But that retreat ended abruptly2 with the merman plastered against the wall, his whole shadowy form a tense warning which stopped Dalgard short. In that moment the answer flashed from mind to mind.
"There are those which follow—"
"Snake-devils? Those Others?" The colony scout3 supplied the only two explanations he had, sending his own thought out questing. But as usual he could not hope to equal the more sensitive merman whose race had always used that form of communication.
"Those who have long haunted the darkness," was the only reply he could get.
But Sssuri's actions were far more indicative of dan[86]ger. For the merman turned and caught at Dalgard, pulling the larger colonist4 along a step or two with the urgency of his grip.
"We cannot return this way—and we must travel fast!"
For Sssuri who would face and had faced up to a snake-devil with a spear his sole weapon, this timidity was new. Dalgard was wise enough to accept his verdict of the wisdom of flight. Together they ran along the underground corridor, soon putting a mile between them and the point where the merman had first taken alarm.
"There are those who live in this darkness. By one, or by two, we could speedily remove them from life. But they hunt in packs and they are as greedy for the kill as are the snake-devils scenting6 meat. Also they are intelligent. Once, long before the days of burning, they served Those Others as hunters of game. And Those Others tried to make them ever more intelligent and crafty7 so they might be sent to hunt without a huntsman. At last they grew too knowing for their masters. Then Those Others, realizing their menace, tried to kill them all with traps and tricks. But only the most stupid and the slowest were so disposed of. The others withdrew into underground ways such as this, venturing forth8 only in the dark of night."
"But if they are intelligent," countered the scout, "why can they not be reached by the mind touch?"
"Through the years they have developed their own ways of thought. And these are not the simple creatures of the sun, or such as the runners. Once they were taught to answer only to Those Others. Now they answer only to each other. But"—he spread out his hands in one of his quick, nervous gestures—"to those who are cornered by one of their packs, they are sudden death!"
Since they could not, by Sssuri's reckoning, turn back, there was only one course before them, to fol[87]low the passage they had chanced upon. The merman was certain that it underran the river and that eventually they would reach the sea—unless some side turn before that point would make them free in the countryside once more.
Dalgard doubted if it had ever been a well-used way. And the presence of earth falls here and there, over which they stumbled and clawed their way, led him to consider the wisdom of keeping on to what might be a dead end. But his trust in Sssuri's judgment9 was great, and as the merman plowed10 forward with every appearance of confidence, he continued to trot11 along without complaint.
They snatched moments of rest, taking turns at guard. But the walls about them were so unchanging that it was hard to measure time or distance. Dalgard chewed at his emergency rations12, a block of dried meat and fruit pounded together to an almost rocklike consistency13, and tried to make the crumbs14 he sucked loose satisfy his growing hunger.
The passageway was growing damper; water trickled15 down the walls and gathered in fetid pools on the floor. Dalgard's dislike of the place grew. His shoulders hunched16 involuntarily as he strode along, for his imagination pictured the rock above them giving away to dump tons of the oily river water down to engulf17 them. But though Sssuri avoided splashing through the pools wherever he might, he did not appear to find anything upsetting about the moisture.
At last the human could stand it no longer. "How much farther to the sea?" he asked without any hope of a real answer.
As he had expected him to do, Sssuri shrugged18. "We should be close. But having never trod this way before, how can I tell you?"
Once more they rested, choosing a stretch which was reasonably dry, munching19 their dried food and drinking sparingly from the stoppered duocorn horns which swung from their belts. A man would have to[88] be dying of thirst, Dalgard thought, before he would palm up any of the stagnant20 water from the passage pools.
He drifted off into a troubled sleep in which he fled beneath a sky which was a giant lid in the hand of an unseen enemy, a lid which was slowly lowered to crush him flat. He awoke with a start to find Sssuri's cool, scaled fingers stroking his shoulder.
"They do indeed," he roused to answer.
"It is always so where Those Others have been. They leave behind them the thoughts which breed such dreams to trouble the sleep of those who are not of their kind. Let us go. I would like to be out of this place under the clean sky, where no ancient wickedness hangs to poison the air and thought."
Either the merman had miscalculated the direction of their route or the river mouth was much farther from the inland city than they had believed, for, though they pushed on for what seemed like weary hours, they came to no upward slope, no exit to the world they knew.
