“They plan to eat you, you and Quintaro—but only after they rob us first.”
“But not you?”
She stared at him for a long moment. “I was mistaken,” she said.
“About what?”
“You are a fool.”
She got up and walked back to where she had been sitting.
Merlin, were you listening?
Well, observing, anyway.
Are these critters really out there, and are they Intelligent?
They’re out there. They’re sentient; I would question “intelligent.”
They plan to attack?
That’s a given.
How did she know?
We’ll worry about that later. Tell Quintaro not to fire his weapon when the fighting starts. He might hit me in the dark.
You need some help?
If I do, I’ll let you know.
Scorpio looked around and saw that Merlin had already departed in what he assumed was the direction of what he now thought of as the enemy. He decided that they needed a term for them—not for their race, of which he was still ignorant—but for their occupation, because given his surroundings “highwayman” seemed ridiculous. There wasn’t a highway within a thousand miles, and except for himself and Quintaro, there weren’t any men within miles.
He considered giving Sapphire a reassuring smile, decided she didn’t need one, and sat perfectly still, trying to pick up any unusual sounds through the driving rain. Nothing happened for almost ten minutes. Then the calm was shattered by a hideous scream. A minute later came another. The area two miles to the east was briefly illuminated by weapons fire, then another scream came to his ears.
Three dead, two running away as fast as they can.
Good! thought Scorpio. What race were they?
Tabolla. They just crossed over the barrier to sentience about two millennia ago. They’re the most primitive of our sentient races.
Okay. Bring back their weapons if they’re any better than ours—
They aren’t.
And I’ll see you in a few minutes.
I’ll be back in the morning. I haven’t eaten in two days.
Did you have to say that? thought Scorpio disgustedly.
Well, you did ask.
Scorpio shut his eyes for a moment, trying to rid himself of the mental image of Merlin eating his enemies—the fact that they were raw didn’t help—and then reopened them and found himself staring at Sapphire, who stared back, unblinking.
“It’s over,” he said. “But you know that, don’t you?”
She offered no answer, and her expression never changed.
“Who the hell are you?” he continued after a moment.
Still no answer.
“Or perhaps I should ask: what are you?”
“Leave her alone,” said Quintaro.
“To quote your blue friend, shut up,” said Scorpio.
Quintaro’s face darkened, and he seemed about to get to his feet, when Sapphire laid a hand lightly on his arm.
“He’s right,” she said coldly. “Shut up.”
The anger didn’t vanish, but he didn’t say another word.
They sat silently, facing each other. Scorpio paid no attention to Quintaro but stared directly at Sapphire. His only observation by the time he fell asleep twenty minutes later was that she never blinked.
Merlin had rejoined them by the time Scorpio awoke. Quintaro was sprawled in a water-resistant one-man tent, snoring, and Sapphire was sitting motionless, her back against a tree trunk, protected from the rain by the overhanging branches, exactly as she’d been when he’d fallen asleep. His first thought was that she had somehow died during the night, but when he got to his feet, she did the same.
“Wake your friend and we’ll be on our way,” said Scorpio.
She stepped on the splayed fingers of Quintaro’s left hand.
“Damn!” he yelled, getting to his knees and shaking the hand vigorously. Then he saw who had been responsible for it, and all anger vanished.
“Five minutes to take care of your morning ablutions,” announced Scorpio. “We’ll eat in the vehicle.”
Why do I detect added tension? asked Merlin. I thought I was the one taking all the risks last night.
You ever see her eat, or sneak off to relieve herself?
No. But I already told you she wasn’t human.
I could fill a book with things she isn’t, replied Scorpio. What the hell is she?
I have no idea.
Was she in any danger last night? Can she even feel pain?
There’s an easy way to find out.
Oh?
You’ll see.
Quintaro returned a couple of minutes later, Scorpio walked off for a few minutes and returned, and the four of them began approaching the vehicle, which was about ten yards away. As they did so, Merlin “accidentally” bumped against Sapphire, and her upper arm made contact with the branch of a thorn-covered bush.
“Merlin apologizes,” said Scorpio quickly.
“Not a problem,” she replied.
“You’re bleeding,” he noted, indicating a pair of dark spots that suddenly appeared at the point of contact.
She looked at her arm, said “Oh,” and continued walking to the vehicle.
Hypothesis, thought Merlin. If you cut her, she bleeds. She just doesn’t feel it or care about it.
They reached the vehicle, climbed into it, and began moving. Scorpio tried to think of the direction as “inland,” but he was so thoroughly lost and so completely surrounded by jungle except for a handful of narrow, winding trails that the whole planet seemed inland from where he was.
“Any idea how much farther we have to go?” he asked Quintaro, on the assumption that there was no sense asking Sapphire.
“Beats me,” he said. He jerked a thumb toward Sapphire. “She’s my map.”
“Has she deigned to tell you what we do when we get there?”
“Pick it up and go home,” answered Quintaro.
“I mean, is it above the ground? Is it in plain sight? Is it guarded, and if so, by who or by what?”
“I don’t know,” said Quintaro. “I just know it’ll put us on easy street for life.”
Is he holding back anything, or maybe out-and-out lying? asked Scorpio.
Nope. View him as one hundred percent dupe.
Why did she choose him, I wonder?
Half the reason’s in your pocket.
After an uneventful three hours, the rain finally became no more than a light drizzle. Scorpio stopped, just to rest his eyes for a few minutes. Quintaro got out to stretch his legs, as did Merlin, who found the vehicle especially unsuited to a member of his race.
“How’s your arm?” Scorpio asked Sapphire, who had remained seated.
“It’s fine,” she replied. “But you knew that.”
“We could talk about all the things I don’t know instead,” offered Scorpio. “Quantum mechanics, ancient Mercurian pottery, godstones …”
“You know what you need to know,” said Sapphire.
“I hope you don’t think I want the damned thing for myself,” said Scorpio. “If I did, I wouldn’t be driving you to it.”
“That is not a satisfactory answer, Mr. Scorpio.”
“Oh?”
“Mr. Quintaro and I are in your power. He is a fool, as well you know.”
“And you are …?”
“A weak, helpless woman,” she answered.