looked through
the windshield. He was excited; it was the first time since we began this
journey that I remembered seeing any positive emotion on his face. Then he
turned back and swore at me. “Why the hell didn’t you call me?”
“I thought
it wasn’t real,” I said, scratching at a scab.
“It’s
real.” He nodded, and wiped sweat from his eyes.
“It’s real,
all right. This is what we’ve been looking for.”
He sounded
relieved. He gestured me up from my seat and took the controls.
As we drew
closer I began to make out foliage on the hills. The spiny fireshrub and stunted thorn trees weren’t much, but they were better than the last plant
life I remembered—the bloated, unwholesome flora of the jungle. I strained for
the first glimpse of the blue water lake my imagination had set deep in some
twisting valley.
But as we
entered the hills, in the blaze of noon, the mists still clung unnaturally to
the land ahead of us. Looking past Ang’s shoulder, I
asked, “What’s up there in that fog?”
“Hellfire
and brimstone,” he said, with a bark of laughter. “Geothermal
area.” We entered the wall of fog.
The
temperature fell unexpectedly as we traveled deeper into the hills. Clouds of sulphurous mist poured from craters large enough to swallow
the rover whole. Their rims were stained with minerals— ochres of yellow and red, greens, whites. The anemic gray ground we passed over
breathed fog; droplets of condensation glistened on leaves and branches, and
splattered our windshield.
Eventually,
after hours of silent journeying, we reached a vast, shallow lake—but not the
lake I’d imagined. Its steaming surface was perfectly transparent, but mineral
springs tinted its depths with delicate pinks and blues, like blossoms under
glass. Ang stopped the rover on the shore and said,
“There’s a geyser somewhere around here. Goes off about once
a day. I need it to give me a bearing on the place where I found the solii . We’ll camp here tonight, find it tomorrow.”
“Here?” Spadrin said, and swore. He’d come forward finally, and the
view through the dome was enough to startle him out of his plughead stupor. I’d watched him grow more and more uneasy as we entered this place.
He’s obviously never been so intimate before with the unpleasant reality of a
planet’s surface. “I don’t like it here.”
“What’s the
matter?” I said. “Is hell too close for comfort?”
He swore at
me, this time, and I saw a faint smile pull up the corners of Ang’s mouth. I let myself smile, for the first time in days,
but only after Spadrin turned away.
“What the—?” Spadrin’s back muscles bunched as he looked
out at the steaming lake again. “ Ang ! What the hell is that?”
Ang leaned forward in his seat; so did I. A line of figures was coming toward us
through the mist along the lake shore. They moved with the slow, jerky progress
of thorn trees come to life. My mind tried to make their shapes human, and
failed. I echoed Spadrin : “What are those?”
Ang pushed eagerly up out of his seat. “Cloud ears, by the gods! Cloud
ears.” They gathered around the rover in a crowd of disordered limbs. As
they peered in, Ang reached for the door-release.
Spadrin gripped his arm, jerking him away. “You’re not letting those things in here!”
Ang pulled free. “You think I’m a fool? They’re harmless .... I’m going out to them.”
“Why?” Spadrin said.
“They pick
things up.”
“There’s a
man out there too,” I said. My eyes had finally found a human form among the stalklike limbs and bulbous glittering eyes.
Ang looked up and out again. He started to frown, and then he pushed past Spadrin and disappeared into the back of the rover. When he
came forward again he had three stun rifles. He handed us each one. “You know
how to use these?”
Spadrin laughed. I nodded once.
The feel of
the gun in my hand was like water in the throat of a man dying of thirst. I
weighed its
the windshield. He was excited; it was the first time since we began this
journey that I remembered seeing any positive emotion on his face. Then he
turned back and swore at me. “Why the hell didn’t you call me?”
“I thought
it wasn’t real,” I said, scratching at a scab.
“It’s
real.” He nodded, and wiped sweat from his eyes.
“It’s real,
all right. This is what we’ve been looking for.”
He sounded
relieved. He gestured me up from my seat and took the controls.
As we drew
closer I began to make out foliage on the hills. The spiny fireshrub and stunted thorn trees weren’t much, but they were better than the last plant
life I remembered—the bloated, unwholesome flora of the jungle. I strained for
the first glimpse of the blue water lake my imagination had set deep in some
twisting valley.
But as we
entered the hills, in the blaze of noon, the mists still clung unnaturally to
the land ahead of us. Looking past Ang’s shoulder, I
asked, “What’s up there in that fog?”
“Hellfire
and brimstone,” he said, with a bark of laughter. “Geothermal
area.” We entered the wall of fog.
The
temperature fell unexpectedly as we traveled deeper into the hills. Clouds of sulphurous mist poured from craters large enough to swallow
the rover whole. Their rims were stained with minerals— ochres of yellow and red, greens, whites. The anemic gray ground we passed over
breathed fog; droplets of condensation glistened on leaves and branches, and
splattered our windshield.
Eventually,
after hours of silent journeying, we reached a vast, shallow lake—but not the
lake I’d imagined. Its steaming surface was perfectly transparent, but mineral
springs tinted its depths with delicate pinks and blues, like blossoms under
glass. Ang stopped the rover on the shore and said,
“There’s a geyser somewhere around here. Goes off about once
a day. I need it to give me a bearing on the place where I found the solii . We’ll camp here tonight, find it tomorrow.”
“Here?” Spadrin said, and swore. He’d come forward finally, and the
view through the dome was enough to startle him out of his plughead stupor. I’d watched him grow more and more uneasy as we entered this place.
He’s obviously never been so intimate before with the unpleasant reality of a
planet’s surface. “I don’t like it here.”
“What’s the
matter?” I said. “Is hell too close for comfort?”
He swore at
me, this time, and I saw a faint smile pull up the corners of Ang’s mouth. I let myself smile, for the first time in days,
but only after Spadrin turned away.
“What the—?” Spadrin’s back muscles bunched as he looked
out at the steaming lake again. “ Ang ! What the hell is that?”
Ang leaned forward in his seat; so did I. A line of figures was coming toward us
through the mist along the lake shore. They moved with the slow, jerky progress
of thorn trees come to life. My mind tried to make their shapes human, and
failed. I echoed Spadrin : “What are those?”
Ang pushed eagerly up out of his seat. “Cloud ears, by the gods! Cloud
ears.” They gathered around the rover in a crowd of disordered limbs. As
they peered in, Ang reached for the door-release.
Spadrin gripped his arm, jerking him away. “You’re not letting those things in here!”
Ang pulled free. “You think I’m a fool? They’re harmless .... I’m going out to them.”
“Why?” Spadrin said.
“They pick
things up.”
“There’s a
man out there too,” I said. My eyes had finally found a human form among the stalklike limbs and bulbous glittering eyes.
Ang looked up and out again. He started to frown, and then he pushed past Spadrin and disappeared into the back of the rover. When he
came forward again he had three stun rifles. He handed us each one. “You know
how to use these?”
Spadrin laughed. I nodded once.
The feel of
the gun in my hand was like water in the throat of a man dying of thirst. I
weighed its
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