THE CATERPILLARS QUESTION

What a jerk I am!

He was lying on his side, and something-it must be Tappy's leg-was next to his chest and stomach. He opened his eyes and saw her profile, though dinly. He also saw something dark astride her legs and leaning far forward. Her body was bare to just above her breasts. The nightgown had been pulled up above them.

He tried to shout and at the same time to rise and grab the thing sitting on Tappy. He could only tremble; his throat and tongue seemed numb; his body had no more muscles than a log.

He hurled his will at his body, screaming at it to move. But he was as lax as if he had been bitten by a poisonous snake.

Now he was able to see the figure on her a little better than when he had awakened. Though it was not raping Tappy, as he had first thought, he did not lose any of his sickening fright. It was bending far over her, its face against her breasts or between them. Then it sat upright, pulled its legs up, and got to its feet.

Jack rolled his eyes sidewise to keep its head in sight. He could make out, dinly, the knight's-helmet face of a honker, and its male organ. It-he-bent over to look down at Jack. His tongue moved far out and then back in. Faint as the light was, it showed the white thorny tip at the end of the honker's tongue.

The honker patted Jack on the forehead as if it were reassuring or comforting him. It turned away, still bending over, and placed something between Tappy's breasts. Then it climbed slowly down from the platform and faded into the blackness.

Jack, sweating despite the chill, wondered if he was to stay Paralyzed until he starved to death or, more likely, was eaten alive by beasts or Then he felt ashamed, because he had considered his own plight before thinking of Tappy's.

He did not know how much time had passed when he began to be able to move his fingers and toes. After a little while, he could turn his head. Some time later, he could utter some slurred words is arms and legs. Meanwh'Ie, Tappy was also making (I moving her head and limbs. Presently, both he and she something fell from her chest and between her legs onto him. She lifted it up and put it close to her eyes, though could do that when she was blind Jack did not know. She handed it to him. As soon as he had it in his hand, he knew that ' was the quarter he had given the honker in exchange for the food.

He did not have time to think about the implications of its return. Thinking would have done no good, anyway. Tappy, weeping, was in his arms. Jack stroked her bare back and told her that everything was okay. She shook her head. rubbing her face against his chest. Then she pulled away took his right hand, and placed it between her breasts.

He said, "My God!"

A hard swelling the size of a marble was under her skin. It felt very warm.

She touched the side of her neck and put the tip of one little finger on the side of his neck. The pressure made him aware that wheit she had touched was very tender. He felt sicker. The honker must have stuck the thorny tip on its tongue into the!- necks and in ected a temporarily paralyzing poison.

When dawn came, they climbed down and washed their hands and faces to refresh themselves. Jack decided that he would wash out his shorts and bathe when the air became much warmer. He told Tappy to lift her nightgown so that he could examine the, swelling between her breasts. It had grown no bigger. and the skin over it did not seem as warm. As he could determine, there was no break in the skin. However, when full sunlight came.

he looked closely at it and saw a very. small reddish dot in the center.

The honker had stuck the thorny excrescence-maybe it was an organ-into her chest. The thorn must be both a poison injector and an ovipositor, though he did not know if an egil. had been shot through the thorn's hollow shaft into her. Whatever it was that had been planted just under the skin, it had grown very fast.

Or was there some other explanation'?

"For God's sake, Tappy." he said, "If you have any idea of what's going on, you must tell me if you can! Talk, Please talk!

Tappy, looking distressed, shook her head. Her index finger felt the round lump.

He mastered the impulse to grab her by the throat and force words out of her. That would not do it. he knew. or thought he knew, but he felt that he had to do something to get answers to his questions. If he did not soon get at least an explanation of what had been happening, he would go crazy. amok. completely out of his mind.

At that moment. a deep thrumming came from above. He seized her hand and pulled her along until he came to one of the nay-row breaks in the forest celling. Above him, far up, was something enormous. It was descending slowly, and the sound it was making becoming ever louder.

"It's got to be that ship I saw out by the moon," he muttered.

Though the s ze of the vessel was awesome and its mission was unknown and, thus, possibly dangerous for him and Tappy, he almost felt relief. Whatever happened, he might be able to get some answers. Though it was probable that he would not like them.

He told Tappy to stay where she was while he climbed a tree.

She looked frightened but nodded. When he got to the top of the tree, he could see the bottom of a truly titanic ring. It had to be at least a mile in diameter and two hundred feet thick.

The purplIsh-gray sides went up for an ENORMOUS DISTANCE and from its upper edge curved many gigantic metal beams of the same color as the circular base. The curving beams or ribs met at the center to form an open cap or cage. Here and there boxlike structures clung to the circle at the bottom and along the sides of the r'bs. There were no rocket exhausts, no obvious means of propulsion.

As the vessel dropped closer, the thrumming became a roar that was so loud he thought he would scream. Standing on a branch, with one arm wrapped around the thin trunktop, he put his fingertips into his ears. That did not help much.

The circular structure was now about two hundred feet above but a quarter of a mile away. At that moment, the coins, his wristwatch, his jackknife, everything metallic in his pockets, became hot. He tried to get rid of them before they burned him, but he was slowed down because he had to cling to the trunk with one hand.

His fingers were scorched before he had thrown the hot objects down through the branches. He climbed down to find that Tappy had removed her leg brace. They clung tightly to each other while the bellowing around them became so loud that it seemed solid.

Suddenly, there was silence. He looked up through the break and saw, far up, some of the curving ribs. The weight of the machine must have crushed trees beneath THEM AND must have sunk deep into the ground. He released Tappy, and she sat down, pale and shaking. -An animal resembling a furless a

Tappy groped around until she found her leg brace. She touched it gingerly, then picked it up. It had cooled off by now.

Jack, not knowing what else to do, wanting to do something, began looking for the items he had discarded. But he stopped.

Tappy was holding the brace up with one hand and feeling along its i

He said, "Hold it, Tappy! Wait!"

He took the brace from her and examined the opening. There were six tiny orange-colored buttons inside, iwo rows of three, with a somewhat larger scarlet button at the head of the rows.