She had replied that she couldn't calculate the mathematics of interuniversal physics. She didn't have the data needed for that But she speculated that gateways, for some reason, tended to locate in "weak" spots.
By this she meant that there were places in both universes where air or water existed on each side of the
"walls" of the contiguous universes. It was here that the gateways were attracted.
But she could be wrong.
"It's a good thing that the entrances don't exist above the atmosphere," she'd said. "Otherwise, the side of the gateway that impinges on a planet with air might suck this air out into the cold empty space of the other world.
"This might eventually happen. There's no telling when the ever-increasing density of matter might shift the gateways to such a location. In which case life on Earth will die even more quickly than I've thought."
Deyv had thought that she was less comforting than Sloosh, and that took some doing.
Suddenly, the dust cloud thinned, and the heat cooled somewhat. Phemropit emitted a fan-shaped ray of light. The Shemibob turned a rheostat on her device, and its light added to that of the stone-metal creature. They were in an immense cavern. Stalagmites and stalactites glittered with many colors and hues. The ceiling shone as if speckled with mica. The air, however, was dead and heavy.
They went ahead over the irregular floor, changing direction once to avoid an abyss. The water on the floor was still about six inches deep. They splashed it on themselves to wash off the dust, and they drank deeply to quench a thirst they'd been too occupied to notice until then.
Deyv saw the top of a skull projecting from the water. It was the remains of one of the animals sent through by The Shemibob.
Feeling weak, Deyv sat down on a cool lump of rock.
Vana said, "You're bleeding badly."
She called Sloosh, who had nothing to offer except advice that Deyv direct his cells to speed up the healing process. The Shemibob, overhearing them, opened her huge bag and pulled out a large jar of ointment. She smeared the purple stuff over the gashes, and the bleeding stopped a minute afterward.
"Here. Eat this," she said, handing him a small cube wrapped in a thin silvery tissue. It had an unfamiliar but very delicious taste. He devoured-it, and he felt better in a short time. She passed out cubes to the others, whose strength returned quickly.
"I packed things which I thought we might need in case of a hasty flight," she said. "I'd intended to tell you to do the same, but I decided to put it off until after sleep-time. I hope that teaches me a lesson."
They went on until they came to the far wall of the cavern. Though they went up and down its length, they could find no exit of any sort There was a very small crevice through which water was trickling. It was this that was slowly flooding the hollow.
The noise, dust, and heat were now pushing from the mouth of the tunnel. Faint clouds of dust like the outriders of a ghost horde advanced toward them.
The snake-centaur took a small device out of her bag and placed it against the wall near the trickle. Its round face glowed with strange figures. She studied them for a minute, then moved the device along the wall in both directions and at different levels.
When she returned to the trickle, she said, "There's only five feet of rock between us and water at this point. I don't know how far under water we are. It makes no difference in what we have to do."
She described her plan, and they agreed that it was the best one. Though it was desperate, it might—it had to—succeed. Sloosh expanded the vessel and opened its door. The Shemibob glued the tip of its nose to Phemropif s rear with a piece of cloth from the bag.
"The doth won't tear, but I don't know whether or not the glue will hold. Once it sets, it could hold two boards together though a thousand men pulled on each one. But we won't know what forces will be brought to bear on it. When the water comes gushing in, it may sweep up Phemropit and smash it against the rear of the cave. Or turn it upside down. Or ... well, we shall see."
.She explained to the creature what it was to do. It answered that it fully understood. But if the plan didn't work, it wanted everybody to understand that its experiences with them had been most educational and gratifying. Though of a weird quality.
By then it was evident that they had no more time to talk. Clouds of dust enveloped them. A river of packed dust was flowing from the tunnel. Its heat spread out, making them sweat from more than fear.
Vana, however, the most sentimental of the crew, ran in front of Phemropit with the light-device. She said a so-long to it and then patted it on its nose. It couldn't feel her hand, of course, but it may have felt some emotion. Then Vana ran back through the dust, coughing, and Deyv pulled her inside. The room was crowded now, The Shemibob's body filling a quarter of it. Sloosh shut the door. The lights were already on; the air system was working.
They didn't speak, though they gave little gasps or muted cries or, from Sloosh, occasional short buzzejaculations.
Outside, Phemropit was moving horizontally from side to side to cut a wide but thin hole through the rock. This took some time because of the thickness of the wall. It would also be an increased drain on its energy supply.
They knew it had finished that stage of the work when they felt the vessel moving backward. The water would be spraying out in a powerful sheet. Its force wouldn't, or shouldn't, be enough to move
Phemropit backward, however. It was backing toward a rise in the floor. Once its angle was changed, it would start cutting above the slit first made. Then it would move forward so that its nose would dip down. This would be done very slowly. The rock wall had to be thoroughly cut through vertically until that slit met the horizontal.
After a long time, the vessel moved back again, then forward. Slowly, it turned as Phemropit turned, its beam slicing through the rock above, making another horizontal slit. And after what was by no means an eternity, though it had some of its aspects, the vessel went through another series of maneuvers.
"Phemropit will have to be far enough back to avoid being struck when the cut-out section is propelled inward," The Shemibob said. "It said it comprehended that. Even so, the water may hurl the section back far enough to hit Phemropit. Or slide over it and strike our vessel. Then we'll see if the glue is strong enough."
The vessel suddenly shot backward. Its passengers were shot with bruising force against the far wall. For some time, there was no motion after that. Since the hull was soundproof, they couldn't hear the roar outside. But they could imagine that and the rapidly rising water also. Phemropit had to wait until the cavern was completely flooded before it would be able to advance through the hole. As it was, its treads were probably moving forward at their fastest speed just to keep from being pushed backward.
More of the delicious cubes were passed around. Another near-eternity, in an emotional sense, crawled by. Then they felt the vessel move forward. The floor went up and down, roughly at times. By slight tendencies of their bodies to lean this way or that, they knew that they were changing direction horizontally. Sometimes, vertically.
"I think," Sloosh said, "that the wall of the cavern was probably part of a mountain. How deep it was, there's no telling. But if it rises above the water to make an island, and the island has beaches, we might make it. Provided, of course, that Phemropit doesn't go in the wrong direction. And that there are inclines up which it can go. If they're too steep ... well, this candy is a new experience to me. What is its chemical makeup, O Shemibob?"
Deyv groaned. Where Phemropit went, they had to go. How could it determine which way to go, inland or out to sea?