gloom at a patch of grayish white beneath them, barely visible through a tangle of vines and leaves.
“Sure, I’m sure,” answered Roland. “Remember, we’ve traveled this route before.”
“It’s just that I’ve never heard of rock formations this far up in the jungle.”
“We’re not exactly that far up anymore, remember? We’ve dropped quite a ways down.”
“Well, we’re not getting anywhere standing here staring at it!” put in Rega, hands on her hips. “We’re cycles late with the delivery as it is. And you mark my words, Blackbeard’ll try to shave off the price. I’ll go down, if you’re afraid, elf!”
“I’ll go,” countered Paithan. “I don’t weigh as much as you do and if the outcrop is unstable, I’ll-”
“Weigh as much! Are you saying that I’m fa-”
“You both go,” interrupted Roland in soothing tones. “I’ll lower you and Rega down there, Quin, then you lower Rega on down to the bottom. I’ll send the packs to you and you can pass them on down to my sis-er-my wife.”
“Look, Roland, I think the elf should lower you and I down-”
“Yes, Redleaf, that does, indeed, seem to me to be a much better solution-”
“Nonsense!” Roland interrupted, pleased with his own deviousness, further plots fomenting in his mind. “I’m the strongest and from here down to that outcrop is the longest haul. Any arguments there?”
Paithan glanced at the human male-with his square-jawed handsome face and his rippling biceps-and clamped his mouth shut. Rega didn’t look at her brother at all. Biting her lip, she crossed her arms over her chest and glared down into the shadowy gloom of the jungle below.
Paithan fixed a rope around a tree limb, cinched it tight around himself and hopped over the edge of the moss bank almost before Roland was there to steady him. He rappelled himself easily off the steep sides of the bank, Roland holding the line to keep the elf steady.
The line suddenly went slack.
“All right!” came a shout from below. “I’m here!” There was a moment’s silence, then the elf s voice echoed upward, filled with disgust. “This isn’t rock! It’s a damn fungus!”
“A what?” Roland yelled, leaning as far over the edge as he dared.
“A fungus! A giant mushroom!”
Catching his sister’s fiery-eyed glance, Roland shrugged. “How was I supposed to know?”
“I think it’s stable enough to use for a landing anyway,” Paithan returned, after a moments pause. The two humans caught something additional about being “damn lucky,” but the words were lost in the vegetation.
“That’s all I needed to know,” said Roland cheerfully. “All right. Sis-”
“Stop calling me that! You’ve done it twice now today! What are you trying to do?”
“Nothing. Sorry. Just a lot on my mind. Over you go.”
Rega tied the rope around her waist, but she didn’t lower herself over the edge. Looking out into the jungle, she shivered and rubbed her arms. “I hate this.”
“You keep saying that, and it’s getting boring. I’m not wild about it either. But the sooner finished the sooner ended, as the saying goes. Hop on over.”
“No, it’s not just … the darkness down there. It’s something else. Something’s wrong. Can’t you feel it? It’s too . . . too quiet.”
Roland paused, looked around and listened. He and his sister had been together through tough times. The outside world had been against them since they’d been born, they’d learned to rely on and trust only each other. Rega had an intuitive, almost animal-like sense about people and nature. The few times Roland- the elder of the two-had ignored his sister’s advice or warnings, he’d regretted it. He was a skilled woodsman and, now that she drew his attention to it, he, too, noticed the uncanny silence.
“Maybe it’s always quiet down this far,” he suggested. “There’s not a breath of air stirring. We’re just used to hearing the wind in the trees and all that.”
“It’s not just that. There’s no sound or sign of animals and hasn’t been for the last cycle or so. Not even at night. And the birds are silent.” Rega shook her head. “It’s as if every wild creature in this jungle is hiding.”