Shadow World (28 page)

Before she realized it, she was halfway over the edge, then the Simiu grabbed her by the seat of her pants and efficiently (if inelegantly) heaved her over the rest of the way. Cara sat up, breathing hard, and began untangling the rope harness.

"Hey, Cara!" Mark yelled, backing away from the rock face and looking up.

"You okay?"

A moment later her face appeared, just as the rope came snaking back down. She waved, grinning broadly.

Mark turned away with relief. The problem of how to get the last remaining member of the group, except for himself, to the top of the cliff looked a bit easier in the light of one human success. He crossed to where the man stood silently.

He was reluctant to remove the man's bonds but saw no other option.

Besides, the guy's been nothing but a zombie for hours now; Hrrakk'

knocked all the fight out of him.

"You're next," he said as he untied the man's hands. "You can go up like Cara. I'll help you."

The hands dropped limply to the man's sides; he stared blankly at nothing.

"Do you hear me?" Mark spoke a little louder and tried to make eye contact.

"You've got to get up that cliff."

Still no response.

"Okay. We'll rig a harness, see." He looped and knotted

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the end of the rope, hoping Hrrakk', Cara, and Eerin were strong enough to pull the hefty male straight up, if that's what it took. "I'll put this around you.

Raise your arms." When the man didn't obey, Mark took his wrist and lifted it.

Sudden animation flashed over the man's heavy features and through his body, and a second later his fist slammed hard into Mark's midsection, driving the air from the younger man's lungs in a startled gasp.

Mark doubled over reflexively, clutching at his middle, desperately trying to suck in air.

Oh, God! Terris!
He tried to turn away, shield the baby with his body, but a second jarring blow impacted with his jaw, sending him reeling. Dimly, Mark felt powerful hands grab the front of his sweater and shove him brutally against the rock wall. His head snapped back hard, stunning him again.

Sharp agony flashed through his being, and then a final blow hit him like a thunderclap of darkness, and he blacked out.

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Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14

The Shadow of Death

"Mark!" Cara screamed, seeing him crumple to the ground. The shadows dancing around him hid the upper half of his body as he lay slumped against the base of the cliff.

The man glanced up at them, his face a white blur. Then he advanced again, hands going out, reaching for Terris as hinsi screamed in fear. "No!" Cara shrieked. "Hrrakk',
do
something!"

The Simiu was already halfway down the cliff.

A heartbeat later, there was a
thud
as Hrrakk' dropped the last few meters to the ground. Hearing it, the man looked up, dropped the wailing Terris back onto Mark's body, then began backing away. Without warning, the Simiu leaped, his hand lashing out with blurring speed, striking the side of the man's head; the human fell over backward. Hrrakk' advanced again.

The whiteness of the man's face was now half obscured by darkness--
'-

blood,
Cara thought sickly--and he scooted back on his elbows, then grabbed up a double handful of sand and flung it into Hrrakk's face.

Hrrakk' snarled, hit him again, and this time he lay still.

Cara watched anxiously as the Simiu turned back to Mark

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and began examining him. "Is he badly hurt?" she yelled in Mizari. "Should I come down?"

"It is not necessary," Hrrakk' replied gruffly. "The human is stunned, but save for a cut on the back of his head, I do not believe he has suffered serious injury. Lower the first-aid kit."

Hastily Cara stuffed the fourth full canteen and the medical kit into one of the knapsacks, then lowered it down.

She saw Mark stir, then, with Hrrakk's help, he sat up, his head bowed over his knees. The watchers above heard Terris, whom they couldn't see, finally stop crying. The Simiu wet a strip of bandage and began cleaning the back of the human's head.

"Oh, my God ..." Reaction set in, and Cara began trembling violently as she looked up at the others. "Mark could have been killed--and Terris, that bastard was going to kill Terris, I'm sure of it! I hope to hell Mark doesn't have a concussion!"

Eerin must have had difficulty following her rapid, idiomatic speech, but somehow the Elpind understood. Hin patted the journalist's arm

comfortingly. "Mark is strong," hin said. "Hrrakk' would have said if heen was truly hurt."

Cara wondered dully if Elspind did the same thing humans so often did: offer empty words of reassurance, just to make themselves feel better.

