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“It was probably instinct more than luck. It certainly wasn’t careful, foresighted planning. I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time. I just remember feeling undressed. Wearing the loop is second-nature to me. And carrying a pulser on Renaissance has gotten to be an unconscious action.” He finished gnawing on a leg. “How are you doing?”

“Fine,” she said tightly, and forced down another bite.Advertisement

“You look a little green.” He scrutinized her in the flickering light. “Sure you’re okay?”

“Yes.”

His expression softened. “Poor Cidra. Just one new experience after another these days, isn’t it?”

“This trip has turned out slightly different than I had anticipated.”

“What an understatement.”

She felt obliged to hold her own. “But thanks to your unorthodox way of doing things, I might have discovered a shortcut to my goal.” She glanced behind her into the darkened entrance of the circular chamber.

“You think whatever drew us here is the source of the legend you’re chasing?” His eyes were unreadable now in the firelight.

“It’s possible. There was definitely a telepathic sensation involved, don’t you think? I felt the first trickle of it yesterday afternoon while I waited for you. I wonder if the failing deflector screens allowed the call to get through. Maybe deflectors normally block it.”

“But last night the screens were working at full strength.”

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“True,” Cidra mused. “But by then the mechanism responsible for projecting the call might have had a fix, so to speak, on our location. Maybe it can’t compete against other distractions, but in the quiet of the night it was able to touch us.”

Severance shrugged and said nothing as he spitted another chunk of hopper and held it over the flame.

Cidra continued, trying to reason out the logic of the situation. “If one or two others in the past have felt that call, they might have told the tale to their friends. Over the years the stories would have grown more involved and complex.”

“Until they reached the point where they made it into the Archives? It’s possible. But if others have heard that call and followed it, why hasn’t anyone discovered this safehold?” Severance asked in a reasonable tone. “I don’t know.”

“Perhaps they heard the call but didn’t follow.” Cidra frowned. “Why wouldn’t they follow? We did.” “We were camped in the vicinity for two nights. The others might have merely caught traces of the call as they went by on a skimmer. The odds are no one’s ever camped in that particular spot before. It might take a while for the call to focus in on a mind and become strong enough to draw someone to this place. If it’s a mechanical device, it might have to tune itself.”

She nodded. “That makes sense.”

“There’s another possibility. Someone may have found this place before but not lived to tell about it. If a man thought that he’d get the same protection going out as he got coming in, he’d be in for a rude surprise. I wasn’t expecting protection, and I was still rudely surprised. Your Ghosts have a nasty sense of humor.”

“I don’t think they would have set a trap to lure intelligent beings here, show them their history, and then leave them unprotected. Perhaps they assumed that whoever found this place would be smart enough to protect themselves on the way back.”

He groaned. “Never make assumptions. Case in point sitting right here in front of you.”

She was shocked at her own words. “Oh, Severance, I never meant to imply that you…”

“That I’m not very bright? Don’t worry. You don’t need to imply it. Facts speak for themselves.”

“Are you always so hard on yourself when things go wrong?”

“Only when they go wrong badly enough to get someone killed.”

“Neither of us has been killed, Severance.”

“I’ll cling to that thought.”

He stood up again and walked back to the stream to wash the grease from his hands. He needed rest very badly, Cidra thought as she unobtrusively put down the uneaten section of her meat. She didn’t think she could swallow any more. Something was very wrong in the region of her stomach.

“Let’s try to get some sleep. Since we don’t know for certain just how reliable this circle is, we’ll take turns keeping watch.”

“I’ll take the first watch,” she volunteered.

He shook his head. “I’m liable to feel worse later on tonight. I’ll need the rest then. I’ll take the first watch while I’ve still got some energy left.” Severance sank down onto the ground with his back to the curving wall. “Turn off the flamer. Don’t want to waste fuel. We’ll use the quartzflash for light.”

“I think the circle is very safe. Nothing has even tried to cross the boundary.” Cidra was only absently aware of what she was saying. Her attention was on the growing nausea that was simmering in her stomach. She was swallowing rapidly now, and her forehead felt damp from something other than the local humidity. “Cidra?”

“It’s all right, Severance. Just give me a minute.” She kept her back to him and walked slowly to the edge of the circle, just beyond the range of the quartzflash.

“Cidra, come back here. What do you think you’re doing?”

At that moment she lost the battle with her stomach. Her first meal of meat exited the way it had entered, leaving Cidra shuddering with unpleasant convulsions. She felt Severance’s good arm around her even before she was finished.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I guess eating meat takes a little practice.”

“I’ll admit you don’t seem to be taking to it as readily as you do to other Wolf ways.” Gently he led her over to the stream, purified some water for her, and started to bathe her face.

“I’ll do it.” Embarrassed, she took the bag of water from him and knelt to finish washing her face and rinsing her mouth. “I’m all right, Severance, honestly. You must be careful not to start that shoulder bleeding again.”

“Yes, Otanna.”

She shot him an uncertain glance and realized that he was smiling laconically. Hastily she finished washing herself. Then she joined him at the wall where he was trying to settle into a reasonably comfortable position with the pulser resting on his drawn-up knee. His other leg was stretched out in front of him. Slowly she sank down beside him. pqdm.com