hand clenched till the nails bit. “What is this?”
“A call for you from base.” The xenophysiologist, who had been assigned
to watch the bus while the rest accompanied the last Domrath, sounded
puzzled. “From your female. I explained you were out and could call her
back later, but she insisted the matter is urgent.”
“What–?”
“You don’t understand? I certainly don’t. She lets weeks go by with
never a word to you, and suddenly calls–speaking fair Eriau, too–and
can’t wait. That’s what comes of your human sex-equality nonsense. Not
that the sex of a non-Merseian concerns us … Well, I said I’d try to
switch you in. Shall I?”
“Yes, of course,” Flandry said. “Thank you.” He appreciated Cnif s
thoughtfulness. They’d gotten moderately close on this often rugged
trip, helping each other–on this often monotonous trip, when days of
waiting for something noteworthy were beguiled by swapping yarns. You
could do worse than pass your life among friends like Cnif and Djana–
A click, a faint crackling, and her utterance, unnaturally level:
“Nicky?”
“Here, wishing I were there,” he acknowledged, trying for lightness. But
the volcano growled in stone and air.
“Don’t show surprise,” said the quick Anglic words. “This is terrible
news.”
“I’m alone,” he answered. How very alone. Night gnawed at his vision.
“Nicky, darling, I have to say goodbye to you. Forever.”
“What? You mean you–” He heard his speech at once loud and muffled in
the clouds, hers tiny and as if infinitely removed.
“No. You. Listen. I may be interrupted any minute.”
Even while she spoke, he wondered what had wrought the change in her.
She should have been half incoherent, not giving him the bayonet-bare
account she did. “You must have been told, the Merseian ship’s arrived.
They’ll take you away for interrogation. You’ll be a vegetable before
they kill you. Your party’s due back soon, isn’t it? Escape first. Die
decently, Nicky. Die free and yourself.”
It was strange how detached he felt, and stranger still that he noticed
it. Perhaps he hadn’t yet realized the import. He had seen beings
mortally wounded, gaping at their hurts without immediate comprehension
that their lives were running out of them. “How do you know, Djana? How
can you be sure?”
“Ydwyr–Wait. Someone coming. Ydwyr’s people, no danger, but if somebody
from the ship gets curious about–Hold on.”
Silence, fog, night seeping over a land whose wetness had started to
freeze. A few faint noises and a wan gleam of light slipped past the
cave gate. The Domrath must be snuggling down, the Merseians making a
final inspection by dimmed flashbeams before leaving …
“It’s all right, Nicky. I wished him to go past. I guess his intention
to look into my room wasn’t strong, if he had any, because he did go
past.”
“What?” Flandry asked in his daze.
“I’ve been … Ydwryr’s been working with me. I’ve learned, I’ve
developed a … a talent. I can wish a person, an animal, to do a thing,
and when I’m lucky, it will. But never mind!” The stiffness was breaking
in her; she sounded more like the girl he had known. “Ydwyr’s the one
who saved you, Nicky. He warned me and said I should warn you. Oh,
hurry!”
“What’ll become of you?” The man spoke automatically. His main desire
was to keep her voice in the circuit, in the night.
“Ydwyr will take care of me. He’s a–he’s noble. The Merseians aren’t
bad, except a few. We want to save you from them. If only–you–” Her
tone grew indistinct and uneven. “Get away, darling. Before too late. I
want t-t-to remember you … like you were–God keep you!” she wailed,
and snapped the connection.
He stood for a timeless time until, “What’s wrong. Dominic?” Cnif asked.
“Uh, khraich, a complicated story.” Flandry shook himself. Anger flared.
No! I’ll not go meekly off to their brain machines. Nor will I quietly
cut my throat, or slip into the hills and gently become an icicle. A
child underneath moaned terror of the devouring dark; but the surface
mind had mastery. If they want to close down me and my personal
universe, by Judas but they’ll pay for their fun!