Instead Dalgard began to realize that just the opposite was true. At last he could stand it no longer and broke out with what he feared, hoping that Sssuri would deny that fear.
"We are going downhill!"
To his disappointment the merman agreed. "It has been so for the last thousand of our paces. It is my belief that this leads not to the sun but out under the sea."
Dalgard missed a step. To Sssuri the sea was home and perhaps the thought of being under its floor was not disturbing. The land-born human was not so prepared. If he had experienced discomfort22 under the river, what would it be like under the ocean? His terrifying dream of a lid being pressed down upon him[89] flashed back into his mind. But his companion was continuing:
"There will be doors, perhaps into the sea itself."
"Neither were Those Others, yet they used these ways. And I tell you"—in his earnestness the merman laid his hand once more on Dalgard's arm—"to turn back now is out of the question. The death which haunts the darkness is still sniffing25 out our trail."
Dalgard glanced involuntarily over his shoulder. By the faint and limited light of the purple disks he could see little or nothing. An army might creep there undetected.
"But—" His protest was in answer to the merman's seeming unconcern.
Sssuri at the first intimation that the hunters were behind them had shown wariness26. Now he did not appear to care.
"They had fed," he replied. "Scouts27 follow because we are something new and thus suspect. When hunger rises once more in them, and their scouts report that we are meat, then is the time to draw knives and prepare for battle. But before that hour we may have won free. Let us search for the gate we now need."
However confident the merman might be, Dalgard could not match that confidence. In the open air he would have faced a snake-devil four times his size without any more emotion than a hunter's instinctive28 caution. But here in the dark, unable to rid himself of the belief that thousands of tons of sea water hung over his head, he found himself starting at any sound, his knife bare and ready in his sweating hand.
He noted29 that Sssuri had stepped up the pace, passing into his sure-footed glide30 which made Dalgard exert himself to keep up. Before them the corridor stretched without a break. The merman's promised exit, if it existed, was still out of sight.[90]
It was difficult to gauge31 time in this dark hall, but Dalgard thought that they were at least an hour farther on their way when Sssuri paused abruptly once more, his head cocked in a listening attitude, as if he caught some whisper of sound too rarefied for his human companion.
He bounded forward with a spurt35, which Dalgard copied, and they ran lightly, the dust undisturbed in years puffing36 up beneath the merman's bare, scaled feet and Dalgard's hide boots. Still the unbroken walls, the feeble patches of violet in the ceiling. But no exit. And what good would any exit do him, Dalgard thought, if it opened under the sea?
"There are islands off the coast—many islands—" Sssuri caught him up. "It is in my mind that we shall find our door on one of those. But—run now, knife brother, for those at our heels awake and thirst for flesh and blood. They have decided38 that we are not to be feared but may be run down for their pleasure."
Dalgard weighed his knife in his hand. "They shall find us with fangs," he promised grimly.
"It will be better if they do not find us at all," returned Sssuri.
A burning arch of pain encased Dalgard's lower ribs39, and his breath came in gusts40 of hastily sucked air as their flight kept on, down the endless corridor. Sssuri was also showing signs of the grueling pace, his round head bent41 forward, his furred legs pumping as if only his iron will kept them moving. And the determination which kept him going was communicated to the scout as a graver warning than any thought message of fear.
They were passing under one of the infrequent violet lights when Dalgard got something else—a mental thrust so quick and sharp it was as if a sword had cut through the daze42 of fatigue43 to reach his brain. Yet that had not come from Sssuri, for it was totally alien,[91] wavering on a band so near the extreme edge of his consciousness that it pricked44, receded45, and pricked again as a needle might.
This was no message of fear or warning, but of implacable stubbornness and ravening46 hunger. And in that instant Dalgard knew that it came from what was sniffing out their trail, and he no longer wondered that the hunters were immune to other mental contact. One could not reason with—that!
He spurted47 forward, matching the merman's acceleration48 of speed. But to Dalgard's horror he saw that his companion now ran with one hand brushing along the wall, as if he needed that support.
"Sssuri!"
