When within twenty feet of her, the leader barked, and the pack slowed down. Had their chief decided that she would be less trouble than running off two hungry lions?
No. They were still moving, heading toward the corner of the square formed by the marching plants.
She waited until the last of the pack was gone by, then resumed trotting.
There was a sudden commotion behind her. She slowed again and turned to one side so she could see what was going on. She didn’t like what she saw. Urthona and McKay had burst out of the woods. They’d not circled the plants, as she’d expected, but had instead gone in a straight line through them. So, Urthona had remembered that these were no danger to human beings. Hoping to catch her by surprise, they’d probably run at top speed.
They’d succeeded. However, they were themselves surprised. They’d come out of the trees and run headlong into the baboons. The chief simian was hurling himself toward Urthona, and three big males were loping toward McKay.
Her uncle had no choice but to use his beamer. Its ray sliced the leader from top to bottom. The two halves, smoking, skidded to a halt several feet from him. If he’d been just a little slower reacting, he’d have found the baboon’s teeth in his throat.
Too bad, thought Anana.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
NOW HER UNCLE WAS being forced to discharge even more of the precious energy. McKay would be downed within a few seconds. The black was crouched, ready to fight, but he was also screaming at Urthona to shoot. Her uncle hesitated a second or two-he hated to use the beamer because he was saving its charges for his niece-but he did not want to be left alone to continue the chase. Three males tumbled over and over until they came to rest-or their halves did-just at McKay’s feet. Under his dark pigment, McKay was gray.
The other baboons halted and began jumping up and down and screaming. They were only angry and frustrated. They wouldn’t attack any more.
She turned and began running again. A few minutes later, she looked back. Her pursuers were moving toward her slowly. They didn’t dare run with their back to the simians. These were following them at a respectable distance, waiting for a chance to rush them. Urthona was shouting and waving the beamer at them, hoping to scare them off. Every few seconds, he would stop and turn to face them. The baboons would withdraw, snarling, barking, but they wouldn’t stop trailing them.
Anana grinned. She would get a big lead on the two men.
When she reached the foot of the mountain, which rose abruptly from the plain, she stopped to rest. By then the baboons had given up. Another one of the pack lay dead, and this loss had made up their minds for them. Now some were gathered around the latest casualty and tearing him apart. The others were racing to see who could get to the remaining carcasses first. A half a mile away, a giant scimitar-beaked “moa” was speeding toward the commotion. It would attempt to scare the simians from a body. Above were vultures hoping to get a share of the meat.
The slope here was a little more than a forty-five degree angle to the horizontal. Here and there were swellings, like great gas bubbles pushing out the surface of the peak. She’d have to go around these. She began climbing, leaning forward slightly. There were no trees or bushes for her to hide among. She’d have to keep going until she g6t to the top. From there she might be able to spot some kind of cover. It was doubtful that she would. But if she went down the other side swiftly enough, she might be able to get around the base of another mountain. And then her chasers wouldn’t know where she was.
The peak was perhaps a thousand and a half feet above the plain. By the time she got there, she was breathing very heavily. Her legs felt as if they were thickly coated with cement. She was shaking with fatigue; her lungs seemed to burn. The two men would be in the same, if not worse, condition.