"How are you doing down there?" she called to Hrrakk'.

"I'm okay," Mark himself answered, though his voice was weak and hard to hear. "I blacked out for a moment, but otherwise, I'm fine. Thank God Terris wasn't hurt."

"What about your head?"

"I've got a lump and a cut. It's sore, but that's all."

Cara caught a movement amid the shadows. The man was crawling on his stomach, then, as she watched, he climbed to his feet and began staggering away. "Hrrakk'!" she yelled. "The man is getting away!"

"Let that honorless
dragkk'
go," the Simiu snarled, watching as Mark's attacker broke into a staggering, stumbling run and vanished around the curve of the cliff.

Cara's attention shifted from the two at the bottom of the cliff to Eerin as hin rose and fetched the blue bundle that was lying near the other knapsack.

Misir lay curled into a quiet

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little ball in the makeshift sling. Cara felt the baby's diaper, finding it dry. At her touch, the child opened golden eyes, so like Eerin's, and looked at her unblinkingly ... waiting.
Is hinsi waiting for food?
she wondered, feeling a chill trace down her spine,
or for something else?

The baby sighed; its eyes closed again.

"Misir is worse." Tears filled Cara's eyes. R'Thessra, hovering next to her, touched the girl's arm with a delicate feeler, and Cara glanced up, grateful for the silent comfort.

"Yes," the Elpind agreed gently. "Hin does not believe food will help this hinsi. There is injury inside the child's body. But Terris must have nourishment."

Eerin rose to hin's feet. "Now that we have gained the mountains--even these beginning mountains--there is sure to be vegetation farther on. Hin is going to go on ahead and attempt to locate some wild sestel, if it grows in this region. It is possible that Terris may be able to drink a broth made from sestel leaves. That is what young Elpind babies are weaned on. Terris is young to be weaned, but it is hinsi's only chance."

"But ... Eerin, shouldn't you wait for Mark and Hrrakk'?"

"Hin can travel faster alone, and time is short, now."

Cara knew the Elpind was right, but she hated to see hin go. "How will we find you again, if we separate?"

"Hin will find the group. Hin has committed the map route to memory, so hin will come back along that route."

Cara wanted to protest further, but subsided. "Okay," she said. "I'll tell Mark and Hrrakk'." She looked up at the mountains ahead of them. They rose up gently in graduated levels like giant's steps. The narrow plateaus were barren, showing faint red and brown in the moons' light.

"I sure hope there's water ahead," she said, feeling thirst nearly overwhelm her.

"There will be," Eerin was confident, "if these mountains are at all similar to the ones around Lalcipind."

"They'd better be," Cara said grimly. "There couldn't be settlements without water, I suppose."

"Cara is right, of course."

Eerin made no move to go, but stood beside Cara, looking up at the mountains. The huge eyes seemed troubled.
Is it only my imagination,
Cara thought,
or is something wrong with Eerin?

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"Frankly, I'm surprised Mark didn't ask you to go on before this, since you can obviously go much faster than the group can."

"Mark did ask hin before we left the ship," Eerin admitted. "But an Elpind cannot keep going in conditions of heat." A shudder made the down on Eerin's bony frame stir. "Hin must rest then also. This is why Elspind live in the mountains or build their cities beneath the cover of great forests."

Cara gazed at the Elpind anxiously. "Eerin, are you
sure
you're all right?"

"Hin is fine," Eerin said, shortly. "Cara must not worry. Hin will be back."

"Okay. You take care, then," she said awkwardly.

Hin nodded, then bounded away, a silvery blur in the moons' light. Seeing hin leave reassured Cara. Eerin's departure was energetic enough for three humans.

"Ouch!" Mark fought back the urge to jerk away as Hrrakk' finished putting medicine on his wound, then began to bandage the back of his head. In his lap, Terris finished the water in hinsi's feeding straw, then began sobbing pitifully from hunger. Mark stroked the baby gently. "Sorry, little buddy ..."

Hrrakk's none-too-gentle hands paused in their ministrations. "The child wil begin to weaken, soon."

"I know," Mark agreed bleakly.

"Can you stand?"