His thought met a wall of concentration through which he could not break. In a way he was reassured—for a moment, until another of those stabs from their pursuers struck him. He longed to look back, to see what hunted them. But he dared not break stride to do that.
"Ahhhh!" The welcoming cry from Sssuri brought his attention back to his companion as the merman broke into a wild run.
Dalgard summoned up his last rags of energy and coursed after him. Sssuri had halted before a dark lump which protruded50 from the side of the corridor.
"A sea lock!" Sssuri's claws were clicking over the surface of the hatch, seeking the secret of its latch51.
Panting, Dalgard leaned against the opposite wall. Just as a protest formed in his mind he heard something else, the pad of feet, many feet, echoing down the corridor. And somehow he was able now to look.
Round spots of light, dull, greenish, close to the ground, as if someone had flung a handful of phosphorescence into the dark. But this was no phosphorescence! Eyes! Eyes—he tried to count and knew it was impossible to so reckon the number of the pack that ran mute but ready. Nor could he distinguish more than[92] a very shadowy glimpse of forms which glided52 close to the ground with an unpleasant sinuosity.
There was the grate of unwilling54 metal forced to move, a puff37 of air redolent with the sea striking their bodies in chill threat, the brightness of violet light stepped up to a point far beyond the lamps in the corridor.
With it came no rush of drowning water as Dalgard had half expected, and when the merman clambered through the hatch he prepared to follow, well aware that the eyes, and the pattering feet which bore them, were now almost within range.
There was a snarl55 from the passage, and a black thing sprang at the scout. Without clear sight of what he was fighting, he struck down with his knife and felt it slit56 flesh. The snarl was a scream of rage as the creature twisted in midair for a second try at him. In that instant Sssuri, leaning halfway57 out of the hatch, struck in his turn, thrusting his bone knife into shadows which now boiled with life.
Dalgard leaped for the lock door, kicking out swiftly and feeling the toe of his boot contact with a crunch58 against one of those darting59 shades, sending it back end over end into the press where its fellows turned snapping upon it. Then Sssuri grabbed at him, bringing him in, and together they slammed the hatch, feeling it shake with the shock of thudding bodies as the pack outside went mad in their frustration60.
While the merman fastened the locking bar, bringing out of the long-motionless metal another protesting screech61, Dalgard had a chance to look about him. They were in a room some eight or nine feet long, the violet light showing up well tangles62 of equipment hanging from pegs63 on the walls, a pile of small cylinders64 on the floor. At the far end of the chamber65 was another hatch door, locked with the same type of bar as Sssuri had just lowered to seal the inner one. The merman nodded to it.[93]
"The sea—"
Dalgard slid his knife back into its sheath. So the sea lay beyond. He did not welcome the thought of passing through that door. Like all of his race he could swim—perhaps his feats66 in the water would have astonished the men of the planet from which his tribe had emigrated. But unlike the mermen, he was not sea-born, nor equipped by nature with a secondary breathing apparatus67 to make him as free in the world of water as he was on land. Sssuri might crawl through that hatch without fear. For Dalgard it was as big a test as to turn and face what now raged in the corridor on the inner side.
"There is no hope that they will go now," Sssuri answered his vague question. "They are stubborn. And hours—or even days—will mean nothing. Also they can leave a guard there and rove at will, to return upon signal. That is their way."
This left only the sea door. Sssuri padded across the chamber and reached up to free one of the strange objects dangling68 from the wall pegs. Like all things made of the marvelous substance used by Those Others for any article which might be exposed to the elements, it seemed as perfect as on the day it had first been hung there, though that date might be a hundred or more Astran years earlier. The merman uncoiled a length of thin, flexible piping which joined a two-foot canister with a flat piece of metallic69 fabric70.
"Those Others could not breathe under the water, as you cannot," he explained as he worked deftly71 and swiftly. "Within my own memory we have trapped their scouts wearing aids such as these so that they might spy upon our safe places. But their last foray was some years ago and at that time we taught them such a lesson that they have not dared to return. Since they are not unlike you in body and since you breathe the same air aboveground, there is no reason why this should not take you out of here."
Dalgard accepted the apparatus. A couple of elas[94]tic metal bands fastened the canister to the chest of the wearer. The fabric molded into a perfect, tight face mask as it touched the skin.
