“I think she might have done the same.” Chrissie was feeling her right shoulder, which had taken most of the impact when she pitched forward unconscious onto rocky ground. “I mean, when you see a man grinning and waving to you, and you are pretty sure that you know who he is …”
They were speaking in whispers. The room was half dark, shaped like a long teardrop with a keyhole opening, eight feet tall and half as wide, at the far end. In the chamber beyond, crab-like figures clicked across the floor and seemed to take no notice of Chrissie and Tarbush; but two of them carried black canes, and neither human was keen to risk another jolt. Muscls spasms from the last time still resonated in every limb.
They had awakened at almost the same moment and spent the first few mindless minutes staring up at a ceiling spangled with flecks of light. It was just as well that they were faceup, because shallow water lapped at the back of their heads. Tarbush’s groan, when first he tried to move, told Chrissie that he was just a few feet away with his head down near her feet. They sat up slowly, shivering, moving closer together and leaning against each other for support.
“Thank God for the suits,” Chrissie said. “Otherwise we’d be soaked and freezing. It’s cold in here. Any idea where we are? The last thing I remember, we were outdoors and it was bright daylight.”
“It’s night, unless my helmet readout is on the blink. And we’re inside a building. But not too far inside, because there’s fresh air coming from somewhere. I can smell those plants. Do you still have your stuff on you?”
Chrissie felt inside her suit to her pockets and the hidden pouches. “Yeah. Either they didn’t know I had it, or more likely they don’t care. I’m not sure a few magic tricks would be much use against those zapper canes. Even if they are, this is the wrong time to try anything. It’s going to be up to you, Tarb. Are you getting anything?”
“Nothing that we can use so far.” He was staring intently through the keyhole-shaped doorway at the creatures beyond. “Three different sizes, but all with the same body type. I was right about the definite pecking order. Postures give it away. There’s an inferior/superior relation among them, with the smallest ones at the top of the heap.”
“You’re getting that out of their behavior pattern?”
“Yeah. Not too difficult, though. The black sticks must have more than one mode of use. The little ones touch the middle-sized ones on the underside, and they jump like they’ve been jabbed with an electric prod. Then they go off and take it out on the big ones, and they jump. Looks like the big ones do all the actual work. But you know what?”
“Only if you tell me.”
“The little ones aren’t the king of the hill, either. They’re scuttling around like they’ve got the fidgets, waiting for something.”
“Will you be able to talk to them?”
“They won’t understand me if I do. I can read general behavior, but they’re too alien for anything more than that. For talking you’d need Tully the Rhymer. Hold on. They’re getting real excited. Hear them chittering away there? I’m going to sneak a bit closer.”
Tarbush eased forward on hands and knees. Chrissie followed without a word. A ledge formed a step up from the chamber that they were in, leading to a drier level beyond, and Tarbush stopped just short of it.
“Don’t go any farther.” Chrissie was right behind, whispering in his ear. “The light’s a lot brighter in there.”
“It is. But I don’t think it matters. I could do a song-and-dance act right now, and nobody would notice. Look out. Here comes whatever they’ve been waiting for. Everybody grovel.”
At the far side of the well-lit center chamber was another keyhole aperture and yet another room. What lay beyond was in darkness, but the crab creatures were lining up to face the opening and bending their many legs until their flat undersides touched the floor.
“Sweet Lucy!” Tarbush shuffled backward, bumping into Chrissie on the way. “Get a load of that.”
An object like a bulky black rock was creeping through the far doorway and into the central room. It was taller than Tarbush and was supported on a writhing nest of thick tentacles that protruded from holes in its lower part. As it moved forward all the animals in the chamber lowered themselves in attitudes of obeisance.
“See what it’s carrying.” Chrissie was right next to Tarbush, her lips to his ear. “Am I seeing things?”
“You’re not. And it’s going to—”
A thinner black hose hung down from the rock’s right-hand side. It curled around an oblong green box. As the hulking rock crossed the chamber toward Chrissie and Tarbush, the box uttered a preliminary series of coughs and sighs.
“ This is not the most efficient means of communication.” The voice coming from the translation unit was harsh and slow, but each word was clear. “However, I am presently too busy to take the time necessary for your conversion. Do you understand me?”
There was a pause, until Chrissie whispered, “We have to answer.” And then, more loudly, “Yes, we understand you.”
“ Listen closely. Your future is uncertain. If your kind agrees to serve the People, you will become part of that service. You will be released, but before that happens you will be modified to provide additional translators. Also, if the translator we are currently using dies, or ceases to function, one of you will become a translator. If your kind refuses to serve the People, they and you will die. Until then, you are prisoners and will not leave these chambers. You will be fed, but should you seek to escape, the Level Threes and Level Fours are instructed to kill you without hesitation. Is all this clear?”
Chrissie nodded. “Yes. It is clear.”
“ Good. If you are hungry, this may be used to ask for food.” The tentacle laid the translation unit on the floor, next to the ledge. The lumpy rock did not turn, but drifted away backwards across the central chamber. As it vanished through the far opening and the prostrate creatures rose with an outburst of clicks and whistles, Tarbush looked at Chrissie.
“All clear. Not clear to me, it weren’t. What was all that gab about being translators, and serving the People?”
“I don’t know.” Chrissie’s face was pale, and her nostrils flared. “I just wanted it to go away. I’m not a coward, Tarb, you know that. But I’d have said anything, I was so afraid it would reach out one of those snaky arms and grab me. What is that thing?”
“Judging from the way the rest of them behave, it’s the big boss. I didn’t care for it, either. Did you hear the options it gave us? If this happens, you die. If that happens, you die. If you do this, you get killed. If you’re real lucky and things work out all right, you get converted into a translator. I’m not sure what a translator is, but I have the feeling I wouldn’t enjoy being one.”
“What are we going to do, Tarb?”
“I don’t know. But I’ll tell you this. If you don’t want somebody to escape, saying that you’ll kill them if they try to escape may stop them trying. But telling them you’ll also kill ’em if they don’t try to escape strikes me as dumb.”
“We try to escape?”
“That’s my thought. But how?” He stared around the poorly lit room. “No windows. No exit, except the one that leads through to the chamber of horrors there. Floor’s solid, so’s the ceiling. Come on, Chrissie, we need a bit of your magic.”
“You were the one who said you can feel fresh air. That’s not possible unless there’s some sort of through draft.”
“That’s it, lady. Now you’re thinking. Let’s see what we can find.”