"I think you're being a little hard on yourself." Paula gave his shoulder a light squeeze. "There's only so much anyone can do."
"Those are my beliefs." Jayewardene turned around and looked into her eyes. She returned the look for an instant, then sank back next to Danforth.
"Something going on up ahead," Saul said in a level, almost disinterested tone.
They were at the top of a hill. The trees had been cleared away from the roadside for a hundred yards or so on either side, giving them an unobstructed view.
Sri Pada's peak was still shrouded in the early morning mist. Helicopters circled something unseen near the base of the mountain.
"Think it's our boy they're after?" asked Danforth. "Almost certainly." Jayewardene wished he had brought along field glasses. One of the circling shapes might be Radha and Tachyon, but from this distance there was no way to tell. The clearing ended, and they were again surrounded by jungle.
"Want me to jack it up a little?" Saul crushed out his cigarette in the ashtray.
"As long as we get there alive," Paula said, fastening her seat belt.
Saul pushed the accelerator down a little farther, leaving a spray of mud behind them.
They parked behind a pair of abandoned buses that blocked off the road. No one was visible other than the beast and its attackers. The pilgrims had either fled up the mountain or back down the road into the valley. Jayewardene walked as quickly as he could up the stone steps, the others following behind him. The helicopters had kept the ape from making it very far up the mountain.
"Any sign of our elephant?" asked Danforth.
"Can't see them from here." Jayewardene's sides already hurt from the exertion. He paused to rest a moment and looked up as one of the choppers dropped a steel net. There was an answering roar, but they couldn't tell if the net had found its target.
They worked their way up the steps for several hundred yards, passing through an empty but undamaged rest station. The helicopters were still pressing their attack, although they appeared to be fewer in number now. Jayewardene slipped on one of the wet flagstones and smashed his knee against a step edge. Saul grabbed him by the armpits and lifted him up. "I'm all right," he said, painfully straightening his leg. "Let's keep on."
An elephant trumpeted in the distance. "Hurry" said Paula, taking the stairs in twos. Jayewardene and the others trotted up after her. After another hundred-yard climb he stopped them. "We have to cut across the mountain's face here. The footing is very dangerous. Hold on to the trees when you can." He stepped out onto the moist soil and steadied himself against a coconut palm, then began working slowly toward the direction of the battle.
They were slightly higher than the ape when they got close enough to see what was going on. The monster had a steel. net in one hand and a stripped tree in the other. It was holding Radha and the two remaining helicopters at bay like a gladiator with a net and trident. Jayewardene couldn't see Robyn but assumed that the beast had her in the top of a tree again.
"Well, now that we're here, what the hell do we do?" Danforth leaned against a jak tree, breathing hard.
"We go get Robyn." Paula wiped her muddy hands on her shorts and took a step toward the ape.
"Wait." Danforth grabbed her hand. " I can't afford to lose you too. Let's see what Tachyon can do."
"No," Paula said, twisting away. "We have to get her out while the ape's distracted."
The pair stared hard at each other for a moment, then Jayewardene came between them. "Let's get a bit closer and see what's possible."
They half-slid, half-walked down the slope, then hit a ledge that was deep mud. Jayewardene felt it slip uncomfortably into his shoes. Robyn was still nowhere in sight, but the ape hadn't noticed them.
The last helicopter moved into position over the ape and dropped its net. The ape caught it on the end of the tree and deflected it to one side, then tossed the tree at the retreating chopper, which had to bank away sharply to avoid being hit. The ape beat its chest and roared.
Radha and Tachyon moved in from behind at treetop level. The ape reached down, picked up one of the steel nets, and swung it in a blur of motion. There was a pinging thwack as the edge of the net caught Radha on the foreleg. Tachyon slipped off her back and was left dangling from her ear. Radha gained height and pulled Tachyon back up onto her shoulders.
The ape pounded the earth and bared its teeth, then stood there clutching and unclutching its huge, black hands. "I don't see what they can do," said Danforth. "That thing is just too strong."
"We shall see," Jayewardene said.
Tachyon leaned in close to one of Radha's immense ears. The elephant dropped down like a stone for a distance, then began circling rapidly around the ape's head. The ape lifted its arms and twisted around, trying to keep its enemy in sight. After a few moments the creature was half a turn behind the elephant. Radha dove directly for the ape's back. Tachyon jumped onto the ape's neck, and the flying elephant moved away quickly to a safe distance. The ape hunched down, then reached back for Tachyon, who was clinging to the thick fur on its shoulder. The beast plucked the alien off easily and held him up for inspection, then roared and brought Tachyon toward its mouth.
"Holy shit," said Danforth, restraining Paula.
The monster had Tachyon almost into its mouth when it froze, jerked convulsively for a moment, and toppled over backward. The impact jarred water from the trees, streaking the mud on the faces of Jayewardene and his companions. Jayewardene hurried downhill toward the ape, trying to ignore the pain in his knee.
Tachyon was squirming out of the ape's rigid fingers when they arrived at the creature's side. He slid down quickly off the giant body and steadied himself against Jayewardene.
"Burning sky! You were right, Mr. Jayewardene." He took several deep breaths. "There is a man inside the beast."
"How did you stop it?" Danforth asked, staying a few steps farther away than the others. "And where's Robyn?"
"Headed back to North Dakota," came a weak voice from a nearby treetop. Robyn waved and began picking her way down.
"I'll see if she's okay," Paula said, running over.
"To answer your first question, Mr. Danforth," Tachyon said, counting the missing buttons on his shirt, "the main portion of the brain is simian and consists mostly of an old black-and-white film. But there is also a human personality, completely subordinate to the ape mentality. I have temporarily given them equal control, thus providing a stasis that has paralyzed it."
Danforth nodded uncomprehendingly. "So what do we do now?"
"Dr. Tachyon will now restore the ape to human form." Jayewardene rubbed his leg. "The military isn't likely to stay away for long. There isn't much time to do what must be done." As if to punctuate his remark, one of the helicopters appeared and hovered over them for a moment before turning away.
Tachyon nodded and looked at Jayewardene. "You saw the transformation in your vision. Was I injured? Just out of curiosity"
Jayewardene shrugged. "Would it matter?"
"No. I suppose not." Tachyon chewed on a fingernail. "Matter. That's the real problem. When we restore the human mind to dominance, he'll shed all that excess matter as energy. Anyone near, including myself, is likely to be killed."
Jayewardene pointed to Radha, who was helping Robyn down out of the tree. "Perhaps if you were held in the air, ungrounded so to speak, the danger would be minimized."
"And if the energy was channeled into something like a lightning bolt…" Jayewardene looked up at the overcast sky. "Yes. That idea has possibilities."
Tachyon nodded and yelled to Radha. "Don't change back yet."
A few minutes later everyone was in position. Jayewardene sat next to Paula, who held Robyn's head in her lap. Saul and Danforth stood a few yards away. Radha, some ten feet off the ground, held Tachyon in her trunk a few feet from the ape's head. Saul had torn his shirt into blindfolds for Elephant Girl and Tachyon. They could hear the beast's labored breathing from where they sat.