“I appreciate that consideration,” he said. And gave her a quick, affectionate kiss, pressing the spray against her arm, and then his own. He arranged his limbs and just had time to curl his fingers about hers before sleep overtook him.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Kai was not the only stiff one when they finally woke. And Lunzie had roused before Triv, which put her in a good mood. Trizein was improving, she told the leaders as she handed them each beakers of a steaming nutritious broth. Her own special recipe, she said, guaranteed to circulate blood through abused muscles and restore tissue to normal.
“You’ll need to be limber. We’ve got to have more for the synthesizer to masticate or I won’t have enough of my brew to revive the others.”
Kai sipped carefully of the hot liquid. Lunzie had not misrepresented its effectiveness. As the warmth descended to his stomach, he could almost feel the loosening of his stiff muscles. He did have to apply slight Disciplinary controls to reduce the ache in his wrist.
“How long did we sleep?”
“I’d say we made it around the chrono and half again?” Lunzie said, glancing at her wrist bracelet. I know we didn’t sleep a mere twelve hours or I’ve lost my knack at pulling sedatives into a sprayer. Which I haven’t.”
“How long before the others rouse?” asked Triv, who was now awake.
“I’d say we have another clear hour or so before the dead arise.”
“A little recon?” Triv asked the two leaders.
“Just remember,” said Lunzie at her driest, “you’ve none of your force-belts anymore. Don’t fall.”
From reflex action, Kai found himself reaching for the stun locker door and saw its open, empty shelves.
“Yes, indeed,” said Varian with a wry laugh, “the cupboard is bare.”
“And all we’ve got is bare hands …”
“One a piece,” said Varian with a second laugh, “Remember, you won’t be able to use full Discipline today?” Lunzie cautioned. “I trust the need will not arise.”
“I doubt it. The giffs aren’t aggressive,” said Varian, settling her hand comfortably against her body before stepping through the iris. “Another reason why this is a perfect hideaway.”
A scant few minutes later, as they peered past the mouth of their retreat, she revised her statement.
“Well, there are a few drawbacks.” She squinted down at the waves beating against the foot of their twenty metre high cliff. To either side was an expanse of sheer rock. The line Triv had secured from the terrace flapped in the light breeze. Looking up, Varian could see the giffs flying. “At least There’s nothing but giffs airborne,” she added with an exaggerated sigh of relief.
“And nothing for the synthesizer either,” said Kai, trying to recall exactly what lay beyond the terrace and the rock-shelf on which the giffs dropped their catch.
Triv had gone to the rear of the cavern and came back now, a sheaf of dried grasses in each hand. “There’s lots more of this, dried, but they’ll provide some substance for the synthesizer.”
“There’s forest beyond the cliffs,” said Varian, thoughtfully, frowning as she concentrated. “Blast but we rely too much on tapes and not enough on our own recall?”
“C’mon, don’t fuss yourself, Varian. We’ll collect grasses at least. Triv, how are you at climbing up ropes?”
“I’ll learn but I suspect it’s the sort of thing Bonnard will do extremely well,” he said with a grin, testing the rope and then peering up its length, his expression dubious.
Lunzie was not pleased with the grasses. Fresh they’d have been perfect but there was no telling how long they’d been lying about the cavern. Couldn’t they get some fresh green–even tree tops?
Tree tops were about all they could reach, Triv informed the leaders when he and the youngsters had returned from their foraging. There was a tantalizing view of fruiting trees beyond a narrow but impassable canyon which separated the main cliffs from the forest beyond. At least from the terrace level which was, at the moment, all they could reach.
“The giffs watched us,” Bonnard told Varian and Kai, “just like they did that rest day. Just watched.”
“And I watched the skies for anything else,” said Terilla, a curiously bitter note to her soft voice and an unsettling hardness to her face.