Collector's Item Part 3

Confounded scientists; they certainly took his status as captain seriously. He wished, for a disloyal moment, that he had stayed on Earth. The quiet routine of a test pilot had prepared him for nothing like this. Were Miss Ans.p.a.cher and adventure worth it? At the moment, he thought not. But he was on Venus and it was too late to change his mind.

Jrann-Pttt followed him into the jungle, keeping some distance behind, for he had good reason to suspect that Greenfield would take his warm interest in terrestrial technology for plain spying. Or, worse yet, he might try to press the lizard-man into service; Jrann-Pttt felt he had demeaned himself quite enough already.

"Have you noticed," Miss Ans.p.a.cher asked, pus.h.i.+ng the ma.s.s of damp brown hair off her neck as she came alongside him, "how the--the smell--" _a scientist does not mince words_--"of the swamp has grown stronger?"

Jrann-Pttt halted. He had a good idea of what the captain's reactions to the sight of himself and Miss Ans.p.a.cher arriving hand-in-hand would be.

"Yes, it is getting rather overpowering. Perhaps, for a lady of your delicate sensibilities, it would be best to--"

"I can stand a bad smell just as well as a male--any male!"

"Perhaps even better," Jrann-Pttt said, "for I was on the verge of turning back myself."

"Oh," she said, appeased. "Well, in that case, I'll go back with you ... how quiet everything is!"

He had not noticed. For him, it would never be quiet because of the stream of jangled thoughts constantly pouring into the back of his mind from everything sentient that surrounded him.

For a moment, he wondered what it would be like to be non-telepathic like the terrestrials, to have peace from the clamor of confused impressions, emotions and ideas that persistently beat at his mind. But that would be wondering how it was to be deaf to avoid discord, or blind to shut out ugliness.

"The lull before the storm, I suppose," she said brightly. _Now is his opportunity to kiss me--only perhaps they don't have kissing in his society. His mouth does seem to be the wrong shape. And if I kissed him, it might violate a taboo._

During their short absence, the citrine clouds that closed off the sky had changed to a sinister umber. It was now almost as dusky in the clearing as in the jungle itself, when Jrann-Pttt and Miss Ans.p.a.cher returned and joined the others.

Professor Bernardi stood looking up with sharp gray eyes at a sky he could not see. "I hope Greenfield can finish the blasting more quickly than he estimated," he muttered.

"Will we hear the noise way out here, Carl?" his wife worried nervously.

"Only two kilometers away? Of course we'll hear it. I do wish you wouldn't always be asking such stupid questions."

She s.h.i.+vered. "Well, I hope they get it over with right away. If we just have to sit here waiting and waiting and waiting, I'll go mad. I know I will."

"You should try to keep your nerves in check, Louisa," Miss Ans.p.a.cher snapped. _Silly little fool._

"At least I can control my glands!" Mrs. Bernardi flared back.

_s.e.x-starved spinster._

"I shall make some tea, ladies," Jrann-Pttt interposed. "I'm sure we will all feel the better for it."

Mrs. Bernardi smiled at him feebly. "You're such a comfort, Pitt. I don't know why you of all creatures should be the one to remind me of home."

"Home," remarked Mortland, emerging from the airlock, "is where the heart is. Did I hear someone say 'tea'?"

As Jrann-Pttt hung the kettle over the fire, suddenly the air erupted in stunning violence of sound. The ground undulated under their feet and water slopped out of the kettle, almost putting out the fire that rose high to claw at it. Rivulets of thick, muddy liquid welled out of the ground and drabbled their feet. The women turned pale. Algol gave a faint cry and hid under Mrs. Bernardi's skirts, trembling, while the mosquito-bat tried to lift Mortland's toupee and hide in his hair. The s.h.i.+p itself quivered and seemed to jump slightly in the air, then returned to its resting place.

All was quiet again, quieter than it had been before. Mortland anxiously gnawed his light mustache. "Better hurry with that tea, there's a good fellow. I'm violently allergic to loud noises."

"They'll probably continue all day," the professor said with almost malevolent cheerfulness, "so you might as well get used to them." _Who is he to have nerves? I am easily the most sensitive person here, but I manage to control myself._

"I don't know how I'm going to stand it!" Mrs. Bernardi shrieked. "I just know something terrible is going to happen."

"Please try to restrain yourself, Louisa," her husband ordered. "After it's over, you'll find we'll be much more comfortable and secure with the s.h.i.+p resting on rock."

"If you ask me, that blast made it sink a little," Mortland said. "I wonder whether--"

He was interrupted by a thras.h.i.+ng in the bushes. Dfar-Lll burst forth, shedding scales. _Do not despair, Jrann-Pttt. I am here, ready to save you or die at your side._

The women clutched each other, Miss Ans.p.a.cher praying silently and fervently to Juno, Lakshmi, Freya, Isis and a host of other esoteric female deities she had picked up in the course of her avocational researches.

"He seems to be one of Jrann-Pttt's people," Bernardi observed, "so there should be nothing to fear."

_Dfar-Lll, you fool!_ Jrann-Pttt ideated angrily. _Nothing's wrong.

They're just blasting out a better berth for their vessel. And now you've spoiled my plans._

"What did you think at that poor little creature!" Mrs. Bernardi blazed.

"He's crying!" And, sure enough, amethyst tears were oozing out of the young saurian's large, liquid eyes.

_I du-didn't mean any harm._

"Monster!" Mrs. Bernardi accused Jrann-Pttt. "All men are monsters, whether they're aliens or not."

"You're so right, Louisa!" Miss Ans.p.a.cher exclaimed, regarding the younger creature in an almost kindly manner.

_I'm sorry, r-Lll_, Jrann-Pttt apologized. _I was upset by that noise, too. How could you possibly know what it was? Come, let me introduce you to the creatures._

Dfar-Lll stepped forward diffidently. Jrann-Pttt put a hand on the moss-green shoulder. "Allow me to introduce my companion, Dfar-Lll," he said aloud.

The youngster looked at him.

Mrs. Bernardi thrust out her hand. "I'm very glad to meet you, Lil."

_Agitate it with one of yours. It's a courtesy. Don't let her see how repulsive she is to you. Remember, you're just as repulsive to her._

Dfar-Lll offered a shy, seven-fingered hand. "Pleased ... to meet you ... ma'am," the young lizard squeaked.

"Why, he's just a baby, isn't he?" Mrs. Bernardi asked.

_I am not a baby!_ Dfar-Lll thought indignantly. _At the end of this year, I shall celebrate my pre-maturity feast, or I would have. And furthermore--_

There was another thunderous blast of sound. After the ground had stopped trembling, the six found themselves ankle-deep in muddy water.

Algol, who was in considerably deeper than his ankles, mewed fretfully.

Mrs. Bernardi picked him up and comforted him.

"Perhaps blasting wasn't such a good idea," the professor muttered.

"Maybe I should tell Greenfield to call a halt and we'll take our chances with the storm. As a matter of fa--"

"The s.h.i.+p!" Mortland cried. "It _is_ sinking!"

And the big metal ball slowly but visibly was indeed subsiding into the mud.