Interesting.
Jemmy could picture the giant landers Cavorite and Columbiad hovering on either side of the crest, moving parallel on pillars of violet flame bright enough to blind any witness, burning off the life of Destiny. Then return to seed the slopes with Earthlife. One of the ships must have paused here... yes, and he could see why. Above him the ridgeline bent by forty degrees.
Cavorite on the broad side had waited for Columbiad on the narrow side (or vice versa) to round the curve.
Water at the point of the lava triangle, then a thick stand of Earthlife trees, then the Road. The far side of the Road was a thriving village. There were shops along the Road, and a setback wide enough and long enough for a whole caravan, and a wide stream running to the sea, spreading into a delta at the end.
Who were these people? It had never occurred to Jemmy that there was this much of civilization beyond Spiral Town. Somewhere the merchants went for their goods, and to trade what they got from the Spirals. And in between...?
And how could he cross bare and slippery rock?
He couldn't. He was going to have to go down.
5
On the Road
Twerdahl and his crew are running away. We isolated ourselves on this island for a reason. Whatever our problems, we'll solve them here.
-Julius Radner, Council Chairman
Where the wall of ancient lava converged to a point, there was a shine of water, then leafy Earthlife trees. From high up it appeared that the forest ran right to the Road. As Jemmy descended, it became clear that he was approaching a swamp.
He wasn't eager to wade into that.
The trees were cypress and mangrove on a wide spread of shallow water. There were no competing Destiny trees, but the trees were festooned with what he first thought were snakes. Snakes everywhere... motionless black snakes winding through webs of yellow-green lace.
Vines. One was a variety he didn't recognize, but the others were Julia sets, the same vine the elder Hanns cultivated. The Hanns must have played the bonsai trick, stunting the plant by pruning and by keeping it half starved. These were huge. In places they were strangling the mangroves.
Something rippled along the water. A snake, a real one this time. Another moved among the vines. Something bigger shied from it: a man. Jemmy sank slowly into a crouch, then tried to ease behind a tree.
The man-boy-broke through to the open with evident relief. Looked around. Didn't see Jemmy. Jemmy stepped out of hiding, and Thonny jumped.
'You all right?"
'Fine," Thonny said. "How was it?"
"Easy going. How did you make out?"
"There are merchants at the bridge!" Thonny was excited, enjoying himself immensely. "They asked about a merchant that got killed in Spiral Town. We changed the story a little."
Fear rose up in Jemmy's throat. "Changed how?"
"Uh, well, we talked it over. Curdis says I'm the traders' best witness. I mean Thonny Bloocher is. I'm your oldest brother and I saw it all. Brenda wouldn't see as much because it was all men and Brenda's a girl-"
And so she wouldn't have watched men quarreling. "Right. So?"
"So they would have turned us back and how would you find us on the Road? So I didn't say I'm Thonny Bloocher. I'm Tim Hann."
"With those eyes?"
"One of the merchants said that. I got insulted."
"Curdis's idea?"
"Yeah. The real Tim Hann would have been Curdis's older brother, but he died a year old."
"Tim Hann. I'm Tim Hann. Great. Anything else?"
Jemmy's fury rendered Thonny mute.
If he couldn't get Thonny talking any other way, Jemmy was ready to hold him under water. This was his life they were playing for! He said, "Look, if I'm Tim Hann, I have to sound like Tim Hann. Did Tim Hann see the killing?"
Thonny nodded.
"Where were you?"
"Across the room, near the fireplace."
"Did Jemmy Bloocher do it? Fine. With the merchant's gun? What does he look like? What did you change?"
"I didn't lie. It was just a better fight."
"Curdis was listening? I can ask him?"
"Yeah."
"What were they like, these merchants you met?"
"We saw three men at the bridge, with a woman. They searched us. We bought some stuff from them. They lost interest when we said we were broke. You're still broke going back, okay?"
"They'll expect me to know them coming back?"
Thonny thought it over, then shrugged.
"Okay. Where are we? What are all these people doing here?"
"I don't know. Living here. I peeled off before we got close to anyone."
"Uh-huh."
"Four or five of them saw us together. Older people, Mom's age. They dress like, well, like Jael Harness."
"Did they wave? Throw rocks? Do they think we're weird?"
"They pointed at us and started shouting, maybe at us, maybe at the houses. Women too. Curdis and Brenda went on toward them, but I did what Curdis told me. I peeled off. Didn't let any of them get a close look. Tied the bike to a tree. You just go through the swamp, get on the bike, and go join them."
Jemmy began to wonder if he sounded properly grateful. He said, "Sounds like it all went like somebody planned it," and smiled and hugged his brother.
That pleased Thonny. He asked, "How did you make out?"
Jemmy tried to tell him. "There's practically nobody on the Road. I mean at night, I only went at night. Stay with the frost line and you won't be seen. There's plenty of water, springs. If you see a bird flapping in a fool cage, that's your dinner. If it isn't moving, leave it."
"We trading backpacks?"
They did that. Jemmy said, "I made some fires. Did you see anything? Smoke?"
"Tiny fires in rock pits. I left some fire pits. You break them up when you finish with them."
They looked at each other.
Jemmy said, "Thonny, thanks."
"It's okay." Thonny adjusted his backpack, grinned at his brother, and began to climb.
"Hats!" Jemmy shouted.
He sailed Thonny's hat up to Thonny. Thonny sailed his down to Jemmy. It flew over his head and settled on the water.
Jemmy waded into the gloom. The water was knee-deep and tepid.
Jemmy's hat was sinking out of sight. Jemmy retrieved it and put it on. It streamed water, soaked like a sponge, but he had no other way to carry it. He was glad to have it back.
The air smelled alien: wet and thick with greenery and rot. He crawled over tremendous roots. The water was thigh-deep now, icy around his ankles.
Crotch-deep. Was this the right direction? Seen from overhead, the grove hadn't seemed this big. Now he feared he'd never reach the Road.
Something limbless slid through the water. Again, nearer now. Julia sets hung thickly from the branches. From time to time a vine lifted a wedgeshaped head and flickered its tongue, to watch and sniff for clumsy prey.
Bright and colorful they were, and they shied from him too. Some snakes described in teaching programs were poisonous. Interstellar travelers wouldn't have brought poisonous snakes, would they? These were Earthlife, brought for decoration. Someone in Sol system's planning section must have liked snakes.
But Jemmy didn't, and the thought of being touched by such a thing- He'd reached the Road. But the dark water was waist-deep, and the Road was a smoothly curved rim of gray rock at eyebrow level. His hands slid over it. He couldn't get the grip that would pull him out.
Cursing, he wrestled his way up a banyan, then far enough along a branch to drop to the Road.
He rested on his knees, panting and dripping, his hands on its warm surface. The Road. He was home. By its look, by its feel, this was the Road that ran past Bloocher Farm.