DARK IS THE SUN

A female slave, Tishdom, was cut on her back and her legs by flying fragments of the shell of the cone and spattered with the sticky stuff.. But she wasn't seriously hurt. Screaming, she got to the bow just as a third broadside exploded.

This time, all three cones hit the target, and a geyser of green rose from each opening and fell back.

Slowly, the openings closed, the leathery sections sliding back across. Once again, the deck seemed unbroken. Though the cones that had struck the deck had heavily dented it, the dents began to fill in.

The adult veered away, its flower-eyes turning to watch the young one:

Deyv was surprised to see Jowanarr weeping. He hadn't known that she cared the least bit for her brother. Perhaps, until then, she hadn't known either.

Deyv smelled a strong almost overwhelming fishy odor. It reminded him, however, of another odor.

Suddenly, he knew why the big beast had chased the smaller one and why it had shot its cones from the cylinders. He said, "Sloosh, we were caught in the mating of the sail-beasts."

"Yes. My speculations were valid. Even though I didn't know how the mating would be done, I was nearly certain that the large beast was pursuing ours for that purpose. Actually, she is not so young. She's juvenile but nubile."

"How do the males propel those cones so far? They look so big and heavy."

"I presume by compressed air."

"But why would the female run so hard? It looked as if she didn't want to be caught."

"I suspect that the females will mate only with the fastest and most skillful of the males. That weeds out the inferior males. Ah! She's turning outward now. She sees a school of large fish, and she has to satisfy another hunger. I suggest we get into our boat now."

They untied the ropes, coiled them, and then stumbled or fell into the dugout. Sloosh took over the rudder; Deyv and Vana managed the sail. Like it or not, they were once again at the mercy of the elements, sail-beasts, and giant fish. Deyv summoned energy to try to cheer them up.

"That has to be land we see."

"And if it isn't?" Jeydee whined.

Deyv shrugged. At that moment, he didn't want to die, but he didn't care much if he did. He was even indifferent to the prospect of wandering as a ghost forever if he sank without his beloved soul egg.

The tail of The Beast was slipping over the horizon behind them. The sky shone bright and white above.

Around them the long green waves rose and fell. A flock of whi

In the middle of the next sleep-time, they beached upon soft white sand. After thanking their various deities, they plucked fruit and nuts, ate, expanded the ancient vessel, and slept in it for a long time.

Deyv had a dream. His grandmother came to him, which meant that she was dead. Live people never appeared in dreams. She said, "There is something you've been thinking, child. But the thought has been lying around in the darkness, gathering dust, and it may not see light until it is too late. So I have come to bring it out of the dark and show it to you."

Though she was a ghost, he didn't feel frightened. His grandmother would never hurt him.

"What is that thought?" he asked. He tried to reach for her, but she backed away from him.

28

DEYV said, "Vana, my grandmother told me that we're lost. We don't have the slightest idea how to get to the cave that holds our soul eggs. We'll never find them." Vana took his story as seriously as lie did.

Her tribe also talked to the dead in its dreams, though usually it was the grandfather who delivered the messages for the gods.

"Never?"

"Never. But she said that we could make our own eggs with The Shemibob's help."

"I don't know," she said. "I'm not saying that some demon took your grandmother's semblance and gave you a false message. But I would like to confer with my great-grandfather, since my grandfather is still alive. He has sometimes come to me."

Deyv said angrily, "And how will you know that the demon wasn't taking the semblance of your greatgrandfather?"

"Oh, no. My demons are not yours. Yours could not appear to me. Besides, when my great-grandfather comes, he makes a secret sign. I know by that that he is indeed what he appears to be."

"Sure!" Deyv said. "But what if he'd been a demon when he first came to you, and it was then that he arranged the secret sign with you. That would mean that the demon had always been the one who talked to you. And if your great-grandfather does come, he won't know the sign. And you'll think he's the demon!"

Sloosh had to pull Vana from Deyv, whom she'd knocked to the ground. He held her up in the air while she. kicked and writhed and screamed insults. Deyv got up, holding his throat.

"She's crazy! I was only being logical!"

The plant-man said, "I've observed that when a human is dealing with another, he's usually logical only if he's advancing his self-interests or has a desire to hurt or put down the other. Is this one of those situations?"

"Of course not!" Deyv cried. "I was just trying to point out something to her! Why'd she go mad?"

"Both of you have mixed attitudes toward the other," the Archkerri said. "I don't really have enough data about humans to analyze what motivates them. Rather, I should say, I don't know enough about you two, since individuals vary so much, to explain what your relationship is. I can tell you what it should be, but neither of you would care to listen. I mean, you'd listen, but your ears would be tuned to different vibrations from those I'd be emitting. Perhaps I should start over. What I mean—"

"I was just trying to get at the truth," Deyv said. "I had no desire to hurt her."

"Not that you are aware of. But I've observed that humans often don't know how their own psyches operate. Indeed, there seems to be more energy used in not knowing than in knowing. Why this is, after an unimaginable number of—"

Deyv walked away. When he was some distance from the two, he saw Sloosh let Vana down. She ran into the jungle and didn't come back until a long time after. It wasn't until after the next sleep-time that she would address him, and she did so only in matters that concerned maintenance of the camp.

Deyv was polite but stiff. So was Vana, though he couldn't figure out why she should be so, since the offense was wholly hers. But after some reflection, he saw that perhaps he had spoken too frankly. And he had to admit that if he had been she, he'd have been offended. Still, his observations had been logically based. When dealing with demons, you couldn't be too careful.

He shrugged. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately, and he thought, If she wants to go back on that hopeless search, let her do it. Alone. She might want to take Aejip with her for protection and companionship, but I won't allow it. The cat is mine. I've just loaned her to Vana.

After the next sleep-time, Vana went hunting with Aejip. She returned with a young pig, a tusker, and a bagful of delicious beetle eggs. She gave these to the two slaves to prepare, then walked up to Deyv.

"I tried to summon my great-grandfather before I went to sleep," she said. "But he didn't come. So, while hunting, I did some thinking, I sat for a while under a puh tree and breathed in the perfume of its fruit.