The party had been trudging through mud and water and struggling withpale, malevolent vines and bushes and low-hanging branches for close tosix Earth hours. All of them were tired and hungry, now that theirmeager supply of biscuits and chocolate was gone.
"Remember, Carl," Mrs. Bernardi told her husband, "I forgive you. And Iknow I'm being foolishly sentimental, but if you could manage to take mybody back to Earth--"
"Don't be so pessimistic." Professor Bernardi absent-mindedly leanedagainst a tree, then recoiled as he remembered it might resent beingtreated like an inanimate object. "In any case, we'll most likely alldie at the same time."
"I never did want to go to Venus, really," Mrs. Bernardi sniffled. "Ionly came, like Algol did, because I didn't have any choice. If you leftme behind, I'd have had to bear the brunt of.... Where is Algol?" Shestared at Jrann-Pttt. "You were carrying him. What have you done withhim?"
The lizard-man looked at her in consternation. "He jumped out of my armswhen you fainted and I turned back to help. I was certain one of theothers had him."
"He's dead!" she wailed. "You let him fall into the water and drown--aninnocent kitty that never hurt anybody, except in fun."
"Come, come, Louisa." Her husband took her arm. "He was only a cat. I'msure Jrann-Pttt didn't mean for him to drown. He was just so upset byyour fainting that he didn't think...."
"Not Jrann-Pttt's fault, of course," Miss Anspacher said.
"After all, we can't expect them to love animals as we do. But Algol wasa very good sort of cat...."
"Keep quiet, all of you!" Jrann-Pttt shouted. "I have never known anyspecies to use any method of communication so much in order tocommunicate so little. Don't you understand? I would not have assumedthe cat was with one of you, if I had not subconsciously sensed histhought-stream all along. He must be nearby."
Everyone was still, while Jrann-Pttt probed the dense underbrush thatblocked their view on both sides. "Over here," he announced, and led theway through the thick screen of interlaced bushes and vines on the left.
About ten meters farther on, the ground sloped up sharply to form aridge rising a meter and a half above the rest of the terrain. The waterhad not reached its blunted top, and on this fairly level strip ofground, perhaps three meters wide, Algol had been paralleling their pathin dry-pawed comfort.
"Scientists!" Louisa Bernardi almost spat. "Professors! We could havebeen walking on that, too. But did anybody think to look for dryground? No! It was wet in one place, so it would be wet in another. Oh,Algol--" she reached over to embrace the cat--"you're smarter than anyso-called intelligent life-forms."
He indignantly straightened a whisker she had crumpled.
* * * * *
"Look," Mortland exclaimed in delight as they attained the top of theridge, "here are some dryish twigs! Don't suppose the trees want them,since they've let them fall. If I can get a fire going, we could boilsome swamp water and make tea. Nasty thought, but it's better than notea at all. And how long can one go on living without tea?"
"We'll need some food before long, too," Professor Bernardi observed,putting his briefcase down on a fallen log. "The usual procedure, Ibelieve, would be for us to draw straws to see which getseaten--although there isn't any hurry."
"I'm glad then that we'll be able to have a fire," Mortland said, busilycollecting twigs. "I should hate to have to eat you raw, Carl."
_Mr. Pitt and his little friend are delightful creatures_, Mrs. Bernardithought. _So intelligent and so well behaved. But eating them wouldn'treally be cannibalism. They aren't people._
_That premise works both ways, dear lady_, Jrann-Pttt ideated. _And Imust say your species will prove far easier to peel for the cookingpot._
"Monster! What are you doing?" Mortland dropped his twigs and pulled themosquito-bat away from a bush. "Don't eat those berries, you silly ass;the bush won't like it!" The mosquito-bat piped wrathfully.
Jrann-Pttt probed with intentness. "You know, I rather think the bushwants its berries to be eaten. Something to do with--er--propagatingitself. Of course it has a false impression as to what is going to bedone with the berries, but the important fact is th
at it won't put upany resistance."
"All right, old fellow." Mortland released the mosquito-bat, whichpromptly flew back to the bush. "I'm not the custodian of your morals."
"I wonder whether we could eat those berries, too," Professor Bernardiremarked pensively.
"Carl!" Mrs. Bernardi's tear-stained face flushed pink. "Why--why,that's almost
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