Sssuri went to the pile of cylinders. Choosing one he tinkered with its pointed cone72, to be rewarded with a thin hiss32.
"Ahhhh—" again his recognition of the rightness of things. "These still contain air." He tested two more and then brought all three back to where Dalgard stood, the canister strapped73 into place, the mask ready in his hand. With infinite care the merman fitted two of the cylinders into the canister and then was forced to set the other aside.
"We could not change them while under water anyway," he explained. "So it will do little good to take extra supplies with us."
Trying not to speculate on the amount of air he could carry in the cylinders, Dalgard fastened on the mask, adjusted the air tube, and sucked. Air flowed—he could breathe! Only—for how long?
Sssuri, seeing that his companion was fully74 provided for, worked at the bar locking the sea hatch. But in the end it took their combined strength to spring that barrier and win through to a small cubby which was the actual sea lock.
Dalgard knew one moment of resistance as the merman closed the hatch behind them. For an instant it seemed that the dubious75 safety of the dressing76 chamber and a faint hope of the hunters' giving up their vigil was better than what might lie before them now. But Sssuri pushed shut the hatch, and Dalgard stood quietly, without offering any visible protest.
He tried to draw even breaths—slowly—as the merman activated77 the lock. When the water curled in from hidden openings, rising from ankle to calf78 and then to knee, its chill striking through flesh to bone, he kept to the same stolid79 waiting, though this seemed almost worse than a sudden gush80 of water sweeping81 them out in its embrace.[95]
The liquid swirled82 about Dalgard's waist now, tugging83 at his belt, his arrow quiver, tapping on the bottom of the canister which held his precious air supply. His bow, shielded from the wet by its casing, was swallowed up inch by inch.
As the water lapped at his chin, the outer door opened with a slow inward push which suggested that the machinery84 controlling it had grown sluggish85 with the years. Sssuri, perfectly86 at home, darted87 out as soon as the opening was large enough to afford him an exit. And his thought came back to reassure49 the more clumsy landsman.
"We are in the shallows—land rises ahead. The roots of an island. There is nothing to fear—" The word ended abruptly in what was like a mental gasp88 of either astonishment89 or fear.
Knowing all the menaces which might lie in wait, even in the shallows of the sea, Dalgard drew his knife once more as he plowed through water—ready to rescue or at least to offer what aid he could.
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1
retracing
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| v.折回( retrace的现在分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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colonist
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| n.殖民者，移民 | |
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query
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| n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑 | |
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scenting
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| vt.闻到（scent的现在分词形式） | |
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crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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plowed
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| v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
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trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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12
rations
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| 定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量 | |
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consistency
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| n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度 | |
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14
crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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15
trickled
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| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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16
hunched
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| （常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的 | |
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engulf
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| vt.吞没，吞食 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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19
munching
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| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的现在分词 ) | |
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stagnant
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| adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的 | |
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demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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22
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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dweller
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| n.居住者，住客 | |
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25
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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26
wariness
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| n. 注意,小心 | |
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scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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28
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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31
gauge
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| v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器 | |
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32
hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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35
spurt
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| v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆 | |
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puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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37
puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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38
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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39
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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40
gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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41
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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42
daze
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| v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏 | |
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43
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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44
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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45
receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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46
ravening
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| a.贪婪而饥饿的 | |
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47
spurted
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| （液体，火焰等）喷出，（使）涌出( spurt的过去式和过去分词 )； （短暂地）加速前进，冲刺 | |
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48
acceleration
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| n.加速，加速度 | |
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49
reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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50
protruded
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
latch
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| n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁 | |
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52
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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53
paean
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| n.赞美歌，欢乐歌 | |
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54
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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55
snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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56
slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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57
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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crunch
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| n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声 | |
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darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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frustration
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| n.挫折，失败，失效，落空 | |
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61
screech
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| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
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tangles
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| （使）缠结， （使）乱作一团( tangle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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pegs
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| n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 )；挂钉；系帐篷的桩；弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 )；使固定在某水平 | |
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cylinders
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| n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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68
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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cone
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| n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果 | |
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73
strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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activated
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| adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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83
tugging
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| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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sluggish
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| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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87
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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88
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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