"I think so ..." Mark tried, wavered, then made it to his feet. He was touched to notice that Hrrakk' had both hands raised as the Simiu squatted on his haunches beside him. The alien had obviously been ready to catch him if he toppled.

Mark cuddled Terris, snuggling the little body against his face, and relief that hinsi wasn't hurt washed through him again. He looked over at the curve in the cliff face. "Do you think he's gone for good?" he asked, referring to his attacker.

"I hit him hard, this time," Hrrakk' said. There was no regret in his tone. "I do not believe he will return." The big alien indicated the line dangling down the cliff face. "And we will pull the line up after us. We may need it again."

"You know what will happen to him," Mark said, staring into the night.

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"I know," the Simiu growled. "Do you by any chance wish to go and look for him?" His gruff voice dripped sarcasm.

Mark shook his head. "No," he said. "He tried to kill Terris, and I can't risk that. Besides, he left; it's not like we abandoned him. And if we searched for him, we'd waste time that might save lives aboard the
Asimov."

Silently the alien handed him the canteen. Mark limited himself to only a few swallows. "Here," he said, handing it back. "Your turn."

The Simiu hesitated, then took the water. His throat rippled as he swallowed, great gulps of water in one long swig. When he took the canteen away from his mouth, there was only a small sloshing; he'd practically drained it.

Wel , he's definitely entitled,
thought Mark.
That's the first water he's had
since we left.
"Uh, Honored Hrrakk' ... listen, uh ... thanks. For saving me and Terris."

"I am going back up now." The alien ignored the human's words. "If you cannot climb, human, I will pull you up."

Mark smiled wryly.
He's never going to change.
"I'll climb," he promised, watching the alien walk away without glancing back, then, just as before, swarm up the rope.

"Hang on tight," Mark said to Terris as he secured hinsi in his shirt. His head was pounding, but the water and the rest had helped. Slowly he secured the line around himself, then, with a hiss of pain as he jerked upward, searching for the first foothold, he began to climb.

Midway up, Mark had to pause. The multiple shadows swirling around him had combined with the pain in his head to make him dizzy. His stomach lurched, and he bit his lip grimly.
You're not going to lose the water you just
drank,
he told himself sternly. He swallowed, then began climbing again.

He was grateful that he'd always been active, and that his upper-body strength was good. Otherwise, he would never have made it. He paused again, feeling the pain in his head like a wave of blackness, waiting to overwhelm him.

"Mark? Mark?" Cara was calling him. He tried to answer, but settled for waving feebly. The blackness receded slowly.

He reached up, found another handhold, wedged his toe into another crevice.
Come on, Kenner ... keep going ...
Terris

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whimpered. That gave him the strength to find another handhold, another foothold ... then another ...

Two hands abruptly seized his wrists, then Hrrakk' yanked him straight up, pulling him halfway over the cliff edge. Mark managed to turn to the side at the last moment, just in time to keep from squashing Terris.

He lay limp and panting as Cara and the Simiu dragged him the rest of the way over the edge, then flopped onto his back, careful not to hit the back of his head. Mark could feel his feet still sticking out over nothingness, but hadn't the strength yet to move them. Blackness threatened again.

But he didn't pass out. Finally, after what must have been several minutes, he was able to sit up with a groan. "You okay?" Cara asked.

"I'll live." He looked around. "Where's Eerin?"

"Hin went on ahead." Briefly, she explained about the Elpind's search for wild sestel for Terris.

"Thank God there's something we can give Terris," said Mark fervently. "I'm afraid hinsi's weakening. Let's get moving. The quicker we go, the quicker we'll meet Eerin."

"Can you?" she peered at him anxiously.

"Yeah." Mark hoped standing up wouldn't make a liar out of him. He struggled to his feet, then reached for the knapsack, but Cara got it first.

"Just carry yourself," she admonished. "And Terris, of course." She looked up at the folds of mountains. "Think we can climb past those by dawn?"

"Not if we waste any more time," Hrrakk' growled, tying himself back into the blue sling that held Misir. Turning, he loped away.

"We're coming already," Mark said irritably. "I wasn't exactly having fun

'wasting time' down there." He looked around. "Everybody ready?"

The Apis lifted into the air and flew after Hrrakk'.