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fear now was the strongest emotion the woman had shown since the death of Esk.
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Dura reached out and took Philas's hand. It trembled against her palm, like a small animal. "Philas," she
said carefully. "I need your help."
Philas turned her face, long, grief-lined, toward Dura.
Dura went on, "I need to return to the Human Beings. To organize another hunt... You see that, don't
you? But someone has to go with Adda, in the car, to this Parz City."
Philas almost spat the word."No."
"Philas, you must. I..."
"Farr. Send him."
Dura stared at the woman's hard, empty-eyed expression; anger and fear radiated out, shocking her.
"Farr's just a kid. You can't be serious, Philas."
"Not me." Philas shook her head stiffly, the muscles of her neck stiff with rage. "I'm not getting in that
thing, to be taken away. No. I'd rather die."
And Dura, despairing, realized that the widow meant it. She tried for some while to persuade Philas, but
there was no chink in the younger woman's resolution.
"All right, Philas." Problems revolved in her head: the tribe, Farr... Her brother would have to come with
her, in the car, of course. Adda had been correct in intuiting that Dura would never be able to relax if
Farr were out of her sight for long. She said to Philas, "Here is what you must do." She squeezed the
woman's hand, hard. "Go back to the Human Beings. Tell them what has happened. That we are safe,
and that we're going to get help for Adda. And we'll return if we can."
Philas, her transfixing terror abating, nodded carefully.
"They must hunt again. Tell them that, Philas; try to make them understand. Despite what's befallen us.
Otherwise they'll starve. Do you understand? You must tell them all this, Philas, and make them hear."
"I will. I'm sorry, Dura."
Dura felt an impulse to embrace the woman then; but Philas held herself away. The two women hovered
in the Air, unspeaking, awkward, for a few heartbeats.
Dura turned away from Philas to face the door of the car. It was dark in there, like a mouth.
Terror spurted in her, sudden and unexpected. She fought to move forward, to keep from shivering.
Shewas scared of the car, of Parz City, of the unknown. Of course she was. She wondered now if that
fear, lurking darkly at the back of her head, was truly what had impelled her to order Philas to go with
Toba, regardless of any other justification. And she wondered if Philas had perceived that, too.
Here was another layer, she thought tiredly, to add to an already overcomplex relationship. Well, maybe
that was the nature of life.
Dura turned and climbed slowly into the car; Farr, wordless, meek, followed.
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The man from the Pole, much less impressive without his outer garments, watched them climb aboard.
The car proved to be cramped with the four of them plus Adda's improvised cocoon and an expansive
seat for Mixxax before an array of controls. Mixxax pulled off his hat and veil with every expression of
relief. He pulled a lever; the heavy door swung outward.
Just before she was sealed away from the forest, Dura called out: "And Philas! Give them our love..."
The door settled into its frame with a dull impact. Mixxax pulled another lever: a hiss, startlingly loud,
erupted from the walls around them.
Air flooded the cabin. It was sweet, invigorating, and it filled Dura's head but it was, she reminded
herself,alien. She found a corner and huddled into it, pulling her knees to her chest.
Mixxax looked around. He seemed puzzled. "Are you all right? You look ill."
Dura fought the urge to lunge at him, to batter at the clear panels of wood set in the walls. "Toba
Mixxax, we are Human Beings," she hissed. "We have never, in our lives, been confined inside a box
before. Try to understand how it feels."
Toba seemed baffled. Then he turned away and, looking self-conscious, hauled on reins that passed
through the wooden walls.
Dura's belly lurched as the car jerked into motion. "Toba. Where is this City of yours?"
"At the South Pole," he said. "Downflux. As far downflux as it's possible to go."
Downflux...
Dura closed her eyes.
5
Dura emerged reluctantly from sleep.
She could feel the laxness of her muscles, the slow rhythm of her heart, the rich, warm Air of the car
pulsing through her lungs and capillaries. She opened her eyecups slowly and glanced around the
cramped, boxy interior of the car.
The only light came from four small, clear sections of wall windows,Mixxax had called them and the
little wooden room was immersed in semi-darkness. It was a bizarre situation: to take a shit, she'd had to
open a panel and squat over a tube; when she pulled a little lever the waste had been sucked away into
the Air. The cabin itself was constructed of panels of wood fixed to a framework of struts and spars. The
frame surrounded her, she thought fancifully, like the rib cage of some immense, protective creature. Still
half-asleep, she remembered absently her feelings of threat when first climbing into the car. Now, after
less than a day, she felt only a womb-like security; it was astonishing how quickly humans could adjust.
Adda's stretcher was still secured to the struts to which they had strapped it. Adda himself seemed to be
asleep or rather, unconscious. He breathed noisily, his mouth gaping and dribbling fluid; his eyes were
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half-open, but even his good eye was a small lake of pus which leaked slowly onto his cheek and
forehead; small, harmless symbiotes covered his cheeks, lapping at the pus. Farr was curled, asleep, into
a tight ball, wadded into one corner of the boxy cabin; his face was tucked into his knees and his hair
waved gently as he breathed.
Mixxax sat in his comfortable-looking seat before his array of levers and gadgets. He had his back to
her, his eyes focused on the journey ahead of them. As he sat in his undershorts she could see afresh how
thin and bony this man from the City really was, how pale his flesh. But, at this moment, in control of his
vehicle, he radiated calm and competence. It was that very calmness, the feeling of being in a controlled,
secure environment coupled with the exhaustion of the abortive hunt, the stress of Adda's injuries, the
thinness of the forest Air that had lulled Dura and Farr to fall asleep almost instantly, once the car had
begun its journey.
Well, Dura was grateful for this brief interlude of peace. Soon enough the pressures of the outside world
would return the responsibilities of Adda's illness, Farr's vulnerability and need for protection, the
unimaginable strangeness of the place to which they were being taken. Before long she would be looking
back on this brief, secure interlude in the confining walls of the car with nostalgic affection.
Unwinding slowly, stretching to get the stiffness out of her muscles, she pushed out of her corner and
glided across the small cabin to Mixxax's seat. She anchored herself by holding on to the back of the
chair and peered past him out of his window. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]